The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa was in my Amazon wishlist for almost two years before I finally bought it from, er, The Book Depository in late February.
It is about an android soldier from the future sent to the past to help prepare and fight an alien invasion. The story is set mainly in third century Japan, where he joined forces with a pagan shaman queen for a final stand against the aliens. The book is awesome, though at 260 pages a bit short. The original work is in Japanese, translated into English.
Another thing I really like about the book is the cover design, which took me to Haikasoru and more (English-translated) Japanese SFF with awesome covers! Afi said that it’s shallow to buy a book based on its cover, but it’s worked well for me so far. I strongly believe that there’s a strong correlation between a good book and good cover design. Here are some titles I now have on my wishlist, along with their synopses I copy-pasted from the Haikasoru website:
The Next Continent by Issui Ogawa
The year is 2025 and Gotoba 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 Gotoba engineer Aomine head to the moon where adventure, trouble, and perhaps romance await.
Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara
The God of Light and the Goddess of Darkness have waged a ruthless war across the land of Toyoashihara for generations. But for fifteen-year-old Saya, the war is far away—until the day she discovers that she is the reincarnation of the Water Maiden and a princess of the Children of the Dark.
Raised to love the Light and detest the Dark, Saya must come to terms with her heritage even as the Light and Dark both seek to claim her, for she is the only mortal who an awaken the legendary Dragon Sword, the weapon destined to bring an end to he war. Can Saya make the choice between the Light and Dark, or is she doomed—like all the Water Maidens who came before her...?
Yukikaze by Chohei Kambayashi
More than thirty years ago a hyper-dimensional passageway suddenly appeared... the first stage of an attempted invasion by an enigmatic alien host. Humanity managed to push the invaders back through the passageway to the strange planet nicknamed "Faery." Now, Second Lieutenant Rei Fukai carries out his missions in the skies over Faery. His only constant companion in this lonely task is his fighter plane, the sentient FFR-31 Super Sylph, call sign: YUKIKAZE.
I am looking forward to reading each of them!Usurper of the Sun by Housuke Nojiri
Aki Shiraishi is a high school student working in the astronomy club and one of the few witnesses to an amazing event--someone is building a tower on the planet Mercury. Soon, the enigmatic Builders have constructed a ring around the sun, and the ecology of Earth is threatened by its immense shadow. Aki is inspired to pursue a career in science, and the truth. She must determine the purpose of the ring and the plans of its creators, as the survival of both species—humanity and the alien Builders—hangs in the balance.
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