On the literal level, while this doesn't really stray too far from 'The Stories of Ibis', the choice of using Ai vs. While there is some idealism in the portrayal of Ibis (and perhaps leans too much on the Weird Science trope that plagues many anime/manga), she is also more than capable of fending for herself (and in fact proves herself to be the superior to all of the male characters in the book).Īs a translated work, one of the details that I miss is the depth of the original title, 'Ai no Monogatari' which can be interpreted as 'Ai's Story'. For me, Yamamoto makes an interesting choice in applying gender to artificial intelligence, as a lot of people would consider artificial intelligence to be genderless. Then there is the character of Ibis, who introduces the reader to the book. It's interesting to note it's the female creator's name that takes precedence. For as long as I read the story, I become Nanami Shiihara, and Nanami becomes Ginny.'A subtle detail in the story is how artificial intelligence developed through the technological innovation called the SLAN Kernel, SLAN being the initials of its two creators, Susan Lellenberg and Andrew Nonaka. As I've said before, the act of reading a story is a kind of role-play. 'I'm able to emphatize more easily with a female protagonist than a male one. The story's narrator, Ibis, despite being an android, identifies herself as female and describes the situation aptly: All seven stories have a female protoagonist as its main character. The Stories of Ibis is also an interesting book to analyze using a feminist perspective. Is the setting a dystopia or an utopia? Better yet, how was this accomplished? Personally, I find the stories themselves to be adequate-nothing that I'd nominate for an award (although I am fond of 'Black Hole Diver')-but it's the intermissions that pique my curiosity: how does this story relate to the larger mystery presented in the book, namely the conflict of humans vs. All but the last story is also presented as fiction, allowing for contradictions (which the author himself-through the voice of the character Ibis-points out and is well aware of).Īs a reader, this presentation draws me in. This is also the authorial conceit of Yamamoto: he's able to utilize his stories which are set in different milieus and setting to fit the plot. The intermissions however set the framework for the book, linking seemingly-unrelated stories into a larger, elaborate narrative.

If you disregard the former, this could easily be read as a short story collection. Is this book a short story collection or a mosaic novel? The Stories of Ibis is presented such that 'intermissions' precede each of Hiroshi Yamamoto's stories. The first element I'd like to tackle is the format.

The Stories of Ibis is one of the more complex books that Haikasoru has released.

The stories of ibis by hiroshi yamamoto