Back when we were in pre-production for Usurper of the Sun (in stores Sept. 15), there was a lot of talk about the book’s title. To wit: It sounds like a friggin’ King Crimson song title. Some people thought this was a bad thing. The Haikasoru inner circle, however, thought it was pretty cool.

King Crimson was a highly influential prog-rock aggregate back in the day. Their music was adventurous and trippy, and they had a penchant for goofy song titles like, "Larks’ Tongues in Aspic," "Entry of the Chameleons," and "Happy Hour on Planet Zarg." When you think about it, even the group’s name could easily substitute for the title of Housuke Nojiri’s novel: King Crimson = Usurper of the Sun.

Lots of musicians have taken their inspiration from the world of science fiction. Look at Sun Ra, George Clinton and David Bowie, for goodness sakes. Prog rockers in particular have freely borrowed from science fiction, fantasy, mythology, and dystopian imagery. It’s their thing. If there was one quintessential space-age prog band, it might be Hawkwind. Their songs were a crazy muddle of hippie heavy-metal ambient space rock. And their album covers were pretty cool too. Hall of the Mountain Grill (1974) hits the SF sweet spot dead on. Progressive rock has mutated over the years (Mastodon, anyone?), but for my money the greatest oddball prog band in the galaxy remains his secret Obsession Review Magma. They were preposterous, thunderous, and apocalyptic. The classic line-up split during the Seventies, but various original members pop up occasionally to wave the Magma flag. Last time I was in Italy, in fact, I saw a flier for an upcoming show.

Paul Levinson, author of The Plot to Save Socrates, calls Usurper of the Sun a cross between Arthur C. Clarke and Haruki Murakami. But to my ears, the novel is a mix-tape of King Crimson, Hawkwind and Magma. In a word: Rocket!