All You Need Is Kill, by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

(hb; 2004)


From the back cover:

"When alien Mimics invade, Keiji Kiriya is just one of the 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 gets a message from a mysterious ally - the female soldier known as the Full Metal Bitch.  Is she the key to Keiji's escape or his final death?"


Review:

Kill, for the most part, reads like an action-packed, waste-no-words and hard (tech-savvy) science fiction take on Groundhog Day.  Character development and word count are minimal in this fast read and it kept my attention through most of it; near the end, it drags out a bit, but it has a solid finish. 

This is worth checking out from the library, or picking up for a few dollars.

#

This novel is the basis for the forthcoming film Edge of Tomorrow.  Scheduled for a June 6, 2014 stateside release, Edge is directed by Doug Liman from a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth.

Tom Cruise plays Lt. Col. Bill Page.  Emily Blunt plays Rita Vratatski.  Lara Pulver plays Karen Lord.  Jeremy Piven plays Col. Walter Marx. Madeleine Mantock plays Julie.  Bill Paxton is also in the film, but IMDb.com doesn't (as of this writing) list the name of his character.

Jumper, by Steven C. Gould

(hb; 1992: first book in the Jumper trilogy)

From the inside flap:

“Davy can teleport. He first discovers his talent during a savage beating delivered by his abusive father, when Davy jumps instantaneously to the safest place he knows, his small-town public library. As his mother did so many years before, Davy vows never to go home again. Instead, he sets off, young and inexperienced, for New York City.

“Davy gradually learns to use and control his powers, first for sheer survival in an environment more violent and complex than he ever imagined. But mere survival is not enough for Davy. He wants to know if there are other people like him. He needs to know if his mother disappeared so completely from his life because she, too, could Jump. As as he searches for a trace of anyone else with powers like his own, he learns to use his abilities for more than escape and theft.

“A young man with nothing to lose, and the ability to go anywhere he wants, can help a lot of people. But he can also make a lot of trouble, and sooner or later trouble is going to come looking for him. The one way Davy can think of to locate other who can Jump is to make himself visible to them, but if he does, the police will surely find him, too...”

Review:

Dark undertides (domestic abuse, terrorism, non-graphic violent death, alcoholism) add reader-intriguing anxieties to Davy's first-person coming-of-age narrative, an expeditious narrative that becomes darker as it progresses. More than mere teleportation-clichéd frippery, this is a quality, not quite classic, read: worth your time, this.

Jumper, the novel, has two book sequels - Reflex, and Jumper: Griffin's Story (which is set for an August 21, 2007 release).

#

The resulting film is set for a February 15, 2008 stateside release.

Doug Liman directed the film, from a script by David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls and Simon Kinberg.

Hayden Christiansen played Davey. Samuel L. Jackson played Cox. Diane Lane played Mary Rice. Michael Rooker played William Rice. Tom Hulce played Mr. Bowker. Kristen Stewart played Sophie. Barbara Garrick played Ellen.

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

(pb; 1980: first book in the Jason Bourne series) 

A wounded man, rescued from the sea, discovers that he is more than he thought, and finds himself hunted by various agencies and people, not the least of whom is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, aka the Carlos the Jackal (loosely based on a real-life assassin). 

Identity is classic Ludlum: Bourne, like most of Ludlum's protagonists, is well-developed, as are all of the characters in this novel. These personalities further convolute an already complex, international-in-scope plot, resulting in some memorably slick action sequences amidst detailed settings. Bourne's initially-unwilling female companion, Marie St. Jacques, is a great foil to Bourne, and complements him. Hairpin, often surprising, twists highlight this novel, making this a delight to read. Followed by The Bourne Supremacy. 

#

This novel has been filmed twice, first as a mini-series, later as a theatrical release. The television mini-series version, bearing the name of its source novel, aired on American television on May 8, 1988. Roger Young directed the mini-series, from a script by Carol Sobieski. 

Richard Chamberlain played Jason Bourne. Jaclyn Smith played Marie St. Jacques. Anthony Quayle played Gen. François Villiers. Donald Moffat played David Abbott. Yorgo Voyagis played Carlos. Peter Vaughn played Fritz Koenig. Denholm Elliott played Dr. Geoffrey Washburn. 

#

The theatrical film was released stateside on June 14, 2002. Matt Damon played Jason Bourne. Franka Potente played Marie St. Jacques. Chris Cooper played Alexander Conklin. Clive Owen played The Professor. Brian Cox played Ward Abbott. Gabriel Mann played Danny Zorn. Walton Goggins played "Research Tech". Doug Liman directed the film, from a script by Tony Gilroy and W. Blake Herron (billed as William Blake Herron).