A Letter to My Daughter about Mecha, and Family
Peter Tieryas’ United States of Japan was one of the strongest sci-fi novels of 2016, a spiritual successor to Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle that manages to be much more than a fanservice jaunt into the timeline of Dick’s celebrated alt-history, in which the Allies lost World War II and Japan has occupied America. Inspired by Tieryas’ experiences growing up in Asia and hearing about the tragedies of WWII on the Pacific Front, and incorporating plenty of electrifying what-if details, it’s a thoughtful examination of humanity’s darker nature and a slam-bang sci-fi adventure. His new novel Mecha Samurai Empire, available September 18, is set in the same world, and is another deeply personal work, as the author explains below.
Mecha Samurai Empire
Paperback $16.00
Mecha Samurai Empire
In Stock Online
Paperback $16.00
When I began writing Mecha Samurai Empire, I knew I wanted it to be more of a personal story than you might expect from an alt-history science fiction thriller featuring giant mecha. But during the editing process, I found out my wife and I were going to have a kid, which changed my perspective on the whole thing.
When I began writing Mecha Samurai Empire, I knew I wanted it to be more of a personal story than you might expect from an alt-history science fiction thriller featuring giant mecha. But during the editing process, I found out my wife and I were going to have a kid, which changed my perspective on the whole thing.
Many of the characters I write about are orphans, or are limited in their interaction with their parents. Mac, the main character, isn’t an exception—both his parents were killed in a civil revolt. But this wasn’t just me following a trope. It was a reflection of my own experiences growing up in an abusive family, and the fact I have not spoken to members of my biological family in decades.
When I look back on my childhood, I’ve mentally suppressed much of the reality of what I experienced. My biographical bookmarks are instead various video games and books, as well as the stories I’ve written. Many of them provided me a form of egress, but they also represented a hope for a different kind of future, as fantasy worlds superseded what, for me, was a depressing childhood.
Mac Fujimoto lives a bleak existence, but his dream is to become a mecha pilot, and change his fate. He doesn’t get good grades, he doesn’t have any important family connections, and he is socially shy. But he struggles forward against all odds. The challenges and adversities he faces are similar to the ones I confronted growing up.
All of that was on my mind late last year when I learned I was going to be a father. I felt nervous, in part, about the kind of father I’d be, but also, because I really wanted my baby to have a different childhood from my own. I didn’t want my child to suffer the things I had, struggling with insecurities like embarrassment over having to use meal tickets in order to eat at school, or hating to go home afterward, afraid of what might await.
Being a silly, over-concerned parent, and having heard that babies recognize their parents’ voices while in the womb, I started reading the entirety of Mecha Samurai Empire to my daughter. It was my writerly way of introducing myself to her. (For practical purposes, it was also very helpful to the editing process—reading out loud from a word document on a smart phone forced me to focus on each individual word, the cadence of the prose, and the parts where the flow was noticeably hampered; I adjusted the draft accordingly after each session.)
There were times I felt ridiculous reading the book out loud to her that way. It was then that my wife, Angela, would point out that if the baby was hectic, moving like an “alien” inside her womb, complete with visible surface movements straight out of a horror film, this reading time would calm her down.
“She’s listening to you,” Angela told me.
Mecha Samurai Empire is my longest published novel, at about 130 thousand words, so it took a long time to read it aloud. I also added an “author’s commentary” to most sections, explaining to my kid why I wrote certain scenes the way I did, and what Easter egg and references I was making. I was especially proud telling her about some of the scenes incorporating tributes to one of my heroes, video game designer Hideo Kojima, and how I got to meet him in person in Tokyo this past year.
But there were harder parts too: sections where I had to explain how sometimes, you can try your best—like Mac does—and still fail. You can pour your heart into something you love, whether a novel or a job interview, and be told you’re not good enough. The worst part is when you realize they’re right, and have to start all over again.
Ninety percent of the time, rejections are impersonal and emotionless. Nine percent of rejections can be cruel and mean-spirited, leaving you questioning why you even tried. Doubt, regrets, and feelings of stupidity are constant companions.
But you have to persist, because every once in a while (that elusive 1 percent of the time), there’s someone who will give you a chance, against all the odds. Maybe it’s a strangely intriguing element in a story you wrote, something you thought was unimportant, but which caught an editor’s attention. Or maybe your persistence impressed some manager enough that they gave you a job no one else believed you were qualified for.
United States of Japan
Paperback $7.99
United States of Japan
Paperback $7.99
The political allegories and the tragic history that serve as the backdrop for Mecha Samurai Empire were more difficult to explain to her, because they are so complex, and so full of sorrow for so many people. How to explain the cruelty and evil of humanity throughout history?
The political allegories and the tragic history that serve as the backdrop for Mecha Samurai Empire were more difficult to explain to her, because they are so complex, and so full of sorrow for so many people. How to explain the cruelty and evil of humanity throughout history?
My baby wasn’t the only one listening. Angela chimed in with lots of feedback, laughing at scenes she recognized from our own lives. There was sadness, too, as we reflected on the challenges and disappointments we faced together. There were too many of the latter, emotions compounded by time and experience.
It took a few months to read through the whole book. When Mecha finally came to an end, I felt comforted by having followed Mac and his fellow cadets’ pursuit of their goals to its conclusion. Through what was a deeply personal reading, I felt ready to meet my daughter.
And when I finally did, a few weeks ago, tears creeped into my eyes, though I hid them from my wife, because I was shy about showing her my vulnerability.
My newborn daughter looked up at me with her curious eyes. “I’m the weird guy who read Mecha Samurai Empire to you,” I told her, and held up my book to her.
She cried and asked for food.
Weeks passed—the cycle of sleeping, eating, and crying all new parents know. We got little to no sleep. But within the past few weeks, just as we were pushed to the brink of zombiehood, we noticed her looking up at my books on the shelf. We knew it was just her trying to figure out the world, and her eyes being drawn to the strong colors of their covers. Yet we laughed, giddy at the wonder in her young gaze. Seeing her on her back, tiny and helpless, I couldn’t help but wonder how my biological parents could have been so cruel and violent to their own flesh and blood.
It’s a feeling I hope I never understand.
I’ve started showing my daughter the covers of all my favorite books and games, explaining what each of them signifies for me. There is a whole lifetime of stories I’ve accumulated throughout the years, and I can’t wait to share them with her, even if she might not understand it all yet.
I know it’s a bit of a cliche, but it feels like a new chapter in my life has started. This one is not the stuff of science fiction—no escape from the present this time. It is one we can enjoy together.
Mecha Samurai Empire is available September 18. United States of Japan is available now.