Viz Launches Science Fiction Imprint
Posted in Manga News on January 27, 2009 by Johanna
Viz will be publishing translated Japanese science fiction and fantasy novels under the imprint Haikasoru (which means “high castle”). They plan to publish 12 books a year, beginning this July. The first two are The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa, about a time-traveling cyborg who finds love, and All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, at a cover price of $13.99 US.
That second one is described as the story of “one of many recruits shoved into a suit of battle armor called a Jacket and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to be reborn each morning to fight and die again and again. On his 158th iteration, he finally sees something different, something out of place–a female soldier known as the Full Metal Bitch.” Ok, that gives me a pass, right there.
It’s good to see them doing a sensible expansion, though. SF and fantasy are likely to appeal to the audience that already knows them through manga.
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01/27/2009 at 9:46 PM
Johanna,
That’s great news. I can’t wait to see what other authors they publish. I’ll definitely be picking up a few of the books.
01/27/2009 at 10:06 PM
Wow. Being able to take a look at a different part of the world’s literary culture excites me more than I would’ve expected.
Plus, novels offers more bang for your buck in terms of time which’ll be great for my wallet.
01/28/2009 at 2:25 AM
That really is a great logical move, and I’m quite frankly really excited. Cover price is a little steep, but I’m perfectly willing to pay it considering they have to pay for translators.
02/02/2009 at 6:00 PM
Caster Says:
“Wow. Being able to take a look at a different part of the world’s literary culture excites me more than I would’ve expected.”
Locus sometimes has “International Reports” articles. :) So far, these have covered science fiction and fantasy from the Arab Gulf states, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Germany, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Sweden, the UK, etc. Meanwhile, the alternate history website Uchronia lets one search by language as well as by author, series, etc.
Anyway, while you’re waiting for the Viz releases, these are already out. :)
The Island of Crimea : A Novel by Vassily Aksyonov, translated from Russian
The City Trilogy : Five Jade Disks, Defenders of the Dragon City, Tale of a Feather by Chang Ksi-kuo, translated from Chinese
The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach, translated from German
Strange Pilgrims : Twelve Stories by Gabriel GarcÃÂa Márquez, translated from Spanish
Behind the Red Mist : Fiction by Hô Anh Thái, translated from Vietnamese
Crossfire by Miyabe Miyuki, translated from Japanese
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World : A Novel by Murakami Haruki, translated from Japanese
The Yellow Arrow by Victor Pelevin, translated from Russian
Dreams of the Sea and its sequel A Game of Perfection by Élisabeth Vonarburg, translated from French
Reluctant Voyagers by Élisabeth Vonarburg, translated from French
The Silent City and its sequel The Maerlande Chronicles by Élisabeth Vonarburg, translated from French
Science Fiction from China anthology edited by Wu Dingbo and Patrick D. Murphy, translated from Chinese