Scott Graham

Saitama fights a series of assorted villains and a mercenary without the notoriety that he deserves and decides he desires. Good tongue in cheek humor and exposition through inner dialogue and conversation between adversaries helps move the plot(s) along at a brisk pace.

Saitama fights a series of assorted villains and a mercenary without the notoriety that he deserves and decides he desires. Good tongue in cheek humor and exposition through inner dialogue and conversation between adversaries helps move the plot(s) along at a brisk pace.

Like Liu’s other short story collection, The Paper Menagerie, The Hidden Girl is a mixed bag, but most of the stories that you pull from the bag are interesting, thought provoking, and even tug at your heart a few times. They are best when the story is exploring the idea of the human/computer singularity and whether or not humanity would actually be much changed in the surrendering of the body. The other speculative stories are also quite good; the weakest tales are the more fantasy based selections in my opinion. The author seems to be better suited to calling out the pitfalls of advancement, or at least moralizing on it gently. Well worth the read, but beware of a couple clunkers.

Fun battles between exagerated cartoon monsters and the inexplicably strong hero who can vanquish foes with the eponymous one punch. A fun amuse bouche for between novels. A quick palate cleanse if you would.