So I was at Barnes & Noble last week when I picked up an interesting looking book called "Battle Royale" by Koushun Takami. And what a find it turned out to be. Awesome book, if you haven't heard of or read this book, this is a must read. Often described as a "Lord of the Flies" for the 21st century. The book takes place in an alternate timeline, where Japan is under a fascist government rule. As part of a military testing program, a randomly selected Junior High School class is unwittingly taken to a deserted island and forced to participate in a ludicrous game. The students are given weapons and forced to kill each other until there is a sole survivor. The winner is allowed to live and given a life-time pension.
In the words of Stephen King, this book is "an insanely entertaining pulp riff..."
This is probably one of the best books I've ever read and glad I came across, I would recommend it to anyone. When the book was first published in Japan it was criticized as violent exploitation, but then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller. It has also been made into a controversial hit movie of the same name (not yet available in English), and spawned a sequel movie. It was also made into a hit manga collection, which is available in English for you anime lovers.
