Review: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

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As a reader I have always been attracted to dystopian novels for various reasons, I feel they offer insight and perspective to the present while serving as stark warnings of our collective potential future. Battle Royale joins the ranks of Orwell's Nineteen Eight Four, The Road and Altered Carbon in this regard and with a twist. This book contains adult content and violence so I urge parents and other adults to consider this before allowing children or young adults to read it.

The setting is a Japanese police state ruled by the mysterious and enigmatic Dictator which, having suppressed an uprising, uses brutal and extreme methods to suppress the populace. The Battle Royale program was one such method, I do not wish to reveal too much about the nature of this as it will spoil your enjoyment if you are not familiar with this book.

Many of you will already be familiar with the film by the same name, and the I enjoyed Battle Royale very much. The book follows the exploits of Shuya Nanahara a rebellious orphan who, along with Noriko Nakagawa are put in an impossible situation of kill or be killed. The author offers a myriad of interesting characters, such as the mysterious Shogo Kawada and evil Kazuo Kiriyama, to give insight into how different children deal with this impossible scenario. Anyone familiar with The Hunger Games will be very much at home in the Battle Royale world.

It is worth keeping in mind that this book is a translation of the original Japanese so some of the pop culture references, style and names may seem awkward in parts I can promise that this slight sense of awkwardness is the only barrier from enjoyment. Battle Royale is well deserving in it's place among dystopian fiction and anyone who is a fan of the genre, or even newcomers, I think Battle Royale is
worth reading with an open mind. I would give this text a solid 4/5

Pro's: Excellent setting, interesting characters and compelling plot.

Con's: At times awkward due to translation, foreign names can be confusing and pop culture references will seem dated.