(The Capricious Robot) by Shinichi Hoshi (Japanese)

Inventive Japanese tales with surprising science fiction twists

Good Condition - Jacket/covers are rubbed and soiled, with small surface marks and edge wear.

Shinichi Hoshi's collection brings together short stories in which ingenious inventions, unusual machines and apparently simple ideas lead to unexpected consequences. Robots and imagined technologies provide a starting point for observations about human behaviour, ambition and the mistakes people make when they believe a problem has been solved. Brief narratives build towards sharp turns, mixing playful imagination with irony and a sense of unease. Illustrated by Makoto Wada, this Japanese-language edition introduces the compact storytelling for which Hoshi is known. It is a collection to read a little at a time, with each story offering a fresh situation and a conclusion that invites the reader to reconsider what came before.