“An Account of the Sky Whales” by A Que, translated by Andy Dudak (Clarkesworld Magazine, June 1)
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“In a brilliant probing of identity, and employing a highly original style that subverts standard narrative forms, Tomoyuki Hoshino elevates what might have been a commonplace crime story to an occasion for philosophical reflection. In the process, he offers profound insights into the state of contemporary Japanese society.”
Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Volume 4: Stratagem by Yoshiki Tanaka, translated by Tyran Grillo (Haikasoru, June 20)
“In the thirty-sixth century humanity has conquered the galaxy and colonized countless star systems. The Galactic Empire, modeled along Prussian lines, and the democratic Free Planets Alliance are at war, and the fate of every human being in the universe hangs in the balance. This classic Japanese space opera, adapted into a legendary anime, is finally available in English for the first time. Remnants of the high nobility, manipulated by the “third power” of Phezzan, abduct the seven-year-old emperor and, with the cooperation of the Free Planets Alliance, declare the establishment of a traditional imperial government. Reinhard, however, has turned the tables by making a secret pact with Phezzan’s high officials and plans a grand invasion of the alliance by way of the Phezzan Corridor. So begins an epic battle between Yang—who, despite surmising Reinhard’s true intentions, must defend Iserlohn—and the Imperial Navy’s peerless fighter, von Reuentahl.”
In Search of the Grail by Svetislav Basara, translated by Randall A. Major (Dalkey Archive Press, June 23)
“In Search of the Grail continues Svetislav Basara’s “Cyclist Conspiracy,” a fantastical exploration of civilizational decline told through an array of strange and esoteric documents. Readers are introduced to a secret history of the twentieth century, shown that behind the well-known wars and political revolutions of the period numerous secret organizations vied for supremacy through the control of books, knowledge, and dreams. With appearances by Sigmund Freud, Salvador Dali, the Marquis de Sade, Karl Marx, and Josef Stalin, among many others, Basara’s novel presents a singularly playful, imaginative portrait of modernity and of the human condition.”
Heavens on Earth by Carmen Boullosa, translated by Shelby Vincent (Deep Vellum, June 27)
“Three narrators from different historical eras engage in preserving history in Heavens on Earth. As her narrators sense each other and interact through time and space, Boullosa challenges the primacy of recorded history and asserts literature and language’s power to transcend the barriers of time and space in vivid, urgent prose.”
You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin (Pantheon, June 13)
“From the internationally best-selling author of Measuring the World and F, an eerie and supernatural tale of a writer’s emotional collapse.”
