Desperate Living

Just read Kambayashi's 'Yukikaze'. I am better at picking up new concepts rather than underlying (implied) themes in novels. Which is one reason I rarely read novels anymore. Also, I am generally not very interested in characters individually, and more the overall content. the multiple afterwords and commentaries included at the end of the book pointed out that each chapter featured a different situation where the nature of what is "human" or "alive" is examined. I honestly had not noticed, being focused on rushing to each description of the amazing fictional aircraft in the book. I started reading Yukikaze having already seen the OVA adaptation . In the novel, the JAM remain mysterious, as do the characters (largely). Which is supposed to make them seem cold and distant, 'machinelike'. So over the course of the conflict the JAM (a probably mechanical lifeform, it remains uncertain) attempt to deceive the humans, initially by making copies of human planes that are (externally at least) indistinguishable from the human craft and later by trying to make artificial human replicas. Meanwhile there is increasing use of computers and AIs by the humans. From selecting automatically who should receive a commendation, to the instance when a AI releases all limiters on the plane and takes over control to save itself from incoming missiles, with the result being the death of the pilot from internal bleeding while the plane successfully returns on its own. When I started this book, I'd hoped for some great aircraft scenes and ended up with that and an interesting story as well.

I give this book my highest recommendation. I hope very much that the follow-up novels, 'Good Luck, Yukikaze' and 'Unbroken Arrow' may be translated and released someday.

More book info including an excerpt: Haikasoru

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I felt a good follow up would be War in the Age of Intelligent Machines by de Landa. It is the next book I will be reading.