End of the World Blues

A veteran's slightly dangerous life gets a lot more so when an explosion and murder attempt fails to kill him, thanks to a strange Japanese girl who may or may not be a far future denizen. Then there's a somewhat hardboiled crime story about many millions of dollars of the sort you find in books like that - which involves a lot more people that would like to track down, knock off said veteran and his unlikely saviour. On the run in more than one country. 3.5 out of 5

Jon Courtenay Grimwood is an incredibly intelligent and inventive writer, and readers looking for intricately plotted cerebral fiction will love the dark and mysterious depths of his novels. The other reviewers here have used the word "convoluted" to describe this story and they're right, because Grimwood's bizarrely twisted plotlines tend to overwhelm his fascinating characters and vibrant settings. Note that the novel is not really science fiction, but a slightly cyberpunk-ish crime mystery (and a very complex one) with some sci-fi elements added on. The main character Kit Nouveau gets caught up in a very tangled web of intrigue involving organized crime lords and evil conspiracies in both England and Japan, trailed by the mysterious Lady Neku, a forlorn Japanese street urchin who also inhabits a future alternate reality, or just thinks she does. Lady Neku's story is intriguing but very vague and ambiguous, which is clearly an intentional strategy by Grimwood to fire the reader's imagination, but some readers may find her far-future sci-fi homeworld too undeveloped for comfort. Meanwhile, Kit Nouveau's adventures in crime and redemption remain exciting, but Grimwood keeps piling on intricate twists and conspiratorial subplots to the point of distraction, with the story nearly collapsing under its own weight. Granted, the sheer power and uniqueness of Grimwood's imagination, and his skills in plot construction, will keep adventurous readers fascinated. But those with more structured imaginations might have to read this book three or four times to really figure out all the twists and turns, which might just be too showoff-ish for their own good. [~doomsdayer520~]

Jon Courtenay Grimwood's "End of the World Blues" is a stylish, often convoluted, post-cyberpunk thriller which will easily remind readers of William Gibson's early "Cyberspace" trilogy. However, Grimwood's depiction of a near future Japan owes more to Haruki Murakami's vision of Japan than Gibson's in its realism (which isn't surprising since Grimwood has, unlike Gibson, resided there). Young British expatriate Kit Noveau must contend with the unexpected demise of his wife and of the bar that she had owned. His only chance at redemption lies in an ex-girlfriend who left a suicide note before vanishing. His only friend is a rather bizarre young Japanese girl, Neku, who believes that she is an aristocrat from Earth's distant future. Together they travel through the urban jungles of Japan and Great Britain in search of the missing keys that will explain who was ultimately responsible for the death of Kit's Japanese wife. Without question, Grimwood is one of Great Britain's best young writers of literary science fiction and fantasy; "End of the World Blues" merely reinforces the ample critical and popular acclaim he's earned on both sides of the Atlantic.

This is supposed to be literary science fiction which I don't usually read. Which might explain why I think this barely qualifies as science fiction. Magic realism or Fantasy would be a better categorization, although half the book is a straightforward whodunit. Let me get the verdict out of the way - I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to anyone. I found the book a bit unsettling because of the dreamlike setting. By dreamlike I am obviously not talking about the story being partly based in a world very different from our own and involving a greater than usual suspension of disbelief. There is a certain lack of clear definitions and amorphous-ness in the characters and the plot, especially Lady Neku. I felt myself just moving with the flow of the story, hoping that things would become clear ultimately. It's been sometime since I have picked up a Murakami, but I suspect it is the same kind of feeling. The story revolves around Kit Nouveau with Lady Neku playing a supporting role. I wish it were the other way around - perhaps because then the plot would have been more fantasy/sf than whodunit. A large part of the book is based in Japan and reading it reawakened my secret fascination with contemporary Japanese culture. I have to find out if all this is just a media construct or if things really are as wierd over there!

In Tokyo, runaway teenager Lady "Countess of High Strange" Neku hides fifteen million dollars in a in a train station locker. Soon afterward she saves the life of former Iraq war veteran Kit Nouveau when she efficiently kills a mugger attacking him. The Pirate's Mary bar owner tells Neku he owes her. Many groups are after Neku because of the money she hid; this includes the yakuza syndicate and, British espionage agents; Several of Kit's former lovers and a few he still sees are after him. Neku also "lives" in an alternate reality as a princess married to an adversarial family. She fears her virtual life has interacted with her real life while Kit feeling an obsession to save a former girlfriend who left a suicide note behind wonders what he has gotten into since Neku saved him from a mugging. The END OF THE WORLD BLUES is a complex somewhat convoluted character driven thriller that hooks readers who prefer something different yet compelling. Kit with his world ended yesterday philosophy and Neku with her strange kick butt attitude make for a dynamic read as her adventures tie into his past, present, and apparently his future making the double helix look like preschool science. Jon Courtenay Grimwood is at his most complicated best with this strong tale. Harriet Klausner