Synopsis:There’s one thing worse than dying. It’s coming back to do it again and again… When the alien Gitai invade, Keiji Kiriya is just one of many raw recruits shoved into a suit of battle armor and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to find himself reborn each morning to fight and die again and again. On the 158th iteration though, he sees something different, something out of place: the female soldier known as the Bitch of War. Is the Bitch the key to Keiji’s escape, or to his final death?
Summary:
An incredible Sci-Fi classic that redefines how we see our day to day lives by disrupting the natural order of the only thing far beyond our control – time.
My thoughts:
Captivating, intriguing and down right infuriating!
The book is jam packed with action, military jargon and small indifferences. Keiji becomes trapped in the endless time loop employed by The Mimics – the invading species – in order to sway their vantage on the battlefield.
Each loop, instead of becoming increasingly and consequently boring becomes exactly the opposite. Each new play through gives us unique insights and parallel tangents of reality that could come to pass including redevelopments of each supporting character, influencing us to view them differently on each loop, for better or worse.
The different approaches to the situation post loop death, widens our spectrum of the world. We not only see outside the base but we see the US base of operations, not just Japan’s and how the mimics are affecting the world they live in outside of the main battle.
Although Keiji is trapped in the same continuous battle again and again, he – through his own extensive training and progress – delves further into the field than he ever has before, encounters different mimics and in doing so meets the Full Metal Bitch – Rita Vrataski. The so called Angel of the base of special operations of the US of freaking A.
Their meeting isn’t exactly friendly, more matter-of-fact and I let out a hollow laugh as I read it!
After discovering she is also trapped within her own loop, its up to them to work together and use what they know to bring down the time loop mechanism which is slowly costing them not only the war, but the world.
The ending is fantastic and reminds my slightly of an anime battle but it perfectly fits the feel of the book and I only wish that I’d gotten to see it in the film!
It was also interesting to see where they got the name for Tom Cruise’s character from. Even if it we got a cowardly wrapped package rather than the bad-ass delivery in the book.
Final Word:
A definitive Sci-Fi classic that should be at the forefront of any book lovers to-read list. If you enjoyed the film, it is definitely worth investing in!
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