Alice Suzuki has recently passed away, making her eligible to be a harvester, a transporter of souls. For her first thread, she finds herself investigating the death of Akari, a Japanese idol who died playing a VR game while on enhancer, a drug that turns off the suspension of disbelief. Unfortunately, the shadow demon Solak, who was formerly constrained to killing people in their dreams, has learned that enhancer allows him to get around the limitations imposed by free will. Alice must join the Japanese idol group, of which Akari was a member. Her journey is one of learning the true nature of attachment, particularly in regards to love.
Four years ago, I came across an old house in Kyoto, located in a very historic neighborhood, but falling apart and in need of considerable attention. My Japanese friends thought I had lost my mind, but I bought it anyway. Since then, it has generated a wealth of experiences that helped form the basis for my latest book, More Than Alive: Death of an Idol. Known primarily as an author of European literature, I’m aware that this latest effort might not be in keeping with my readers’ expectations. That said, it has now been sixteen years since I first arrived in Japan, so it is only natural that such an experience would finally bear creative fruit.
For some time, I have been looking for the right genre to combine my passion for sci-fi and fantasy, and I believe I have finally found my answer in an anime-novel genre, called “light novel” in Japan. I’ve actually been writing sci-fi stories for decades, but none of these efforts have ever been published. During graduate school, I was fortunate to spend time with Forrest J. Ackerman, who is credited with coining the term “sci-fi.” He sat on a chair that Abraham Lincoln once used and told me how he was inspired by hearing “hi-fi” on the radio. I understand that the story is repeated a couple different ways, but that’s how I heard it from the man himself. At any rate, I had plenty of inspiration and encouragement to enter the sci-fi genre but felt the need to wait until I had something worthy to offer.
At first glance, More Than Alive might seem like a comedic exploration of anime tropes, but it is actually a rather meta investigation of reality, using the entertainment industry as an anchor for that discussion. The story is written to stand on its own, for those only interested in action, romance, and humor. Still, those willing to dig a little deeper will be rewarded with philosophical questions usually only found in stories not intended to be commercially popular. Writing a novel that is simultaneously successful and philosophical, is substantially more challenging than merely writing a literary work intended as high-art, but that is what made the project so rewarding. When I was working at the Disney lot, you could easily wander over to the archives and see props, like the multi-plane camera they used to film Pinnochio. Dave Smith, who was the archivist at Disney, delighted in showing me exciting things like the wind-up bird that Walt bought on vacation, and that inspired the field of animatronics. Walt always hid high art within commercial endeavors, and it’s unfortunate that some people still don’t see Walt Disney for the serious artist he was. Still, it isn’t coincidental that he hung around Salvador Dali, who considered Walt a great surrealist.
In many ways, More Than Alive represents my bravest work as the subtext and themes are so easily overwhelmed by its entertainment value. Having exerted the full-extent of my abilities, my faith now rests in the reader, that they will successfully dig beneath the surface for any greater meaning that can be found. Most of all, I hope you enjoy More Than Alive for its exciting story full of characters that I never grew tired of spending time with and that is what made this such a pleasure to create.
