2010 sturgeon award winnernebula and hugo award nomineeit is the early summer of 1945 and war reigns in the pacific rim with no end in sight back in the states hollywood bmovie star syms thorley lives in a very different world starring as the frankensteinlike corpuscula and khatonra the living mummy but the us navy has a new role waiting for thorley the role of a lifetime that he could never have imaginedthe top secret knickerbocker project is putting the finishing touches on the ultimate biological weapon a breed of gigantic firebreathing mutant iguanas engineered to stomp and burn cities on the japanese mainland the navy calls upon thorley to don a rubber suit and become the merciless gorgantis and to star in a live drama that simulates the destruction of a miniature japanese metropolis if the demonstration succeeds the japanese will surrender and many thousands of lives will be spared if it fails the horrible mutant lizards will be unleashed one thing is certain syms thorley must now give the most terrifyingly convincing performance of his lifein the dual traditions of godzilla as a playful monster and a symbol of the dawn of the nuclear era shambling towards hiroshima unexpectedly blends the destruction of world war ii with the halcyon pleasure of monster movies