"Shambling Towards Hiroshima" is a 2009

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novella by

James K. Morrow James Morrow (born March 17, 1947) is an American novelist and short-story writer known for filtering large philosophical and theological questions through his satiric sensibility. Most of Morrow's oeuvre has been published as science fiction ...

, about

kaiju is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...

. It was first published by

Tachyon Publications Tachyon Publications is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high-end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies ...

Synopsis

In 1945, while the US Army is running the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

, the US Navy is running "Project Knickerbocker": the creation of giant firebreathing lizards which will attack Japan. In order to convince Japanese authorities that this is possible, and thereby scare them into surrendering, a demonstration is arranged in which the juvenile lizards will destroy a miniature Japanese city — however, the juveniles are too docile, and therefore actor Syms Thorsley is secretly recruited to portray "Gorgantis". Decades later, Thorsley reflects on how this affected his life.

Reception

''Shambling Towards Hiroshima'' won the 2010

Theodore Sturgeon Award The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award is an annual literary award presented by the Theodore Sturgeon Literary Trust and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best short science fiction story ...

,Paolo Bacigalupi, James Morrow win Campbell, Sturgeon Awards
at ''

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Entertainment * Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front * ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine ** ''Locus Award' ...

''; published July 10, 2010; retrieved March 21, 2022 and was a finalist for the

Nebula Award for Best Novella The Nebula Award for Best Novella is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novellas. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novella if it is between 17,500 and 40 ...

of 2009''Shambling Towards Hiroshima''
at ''

Science Fiction Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...

''; retrieved March 21, 2022 and the 2010

Hugo Award for Best Novella The Hugo Award for Best Novella is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novella award is available for works of fiction of between ...

.2010 Hugo Awards
at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved March 21, 2022 ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' stated that it was "sharp-edged (and) delightfully batty" and eposterous but somehow almost plausible", praising Morrow's use of historical figures as characters.SHAMBLING TOWARDS HIROSHIMA
reviewed at ''

''; published January 15, 2009; archived online May 20, 2010 ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' found it to be "witty and touching", with characters who are "fascinating and real".SHAMBLING TOWARDS HIROSHIMA
reviewed at ''

''; published January 26, 2009; retrieved March 21, 2022 ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...

'' considered it "witty (and) playful", and an "entertaining piece of whimsy" which avoids a "misguided detour into portentous and melodramatic territory" at its conclusion, but noted that "none of the jokes in

he story He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

are quite as inspired as the central conceit itself", and faulted the heavy use of historical references, which "occasionally create the unnerving feeling that it is intended as a prolonged in-joke".Shambling Towards Hiroshima by James Morrow
reviewed by Michael Froggatt, in ''

''; published February 9, 2009; retrieved March 21, 2022 At the ''

SF Site SF may refer to: Locations * San Francisco, California, United States * Sidi Fredj, Algeria * South Florida, an urban region in the United States * Suomi Finland, former vehicular country code for Finland In arts and entertainment Genre ...

'',

Paul Kincaid Paul Kincaid (born 22 September 1952 in Oldham, Lancashire) is a British science fiction critic. Career Kincaid's writing has appeared in a wide range of publications including New Scientist, Times Literary Supplement, Literary Review, New York ...

called it "a slight novel clearly written for absurd effect", and observed that it could be considered a "curious example of

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...

", in that "everything associated with one of the most singular Japanese responses to the atomic bomb is ithin ''Shambling Towards Hiroshima'', presented asthe creation of America" and as a result, "Japan is somehow not even being allowed its own response to its own catastrophe"; nonetheless, Kincaid concluded that when viewed as "a satire on the American military mind and the cheaper aspects of American popular culture", the novel is "a very funny book indeed. Just don't try to peer too far below the surface."Shambling Towards Hiroshima
reviewed by

, at the ''

''; published 2009; retrieved March 21, 2022

References

{{reflist

External links

Interview in which Morrow discusses the process of writing ''Shambling Towards Hiroshima''
Kaiju Alternate history novels 2009 American novels Theodore Sturgeon Award-winning works Tachyon Publications books