Book Review | Yokohama Station SF

After a self-replicating train station has taken over all of Honshu, Hiroto tries to track down the leader of a hidden alliance that’s determined to free humanity.

Yokohama Station SF by Yuba Isukari is a visionary sci-fi novel that explores our relationship to technology and … well, public transportation. The station itself is truly its own living, sentient character in this story and most of Japan is now dependent on it. At the age of 6, children have a Suica (a type of point card) installed in them. They use those points to buy things like food or to continue living in the station. Those who commit the most minor of infractions may be expelled from the station and left to fend for themselves.

It’s really a fascinating world that Isukari has built here, and I think it’s important to note this is a very conceptually-driven and exposition-heavy story. This is both its greatest strength and its weakness. Due to the novel’s short length, there isn’t room for much asides from learning how the world works. I wish we could have seen more descriptive imagery in regards to its setting and seen a little more from its human (and non-human) characters.

All in all though, I still definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a short but sweet sci-fi with innovative worldbuilding and cool AI.

Thank you, NetGalley and Yen Press, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Details:

Publication Date : March 30, 2021
Publisher : Yen On
ISBN : 1975319516
Pages : 224

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