Durante o mês de Maio, a chancela de livros de ficção especulativa japoneses, Haikasoru, propõe lançar 4 novos títulos. O primeiro, The Stories of Ibis, de Hiroshi Yamamoto, decorre num futuro em que os andróides terão criado a sua própria civilização, e os seres humanos escasseiam:

In a world where humans are a minority and androids have created their own civilization, a wandering storyteller meets the beautiful android Ibis. She tells him seven stories of human/android interaction in order to reveal the secret behind humanity’s fall. The stories that Ibis speaks of are the “seven novels” about the events surrounding the announcements of the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in the 20th and 21st centuries. At a glance, these stories do not appear to have any sort of connection, but what is the true meaning behind them? What are Ibis’s real intentions?

Hiroshi Sakurazaka é o autor de All You Need Is Kill, um dos primeiros livros publicados pela editora, e autor de uma das próximas quatro obras, Slum Online:

Etsuro Sakagami is a college freshman who feels uncomfortable in reality, but when he logs onto the combat MMO Versus Town, he becomes “Tetsuo,” a karate champ on his way to becoming the most powerful martial artist around. While his relationship with new classmate Fumiko goes nowhere, Etsuro spends his days and nights online in search of the invincible fighter Ganker Jack. Drifting between the virtual and the real, will Etsuro ever be ready to face his most formidable opponent?

Loups-Garous é um mistério que decorre no futuro, onde a comunicação entre seres humanos se faz quase exclusivamente pela net, um meio controlável:

In the near future, humans will communicate almost exclusively through online networks— face-to-face meetings are rare and the surveillance state nearly all-powerful. So when a serial killer starts slaughtering junior high students, the crackdown is harsh. The killer’s latest victim turns out to have been in contact with three young girls: Mio Tsuzuki, a certified prodigy; Hazuki Makino, a quiet but opinionated classmate; and Ayumi Kono, her best friend. And as the girls get caught up in trying to find the killer—who might just be a werewolf— Hazuki learns that there is much more [to their monitored communications] than meets the eye.

Hiroshi Sakurazaka não é o único autor repetente nesta colecção. Também Issui Ogawa vê uma segunda obra publicada nesta colecção, The Next Continent (a primeira tinha sido The Lord of the Sands of Time):

The year is 2025 and Otaba General Construction—a firm that has built structures to survive the Antarctic and the Sahara—has received its most daunting challenge yet. Sennosuke Touenji, the chairman of one of the world’s largest leisure conglomerates, wants a moon base fit for civilian use, and he wants his granddaughter Taé to be his eyes and ears on the harsh lunar surface. Taé and Otaba engineer Aomine head to the moon where adventure, trouble, and perhaps romance await.

Digital Domains: A Decade of Science Fiction & Fantasy é o nome de uma das mais recente antologias organizadas por Ellen Datlow, que reúne as melhores histórias que terá editado na OMNI, Event Horizon e SCIFICTION.

Entre os autores podemos encontrar Kelly Link, Jeffrey Ford, Carol Emshwiller ou James P. Blaylock. Uma lista completa do conteúdo encontra-se disponível no blog de Ellen Datlow.

Paul di Filippo é o autor de livros como The Steampunk Trilogy, ou Lost Pages, uma antologia nomeada para o prémio Philip K. Dick. O seu próximo livro Roadside Bodhisattva, parece ser algo bem diferente:

Kid A, sixteen, a runaway, determined to equal the hobo exhilarations and revelations described in the books of Jack Kerouac, is wandering the highways of the American Northeast. Stopping to sleep for the night under a particularly hospitable tree, he meets Sid, a fifty-something old-timer of the roads, who steps into the Kid’s life like an apparition, full of stories and existential wisdom. The two do not travel together far before settling down to work at the Deer Park Kitchen–Motel and Filling Station attached–for what should be a brief, restorative stint. But Deer Park is full of interesting personalities, some expansive, some in need, and the short stay comes to span many weeks, which will change forever the lives of both Sid and Kid A…

In the ensuing epiphanies and misunderstandings befalling Kid A, hope and disappointment are mixed, as sexual attraction, honest hard labour, growing knowledge of strangers, and curious philosophical insights combine into the boy’s first proper experience of the world.

El carpintero y la lluvia é o primeiro de quatro volumes do ciclo Drimar. Este ciclo reúne as histórias de ficção científica de Rodolfo Martínez publicadas nos anos 90. Apesar de independentes, estas histórias possuem temas e ambientes semelhantes, justificando a sua junção no ciclo. Rodolfo Martinez é o autor de Sabedoria dos Mortos (livro com o qual ganhou o prémio Asturias), publicado em Portugal pela Saída de Emergência. Sobre as histórias publicadas em El Carpintero y la lluvia, fica aqui o resumo disponibilizado pela editora:

«Un agujero por donde se cuela la lluvia»: Un joven autista es trasladado a la estación espacial situada en el punto L3 entre la Tierra y la Luna y, a su llegada, empiezan a tener una serie de sucesos extraños que acabarán involucrando a todos los personajes y llevando a algunos al borde la locura.

«La carretera»: Un hombre recorre una y otra vez una carretera en apariencia interminable en el planeta Bluyeiuey. Mientras avanza hacia un futuro incierto repasa también un pasado oscuro.

«El alfabeto del carpintero»: Durante una guerra, un pelotón queda varado en Bluyeiuey. Años más tarde, los dos supervivientes volverán a encontrarse, sólo para descubrir que, desde entonces, nada ha vuelto a funcionar en sus vidas como debería.

En El carpintero y la lluvia, Rodolfo Martínez explora la realidad y la irrealidad, las obsesiones y las posibilidades en un juego literario claramente deudor de Philip K. Dick.