All You Need Is Kill

In the legendary "time loop" movie, Groundhog Day, Phil Conners (played by Bill Murray) wakes up every day to the above scenario. The same day. Every day. He's angry, at first, at not getting out of Punxsutawney, then disbelieves. He goes through the gamut of emotions as he tries to figure out what to do about the time loop he is caught in. He commits a variety of crimes, puts the make on all the attractive women, kills himself--a number of ways-- and is rude and assaultive to people. Eventually, Phil gains experience, knowledge, and skills (ice carving, speaking French, playing the piano, etc.), but most important, he learns how to care for others. Then, the perfect day and the time loop ends. SHORT SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK: The Edge of Tomorrow by Hiroshi Sakurazaka involves just such a time loop. Publishers have told us that Keiji Kiriya is one of many new "green" recruits who have been shoved into battle armor and put on a transport to the battle zone. Keiji's day goes horribly wrong, and he is killed in battle...or is he? When he wakes up the next morning, he believes he merely dreamed the whole, horrible nightmare about his death. Then he meets the touted savior of humanity--"The Full Metal Bitch," Rita Vrataski, AKA, The Valkyrie. The only question is, is she the answer to his escape, or is she his imminent death? Here's a little addition to the short synopsis. Entertainment Weekly's Summer Movie Preview, April 18-25, Double Issue #'s 1307 & 1308, page 56, has an article about the upcoming movie, Edge of Tomorrow. It reveals that Cruise's character crosses a general and gets sent to the front lines; of course, it's different from the book. It also discloses that the reason that the alien's are winning the war is because they "...'can replay the day over and over again until they figure out how to win,' says director Doug Liman ([who also directed] Mr. & Mrs. Smith.)." MY FAVORITE QUOTE: Rita had often wondered what the world would be like if there were a machine that could definitively measure the sum of a person's potential. If DNA determined a person's height or the shape of their face, why not their less obvious traits too? Our fathers and mothers...ultimately every individual was the product of the blood that flowed in the veins of those who came before. An impartial machine could read that information and assign a value to it, as simple as measuring height or weight. What if someone who had the potential to discover a formula to unlock the mysteries of the universe wanted to become a pulp fiction writer? What if someone who had the potential to create unparalleled gastronomic delicacies had his heart set on civil engineering? There is what we desire to do, and what we are able to do. When these two things don't coincide, which path should we pursue to find happiness? (Edge of Tomorrow; p. 148.) Rita appears to ponder philosophical issues as if she had choices in her life spread upon a platter or buffet from which she can pick and choose. Rita's talents, e.g. being a mimic killing machine, may not coincide with what she wanted as a child, but perhaps what she really wants is a deeper and more meaningful dream than whether or not to play horseshoes or become an actor and cry on cue. I'll leave that for you to decide. See p. 255 about "choices." Another aspect of this quote that I like is that it alludes to one of the book's themes--dreams. Dreams are something we have at night--like many do in this book. Dreams are also something we have when we aspire to something bigger or better or more lovely in our lives. Something we want for ourselves...or others. Then, there are things called "daydreams;" Tom Cruise seems to wonder, at least at first, if it is something he has been doing. And, finally, in this book we also have somewhat of a mystery about dreams that surrounds the mimics and the human race. You can find out what that is if you read the book. WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE BOOK: I've mentioned one motif in the book, so far, dreams. Let's take a brief look at a couple more. I thought this was a fun one when I spotted it: the color green. The first time Rita speaks to Keiji, she asks him, "Is it true the green tea they serve in Japan at the end of your meal comes free?" (p.21). The topic of green tea comes up a number of times in the book. Keiji also talks about being various shades of green (Oh, yes...and he has green eyes.). He says, "If I was tea-green now, I must have been lime-green back then (when he had enlisted) (p.52). Here's one I like, "These green-horns didn't know what it was to walk the razor's edge between life and death" (p.127). And, of course, the ocean: "The water off the coast had turned a livid green" (p.227). Why "livid?" (You'll see.) And, on the last page of the book, we have the following: "A small colony of blue-green mold bobbled on the surface of the coffee." Nice metaphor. Seen in an abstract collection, these quotes mean little, but when you read the book pay attention to them and you'll soon see why they are important. In fact, color, in general, helps set tone in the book. Think about Rita's red armor and red skies, brown coffee and earth, green tea and green recruits (and bloated frogs), blue skies and Keiji's blue armor. Look at all the mentions of color as you read the book and pay attention to what is going on when the color is mentioned. Second, it was notable that Bill Murray, in Groundhog Day, woke up to a radio playing music and then the D.J.s giving a short weather forecast about the cold weather. In Hiroshi Sakurazaka's book, All You Need is Kill (and the retitled book-to-movie edition, Edge of Tomorrow) Keiji wakes up everyday the same way, too. That is, Keiji's paperback book was on his pillow next to him. He hears a radio on the bunk above him playing rock music, and then the "DJ's over-caffeinated voice chirping away with the weather forecast...Clear and sunny out here on the islands, same as yesterday, with a UV warning for the afternoon. Watch out for those sunburns!" (p.26). The rest of the time loop is the same too--until or unless--Keiji makes a change in the routine. Then he gets a different result. The only problem with that is that it all resets back to the way it was the day before--everyone forgetting or not knowing about the previous interactions. Everyone, that is, except for Keiji. The two major differences between the two stories are 1. Rita Vrataski knows about the time loop because she's experienced it, and 2. Keiji must die every day (Bill Murray, it seems, had a variety of options). Oh, yes, Keiji keeps track of his "iterations" (or rebirths) by writing the number days that have passed on his hand--apparently, everything doesn't reset back to 0. I also like the theme of "mimic." We, of course, have the aliens who are called, "Mimics." And then, throughout the book, we see evidence of one person "mimic-ing" another. Notably, when Keiji (AKA, Cage in the movie) mimic's Rita Vrataski's fighting style and strategy. Just one other little "aside," here. I think it is funny that the woman Keiji is attracted to and interacts with in the time loop's name is "Rita." In Groundhog Day, Bill Murray pines away for a "Rita," as well. Very funny with even the names being the same! Finally, I've seen the trailer for the movie and noted a number of differences between the book and movie that are quite apparent. The first is our protagonist's name. In the book, it is Keiji Kiriya (a Japanese name). In the movie it is Cage. On page 261 of the book Keiji says that someone had scratched on to the breastplate of his armor the term "Cage." But he understood--"That was how the Americans pronounced my name." Apparently, that's how they came up with the name for Tom Cruise's character in the movie. Also, all the troops in the movie appear to be white and/or American. I'd say it was racially motivated, but I doubt it is. More than likely, it was a move motivated by money--wanting a really big name actor to be a big box office draw and make lots of money for all those financing the movie. If you could cast the movie with a Japanese actor, who would it be? RECOMMENDATIONS AND RATING FOR: All You Need Is Kill (also titled as book-to-movie)-Edge of Tomorrow by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. The Action/Sci-fi movie is rated PG-13 by the MPAA movie guidelines (from IMDb [18]), obviously, due to violence, blood, and death shown on screen. I would, likewise, caution all parents to follow these guidelines in screening books for your children. For all adults, who are of a mature age, and not given to a sensitive nature, this book, graphic novel, and movie, should be a blast. I am looking forward to seeing it, myself. This book was one of the easiest books to rate that I have ever reviewed. I LOVED the book! The action was in there, the plot intriguing, suspenseful 'til the end, love, sex, killing, mayhem, alien invasion, fight to the death, jumping out of aircraft, bombs and explosions...it has it all. WOW! I can hardly wait for the movie. Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt and Bill Paxton, here I come. This book gets 5 stars--WELL EARNED! Congratulations to Hiroshi Sakurazaka on writing a GREAT book. This book will be a sci-fi classic, undoubtedly.

All You Need Is Kill is one of the most fun novels I've run across in awhile. The story follows Keiji Kiriya in his battle against the Mimics, aliens threatening every living creature on Earth. Someone else best described it as Groundhogs Day meets Starship Troopers. See, what makes this story different than most other Military Sci-Fi books is that Keiji here is stuck in two days. Every time he dies, he wakes up the day before he goes into battle the first time. The author takes this neat idea, and runs with it to great effect. I sat down and read this in a single afternoon. Coming in at exactly 196 pages, its a rather short book. However, I felt the story was fully fleshed out by the end. I felt no need for more, I was greatly satisfied. Even though I figured out how it would all have to end about half way through, I still had to know how it would play out. The characters are interesting, and a need to know how this tale will unfold keeps you going. I'd like to give a special thanks to the translator/editor, who did an absolutely fantastic job. I found only two grammatical errors in the entire novel. That is very refreshing, if I say so myself. So, after all the praise you may be asking why I didn't give it 5 stars? Well... 14 dollars seems slightly high for a book that is so short. Like I said, it didn't need to be longer, but the price is a little excessive when you can plow through it in a couple of hours in comparison to an 8 dollar novel that may take a few days. But that is a small complaint in an otherwise amazing little piece of literature. I say go ahead and buy if you have the cash, and enjoy a good piece of military science fiction.

As someone who got into anime and manga in the past two years, and has basically become a full-on otaku, I have looked up various anime, manga and light novels to read. I had come across this story before as a very popular light novel, but hadn't really wanted to read it yet. Then I saw the adverts for the American adaptation of the story, renamed Edge of Tomorrow, and I decided to give it a try. I really don't know what I think of what looks to be major race lifts and changes in the story (if the trailers are anything to go by), but it looks interesting, so the I dived into the novel. As the story begins, our hero, Keiji Kiriya, is a private in the Japanese part of the UDF, the United Defense Force. Brought together to defend the world from a wierd alien menace that has devastated the environment, and seriously threatens to destroy mankind. The aliens, called Mimics after their mimicking the forms of earth amphibious wildlife, are a very deadly foe, for they have a serious weapon that earth has a difficulty grasping the reality of, much less dealing with. In his first battle, this weapon comes to affect Keiji. Dying in the arms of Rita Vrataski, the Full Metal Bitch - yes, they call her that in the military, while the civilians call her the Valkyrie - he is slipping away when he sees an enemy that he just senses he should kill. He does so to save the Bitch (who, despite her diminutive size, is the most deadly, decorated warrior on earth) and dies himself... Then he wakes up and is stunned at his dream. At least he thinks it is a dream, until things happen just as he "dreamed" them to happen, and then dies... only to wake up again. He fights, dies... wakes up. Fights, dies... wakes up. Again and again. Eventually, though not understanding how yet, he realizes that some alien Mimic technology has caused him to be caught in a time loop. He finds himself going nuts and decides to cope by learning how to fight and become more deadly than ever before. You see, his body might not get stronger as it resets, but he keeps his memories and develops a kind of (deadly to opponents) muscle memory between loops. That's when he eventually discovers the secret to (part of, she was always badass despite her size) Rita Vrataski's success on the battlefield. She was in a time loop too. Now the two of them must fight to escape the time loop in order to let humanity know about a special technology of the aliens that, if not countered, will doom the earth to extinction. This is an edge of your seat adventure that essentially takes a look at the popular subject of alien invasion plots with a twist, namely "level grinding". Level grinding is the process in video games of having to run around and increase stats for a while to get strong enough to handle certain foes. The author admits that his experiences with video games were the basic inspiration for the story. It's a clever premise. I loved how the story portrayed the military realistically in their best and worst. You saw the foul mouths on steroids, the not so nice morality on some points... and the camaraderie, self-sacrifice, the love of God in some and blasphemy in others. This was a very raw and at times negative, but overall positive and realistic view of the fighting man and woman. With some difference necessitated by the alien threat, of course. The author did good research and for that ought to be commended. You really are immersed in the world and can thus understand what is happening, what the characters, including the bad guys, are feeling, so on. It just pulled you in and kept you in the story. The only real criticism I have of the book is that the ending is open-ended. Yes, there is hope that humanity can win and Keiji is determined this should happen, but there are losses and this is going to be tough battle that right now is up to the reader to imagine the ending of. It's implied, but not guaranteed, that earth might win. I like to imagine it will. If you want an alien invasion tale with a clever premise and good characterization, this is the tale for you. Oh, and my spoilerific summary left a TON of detail unsaid, so don't worry. ;) Highly Recommended.

Originally purchased this book because of all the trailers on TV advertising Edge of Tomorrow. My brother had initially told me to read the manga (which is also based on this book), though I never got around to it. I dove for it after reading All You Need Is Kill. This novel is based in a time we can assume isn't too far from our own. It's a relatively quick read, so if you want something light to read on the bus or while waiting at a clinic, this would definitely be something to reach for. You get sucked into the story fairly quickly, and though the ending kind of comes to a shock to the system, I personally liked it. I have heard a lot of people saying they disliked it though, so if you're not a fan of open/ambiguous endings, I may stay away from this. Other than that, I'd recommend this to anyone who likes a little action and who loves trying to solve riddles and mysteries, because this book certainly has a few of them for you to solve.

Edge of Tomorrow - All You Need Is Kill The book's about a soldier who loops through time, gaining battle skills every time. I saw the movie before I picked up the book. The original story paints a far more chilling account of the invasion and the end isn't rosy like in the movie. But the real reason I wanted to read this was to see how Hiroshi Sakurazaka handled the loop. The movie did a really good job, they learnt it from the book. Now the only book I had read (still unfinished, though) with a similar loop was Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. I got bored after the third chapter. It was like reading all the ideas the author had while writing the story - not endearing. In All You Need Is Kill, you barely notice the loop. Also there's a shift in the POV to third person in the middle of the book and then back again to first person a little later. It wasn't as jarring as I thought it would be, but I must admit that the movie handled it better. In All You Need Is Kill the Mimics aren't the conquerors, they are merely an advance team of nanobots sent to terraform Earth. The book could have inspired the Pacific Rim or Battleship. The techs and plots are a lot similar. This is a blazing fast read for action junkies with the taste for alien blood.

increible historia es una lectura que deboras

Lo leí meses antes del estreno de la película (previendo que nada bueno podía suceder con la adaptación) y acerté de lleno pese a que le película se deja ver. Todo un gustazo para los amantes de los relatos de ciencia ficción, narrado de forma muy inteligente y totalmente adictivo (me lo terminé en unas pocas horas).

It goes like this - I'd watched Oblivion and despite its flaws rate it as the best cinema so far this year (2013). I got the blu-ray and listened to the excellent commentary by Tom Cruise and Joseph Kosinski, which led me see what Tom was currently working on, which IMDB told me was a movie called the 'Edge of Tomorrow', based on a Japanese novel called 'All you need is Kill'. There was barely anything online for the movie so I checked out the book on Amazon. It had been translated into english. Three minutes later I turned the first page. It's not a long book, about 230 pages. I started reading Friday night, slept a couple of hours and started reading again Saturday morning. Finished it a few hours later. It was so good and so clever, my first impulse was to read it over again. Keiji is a rookie soldier fighting for the Japanese army in a global future war against an alien invading force. A war now decades old against an alien enemy called 'Mimics', far superior than human armies. The alliance of nations have joined forces not only in combat but in developing technologies, the height of which are armoured 'jackets', suits worn by male and female soldiers alike, that bring them closer to the physical characteristics of the invading 'mimics'. Having been trained to the peak of his physical capabilities Keiji is propelled into combat for the first time and instantly fatally wounded. Realising he is going to die he makes a last effort to kill the nearest mimic to him. He is torn to pieces and then wakes up in bed, thirty hours before he died. He dies just as quickly that day too and wakes up in the same bed. Realising he has become trapped in a time loop Keiji determines to become the best soldier he can, so that he may survive and live out the day. In a word: fantastic. There is of course a similarity in the structure to Jake Gyllenhaal's 'Source Code' but this book predates that. I wouldn't be surprised if AYNIK was the inspiration for Source Code. The quality of the story for me is that it introduces wild concepts to crank up the tension but come the end there are no loose ends. Everything is explained, our understanding of the time loop becomes a vital part of the ongoing story. The story has a real sense of humanity laced with the action and sci-fi. I'm not a sci-fi guy generally but this was so grounded in a progression of the human story, great action and character, there was not a line or page that wasn't totally captivating. The invention is just superb. What didn't I like? Absolutely nothing. I did struggle to fully imagine the mimics - a cross between a starfish and a bloated frog - but that was it. All in all if you like sci-fi, time travel, action or originality, then check this out. Very highly recommended. Can't wait to see the movie. I hope this was helpful.