Daikon: A Novel

What if, instead of two atomic bombs, the United States had sent three over Japan? What if one of those had wound up in the hands of the Japanese?

These are the questions that form the basis of Daikon, a novel that is both a what-if scenario and an examination of the Japanese mindset at the end of World War II. The heart of the novel is Keizo Kan, a man called upon to study the captured bomb and learn its secrets, even as the date of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki inches ever closer. At times, the book diverts from him to follow his imprisoned wife and members of the Japanese Army, providing still more details about life in Japan in 1945.

The book is intriguing, but it takes time to build up. The first several chapters feel like a documentary about atomic bombs, and the characters often seem to be at a remove from the audience, with their emotions and, at times, even their humanity taking a backseat to history and the plot. It’s more likely to catch and hold the interests of people who are already deeply interested in this time period.