ACF 853: Cyberpunk novel MARDOCK SCRAMBLE now available from VIZ

VIZ MEDIA’S FICTION IMPRINT HAIKASORU
DEBUTS CYBERPUNK THRILLER MARDOCK SCRAMBLE

A Murdered Girl Gets a Second Chance at Life
and Revenge in Futuristic Mardock City!

VIZ Media has announced the North American debut of the Japanese sci-fi novel, MARDOCK SCRAMBLE. The novel, written by Tow Ubukata, is available now and is being released under the company’s Haikasoru imprint and will carry an MSRP of $17.99 U.S. / $21.00 CAN.

Haikasoru is VIZ Media’s unique literary imprint with a dedicated focus on publishing some of the most compelling contemporary Japanese science fiction and fantasy for English-speaking audiences.

Why me? It was to be the last thought a young prostitute, Rune-Balot, would ever have...as a human anyway. Taken in by a devious gambler named Shell, she became a slave to his cruel desires and would have been killed by his hand if not for the self-aware All-Purpose Tool (and little yellow mouse) known as Oeufcoque. Now a cyborg, Balot is not only nigh-invulnerable, but has the ability to disrupt electrical systems of all sorts. But even these powers may not be enough for Balot to deal with Shell, who offloads his memories to remain above the law, the immense assassin Dimsdale-Boiled, or the neon-noir streets of Mardock City itself.

“Author Tow Ubukata won the prestigious Japan SF Award for MARDOCK SCRAMBLE in 2003, and the book also inspired an acclaimed feature-length animated film by director Susumu Kudo,” says Nick Mamatas, Haikasoru's editor. “We’re very excited to kick off 2011 with this cyberpunk epic that has has sold over half a million copies to-date in Japan.”

Born in Gifu prefecture in 1977, Tow Ubukata was exposed to a blend of cultures from early childhood until the age of fourteen, having lived in Singapore and Nepal because of his father's work. In 1996, while still in college, Ubukata won the first Sneaker Taisho Gold Prize for his light novel Black Season. In 2003, he won the Nihon SF Taisho Award for MARDOCK SCRAMBLE, originally published as a three-volume series.

He has also been involved in a wide range of projects including anime production for Fafner, video game production, and original content writing for comics such as Le Chevalier D'Eon. His other published works include the Bye-Bye Earth and Spiegel novel series. In 2009, he published his first historical novel, Tenchi Meisatsu, which focused on a mathematician of the Edo period.

For more information on Haikasoru, visit the dedicated website at www.Haikasoru.com.