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Honeybees and Distant Thunder
Honeybees and Distant Thunder
Dec 3, 2025 12:00 AM

Author:Riku Onda,Philip Gabriel

Honeybees and Distant Thunder

The Night Circus meets Lonely Castle in the Mirror in this multi-award-winning Japanese bestseller, available finally in an English translation by Philip Gabriel, a translator of Murakami

- AN FT BEST SUMMER READ 2023

- OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD IN JAPAN

- WINNER OF THE NAOKI PRIZE AND THE JAPAN BOOKSELLERS' AWARD

- A MAJOR MOVIE RELEASE IN JAPAN

'A thrilling and often nail-biting depiction of music, friendship, and personal demons' OBSERVER

'Propulsive and poetic'KIRKUS

______________________

Welcome to a magical world of music, friendship and rivalry ...

In a small coastal town just a stone's throw from Tokyo, a prestigious piano competition is underway. Over the course of two feverish weeks, three friends will experience some of the most joyous - and painful - moments of their lives.

Aya was a piano genius, until she ran away from the stage and vanished; will the tall and talented Makun bring her back?

Or will it be child of nature, Jin, a pianist without a piano, who carries the sound of his father's bees wherever he goes?

Each of them will break the rules, awe their fans and push themselves to the brink. But at what cost?

Tender, cruel, compelling, HONEYBEES AND DISTANT THUNDER is the unflinching story of love, courage and rivalry. Most of all, it shows how three young people reconcile with the highs and lows of what it means to truly be a friend.

_____________

Japanese readers love HONEYBEES AND DISTANT THUNDER:

- 'The novel is a masterpiece' 5 stars*****'

- 'Each contestant was wonderfully drawn, and I felt very moved' 5 stars*****

- 'I felt like I was right there, and there were scenes that brought me to tears' 5 stars*****

- 'This is a beyond a reading experience. It felt like some sixth sense was at work. Wonderful' 5 stars*****

Reviews

A thrilling and often nail-biting depiction of music, friendship and personal demons . . . Onda beautifully conveys the transcendent power of classical music in all its emotive, psychological and visceral glory.

—— OBSERVER

A pitch-perfect, vivid masterpiece. A celebration of the love and joy inherent in the act of creating and appreciating music. Honeybees and Distant Thunder contains a warm frequency that vibrates with life and soul.

—— NICK BRADLEY, author of THE CAT AND THE CITY

Propulsive and poetic

—— KIRKUS REVIEWS

Deeply moving. The now-ness of Onda's writing left me more than once with a big, goofy grin on my face or tears on my cheeks

—— ASSOCIATED PRESS

A fine performance

—— IRISH TIMES

Expect a wave of visceral reactions ... an emotive and poetic work

—— TOKYO WEEKENDER

Powerfully funny... Aburiria is recognisable as modern Africa in all its splendour, squalor, economic malaise and venality... it is hard not to be cheerd by the spirit of gentle resistance that is at its core, in defiance of everyday greed

—— The Economist

Truthful in its dissection of power, and remarkably free of bitterness... the poisonousness of its targets never infects the author's vision, nor his faith in people's power to resist

—— Guardian

It's a book of wonderful purple phases...restless, epic, allusive

—— Scotsman

Praise on Devil on the Cross:
'This novel will be regarded as one of the historic staging posts of African Fiction. Ngugi is the most celebrated of African novelists. What he offers is nothing less than a new direction for African writing.

—— British Book News

Praise on Petals of Blood
Ambitious, caustic and impassioned

—— The New Yorker

A mind-blowing political statement, an anguished cry of despair . . . a bomshell

—— The Weekly Review

The definitive African book of the twentieth century.

—— Moses Isegawa, author of Abyssinian Chronicles and Snakepit

The Three of Us toes the tightrope between concession and deception as Agbaje-Williams executes surprise twists in a narrative that’s drenched in wine

—— TIME

Explosive... What rocked me was the naked examination of that coveted construct we call innocence... The Three of Us read, wrote and erased me. Then, it gave me back to myself, giggling and nodding my head. What a keen mind this story comes from. What a calm power this story holds

—— Robert Jones, Jr., author of THE PROPHETS

A cunning (and often very funny) book, a wily and promising debut

—— Rumaan Alam, author of LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND

A sharp, humorous, superbly entertaining novel exploring Black love and relationships and the conflicts and tensions that arise from jealousy, desire, control and cultural expectations... Insightful and impressive

—— Jacqueline Crooks, author of FIRE RUSH

A witty comedy of manners

—— i-D, *Books to be Excited for in 2023*

I'm obsessed. This is a masterful, at times familiar and relatable, yet ultimately disturbing portrayal of a friendship. Constantly surprising, often dark and at times sinister, it is without fail always entertaining and funny

—— Claire Kohda, author of WOMAN, EATING

Both wickedly entertaining and thought-provoking. I couldn't stop turning the page!

—— Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, author of YINKA, WHERE IS YOUR HUZBAND?

A unique novel... with a clever premise and definitely one that will provoke a lot of discussion.

—— Red, *Books to Look Out For 2023*

Funny, fresh and full of drama, not a word goes to waste in this extraordinary debut

—— Sophie Irwin, author of A LADY'S GUIDE TO FORTUNE-HUNTING

A striking, often wickedly funny debut... Agbaje-Williams brilliantly captures the inner monologue as well as the conversational style of each of the three through which their whole cultural milieu takes shape around them... An original and potent comedy of manners with an ingenious final twist

—— Kirkus, *Starred Review*

Lapvona is an interrogation of faith, greed, and abuse - yet Moshfegh's dark humour cackles right through it.

—— Independent, *Summer Reads of 2022*

This unsettling read is unlike anything else.

—— Grazia, *Summer Reads of 2022*

[Lapvona] is unlike anything she's [Moshfegh] written before... a rollercoaster ride exploring the themes of poverty, religion and greed.

—— Hello!, *Summer Reads of 2022*

Moshfegh's novel is bitterly comic, compelling reading, ever-pulsing with perversity.

—— Big Issue

[A] wry, bewitching and slightly dark novel.

—— Monocle, *Christmas Gift Guide 2022*

Moshfegh is one of the most original and astute young novelists working today.

—— Daily Telegraph

The superabundantly talented...Moshfegh's sentences are piercing and vixenish... she is always a deep pleasure to read.

—— New York Times (on MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION)

Funny... Unforgettable... Batuman is particularly good on sex and sexual politics... The star feature is the narration... garrulous, rambunctious... full of baroque riffs and digressions.

—— Claire Lowdown , Spectator

A fresh voice is a rare thing, and Elif Batuman is one such.

—— Times Literary Supplement, *Books of the Year*

Either/Or is extremely funny and delightfully ludic, as it probes the very act of reading from the point of view of confused university student Selin.

—— Anakana Schofield, Irish Times, Books of the Year 2022

I was desperately looking forward to Elif Batuman's Either/Or, and it more than lived up to it.

—— Samir Chadha , White Review, *Books of the Year*

Re-encountering Selin...felt like being reunited with an old friend.

—— Helen Charman , White Review, *Books of the Year*

Hilarious.

—— Alice Hattrick , White Review, *Books of the Year*

I greatly enjoyed the comic zing of Elif Batuman's delightful Either/Or

—— Megan Hunter , White Review, *Books of the Year*

Witty, intelligent and funny... [Selin's] inner monologue is addictive enough to read a thousand more pages of, and I can only cross my fingers that this isn't the last instalment of the series.

—— Crack

Just as funny and self-aware and clever as The Idiot.

—— Jessica Zhan Mei Yu , White Review, *Books of the Year*

Funny, wry and insightful

—— The Times, *Summer Reads of 2023*

Laugh out loud…hilarious and thoughtful

—— Times Literary Supplement, *Books of the Year*
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