Rocket Girls: The Last Planet (18 page)

AFTERWORD

WHEN THIS BOOK
was first published in 1996, it was to praise very unusual for one of my books. “I cried!” “I fell in love!” the starry-eyed critics said—so of course it sold out everywhere and became one of those books everyone knows yet no one’s read because they couldn’t find it. As this is that book (not to mention part of the story covered in the anime version of
Rocket Girls
), if you’re reading this in a bookstore right now, now’s your chance. Opportunity only knocks once, and all that.

I tend to use my afterwords for shameless self-promotion and sales pitches, and this one’s no exception, so here goes!

In this book, we meet the third Rocket Girl, Akane Miura. A genius who can model difficult orbits with a simple calculator, yet shy, almost reclusive—a delicate flower in all the right ways. If this were
Sailor Moon
, she might be Sailor Mercury. Kind of an old reference, I know, but the point is she’s a good kid and she’s cute.

Let’s take a look at our three Rocket Girls through the lens of dialogue, shall we? Akane’s what we call an
otaku
—which is basically anyone obsessed with something. You might say nerd. Usually she doesn’t talk much at all, but get her going on one of her pet topics and watch out! Meanwhile, Yukari’s the type who
has
to talk if someone else is there, or she can’t relax. Matsuri’s cheerful but not a big talker. She can be with a friend and say nothing at all. An enjoy-the-silence type. That’s my take on them at least. Your results may vary.

I’d like to talk about the bit toward the end of the book, where they’re attempting to salvage a probe mission to Pluto gone awry.

On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union redefined what exactly a planet was, and Pluto was dropped from the list. Of course, the line in my book where I say “Pluto isn’t as exciting as the other planets” is forever trapped on the other side of this historical divide. When reprints of this book came out, I considered amending the section, but ultimately decided not to. Pluto, as portrayed in this book, was based on the current knowledge at the time the book was written. Even now, the feel of Pluto is the same—the only thing that’s changed is the words.

At the time of writing, astronomy fans knew that Pluto was on its way out, based on the changing definition of a planet, but it took IAU over ten years to officially make the change. I present this book as a historical document of that time in limbo.

In fact, the NASA probe New Horizons is currently on its way to Pluto, the Kuiper belt object. It’s the fastest probe we’ve ever sent out, and it’s still going to take until August 2015 for it to reach Pluto. It’s a long trip, but to the people who dreamed it and made it happen, every day is worth it.

I hope this book lets you share, even a little, in their joy.

Housuke Nojiri
November 2006

Born in Mie, Japan, in 1961. After working in instrumentation control, CAD programming, and game design, Housuke Nojiri published his first work,
The Blind Spot of Veis
, based on the video game
Creguian
, in 1992. He gained popularity with his subsequent works the
Creguian
series and the
Rocket Girls
series. In 2002, he published
Usurper of the Sun
, ushering in a new era of space science fiction in Japan. After first appearing as a series of short stories,
Usurper
won the Seiun Award for best Japanese science fiction novel of 2002 and was published in English in 2009. His other works include
Pendulum of Pinieru
and
Fuwa-Fuwa no Izumi
.

THE FUTURE IS JAPANESE

Why me?
It was to be the last thought a young prostitute, Rune-Balot, would ever have…as a human anyway. Taken in by a devious gambler named Shell, she became a slave to his cruel desires and would have been killed by his hand if not for the self-aware All-Purpose Tool (and little yellow mouse) known as Oeufcoque. Now a cyborg, Balot is not only nigh-invulnerable but has the ability to disrupt electrical systems of all sorts. But even these powers may not be enough for Balot to deal with Shell, who offloads his memories to remain above the law, the immense assassin Dimsdale-Boiled, or the neon-noir streets of Mardock City itself.

When the heir to the empire comes to Mino, the lives of young Oguna and Toko change forever. Oguna is drafted to become a
shadow
prince, a double trained to take the place of the hunted royal. But soon Oguna is given the Dragon Sword, and his ability to wield it threatens the entire nation. Only Toko can stop him, but to do so she needs to gather four magatama, beads with magical powers that can be strung together to form the Misumaru of death. Toko’s journey is one of both adventure and self-discovery, and also brings her face to face with the tragic truth behind Oguna’s transformation. A story of two parallel quests, of a pure love tried by the power of fate, the second volume of Tales of the Magatama is as thrilling as
Dragon Sword and Wind Child.

The alien JAM have been at war with humanity for over thirty years…or have they? Rei Fukai of the FAF’s Special Air Force and his intelligent tactical reconnaissance fighter plane Yukikaze have seen endless battles, but after declaring “Humans are unnecessary now,” and forcibly ejecting Fukai, Yukikaze is on its own. Is the target of the JAM’s hostility really Earth’s machines? And have the artificial intelligences of Earth been acting in concert with the JAM from the start to manipulate Yukikaze? As Rei tries to discover the truth behind the intentions of both sides, he realizes that his own humanity may be at risk, and that the JAM are about to make themselves known to the world at large.

And also by
HOUSUKE NOJIRI

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