Howdy, readers!
First off, happy Godzilla Day! November 3rd marks the release date of 1954’s Godzilla, and is therefore a kind of sacred day for monster fans. And this year, the GNP celebrated in style. Or, at least I did. Let me explain…
If you’ve been following along with the GNP’s social media, you probably know that I’ve been working on something big that was due to be released today. Well, the big moment is finally here, and I can’t wait to tell you about it!
Long story short, over the last five months, I’ve been collaborating on a seriously awesome project. It’s not GNP-related, but oddly enough, it almost is… because it involves a Godzilla novelization! Confused? Here’s the story.
In 1954, the original Godzilla was given a full novelization by noted sci-fi author Shigeru Kayama. It was Kayama who actually created the outline of the film before it was even named Godzilla. It was from his mind that ideas like Odo Island, Godzilla’s atomic ray, and the Oxygen Destroyer originated.
This book – which, like the best of novelizations, contained a number of deviations and additions not seen in the film – has been a kind of Godzilla Holy Grail for decades: rare, unavailable in English, and obscure.
Until now.
After 66 years of unavailability and obscurity in the West, I – along with my good friend, the talented artist Robert Monsarrat – am incredibly proud to have created the first full English-language translation of Shigeru Kayama’s GODZILLA!
It took a lot of work, but after months of translating, editing, illustrating, and research, Kayama’s book finally existed in a language we could read.
Our edition of the novel – fully illustrated by Robert’s amazing artwork – is now available to read on a new website, 100% free for any G-fan who wants to check it out.
This might be the most ambitious Godzilla novelization… uh, project that I’ve worked on so far. It was a labor of love, and I’ll definitely be on hand to talk about it and answer any questions for those who are interested!
The one unfortunate thing is that PROJECT: KAYAMA took a fair chunk of time away from writing for this project. Now that it’s done, don’t worry: more GNP chapters are coming soon. But yeah, being able to work on bringing this amazing novel to English-speaking fans was an amazing opportunity I had to jump on. It’s also an extension of the work I’ve done here on the GNP, and something that I’ve wanted to do for years. I’m incredibly glad – and lucky – to have done it.
So, if you’re interested in checking out this fascinating piece of Godzilla’s history, follow this link and check it out!
Happy 66th birthday to the King of the Monsters, and happy reading to you!
The Godzilla Novelization Project 