Rita, an American soldier who is also caught in time loops, gives Keiji somebody to learn from, but their relationship felt constrained.

So much was left unexplored because of the story’s pace and brevity.

Who wouldn’t want a redo in real life?īut past those concepts, the story runs into problems. The premise of Earth being terraformed while humans fought for survival was novel, as was the use of time travel to become better and better at winning. I enjoyed how Keiji worked out a schedule that he followed every loop to allow for maximum learning. Just like in a video game, Keiji keeps improving and improving with each continue until he becomes a formidable–nay, superhuman–force on the battlefield. I liked the book’s concepts: mecha “Jackets” that give soldiers super strength, an alien species terraforming Earth while we are still on it, time travel a la Groundhog Day, and a main character who dies over and over again. This might be due to translation, but a few things turned me off over and over again, as repetitively as Keiji’s time loop. The recent movie Edge of Tomorrow is based on it.Īs a story, “All You Need Is Kill” was very gripping, with quick pacing, unrelenting action, and an intriguing premise, but it was unevenly written. It tells the tale of Keiji, a soldier caught in a time loop that repeats every time he dies. All You Need Is Kill is a Japanese novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, translated by Alexander O. “All You Need Is Kill” by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.

Hiroshi sakurazaka books