Longtime readers of the blog know that I'm a big fan of ARISUGAWA Alice's Student Alices series. I've reviewed all of the books of the series in the past, and I consider the adventures of the student Alice and his merry comrades of the Eito University Mystery Club as one of the most entertaining, and intellectually most challenging mystery series. The books mix young-adult themes with Ellery Queen-like tricky plots, complete with a Challenge to the Reader. In particular, I've praised 1989's Kotou Puzzle ("The Island Puzzle") on more than one occassion as the book where Arisugawa in fact outdoes Queen at his own game. It has everything: a hunt for a buried treasure on an island with dozens of moai statues, a locked room murder, a Challenge to the Reader, and an incredible finale where the detective, Mr. Egami, points out who the murderer is based on a very satisfying chain of deductions.
So I'm more than thrilled to announce that after the critical succes of The Decagon House Murders, Locked Room International will be bringing you another Japanese mystery classic: ARISUGAWA Alice's The Moai Island Puzzle is scheduled to be released coming June. And once again, I had the honor of translating the book. The title is slightly different from the original title, but hey, now it's more Ellery Queen-like! Like with The Decagon House Murders, I have to admit I feel a lot easier about praising the book on the blog now (as the translator), knowing that I had already raved about the book as a crazy fanboy in the past already! So not as the translator, but simply as someone who realllllly enjoyed the book, I say: definitely check it out, as it's simply one of my favorite Japanese mystery novels.Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, which I hope is the first of more positive reviews to follow. My own review of the Japanese original can be found at this link (written many years before I knew I would translate the book), and my we-write-English-reviews-of-Japanese-mystery-novels collegues over at My Japanese bookshelf and On the Threshold of Chaos also have reviews.
And that's it for the service announcements today
congratulations :)
ReplyDeletecan it be purchased on e-book ?
Errr, not 100% sure, but very, very, veeeeery probably yes, as I think all of LRI's books are available digitally.
DeleteCongratulations. The book is currently listed on Amazon.com as unavailable, which they sometimes do prior to publication instead of listing it as a pre-order. If you want the book to be listed as a pre-order, you probably have to have it listed that way.
ReplyDeleteThe Amazon page was put online a month ago, with the wrong release date (in March). It was changed soon after, but because of that, it's now set on 'not avaiable', instead of 'pre-order' (as it was "released" for a while). I suspect it can't be set back to pre-order now.
DeleteI'm really glad that you're translating this title into English - but aargh! For the second time in a row, I struggle through a Chinese translation of a Japanese mystery novel, only to discover that an English translation by LRI is in the pipeline...
ReplyDeleteSorry 'bout that! Let's hope third time's a charm!
DeleteHaving said that, I'm very happy that this particular title gets a wider audience with an English translation. If I recall correctly, the solution to the locked room murder was not especially strong - but the chain of deductions based on a single clue was impressive...!
ReplyDeleteIt's a great little puzzle, with a lovely slow build and then all manner of excitement once it kicks into gear, and the chain of deduction that ties it up is impressively thorough from surprisingly modest beginnings. You've done a really good job with the translation, too, so kudos and thanks for once again bringing another excellent piece of honkaku to we English-speaking folk too lazy to learn another language! People are in for a treat when this comes out in June...
ReplyDeleteOh, it comes out in June ? why such a long wait ? :(
DeleteJJ, thanks for the proofreading, the praise and I'm glad you liked the book!
Deletewhat japanese mystery novel would you personnaly like to translate next ?
ReplyDeleteHmm, I'm not going to name a specific title, because if there's one thing I learned from the internet, it's that if I'm going to name a title here, in a few months it'll have turned into "he said he's going to that title".
DeleteBut it'd be an honor if I could do another novel as highly regarded among Japanese mystery fans as The Decagon House Murders and The Moai Island Puzzle. I namedrop titles constantly on the blog in various posts, so one of those.
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ReplyDeletefinally we(non-japanese speaking folk) will getting touch with arisugawa alice without language barrier ... i'm so excited
ReplyDeleteIs LRI looking to go through the "greatest hits" of Japanese mystery fiction? Because I can think of a few important Seishi Yokomizo books that have yet to be translated. ;)
ReplyDeleteMaybe, someday!
DeleteFirst of all, congratulations! i am really looking forward to finally read Kotou Puzzle after hearing all the praise for it for a long time without actually be able to read it because of the language barrier (even though i am making an effort those days to actually learn Japanese)
ReplyDeleteSecondly: this is totally unrelated to this blog post and kinda off-topic but, did you read Okitegami Kyoko no Biboroku by NisiOsiN or interested in doing so in the future? or at least watching the live-action adaptation of the series? -that's how i am experiencing the series currently anyway -
I hope you'll enjoy the book!
DeleteAs for Okitegami Kyoko no Biboroku: oh wow, I always watch one or two shows each season, but I hadn't even noticed the existence of that drama when it was on air. I might take a look at that!
I really liked both The Tokyo Zodiac Murders (which also has an Ellery Queen-like title) and ESPECIALLY The Decagon House Murders since Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None is one of my favorite books of all time. (Even if I have to get used to "Soldiers" replacing "Indians".) While it does not sound as if Alice will have to worry about a "U.N. Owen" intent on murdering everyone on the island, the set-up sounds very intriguing and I am looking forward to reading this next month. Hopefully it will be available via Amazon Unlimited, but if it isn't I plan to buy the book.
DeleteYou'll have to ask the publisher about things like Amazon Unlimited, because I really know nothing about that, but I hope you'll enjoy the book, no matter the way you'll get it!
DeleteIt is available on Amazon Unlimited, but I've ordered a hard copy of the book already. It will probably arrive tomorrow or the next day.
DeleteTry solve the Challenge to the Reader ;)
DeleteBefore I get to the Challenge to the Reader, I have to first get to the murder---which I think is going to happen at the end of the second chapter I'm reading. Two quick questions---is the Western name "Alice" commonly given to males in Japan? (It's not like this is without precedent in the West. "Ariel" used to be given to boys, and then along came a Disney cartoon that changed everything.) Also, do you know if "The Moai Island Puzzle" has been translated into any Western language other than English? Thanks!
DeleteAlice is not a common name given to boys in Japan. Arisugawa is just a big fan of Alice in Wonderland ;)
DeleteAs far as I know, this is actually the very first time Arisugawa has been translated into a Western language, so The Moai Island Puzzle is actually his debut in these spheres.
When I tried looking up his name, I did see a doll in a rabbit costume that came up, but "Alice" was written as "Arisu." I wondered if there was a connection to Alice In Wonderland. Thanks for confirming it.
ReplyDeleteTechnically, his name is indeed "Arisu", but that's because of how the Japanese language works (just like how Edward becomes Edowado when written in the Japanese syllable alphabet). Arisugawa has always made it clear that his pen name comes from Alice in Wonderland (he even utilizes a Cheshire Cat logo to sign afterwords in his Japanese releases).
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