Queen Of K'N-Yan Book

... oh boy, where to begin ...
Maybe where Darrell Schweitzer in his Introduction within the book starts, aswell:
"This is a Cthulhu Mythos novel. It is, however, not at all a 'fine Cthulhu Mythos novel.'"*
Actually, I could just leave it at that. But that would not be helpful at all.

When it comes to literature, I try to have as open a mind as possible. Myriads of writing styles abound, and not one author who has found his/her own voice will tell a tale in the same way that another does. Characterization can vary, from very rich to very much cardboard cutout, but even the latter might be useful sometimes (always depending on the narrative). And while I might have studied Eng. Lit., I am by no means an expert on "good writing".
That being said, I cannot remember a book where I was constantly thinking about writing quality as excessively as this one (and not in a good way).

So let's start from the top.
Not being fluent in Japanese, I naturally read the English version of this novel. Unfortunately, the translation itself is not flawless. I cannot really comment on translation style without knowing the original (and from experience I can say that each translator, much like every writer, has their own), but there are quite a few instances where the language used was either faulty or, let's say, "peculiar". Of course, this does not help a reader get into the narrative.

However, even a good translation cannot gloss over bad, at times even ham-fisted writing. Inelegant, even unneccesary and/or repetitive phrasing abounds. And while that is all there is to bemoan about the "technical" aspect of the writing, it unfortunately does not stop there. The characters (even the main character) are rather two-dimensional (the few back stories don't provide much help, either) - with the exception of the "villain", of whom the reader learns quite a bit. What's more, they are not very believable in themselves. Untriggered (or rather, not descriptively introduced), sudden changes in behaviour or emotional expression, or completely-over-the-top reactions without much of a justification within the narrative, make forming an image of a believable, nuanced and/or complex person hard, if not impossible.
And finally, while the plot promises (or did to me, anyways) an interesting approach to one of the lesser-used aspects of Lovecraft's narratives, with a unique and modern direction, it ultimately did not deliver. Spending half of the novel with a nice build-up of suspense (leaving the reader as much in the dark as the heroine), the dramatic arc plummets away into nothingness when motives are revealed and the whole thing tips over into monster attacks and an all-but-well-crafted showdown between the protagonist-made-heroine (for whatever reason), the deus-ex-maniac (villain turned saviour) and a Mythos-inflected Kaiju (or Kaijin). Even the interesting subplot (a "what strange thing is this?" that happens to the protagonist) falls flat, providing nothing more than information on the villain and the entire reason for the protagonist to be in this situation at all.

This is one mess of a novel.
And while I agree with Darrell Schweitzer's introduction regarding the subject and the fresh approach (different locale, different setting altogether, rarely referenced story by Lovecraft, etc.), I don't think that it "meets [...] the true test of any good Cthulhu Mythos story." It just isn't good.

I hate writing scorching reviews. If I don't like a book, for whatever reason, or it falls flat for me, that is a simple opinion, and I state it as such. There is, usually, no reason to take the book apart and make it look really bad, simply because I did not like it, or the narrative style etc.
However, I bought this book for three reasons:
- the scarce reviews found said it was at least okay, if not good or brilliant
- I "know" Darrell Schweitzer (not sure whether from his own writing or editorial remarks in anthologies) and therefore thought I could trust his judgement
- the introduction is the only part of the book you can read when you "Look inside" it on amazon
There was nothing there preparing me for what I was getting myself into. And I think other potential readers need to know that there are contradictory views to what I could find out about it.

Honestly, I cannot recommend this book to anyone. Time to read books is not unlimited, to no-one. So go read something else.

*Quotation altered for effect. The original quote reads:
"This is a Cthulhu Mythos novel. It is a fine Cthulhu Mythos novel."