Abstract

* English synopsis and sample translation available.

-Winner of the 40th Japan SF Award
- 2nd Prize for the Best SF 2019

On a mysterious planet populated by a wild diversity of insectoid and crustacean-like beings, the zvanguk warrior Magandara has been exiled under pain of death and must wander the Cursed Wastes: the desert left in the wake of the War of Reclamation, when the native species drove off and obliterated the invading human race. But when a chance encounter with their old master reveals that the humans have not been entirely destroyed, Magandara must return to their home to discover the humans’ plan and stem the tide of the looming invasion. This time, however, the humans have taken on a startling new form—and the threat comes from within.
Richly detailed and sweeping in scope, The Hermit Star is a challenging and mind-bending SF masterpiece unlike anything that has come before.

Author’s Information

Dempow Torishima is a Japanese science fiction writer born in Osaka in 1970. He made his debut with the novella Sisyphean (JP: Kaikin no to) in 2011, which was also included in his first book of the same name in 2013 (English edition 2018). Both that book and The Hermit Star won the Japan SF Award, among others. The Hermit Star was Torishima’s first full-length novel, and has been included on numerous lists of the best Japanese science fiction.