United States of Japan
Ratings21
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings21
Average rating3.6
Decades ago, Japan won the Second World War. Americans worship their infallible Emperor, and nobody believes that Japan's conduct in the war was anything but exemplary. Nobody, that is, except the George Washingtons -- a group of rebels fighting for freedom. Their latest terrorist tactic is to distribute an illegal video game that asks players to imagine what the world might be like if the United States had won the war instead. Captain Beniko Ishimura's job is to censor video games, and he's tasked with getting to the bottom of this disturbing new development. But Ishimura's hiding something...kind of. He's slowly been discovering that the case of the George Washingtons is more complicated than it seems, and the subversive videogame's origins are even more controversial and dangerous than the censors originally suspected. A spiritual sequel to Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle, United States of Japan carries on the legacy of Dick's famous alternate history, focusing on how Americans and Japanese deal with their guilt and troubled relationship to the past.
Reviews with the most likes.
An alternate reality story, what if Japan was able to step into America (with the movie, Midway soon to be shown, this was a timely, what if............)
So we all know what happened in World War II, Allies won against the Axis, but what if the Axis forces won against the Allies, this novel clearly shows the result, there have been stories about the Third Reich winning, but this one touches on the war in the Pacific, wherein the small nation of Japan, was able to carve it's own empire and it reaches as far as the United States of America, history has shown how brutal both Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan to their prisoners, or those they deem inferior, it was like reading my history lessons, except English is not the 2nd language of the world, but Nihongo, every detail of inhumane acts, every movement of their upper echelon, terrifyingly accurate, we never ever want to go back to those barbaric times, and I hope even if this is just a superbly researched and written novel, those things REALLY DID HAPPEN!!!
Astounding how both states Germany and Japan, was almost able to conquer all it aspired to, and how small their nations was compared to their neighboring countries.........
Mr. Tieryas, I hope a lot of people read this work of yours, truly a fine and praise worthy novel........
Heavily influenced by Man in a High Castle, but not to its detriment. It was a very nilhistic story; the main characters purported a loyalty to either the Emperor or to their own code of ethics, but ultimately meaningless and futile. Kept me interested, but left me unsatisfied
I don't rate or review many books here on Goodreads, but I was so excited to read this book. Man in The High Castle is one of my favorite books and this sounded like it was going to be similar but also with giant mechs. Just look at the covers to all the books in the series, it's got be full of action with lots of mech fights. Don't let this cover fool you, if you are looking for books with mechs as the center, this isn't it. I enjoyed the book because yes, it's like Man in The High Castle but I was distracted as I awaited the mech fights. There are a few mech fights in the books, but those parts are very lack-luster and boring compared to what I expected or what this could have been. I don't plan on reading the next two books simply because I felt misled with this one. If you are going to read this book, ignore the idea of mechs all together and enjoy the story.
This was a tough but fascinating mecha ride into an alternate history hell. Could this happen in our timeline?
Featured Series
2 primary books3 released booksMecha Samurai Empire is a 3-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2001 with contributions by Peter Tieryas and Peter Tieryas.
