Book Review - All You Need Is Kill

Any story that includes oodles of killing, funny one-liners, giant alien frogs, and names like: Full Metal Bitch, will hold my attention any day.

All You Need Is Kill is a no non-sense Sci-Fi novel, getting right to the meat of the matter.  There's no tremendous backstory, no getting caught up in a love story, and no learning curve to tackle extreme names and ridiculous environments.  It throws you into the heat of battle and stays there until the finale.  If you're looking for written housewife porn or silly teenage romances involving werewolves, chipmunks, and dragons—this is not your book.  This novel is for the person who dreams of putting on a mechanized suit and wielding an axe the size of a tree-trunk to rip through hoards of bloated sea aliens.

You might look at this picture and say "that looks like a riot outfit with left-over car parts glued to it," 

but you'd be wrong.

STORY:

Keiji Kiriya is a new recruit, just a few days out of basic, getting ready for his first real taste of the battlefield.  With help from a mechanized suit—called a Jacket—he's thrown head first into a war zone to face an aquatic enemy known only as the Mimics.  These giant bloated frogs—at least that's how the protagonist sees them—are leaving nothing but desert behind wherever they attack, and they're next location is Japan where the wet-behind-the-ears Keiji is stationed.  The story would end a few pages in after a dramatic death on the battle field, but the next thing Keiji knows, he's right back in his bunk again awaiting the oncoming battle.  Confusion really sets in when he meets a Jacket painted bright red, piloted by none other than the Full Metal Bitch from the U.S. Special forces.  Crazy frog killing, axe wielding, and dark humor ensues.

THOUGHTS:

You might be thinking to yourself: "I've never heard of this title.  Why would anyone decide to pick this up and read it?"  Well, besides the catchy premise, I thought the same thing.  The reason I even discovered this book is because soon, the one and only, Mr. Mission Impossible himself, Tom Cruise, will be gracing the silver screen, staring in the film adaptation: The Edge of Tomorrow.  The movie will be another Sci-Fi romp for the actor who just left Oblivion behind.  Unfortunately, he will not be playing a Japanese man as the original story is written.  But he was pretty awesome in The Last Samurai, so there's that.

The Last Samurai was turning out to be an epic drama, until Mr. Cruise broke into a song 

and then stripped down to his underwear.

The story is simple enough, with a good plot hook behind it.  The author declares at the end of the book that the idea arose while playing video games.  So, think Halo meets Groundhog Day.  If you like the idea of Sci-Fi battles that continue to loop for some mysterious reason, with a young naive recruit caught in the middle, then don't wait, just pick this book up and give it a whirl.

"Alright, now ease up on the clutch."

"Will you shut up and just let me drive?"

The thing I liked the best about this novel, is there's no attempt to wander off to some side plot that just ends up adding girth to the story.  From the first paragraph, you’re thrown in the middle of a war you know nothing about, and the author takes no time to explain.  Nor does he hold your hand throughout the book, repeating plot points just so you remember what's going on.  The book is short, sweet, to the point, and some people may have no problem ripping through this in one stormy afternoon.

A lover of the shoot-em-up style video games or say, Final Fantasy, will definitely enjoy the way the story is told.  If you're more the type that is looking for a thought-provoking novel that just might give you the meaning of life, this isn't for you.  People who enjoy reading about housewives that found other uses for the bananas on their counters, or wives that call a plumber because they need a man to snake their drain, probably won't last more than a couple of paragraphs in this book.  This is for the person who wants fun, energetic, slightly humorous, yet heart felt Sci-Fi stories. 

"Umm...guys?  I think we were dropped into the wrong war zone."

"I know.  Some dude over there sounds like he's speaking Japanese."

Even though the author tosses you right in the middle of the action and then does some slight back-tracking, doesn't mean a full explanation is coming.  Once you've related to the young protagonist, Keiji, the book will dig a little deeper into what exactly is happening, but it never becomes boring, as action is always right around the corner.

As I said in the description, Keiji meets the Special Forces officer, Full Metal Bitch—otherwise known as Rita—on the battle field, and is taken aback by her grace and glorious alien gut spewing battle tactics.  He wants nothing more than to rub her axe and to get to know how she became such an iconic Valkyrie on the battlefield.  The only problem is: his terrible war prowess keeps getting him killed, again and again and again.  But not to worry, he wakes up in the same bed, in the same position every day.  Keiji and the reader find themselves in a mystery that has to be solved, but also find themselves enticed by Rita, the Full Metal Bitch, who gives a new meaning to the word slaughter.

"If you tell me one more time, this movie will be great and won't ruin my career...

I'm pulling the trigger."  

Most of time, Sci-Fi stories like to dive deep into the science behind why something is the way it is.  This novel dances around the rim of science theory, but the author is really more concerned with entertaining, rather than throwing chapter after chapter of future science jargon in your face. Explanations appear in short, sweet waves, intertwined with blood spewing war, and then the novel ends just the way you'd envision it.

 

"Alright Mr. Cruise, so going down the list here--we have you riding and sliding.  

All we need is a few shots of you jumping, shooting and running, and we'll be good to go."

CONCLUSION:

If you're looking to tide yourself over with a quick Sci-Fi romp before you dive into some truly life altering book, than All You Need is Kill should be your go-to novel.  If your library consists of other Sci-Fi novels stacked up on top of each other, then this book will feel right at home.  

4 out of 5 stars (minus 1 star for selling the rights to Tom Cruise)

*BIRTHDAY SIDE NOTE:

Yes, that's right my friends, this month P&P celebrates becoming the giant number one.  Just yesterday we were crapping in our diapers and having other people change it.  Now, we don't only crap in our pants, but we walk around with it all day.  So, won't you celebrate this momentous occasion by joining us in a very steady, but elegant golf clap?  *claps quietly for ten seconds* 

If you haven't had some of our spiked punch or week-old leftovers, then at least drop by our "new" FAQ area on the blog for more P&P information.  We'd like to thank each and every individual reader personally, but that'd take too frigging long.  So you get this instead: "Yeah, umm…you have nice teeth and stuff—crap, I mean…thanks for laughing at us.  Wait—with us—it's with us.  Whatever…you get it."