Hard-boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World: A Novel

This book, originally published in Japanese, tells two distinct narratives. The science fiction narrative is told by a human with data processing capabilities. This merger of man and machine is called a âcalcutecâ who uses his own subconscious to encrypt data for the System, the government organizations tasked with protecting the data from those who would wish to steal it. The calcutec, in this case, has been working with a scientist on a secret project. During the course of the story, the calcutec learns that he only has 36 hours to live before the world ends. At this point, the two narratives begin to merge for a different type of ending. Why It Made the List The book is an amalgam of science fiction and fantasy. The chapters alternate between the science-fiction cyberpunk universe and a unicorn universe of fantasy. The novel was originally published in Japanese in 1985 and in an English edition six years later. Interestingly none of the characters are given proper names, being only a matter of their function rather than their character. Read It If You Likecyberpunk, unicorns, robots