Rocket Girls by Housuke Nojiri

DiskuteraLight Novels

Bara medlemmar i LibraryThing kan skriva.

Rocket Girls by Housuke Nojiri

Denna diskussion är för närvarande "vilande"—det sista inlägget är mer än 90 dagar gammalt. Du kan återstarta det genom att svara på inlägget.

1einhorn303
aug 29, 2011, 10:05 am

I'm reading the 2nd book in the series now ("Rocket Girls: The Lost Planet") and loving it. It's the ultimate combination: a well-plotted story, cute girls, and darn good real SF.

I think Akane is my favorite character so far. She's a good complement to the 1st book's cast; it needed a serious, science-nerd type character. Her idealism is inspiring too; I actually teared up a bit at the part where they talk about saving the Orpheus probe, and she says, "But it's more than that. It's a dream...it's science! And I think it's worth risking my life for. I truly believe that."

Compared to other light novels I've read, it feels a lot more like an SF novel. Its little things: 3rd person perspective, longer paragraphs, a different sense of scene cuts. But it's in a nice place between the two styles. The quick pacing, especially, makes it read well.

I've been turned off many times by altered manga/light novel covers, but Rocket Girls is the first time where I actually like the new US covers more. The new US covers are actually illustrated by a Japanese artist, Katsuya Terada. The one thing I dislike is the vol. 2 cover's inaccuracy of showing large fold-lines in Matsuri's space suit; they're engineered to be 100% skin tight.

It's funny how the book keeps on saying "Although soon they won't even consider Pluto a planet...," and now it's come true too early. I think it's take on low-cost, low-weight space flights is pretty interesting. Although realistically, I think sensitive repairs in orbit will be done more by telemetry-controlled robots than high-schoolgirls.

I hope Haikasoru solicits the third and final book in the series soon!

2keristars
aug 29, 2011, 10:25 am

What's the general plot/theme of the series?

3einhorn303
aug 29, 2011, 3:41 pm

It's about a new Japanese space program that seeks to make manned space launches at a tiny fraction of NASA's cost. Basically, by drastically reducing shuttle weight, going so far as using 147 cm tall high-school age girls as pilots, and shrinking the shuttle's room to less than a closet (plus an innovative solid fuel system, but that doesn't take as much overcoming...).

It sounds like a very "lol anime" premise, but it's handled with fascinating realism. At the start, the program's on the verge of losing all funding, so they absolutely have to prove it's feasible with a successful launch. The problem is, all their test launches so far have ended in a fiery blaze. And after that, they constantly have to deal with concerns of "it's not safe!" or "it's a waste of tax-payer money!" Plus, the training that the 16-year old pilots, Yukari and Matsuri, have to go through is ridiculously brutal. Not to mention the difficulty of living one's high school days on a remote base way out in the Solomon Islands. But through it all, it's a great story of struggle, perseverance, and scientific progress.

Sort of like "The Right Stuff" meets "Stratos 4," I guess.