Kaiju Survival Guide

So, as you might guess, the book is written from a fictional perspective. That of a field agent for the KRSD, or Kaiju Research and Survival Department. The KRSD is an international organization originally founded in Japan in the wake of the first "modern kaiju" attack in the 1950s. That alone likely clues you into the fact that the books makes a lot of references to kaiju movies. In particular so far King Kong and Gojira, but I'm hoping to see more as I go through the book. The main author of the book is not given a name (In universe that is. The guy who actually wrote it is Wes Parker.), but we are made to know that his job for the KRSD is basically akin to that of a reporter. As he explains it, this book was written as a project by the KRSD to teach and inform the common civilian about kaiju and how to handle kaiju attacks. So it is written as to inform you of all available non-classified knowledge about the kaiju. The reason being that, while in the world the book describes the military has successfully killed or captured every kaiju so far the kaiju are still effectively "winning." With massive deathtolls and widespread destruction.

The first section of this book delves into what kaiju are. Abilities, size, classifications, motivations, biology, and origins. Not in that order, of course. The book attempts at first to maintain an air of mystery about the kaiju, but in describing their possible origins it goes from presenting them as theories by the scientists of the KRSD to describing them as if they're all actual fact. Which, really, there's no reason why they can't all be true, but this inconsistency sticks out to me. As I'm something of a writer. It bugs me. And it's not the only case. For example, in describing the giant ape incident in New York in 1933 it first says the ape was 25 feet tall, but then later, when covering the incident in more detail, the person being interviewed says it was 40 feet tall. That could be a case of unreliable narrator, the character's memories being colored, but I'm sure the KRSD would correct erroneous information where they could given the point of the book. And it's not like there was no cadaver to study. Small inconsistencies like this and a few spelling errors take you out of the narrative, sadly, but I will emphasize that this a small detail for anyone who is already a fan of kaiju. There's plenty to enjoy in this book so far.

In going over kaiju biology and sociology we are made to know that almost every kaiju is distinct and unique, and while they are known to in fact possess genitalia even similar males and females only display aggression towards one another. It is made very clear that kaiju are extreme aggressive and territorial. A theory is posited that kaiju may have a more advanced social structure than is currently known, and that a king of the monsters could rally the others. But that's just listed as a theory. It covers in detail how good kaiju senses generally are, and that their primary motivation seems to be just hunting for food and surviving. Humans being the surprisingly prime choice in food. It even presents an equation to explain just how much kaiju need to eat. So it is plenty detailed. Though other areas, such as special abilities, are given a disappointingly smaller amount of detail.

It also presents two different forms of classification for kaiju used by the military and KRSD. One is the kaiju's class, which is basically what kind lifeform is it, or what is its primary mode of travel? Terrestrial? Airborne? Aquatic? That sort of thing. The second, however, is a threat category. Starting at Category 1, where kaiju can be anywhere from 3 to 20 feet tall, and can potentially be dealt with by a capable of civilian (though that is discouraged). These being considered things ogres, goblins, and such from myths in human history. And then going all the way up to Category 5, which has never existed yet and would be considered a world ending monster. It goes into details for what makes each category. The first three being more about size and durability, and four and five being about especially dangerous powers that are more worrisome and harder to deal with than just the energy blasts most kaiju possess in some form. Civilization ending powers.

The book caps off this first section with two short stories. Both stories are presented in the form of interviews. The first one, "Monkey Business," being with a single man, and the second, "Akuma," being with three different people. So while the people being interviewed are detailed it reads like an interview. That said, these stories actually do a good job of pulling you into the world, and I frankly found them more entertaining than the rest of the book so far. Though as a lover of world building I still love all the details up to this point in the book as well. I just enjoy the stories more.

Monkey Business, as you might suspect, deals with the aforementioned giant ape incident in 1933. This is basically telling of King Kong, but it isn't directly mirroring any of the movies. While it is clear this is referential of King Kong the story is a little bit different. A film maker did bring the ape to New York after an expedition, but the woman he grabs isn't, shall we say, a love interest...I won't spoil that. Furthermore, the person being interviewed is one of the biplane pilots that shot the ape down. So the perspective is a new one for anything Kong related, and the story does a good job establishing and making you care about his character in a short time. Nothing too new happens in this story, though, and I find the man's sentiments on some matters as well as his language does not fit his age (his late 80s at the time of the interview) nor the time he grew up in.

The second story is Akuma. Akuma being the Japanese word for demon, is the name of the monster in the story. Though a small detail I really enjoyed was that the people being interviewed refer to it as "the Akuma." As if referring to one of a type of creature. So while the monster is known in records as Akuma, its name actually comes about simply by being called a monster. A demon. Fun little thing there. The three people interviewed in this story are an islander, a paleontologist who helped found the KRSD, and a policeman named Serizawa. No, Serizawa doesn't kill Akuma. Though I do consider his perspective the most interesting. The islander and paleontologist for the most part retell the beginning of Gojira. Ships going missing out at sea. The sea itself being strangely barren of fish. The monster attacking an island in a storm. Even finding a trilobite in its footprint, and presenting that along with evidence to the Japanese government. Serizawa, however, tells a little of Akuma's attack on Tokyo, and carries the proper mystique and tragedy befitting of this tale from perspective of a simple traffic cop.

All in all, so far I consider the Kaiju Survival Guide a good read. The minor inconsistencies bother me a bit, but, again, as a kaiju fan I can overlook them. Furthermore, as I have now learnt, this book was just published, and it is the Author, Wes Parker's first book. So issues like that I can see occurring. I reiterate that they're pretty minor. The details on what kaiju are and how they operate don't communicate the mystique that I think the author wanted to, judging by the early tone of the book, but are interesting nonetheless. Though I feel they're overshadowed by the short-stories. Said stories are a wonderful addition to this book, and I hope the other ones I find borrow less from other kaiju movies. Not that they can't at all, but Monkey Business and Akuma are pretty much just King Kong and Gojira, even as pleasant a read as they were.

The next section is titled "The Military VS. The Kaiju." So it looks like next the book be covering how the military have handled kaiju encounters.