The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya [Anglais] [Relié]

For those who are unfamiliar with the Haruhi Suzumiya series, well this is the wrong place to start, but as one of the best young adult series of the last 25 years or so(it stands up there with Harry Potter in terms of quality), I do recommend starting on this series. The first book is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and is a wonderful combination of comedy, slice of life, romance, science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, and just about every other genre. What sets it apart from the run of the mill is not just it's genre defying story, but also the cast of wonderful characters, the hilariously well done narration by the viewpoint character Kyon(arguably the main character despite Haruhi Suzumiya being the title character), which is snarky and funny and at times unreliable. Unlike most young adult books, this series does expect you to think, as Kyon has some real blind spots. So go out and read Melancholy and the rest.

As far as this book, the official book description above is about as far as you can go without giving out spoilers, so I am not going to talk about plot much. It is a great plot, as good or better even than Nagaru Tanigawa'sThe Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya [Hardcover](2010), and in fact it picks up right where Disappearance left off. The story focuses on Kyon, Mikuru and to an extent Tsuruya as they avert another crisis, but with a number of plot twists that kept me surprised. Nagato also figures a fair amount in the story, and continues her very noticeable character development.

This is the longest book in the series(at least so far) at 288 pages, and by doing a full length novel, and with the longer length than usual, there is time to pace things a bit slower and more ideally than usual. The translation is excellent, as is usual with this series, though with the occasional oddities(why names are sometimes done in Japanese fashion, family name then given name, and sometimes in the more normal to us English speaking people of given name then family name I do not know). The illustrations are great, including a great one of Mikuru and Yuki dressed as shrine maidens. This book is well worth the money, with no real negatives to it I can think of.

Haruhi Suzumiya is an unusual girl--both headstrong and incorrigible, she is obsessed with discovering anything of a supernatural or extraterrestrial origin. She even creates an unofficial school club, the SOS Brigade, dedicated to investigating such possibilities. Unbeknownst to her, however, is that three of her four brigade members are exactly the personages she seeks; one is a traveler from a different time, another is an esper equipped with unique, psychic abilities, and the last is an emotionless alien android. But the greatest irony of all is that Haruhi herself possesses the power to transform or destroy reality, but again, she remains completely oblivious to these facts.

It's a fun premise, and author Nagaru Tanigawa got the series off to a marvelous start with the initial volume, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Told from the perspective of hapless Kyon, the only "normal" human within the group, it established the characters and introduced a number of engrossing concepts and plot points still being explored in the more recent volumes. Unfortunately, as the series continued, it was never able to quite match the pure brilliance and excitement of that first story.

Thankfully, this seventh installment, The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya, might just be the return to form the series needs. Certainly, the plot is engaging enough. It seems that Mikuru Asahina, the time traveler, has been sent back in time eight days for a mysterious purpose, and now poor Kyon must help her complete several important tasks in the past in order to protect the future, while avoiding both Haruhi and Mikuru's present day double at the same time. Predictably, complications and dangers arise from all directions as they strive to complete their directives.

Notable to this volume is the increased development of both Mikuru and Nagato--the former is showing faint signs of the person she will one day become, while the latter is also experiencing growth, even if it's still not clear just what kind of personality she will one day form. New potential enemies and shadowy, enigmatic organizations are also introduced or at least mentioned, and for the lovers of technobabble, plenty of new concepts and explanations concerning time travel and the nature of reality itself also abound.

Compared to the series' best, books one and four, this title does have one foible--it simply lacks the epic sensibilities that made those earlier volumes so compelling. The characters do a lot of talking and complete a lot of tasks, but considering the numerous threats and dangers afoot in the plot, the story rarely provides the sense of urgency a tale of its kind needs to be truly riveting. Even a major scene concerning a car chase ends on a strange, anticlimactic note.

Nevertheless, this volume stands as the third best in the series thus far, and is an easy recommendation to Haruhi fans. It should also be noted that the translation/writing is excellent, with the translator, Paul Starr, even taking care to identify when Kyon's monologues are to himself or are instead directed at others. This does wonders for the story's flow, and he should be commended for a job well done.

All in all, a worthy addition to the Haruhi canon.

Haruhi Suzuniya seems happy and content, she is not trying to hunt down monsters, murderers, and mayhem. She seems to be happy with the way things were going. But not everybody is. It seems Nagato is showing hints of not being very happy with being, well, an alien. But we kind of already know about her issues. Or do we? It also seems that there is time travel in Mikuru's future. Well, past. Well, future to become her past. Also, there seems that the Overmind is not the only one with enemies. There seems to be agencies out there who wish to shake things up a tad, right when everything was calming down. For every Ying there is a Yang, for every force of light there is a pool of shadows. And we get to meet them. The book is really one large story, almost a true novel, at 280 some pages. What seems at first to be important to the plot turns out to be a minor smoke screen to more important twists and changes to the setting. Major ones that could make the books that follow this one all the more interesting if maybe a tad too serious.
Oh, and we find out Tsuruya is not what she seems. Well, she is what she seems, a human, but part of something bigger. We think. What she is doing or what her family is into is just hinted and leaves us wanting more, as many of the books do. In a good way.