Book Review: All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

Keiji Kiriya is recruited to fight against the Mimics, strange alien creatures trying to terraform the Earth for themselves and thereby wiping out all indigenous life. Keiji trains with the United Defense Force (UDF) which plans to defend Tokyo from the threat, mostly for the vast manufacturing facilities in the area. The UDF equips soldiers with exo-suits called "Jackets" that have heavy-duty weaponry designed to take out the mysterious and seemingly undefeatable Mimics. They only seem undefeatable because one soldier in the UDF has an amazing record of not only surviving battles but also winning battles--Rita Vrataski, a.k.a. the Full Metal Bitch. She wields an axe and doesn't have any of the typical safety measures installed in her Jacket, enabling her to move quickly and not to run out of ammo. Keiji runs across her in his first battle where he is killed taking down an unusual Mimic. The next thing Keiji knows, he wakes up the previous morning with all the memories of a day and a half that he now has to relive. At first, he thinks it was just a bad dream. After he's killed again, he wakes up the pervious morning and has to do it all again for a third time.

If the plot sounds familiar, that's because this book is the source material for the Tom Cruise/Emily Blunt science fiction film Edge of Tomorrow (also known as "Live.Die.Repeat"). Keiji is a very different character from Cruise's Cage. Keiji is a more typical greenhorn recruit who turns into a killing machine through repeated practice. His character arc is different and he winds up in a different place at the end. Both stories are good. It's hard for me to say which is better.

The book has a very rough and ready style. It reads very pulpy, with lots of swearing (they are soldiers, after all) and rough action. The characters also have an immature attitude toward women that is a frequent stereotype of soldiers. On the other hand, Rita is very competent and intelligent and her character has plenty of depth. So it depicts sexist attitudes without adopting or endorsing them.

The author explains in the afterword that the plot was inspired by video games: Players can repeat the same level or challenge until they get it right. He discounts the heroism often accorded to players in video games when they finish ("You were the highly capable warrior destined to save us all!!"). I would disagree. This situation is how habits are formed. By repeating actions over and over, they become more easy to do and better executed. Good habits are virtues, something everyone should have. I would agree that being a highly-skilled video game player does not make one virtuous.

Recommended.

Parental warning: Naturally, the soldiers in this book swear like sailors. It's hard to count that many f-bombs. Some of the deaths are a bit gory. Some women are treated like sex-objects though there's no explicit sex in the book. It's implied that Keiji and Rita sleep together but only implied.