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Hybrid Child
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara
10 posts | 4 read | 1 reading | 7 to read
A classic of Japanese speculative fiction that blurs the line between consumption and creation when a cyborg assumes the form and spirit of a murdered child Until he escaped, he had been called "Sample B #3," but he had never liked this name. That would surprise them--that he could feel one way or another about it. He was designed to reshape himself based on whatever life forms he ingested; he was not made to think, and certainly not to assume the shape of a repair technician whose cells he had sampled and then simply walk out of the secure compound. Artificial Intelligence is all too real in this classic of Japanese science fiction by Mariko Ohara. Jonah, a child murdered by her mother, has become the spirit of an AI-controlled house where the rogue cyborg once known as Sample B #3 takes refuge and, making a meal of the dead girl buried under the house, takes Jonah's form. On faraway Planet Caritas, an outpost of human civilization, the female AI system that governs society has become insane. Meanwhile, the threat of the Adiaptron Empire, the machine race that #3 was built to fight, remains. With the familiar strangeness of a fairy tale, Ohara's novel traverses the mysterious distance between body and mind, between the mechanics of life and the ghost in the machine, between the infinitesimal and infinity. The child as mother, the mother as monster, the monster as hero: this shape-shifting story of nourishment, nurture, and parturition is a rare feminist work of speculative fiction and received the prestigious Seiun (Nebula) Award in 1991. Hybrid Child is the first English translation of a major work of science fiction by a female Japanese author.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
blurb
faelinwolf
faelinwolf
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara
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So...this happened while I was reading. 😂 Persephone has only recently started to lay in my lap while I read in my office/reading space. I think she's getting more comfortable. 😻🤣😻 (I adopted her in late August). #CatsofLitsy

Also, I finished the book! If it hadn't been for a reading challenge prompt, I probably never would have read it. Good book, but not what I typically enjoy.

CBee Goodness, she‘s beautiful 😻 And coming from a Greek mythology nerd, her name is perfect! 3y
Megabooks Merry Christmas Dawn! I‘m glad you got some kitty snuggles! 💚🎄 3y
faelinwolf @CBee Thank you! 😊 I thought Persephone fit the light & dark in her fur! 3y
faelinwolf @Megabooks Thank you, Meg! I hope you had wonderful holidays with lots of puppy snuggles! Happy New Year! 3y
12 likes4 comments
quote
dippin
dippin
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara

‘have violation, be free, live, choose your own manner of death, pray, and focus your will‘

1 like
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TheLibrarian
TheLibrarian
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara
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Day 4 - #7days7covers #coverlove

74 likes
review
mreads
mreads
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara
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Mehso-so

Rogue cyborg soldier known as sample B #3 is able to morph once it eats the cells of anything and it eats the buried body of a child murdered by her mother who had become the spirit of AI-controlled house. Then it starts to get weird. 😀

Unfortunately it goes all over the place with no real plotline, which would have been fun possibly in a shorter book.

#booked2019 20. soldier story @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

Cinfhen I‘ll pass😜 but great for you to knock off a #winter prompt in May 🙌🏻 6y
BarbaraTheBibliophage 🤷🏼‍♀️ Wowza ... 6y
57 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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mreads
mreads
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara
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My ambitious #maytbr. Just need to restrain myself at the library so I can read some of the books I already own. I did choose quite a few skinny ones 😁.

suvata The. Struggle. Is. Real. 6y
mreads @suvata 😁 6y
57 likes2 comments
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tolmsted
tolmsted
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara
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Japanese #scifi about a military a.i. that takes the form of a six year old girl named Jonah. We follow Jonah over centuries, to a distant planet called Caritas, inhabited by outcasts and run by an a.i. which has gone mad. Ambitious (characters are constantly grappling with the texistence of a god-like creator) and humane - Ohara has a singular vision of the future which both mesmerizes and terrifies. #womenintranslation #readwomen #japanese

5 likes1 stack add
review
GivenLemons
GivenLemons
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara
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Pickpick

A truly amazing book, but one that demands your full attention. A beautifully complex story that examines themes around technology and humanity.

5 likes
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alysonimagines
alysonimagines
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara
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Whew! Ok I canNOT sum up this book in 451 characters, and I don‘t want to yay or nay it b/c it‘s not that simple. Here‘s why it drew me: Japanese author, AI, and feminism. I wasn‘t expecting a cozy read, but it‘s way more violent than what I typically read. And it doesn‘t follow a linear plot. It‘s extremely trippy. However I really like the childlike heart of the MC, the Hybrid Child known as Jonah. Potential triggers in comment below.

alysonimagines Content warnings: violent rape/murder scene (IMO this was the most disturbing scene of the entire book, toward the end); sex scene; difficult childbirth scene; frequent bloodshed; occasional explicit language; graphic descriptions of parasitic and carnivorous behavior; graphic descriptions of violent deaths; religious references to Judeo-Christian traditions (may be offensive to some) 7y
alysonimagines P.S. For anyone who‘s curious about understanding the themes of this novel, Google “consumption control and maternal fascism” (yeah it‘s heavy!!) and you can read a PDF copy of translator Jodie Beck‘s thesis. 7y
MirrorMask Wow! Awesome review. I'm waiting for my library to get it. 7y
alysonimagines @MirrorMask If you can handle lots of violence (I‘d say this is definitely an R rating), you don‘t mind outlandish, dream-like sequences (some of them are quite beautiful in a bizarre way), and you like your sci-fi with generous helpings of AI and dystopia, then you‘ll probably find this worthwhile. The violence was a bit much, but this was my first Japanese sci-fi novel and worthwhile for that reason alone. Also as I said, I grew to love Jonah. 7y
8 likes4 comments
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alysonimagines
alysonimagines
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara
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Sooo excited to get this in the mail today! It was on back order from a June 15 release date. But I‘m going to make myself wait until next week, when I will have a super long weekend to devour it. Thanks @MirrorMask for tipping me off on this enticing find!

MirrorMask You're Welcome! I can't wait to read it! 7y
6 likes1 stack add1 comment
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MirrorMask
MirrorMask
Hybrid Child: A Novel | Mariko Ohara
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#CoverLove #ReadingResolutions @Jess7

alysonimagines This. Looks. Amazing. 7y
MirrorMask @alysonwrites I can't wait to read it!! 7y
alysonimagines @MirrorMask Me neither!! Just preordered a copy. My TBR is about to burst at the seams. But I gotta. 7y
45 likes1 stack add3 comments