All You Need Is Kill

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This book is the basis of the Tom Cruise Movie “Edge of Tomorrow” aka “Live.Die.Repeat.” Both the movie and book are when all is said and considered a novelized video game.

In the book, the hero is Keiji Kiriya, who is a raw recruit in the Japanese element of the United Defense Force (“UDF”). The Japanese are holding the line on the mainland against the alien “Mimics,” which are an alien species sent to “terraform” Earth into a condition that will support their creator's life, but which, alas, is also deadly to human beings. The Mimics are so tough that it takes several humans in an exo-skeleton “Jacket” - perhaps modeled on the suits Robert Heinlein imagined in “Starship Troopers” - to kill a single Mimic.

Except Mad Wargarita - Rita Vrataski - who kills hundreds at a time.

Keiji gets trapped in a time loop when he dies in his first battle. He quickly comes to realize he's in a time loop and vows to get better with each pass through the loop. Eventually, he comes to partner with Rita when she realizes he is going through the same experience she went through previously. From there it is a matter of dealing with the battle.

This book is fast, fun read. It is all action with no let up, although there is a some conflict with respect to his relationship with Rita. However, there is little depth of character; both Keiji and Rita live to play the game - to fight, kill, die and get better with each pass through the loop, constantly racking up points.

How does it compare to the movie? Pretty close, actually. The setting of the movie is in Europe, not Japan; Cruise is an American named William Cage, while Keiji gets the nickname of “Cage” when he joins US Special Ops, but the movie, like the book, is really about the experience of a video game player, perfecting his skills and increasing his points after each reset.

This book is a fast, fun read, but there is nothing special about it.