Reviews of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World review

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago on 12 August 2007 04:24 (A review of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World)

I picked this up on the recommendation of a friend and didn't know quite what to expect. I glossed over the blurb on the back and saw the words 'detective story' and was instantly sold. The book is written in a manner that has alternate chapters telling two seemingly unrelated stories.

Hard Boiled wonderland doesn't really take the form of a detective story at all, though there is plenty of mystery involved. It follows a yuppie kind of fellow employed by the 'System' - a ubiquitous company which deals in data protection. His latest client, an eccentric professor, seems to have strange connections to the System and eventually the life of the protagonist is changed forever when he agrees to process data from the professors latest experiments.

The end of the world story involves a town of the same name, seemingly inescapable and enclosed by a huge impenetrable wall and dense forest. The unnamed protagonist in this story struggles to come to terms with his surroundings as he learns the way of the new village.

The story is well written containing many references to modern pop-culture, though it isn't just an excuse to drop in a name here or there. The story is genuinely interesting and extremely dry in places. I found the Hard boiled story much more interesting at first, the character here being a man much after my own heart. Well recommended.

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