Customer Reviews

Ghost In The Shell - Stand Alone Complex Volume 2: Revenge Of The Cold Machines (v. 2)

5 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Revenge Of The Cold Machines by Junichi Fujisaku are three stories set in the Ghost In The Shell universe, sometime around the first part second season or just before it. The refugee problem is in the background, just starting to boil, and the Laughing Man case is talked about in one of the stories. The first story is about an assassin being hired to take out a member of Section 9. The second story focuses on the interaction between a police officer and a Tachikoma told from the point of view of the tank itself. The third deals with military cyberbodies in the wrong hands.

Yet as you read page after page you start to see the same names and realize all the stories are linked together. Like some episodes from the series these stories are not Stand Alone but part of a Complex single story. There are even links to the television episodes, if you look hard enough.

This volume is a little smaller than the previous one, but it's fun to read nonetheless. If you enjoy Stand Alone Complex animated series, you will probably enjoy this book. I only wish the stories were a little longer.

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex: Revenge of the Cold Machines is a solid addition to anyone's collection, combining action, mystery, and a serious reflection on what our future might look like in a novel that's as entertaining and thoughtful to read as any work by writers on this side of the Pacific. The continuing saga of Ghost in the Shell stands alone as an increasingly focused vision of a utopian/dystopian tomorrow irresistably attractive to readers of science fiction and sociology as well as manga and mystery.

Book was sold as a 2nd novel...After several delays from the original publication date the book (now a collection of short stories) arrived...I had pre-ordered a third advertised novel but when the notice of it's delay arrived I cancelled the order.