/lit/ - Literature

>>20350075
Encounters on the Solar Wind - Hori Akira (1996)
The first story in the author's Xenoarchelogy series. As ordered by his superiors, a lone man travels to a distant observation station that orbits the star 110 Herculis to assess the functioning of the biological computer based on his deceased wife-to-be who has reported detecting a mysterious signal.
Enjoyable

The Ebb and Flow of the Aurora Sea - Mase Junko (2012)
A lovecraftian mythos story with a grotesque sex ritual.
Meh

The Sparrow Valley - Hanmura Ryo (1987)
The entire story is a one-sided dialogue. Sparrow Valley is a graveyard that very few know about and it's meant to be that way.
Meh

Matsui Seimon on the Case - Yamada Masaki (2013)
A samurai seeks to kill the governor of a province, but comes across a friend he thought dead. The vast majority of the story is a flashback to a mission where they slew zombies and another monster.
Enjoyable

The Fish in Chryse - Azuma Hiroki (2010)
Mars has been colonized for centuries and peace has reigned between all of Earth's colonies. Alien technology has been discovered that will allow for instantaneous travel between gateways, which threatens their independence. Several years earlier, an 11 year old boy falls in love with a 16 year old girl. This is their story.
I have no idea how much more I enjoyed than the average reader would, but I really did. It's a shame that it isn't a novel and that that author has few of his fiction works translated to English. I also have to wonder how much I enjoyed it was due to the translator. I may have to read some other works she's translated for the sole purpose of finding out, assuming I'd even be able to.
Highly Enjoyable

Communion - Takahashi Takako (1966)
The included biographical notes state this was 5 years before the death of her husband and 9 years before her conversion to Catholicism. Considering the title, the year, the circumstances, and the content of the story, it could be allegorical for many different ideals.
Meh