Reviews

This collection includes work by Kobo Abe as well as some lesser-known Japanese writers.``Almost all the stories are political or social allegories and some are hardly SF by Western standards, leading a reader to wonder whether this is representative of Japanese SF or the preference of the editors,'' complained PW. (Nov.)

YA-- A compilation of 13 symbolic, psychologically based stories written by 10 of the most talented Japanese science fiction writers, including Shinichi Hoshi, Ryo Hanmura, and Sakyo Komatsu. ``The Savage Mouth'' by Komatsu is a horrific tale that describes the insane side of a man who is overly intellectual and who tries to know his unexplicable self by eating his body. ``Standing Woman'' by Yasutaka Tsutsui is a political/social statement involving a society in which those who speak out are punished by being slowly turned into manpillars or decorative plants. This well written, engaging science fiction collection, flooded with strange imagination and striking plots, and inspired by the fearsome uneasy future, is a book that should grab the imagination of young adult sci-fi enthusiasts.-- Hien Duc Nguyen, Port Arthur Schools, Tex.