Tag: Adventure

Spice & Wolf, Vol. 9 (LN)

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Spice & Wolf, Vol. 9: Town of Strife 2 by Isuna Hasekura
Series Name: Spice & Wolf (Light Novel)
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Commerce
Intended Age Group: 15+
Publisher: Yen On/Yen Press
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-316-24548-7
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book

The capture of a narwhal and the ensuing power struggle between the northern and southern districts of Kerube has Lawrence caught in the middle! Backed into a corner by his own trade guild, can the merchant find a way to extricate himself from this delicate situation? And what of the wolf bone from Holo’s pack? Can the Wisewolf of Yoitsu manage to keep her rage and frustration in check?

Personal & Info

This is the second and final part of a two part event by the title of Town of Strife.

I think this is the first book in which I’ve seen a world map inside in a long while. Every area previously travelled to or mentioned in the series so far is marked on the map. There is also a refresher summary of part one on the map page, as well as an explanation about the narwhal and the town of Kerube.

The table of contents page has an adorable picture of Holo riding a narwhal. Definitely worth looking at.

Characters

Lawrence spends a significant amount of this volume working alone. Holo has little to nothing to do with his dealings, and mostly serves a support role. When Lawrence gets overwhelmed or afraid, she pulls him back to sanity with reason. Col assists in that regard, and also does tasks for Holo and Lawrence. The three of them seem to have a solid friendship at the moment, but I think there’s the implication of Lawrence having to face Holo’s wrath in the end. Their relationship might become more turbulent after this.

Eve Bolan is the most important person in town during Kerube’s negotiations. Everyone wants to make a deal with her, and whatever deal she chooses to make will affect the entire town. Holo despises Eve, but Lawrence and Eve are tentative friends. Lawrence said it’s something along the lines of merchants don’t hold grudges.

Lud Kieman, a senior member of the Rowan Trade Guild, who also runs one of the buildings in Kerube, is among the many who want to make a deal with Eve. He seems like a ruthless person, and obviously doesn’t think of his underlings as people. They are just tools to him. Lawrence fears his wrath, because he wants to stay on good terms with the guild, but Keiman has the power to ruin that.

Story & Thoughts

Since this is part two, it continues almost exactly where volume eight leaves off, and gives a small recap as Lawrence explains to Holo and Col what happened at his meeting with Eve. From there, the story moves forward with Lawrence getting involved in Kerube’s business, whether he wants to or not. He’s sucked right into the middle of things because of his affiliation with the Rowan Trade Guild and his acquaintance with Eve. He has little choice in the matter since a single misstep could ruin his reputation within the guild.

Lawrence actually works on the entire deal on his own. He doesn’t even bring Holo with him. He has this idea that he needs to live up to her expectations, so instead of using her assistance every step of the way, he tries to do everything without her. This delegates Holo to a more morally supportive role, and leaves her available to catch him if he falls. Her biggest job here is to be a sounding board for Lawrence’s thought process. I kind of wanted her to be a little more involved. He tried to operate without her in Lenos, too, so it’s been a while since she has actually helped him directly with a deal.

The money scam with the copper coins comes up again, and thankfully they explain it in more detail. Once they went over it, I finally understood it. I think the story was keeping all the key details secret until the last minute, which is probably why I didn’t quite get it in the previous book.

Something I had an issue with is they seem to speak in riddles more frequently. There are a few places where someone would say something, and I’d have no idea what they meant. Sometimes it would be clarified by a thought from Lawrence, but the clarification didn’t help me see how what they said could possibly be understood by the person on the receiving end of the conversation.

I also had an issue keeping the North and South sides of the town straight during the entire plot. I had a hard time remembering which one is the poor side and which side owed the other what. Or who worked for which side because of those details. Like when it said someone was allied with the North side, I wouldn’t be able to remember if that was the side that needed the money or the side that was greedy. That’s not the fault of the writing, though, it’s just my brain.

Spice & Wolf, Vol. 8 (LN)

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Spice & Wolf, Vol. 8: Town of Strife I by Isuna Hasekura
Series Name: Spice & Wolf (Light Novel)
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Commerce
Intended Age Group: 15+
Publisher: Yen On/Yen Press
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-316-24546-3
Rating: 2.5/5
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Description from the Book

Hearing rumors of a “leg bone of the wolf” being used as an artifact of the Church to showcase its power, Lawrence and Holo head to the site to gather more information. Holo can’t just turn away from what might be a relic of her own kind, after all. Of course, upon arrival, the travelers find that the town is the center of a giant trade dispute! Seems that Col will be getting a lesson in microeconomics!

Personal & Info

Again, it’s been a while since the last volume. I keep intending to circle back around to things, but my reading schedule remains a mess.

Characters

Lawrence and Holo trust each other more in this volume than they seem to in most. Holo is left to her own devices with Col multiple times, with the only stipulation being not to let her drink too much. She even runs an errand for Lawrence on her own, which hardly ever happens. Unfortunately, she’s back to hitting Lawrence on occasion when she is displeased enough. Holo does a poor job of hiding her jealousy and anger during the parts of the story that include Eve.

Col enters the story in volume six. He’s at most thirteen, and smart for his age. His intention is to study church law, but first he needs a better understanding of how the world works. He learns various lessons from Lawrence and Holo every day, even if he doesn’t always understand what they mean. While he is a great help and meticulous in his tasks, Lawrence cannot in good conscience claim him as an apprentice.

Eve Bolan is the merchant woman they met in Lenos. Their dealings with her there were not entirely wholesome. Lawrence can’t help but admire her regardless, because her business skills and connections are top notch. Not to mention her pretty face and ability to perfectly control her facial features when making deals. The dealings with her in Kerube are likely not entirely wholesome, either.

Story & Thoughts

Volume seven is a deviation to side stories completely irrelevant to the main plot, so this one picks up where six leaves off. Lawrence and company arrive in Kerube. Priorities are a little different from the initial plans, though. When leaving Lenos, the idea was to catch up to Eve and get Lawrence’s money back. I think it’s pretty clear that was just a pretense for Lawrence and Holo to extend their time together, because now that they are there, they don’t care about the money. That intention is completely forgotten. Instead, they are looking into rumors about the leg bone of a wolf, potentially from one of Holo’s deceased friends.

As far as the story itself goes, this is part one of a two part series of events. Because of that, this volume is entirely the set up. The usual half to three quarters of the volume that normally sets up the problem or scheme is this entire book. It does make it feel a little slow, but the set up is interesting enough.

I have some issues. I don’t know if it’s because it’s been a while since I read something from the series, or if my brain was just tired. It could also be actual editing mistakes that cut necessary sentences from the story. I don’t really know.

What I do know is I had more of an issue than usual telling who was saying what, and there were unclear details that kept throwing me off. An example of the type of detail I’m referring to would be, at one point Lawrence orders himself an ale and has a conversation with Eve. Eve never orders her own drink, nor does the text say anywhere at all that she drinks from Lawrence’s cup. She thanks him for the ale after the conversation, adding to my confusion, and later it clearly states she shared his cup.

There are many parts of the book that caused me this kind of confusion. If I’m mistaken and the text is correct and I just missed something, I’m sorry, but I flipped back several times to check things and could not find mention of the wording that would have said so. To me, it felt as if the text was saying what happened after the fact and expecting nobody to notice.

Some of the writing in this volume is also redundant. In the first several pages, it’s like they can’t stop telling you about the fact Eve sunk a ship in the river. It’s so frequent it’s actually annoying. The other redundant things are smaller, so I don’t entirely remember which details they were stating.

The copper coins explanation didn’t make much sense to me. They didn’t explain that in much detail, because supposedly it’s super simple, but I don’t get it. I read the explanation multiple times and it didn’t help.

Overall, the book is fine. It’s just much slower, because it’s part one of a two parter. The issues I experienced dragged the rating down a bit. I admit I was tired when I read the majority of it, but I really don’t think I missed anything. I’ve read other volumes of this series while tired and didn’t have these kinds of problems.

Rogue Knight

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Rogue Knight by Brandon Mull
Series Name: Five Kingdoms
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Isekai
Intended Age Group: 8-12
Publisher: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9704-7
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

Cole Randolph never meant to come to the Outskirts, but when his friends were kidnapped on Halloween he had to try to save them. Now he’s trapped in a world that lies between wakefulness and dreaming, reality and imagination, life and death.

Cole’s hunt for his lost friends has led him to the kingdom of Elloweer. Accompanied by new friends Mira, Twitch, and Jace, Cole teams up with the resistance movement and joins the search for Mira’s sister Honor.

But Elloweer has grown unstable. A mysterious enemy is wiping out towns, leaving no witnesses or survivors. And an infamous rebel known throughout the kingdom as the Rogue Knight is upsetting the balance of power.

With enemies in pursuit, Cole and Mira must resort to a fascinating new kind of magic to protect themselves. Every move is filled with danger as Cole and his friends try to outwit the High King, who will stop at nothing to regain what he has lost.

Personal & Info

This is volume two of the Five Kingdoms series. Odds are, if you’re reading this, you already know that, because you’ve likely already read the first one. If not, I’m including a link you can use to check out my review for the first volume instead to avoid reading any spoilers in this one.

The gap between reading the first and second books is longer than I would have liked, but thankfully Rogue Knight includes some refreshers in the beginning.

Content Warnings

Slavery is a big industry in the Outskirts. If you don’t like elements of slavery in your stories, this series is not for you.

Mira and her sisters have more years than they look, but not in a creepy way. They are children, and think of themselves as children, despite their number of years. Any crushes regarding these characters are not intended to be creepy. The idea is they are as old as they claim to be, because they have never been any other age. I can see how this might still upset some people, so just use your own discretion.

Characters

Cole Randolph is the main character. He’s in sixth grade, and shorter than most in his class. At this point in the story, his weapon of choice is a jumping sword. Unfortunately, Sambrian items don’t work in Elloweer.

Jace was a scout for the Sky Raiders. He’s moody, arrogant, and rash, but has a good heart. He now likes scaring his friends as a hobby. At least he no longer teases in the same mean ways as before.

Mira, also known as Miracle Pemberton, is an eleven year old girl who has been hiding from her father for decades. She is one of the High Shaper’s daughters, and did not age during the time her powers were missing.

Twitch, whose real name is Ruben, was a scout for the Sky Raiders. He’s from Elloweer and has a cautious personality. In Elloweer, he has grasshopper legs, wings, and antennae, because he is a race called grinaldi. Outside of Elloweer, Twitch has to use a ring to access his grinaldi form and abilities.

Dalton is Cole’s best friend. He stresses easily and tends to be anxious. He can create seemings, so he studies in Elloweer.

Joe is a member of the resistance, also referred to as the unseen. He warns Mira about impending danger in the first book, and helps out significantly as one of the gang in this one.

Skye Ryland is a member of the resistance. She’s also a fugitive, and one of the best illusionists in Elloweer.

Honor, or Nori, is Mira’s second oldest sister. She prefers to keep her hair short, and shows great skill with swords and bows. As her name implies, she is an honorable and brave person.

There are more characters, but these are the significant ones worth mentioning that do not spoil anything.

Story & Thoughts

The first book takes place in Sambria, where the gifts they use are referred to as shaping. This one continues where that one leaves off, with the group traveling in an auto-coach. Our heroes are Elloweer-bound to rescue Mira’s sister Honor. New country, new way of shaping. Sambrian shaping does not work in Elloweer. Ellowine shapers are referred to as enchanters. They’re illusionists who make seemings, and have similarities to magicians.

Once the story gets going, it’s hard to put it down. There are so many twists and turns and interesting developments. It isn’t just defeat the monster and get the power back like the first one. There are multiple problems to deal with, and new information that will contribute to the story to come.

Some of the story puzzles are easy to guess the answer. One mystery is to figure out the Rogue Knight’s identity. I wrote down my theory as I was reading, and I got it right. Another mystery is a game Jace, Cole, and Mira must play. Based on the description, I immediately knew the correct answer. So, the mysteries are not difficult, but that’s fine.

I like this book more than the first one. Sky Raiders is good, but it has all the base world building to slow it down. This one moves much faster since that world building is already done. Instead, this volume only has to cover the lore pertinent to Elloweer and enchanters. There’s also far more action. The governing system of Elloweer relies on knights and sword fighting, so the adventure in this instance is more violent. People get hurt or die often. But, don’t worry, none of the descriptions are particularly gory. The book is for kids, after all.

I also love the idea of the confidence lounge. This series is fantastic for D&D inspiration. There are a lot of things in the story that can easily be applied to a D&D setting. As a nerd who’s just getting started on learning how to run a game, I’m always looking for more ideas, and I’m constantly amazed by the things I find in the Five Kingdoms.

The Hunger Pains: A Parody

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The Hunger Pains: A parody by The Harvard Lampoon
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Dystopia, Parody, Sci-Fi
Intended Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4516-6820-9
Rating: 2/5
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Description from the Book

When Kantkiss Neverclean replaces her sister as a contestant on the Hunger Games – the second-highest rated reality TV show in Peaceland, behind Extreme Home Makeover – she has no idea what to expect.

Having Lived her entire life in the telemarketing district’s worst neighborhood, the Crack, Kantkiss feels unprepared to fight to the death while simultaneously winking and looking adorable for the cameras. But when her survival rests on choosing between dreamy hunk from home, Carol Handsomestein, or doughy klutz, Pita Malarkey, Kantkiss discovers that the toughest conflicts may not be on the battlefield but in her own heart…which is unfortunately on a battlefield.

Personal & Info

This book is a parody novel of The Hunger Games. It’s fairly short, at about 157 pages. I’ve seen several parody movies of things, but never read a parody novel. My curiosity won out and made me grab this book, since it was cheap.

Based on the appearance of the book alone, I’m impressed. The cover is essentially identical to the source material, except for the position of the bird. Not only that, but the chapter and page numbers are also decorated with the same touches as the Hunger Games novel. Effort was obviously made to make it visually recognizable as a parody and to give the pages the same feel.

Characters

As usual for a parody, the characters have silly and ridiculous names that sound close enough to the original to work out who is which original character. I’m only going to list a few of them as examples, because learning the names is part of the comedy.

Kantkiss Neverclean – Katniss Everdeen

Pita Malarkey – Peeta Mellark

Carol Handsomestein – Gale Hawthorne

Cinnabon – Cinna

Effu Poorpeople – Effie Trinket

I’m sure you get the idea.

Story & Thoughts

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this. A novel parody can’t be the same as you would expect a movie parody to be, right? Wrong. This book is exactly what I expect movie parodies to be. In fact, this book should have been a movie instead of a novel.

The majority of the comedy is based on low intelligence and gags that would be way better as visuals. For example, there’s a scene where Kantkiss and Carol are harvesting a cow, and they pull out T-bone steaks and things that a butcher would obviously have to prepare. That scene would go over better with visual props.

Using the buffoon main character trope is taking the easy and boring way to write comedy. Kantkiss is so ridiculously unintelligent that she doesn’t know how to sit on a sofa. She misunderstands everyone else’s feelings and hopelessly sees the good in people to the point of misinterpreting everything they say. Her thoughts and behavior imply she’s so deranged that it’s amazing she could have even survived to become a teenager in the first place. It felt like the writers were either trying way too hard to make things funny, or weren’t trying hard enough.

There are some good gags in the book, though. Changing the specialties of the districts to stuff like telemarketing and theater was pretty funny. Haymitch’s parody character having a gambling problem instead of a drinking problem as an ongoing joke was pretty good, too. There just wasn’t a good balance of the good gags versus the blatantly silly stuff.

If I had to describe what the overall comedy is like, I think it’s a bit juvenile for the age group. People under fifteen might think it’s hilarious, but people over fifteen might think it’s meh. But obviously that also depends on your taste in comedy. I prefer things a bit more witty, but if you like things a bit more idiotic, this might be something you’d enjoy.

I think I would have liked this more if it were a movie. My expectations are a bit different for a book. I can’t exactly say I like it, but I can’t really say I don’t either. I’ll likely keep it as a novelty for my Hunger Games set.

Content Warnings

There’s obviously violence in this book because, duh, The Hunger Games, but there’s something specific that might bother some people. A baby dies in a rather violent manner.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 5

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 5 by Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe
Series Name: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Genres: Adventure, Elves, Fantasy, Magic
Intended Age Group: Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Sunday
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-9747-3007-0
Rating: 4.5/5
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Description from the Book

Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to understand what life means to the people around her?

Frieren and Fern have ended up on different teams in the highly competitive first-class mage exam. Capturing a rare bird is required to pass, but personality clashes among teammates are making things difficult. Everyone soon realizes there is more at stake than mere success or failure – for some of them, the exam could be a matter of life and death.

Personal & Info

I’m slowly catching up on this series. I want to be up to current volumes before I watch the anime, which is supposed to come out sometime this fall. This is a great series, and I highly recommend it to fans of elves, magic, or Dungeons & Dragons.

Characters

Frieren is an elf mage famous for defeating the demon king with her companions around 80 years ago. She’s a bit of a slob and rather lazy. Her hobby is collecting any and all types of magic spells, no matter how useless they may seem. Her perspective on magic is that the pursuit of the art itself is the greatest joy.

Fern is Frieren’s mage companion and apprentice. She seems to take a motherly role in caring for both Frieren and Stark.

Stark is Eisen’s apprentice. He has great skill as a warrior. He doesn’t get much screen time in this volume, since it focuses on the Mage exam.

Kanne and Lawine are both third-class mages. They are Frieren’s teammates for the first part of the exam. Both of them attended the same academy of magic, and are good friends, despite how often they fight.

Übel and Land are third and second class mages. They are Fern’s teammates for the first part of the exam. Little is information is given for them. Übel is no stranger to murder, which was made clear in volume four.

There are plenty more characters in this volume, as there are several teams for the exam. I think Fern and Frieren’s teams are the most important, so those are the ones I’m choosing to list.

Story & Thoughts

I think this is the best volume in the series, so far. It has comedy, strategy, competition, and magic battles. All wonderful elements for a great volume.

The book starts off by jumping straight into the exam. The teams assigned at the end of book four are gathered at the location for the first-class certification exam’s first test. It is here where they are given a small cage, and the rules and conditions of the test are explained. To pass, teams must catch a special bird, a stille, and have it in the cage at the end of the time limit, with all three team members also present. Generally anything goes, as long as nobody leaves the testing area, which is basically impossible to leave anyway.

The entire volume focuses on this portion of the test. There are ten chapters, and only the last two take place outside of the test. Those final chapters are mostly relaxation and enjoying time with friends as everyone relaxes before the second part of the test.

There is a significant amount of magical combat compared to all of the previous volumes. The birds for the exam are hard to catch, so most opt for trying to steal from others. I actually love the combat, because we get to see more varieties of mage capabilities and spell preferences. Frieren and Fern like to keep things simple, so it’s nice to see how other casters do things.

We still see flashbacks from Frieren’s past, as usual, but I feel like this volume has so much more meat to it than others. I think a big part of that is the number of characters. Generally speaking, there are several fun new characters in this volume, and they all seem to have strong personalities or character quirks that make them engaging and entertaining.

The large number of people is handled well. The ones who are not important are seen in the background or only in a few panels, while the ones that matter get just the right amount of screen time.

I’m looking forward to reading the next volume to see how the second part of the test goes. The competing characters are interesting enough that I actually care to find out who all passes the tests, and hope certain ones don’t perish.

The Spindlers

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The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: 8-12
Publisher: Harper/Harper Collins
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-06-197809-8
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book

When Liza’s brother, Patrick, changes overnight, Liza knows exactly what has happened: The spindlers have gotten to him and stolen his soul.

She knows, too, that she is the only one who can save him.

To rescue Patrick, Liza must go Below, armed with little more than her wits and a broom. There, she uncovers a vast world populated with talking rates, music-loving moles, greedy troglods, and overexcitable nids…as well as strange monsters and terrible dangers. But she will face her greatest challenge at the spindlers’ nests, where she must pass a series of deadly tests – or else her soul, too, will remain Below forever.

Personal & Info

This is a children’s stand alone novel. I’m always on the lookout for good children’s books, because when I was a child, I could never find anything interesting to read. Stand alone novels are a good way to try things, because there is no commitment to buy more volumes of a series, and if they end up being good it gives me an author to keep an eye out for.

I didn’t know anything about this when I grabbed it. I basically just skimmed the first paragraph of the description, and checked online, where I saw it compared to Alice in Wonderland and Gregor the Overlander. At 246 pages, I don’t see any harm in trying something new. Books that short can easily be read in a day, especially children’s books.

Characters

Liza is the main character. The story follows her perspective throughout the entire adventure. She’s the oldest of two children.

Patrick is Liza’s younger brother. He seems to have a moody personality, but his sister loves him anyway.

Mrs. Elston is Liza and Patrick’s mother. She’s always sitting at the table dealing with piles of bills and scolding Liza for telling stories.

Mr. Eltson is Liza and Patrick’s father. He doesn’t appear much, except to indicate he can’t find his glasses.

Mirabella is an eccentric rat. She guides Liza on her adventure in the Below realm.

Anna is never actually in the story, but it mentions her several times. She is Liza and Patrick’s favorite babysitter, but she is away at college.

Story & Thoughts

This is a cute stand alone adventure. I can see why people compare it to Alice in Wonderland. It has that whole, “down the rabbit hole,” thing going for it. I think this is a great book for children. It’s written in a way that I think makes it a good book to possibly read out loud to them, or for them to read themselves. As an adult, I think it could be improved upon, but for the age group it’s intended for, it’s probably fine.

Liza’s former babysitter, Anna, would apparently tell the kids about fantastical creatures and teach them games. The kids wholeheartedly believe everything she tells them, to the point that they recite a charm every night before they go to bed. It turns out it’s all true, and for some reason, Liza knows exactly where to go to find the place Below.

The book has some real nightmare fuel going for it, but not so much that it would be horror. I don’t recommend it for anyone who has arachnophobia. The main bad monsters are a type of extra horrific spiders. Their description is creepy and unsettling to imagine, and the lore of what they do is actually surprisingly horrific for a children’s book.

I like the creativity of the world Below. The creatures are interesting, and the landscape is vivid. The story is rather simple, but the descriptions and conversations about the terrain and landmarks make the world come alive. I get the impression the important chunk of the story is the journey, not the end. Liza and Mirabella both learn important lessons along the way. A running theme along the journey is Liza’s close-mindedness. She tends to judge things by how they appear at a glance, and as the story progresses, she learns better.

Kingdom Hearts (LN)

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Kingdom Hearts by Tomoco Kanemaki, Tetsuya Nomura, Shiro Amano
Series Name: Kingdom Hearts (Light Novel)
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: 8+
Publisher: Yen On/Yen Press
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-0-316-26019-0
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book

On the Destiny Islands, three children – Sora, Riku, and Kairi – live out their peaceful, carefree lives while yearning for whatever lies beyond the great ocean. But one night, an unexpected disaster takes place, and the three are torn from each other and their island home. Meanwhile, at Disney Castle, Donald Duck and the other castle residents are in an uproar upon discovering King Mickey has suddenly gone missing. When fate brings them together, Sora, Donald, and Goofy set out on a grand Disney adventure to find their friends!

Personal & Info

This is a light novel adaptation of the popular game Kingdom Hearts. Adaptations are never one hundred percent accurate, so don’t expect this book to be. I’m always curious to read adaptations for things I like, because I want to see what’s different.

I’m not going to lie, it took me forever to get through this book, because I just was not in the mood for it. It was a slog to get halfway through, and then I pushed myself to finish the last hundred pages in one day.

Six color pictures of random events throughout the story are at the front of the book. All images in the book are illustrated by the same artist as the manga adaptation. Some of the black and white pictures look a little strange to me, like the one on page 62, because it looks like they tried to layer part of the picture, and it just looks weird where the parts overlap.

There are a few pages of character information after the table of contents. They cover some of the most significant characters, but they leave many out. Strangely, Donald, Goofy, Sora, Kairi, and Riku all have two entries. Based on the descriptions and art chosen, I get the feeling this novel is intended for people already familiar with the game.

Characters

Sora is the main character. He is exclusive to the Kingdom Hearts universe. Well, except for his Smash appearance. He’s basically your average joe with a heart of gold.

Donald and Goofy are popular Disney characters associated with Mickey Mouse. All three of them have been around for several decades, and they’re kind of the face of Disney, so it makes sense they would be main characters for this kind of story.

Mickey Mouse is a king in this universe, because he is the ever constant mascot of Disney. Donald is his court wizard, and Goofy is his head knight.

Riku and Kairi are also completely exclusive to the Kingdom Hearts universe. Riku is the cool edge lord loner type. Part of his relationship with Sora is Riku is always better than him at everything, but that changes a bit as the story progresses. Kairi is essentially the girl next door Sora and Riku are crushing on.

Various Disney and Final Fantasy characters make appearances throughout the series. The number of Final Fantasy characters is small, but the Disney quantity is high since almost all of the worlds are from Disney movies.

Story & Thoughts

Honestly, I think this book could have been at least twice as thick, or two or more volumes. The book is for ages eight and up, but I’ve read plenty of books for the same age group that were written much better than this.

My biggest complaint is there is not enough detail, for literally anything. If you don’t already know everything from the game, you likely won’t visualize anything correctly. Every time they describe one of the bosses, it doesn’t sound accurate. Whenever they describe a Heartless, it’s left mostly left to your imagination, even though there are canonical appearances for them. There is no picture index of Heartless to make up for the poor descriptions.

If you don’t already know all the appearing characters, you likely wouldn’t picture them accurately either. Their descriptions are overly simple, and the pacing makes them feel flat, because they aren’t around long enough to get to know them. Donald’s description doesn’t even tell you he is a duck. You can tell by the cover, and the fact he quacks, but that’s about it. There is zero mention of his unique way of talking, either. Everyone knows he has a weird voice, except those who grew up without any Disney television in their lives.

I really think that because this is a novelization of the game, it should go above and beyond in quality to try reaching audiences who don’t play the game or watch any Disney.

There are a significant amount of differences in this adaptation. Some of them are good changes to improve the flow of the story, like conversations on the gummi ship, because those feel like they add a little more depth as the group tries to figure things out. But, there are bad changes, too, and plenty that seem pointless.

Four whole levels are cut from the story. Olympus Colosseum, Atlantica, Halloween Town, and 100 Acre Wood. That means Ursula, Hades, and Oogie Boogie are cut from the group of villains. Even the manga adaptation doesn’t cut that many levels.

Some events, like boss fights and encounters, are seemingly pointlessly moved to other areas, basically in a different room than they are originally in. There are also boss fights cut completely, so some levels only have one. The entire book lacks summons. There are a total of none, so I’m curious how that will affect if Simba knows Sora in KH2.

It also seems like there are some plot threads that are quickly dropped, as if the game function of those plot points are inconvenient for the novel.

I know it probably seems like I’m ragging on the novel, but it’s actually not that bad. I like it well enough, and it does do some things well. Some of the dialogue looks like it is literally taken word for word, or at least as closely as possible, from the game. At a quick glance, the few pages of Ansem’s report that they read also look like they might be word for word, so points for accuracy on that.

The chapter, Fragments, on page 227, is a nice addition. It’s a scene where Riku finds himself in the realm behind the door, before Sora even finds the door. I don’t remember if that part is in the game, but I don’t think it is. Assuming it isn’t, I think that part is a nice little addition. There are a ton of little things, like transition parts, or what someone is thinking, that make improvements to the flow of the story.

There’s also progression to represent the level up growth of the game. It’s not specifically tracked, but the story includes parts where each of them learn abilities that you would equip in the game, or get boosts in power from something. The most obvious is Sora learning various new ways to use the keyblade, like throwing it.

I can’t help but laugh at some of the things they leave the same as the game. Anyone familiar with Kingdom Hearts knows the jokes about Donald never healing Sora. That’s still a running gag in this book. Donald never heals Sora. I’m not sure if he even knows a cure spell. Every heal in the game involves Goofy giving someone a potion.

If I had to choose which adaptation to read, between the novel or the manga, I’m actually not sure which I would choose. They’re both good in different ways, and they both cut things. Regarding just the light novel, though, I don’t recommend it for people unfamiliar with Kingdom Hearts. I think I feel the same as I did with the manga, where I think it’s a good book to use to scratch that itch if you’re in the mood for Kingdom Hearts but don’t want to play the game. As far as adaptations go, I say this one is mediocre, but not in a bad way.

Tesla Note, Vol. 1

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Tesla Note, Vol. 1 by Masafumi Nishida, Tadayoshi Kubo, Kota Sannomiya
Series Name: Tesla Note
Genres: Action, Adventure, Espionage, Sci-Fi
Intended Age Group: Teen
Publisher: Kodansha
Edition: ebook
ISBN: 9781636994512
Rating: 2/5
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Description

Botan Negoro is the seventeen year old heir to the Negoro ninja clan. She’s been trained to be the ultimate intelligence agent, and it’s time for her to help save the world with her assigned partner, Kuruma. It’s up to the two of them to retrieve the Tesla Fragments before they can be used for evil.

Personal & Info

This is another ebook I got for free from a BookWalker sale. At the time I’m typing this, the book appears to be available as digital only.

Characters

Botan Negoro is the leading lady. She’s seventeen, and has gone her entire life without standing out or making any friends due to her ninja training. She seems to like to talk a lot, and is enthusiastic about her job, as well as trying new foods.

Jingo Negoro, Botan’s grandfather, is the thirty-second head of the Negoro ninja clan. He trained her to be the best intelligence officer possible. He also appears to be the honorary president of the spy agency.

Kyohei’s position is not directly stated, but I think he is the team’s handler.

Kuruma is Botan’s assigned partner. He is proud of having an exceptional amount of muscle for his physique, even if he doesn’t look outwardly muscular. His personality is self-confident and rude, specifically to Botan.

Ryunosuke’s position is not directly stated, but I get the impression he is the information guy, or the man in the chair, as some might call it. He sits in front of a bank of computers and gives the team the information they need to do their job.

Director Toriumi seems to run the spy agency, but Botan’s grandfather has final say over him.

Story & Thoughts

The publisher description doesn’t really grab me, but the way it’s explained in the manga is more interesting. It seems like the official description doesn’t want to explain much or risk being too wordy. I like the concept more after reading the book.

Basically, Nikola Tesla, the scientist, invented many things that were too advanced for his era, so he decided to hide them away in crystals. In one hundred years time, the crystals would unlock, and hopefully the world would be ready for them. As an extra safeguard, the crystals were scattered, so no one could gather them easily. Ownership of all the crystals could give one person enough power to potentially take over the world. It is these crystals Botan and Kuruma must gather to prevent disaster. The crystal for this volume is a machine that can teleport things.

After getting a good grasp of the concept and seeing the characters explain it, I like it. It’s a cool idea. However, I don’t think the execution is as good as it could be. The story comes off as a bit dull to me. I can tell it tries to put in some action and thrilling elements, but it just doesn’t grab me. I feel no inclination to want to read more volumes. It’s likely fine and might get better, but I just don’t have the interest to find out.

The characters are great, though. Botan and Kuruma are full of energy and personality. They do well to pull you in. The rest need more volumes to get some depth. I can see the series possibly digging into Kyohei and Ryunosuke later. It looks like they try to a little bit toward the end when everyone moves into their base house.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 4

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 4 by Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe
Series Name: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Genres: Adventure, Elves, Fantasy, Magic
Intended Age Group: Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Sunday
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-9747-2725-4
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to understand what life means to the people around her?

The village priest Sein has no intention of becoming an adventurer, but his desire to find a long-lost friend may lead him to join Frieren’s party on their journey north. They are headed for the magical city of Äußerst, where Frieren can obtain the first-class mage certification needed to enter the Northern Plateau region. At Fieren’s urging, Fern decides to take the certification exam as well, and faces some unexpected competition…

Personal & Info

I’m slowly catching up on this series. I want to be up to current volumes before I watch the anime, which is supposed to come out sometime later this year.

Characters

Frieren is an elf mage famous for defeating the demon king with her companions around 80 years ago. She’s a bit of a slob and rather lazy. Her hobby is collecting any and all types of magic spells, no matter how useless they may seem.

Fern is Frieren’s mage companion and apprentice. She seems to take a motherly role in caring for Frieren.

Stark is Eisen’s apprentice. He has low self confidence, but great skill as a warrior.

Sein is the party’s new priest. He seems to be the peacemaker of the party.

Story & Thoughts

The story picks up where volume three left off. The group is in a village trying to recruit a priest for their travels. Of course, the guys also get their stuff back. It doesn’t seem like they learn their lesson, though, because there’s a panel later that implies they lose it again. Sein and Stark shouldn’t gamble. They obviously aren’t good at it.

After they leave the village, they continue their travels to Äußerst. This series is the best I’ve seen at actually portraying travel. I mean, aside from a few gems, like maybe Inuyasha, for example. It takes a certain kind of skill to cover travel without it getting dull. There are plenty of random encounters and towns to visit.

It always seems like someone learns something, or some of them grow closer from the events of their journey. None of it feels insignificant, and the characters themselves are wonderfully portrayed enough to make their interactions entertaining. Stark and Fern are lucky to have Sein with them, because they appear to be navigating some difficult times communicating with each other due to their young ages. Frieren is not one to assist in mediating things like that.

Based on their interactions, I’m starting to ship Stark and Fern. They always want to apologize to each other, but don’t know how. They have definitely gotten more comfortable with each other compared to when Stark first joined the party. Fern seemed almost mean to him back then.

Near the end of the volume, they finally make it to Äußerst, where they can take the first class mage exam. Either Fern or Frieren will need to pass. They need one first class mage certification to get permission to continue their main quest of going to Ende in search of Aureole. The test itself will be in the next volume.

Sky Raiders

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Sky Raiders by Brandon Mull
Series Name: Five Kingdoms
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Isekai
Intended Age Group: 8-12
Publisher: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9701-6
Rating: 3.5/5
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Description from the Book

Cole Randolph is just trying to have fun with his friends on Halloween. But their trip to a neighborhood haunted house turns out to be the start of a wild adventure when Cole watches his friends being whisked away through a mysterious passage.

Cole dives in after them, only to emerge somewhere that’s very clearly no longer Mesa, Arizona. He soon learns he’s come to a place called the Outskirts.

Made up of five kingdoms, the Outskirts lies between wakefulness and dreaming, reality and imagination, life and death. The balance of power in the five kingdoms has been upset, and the magic there is becoming unstable. It’s up to Cole and an unusual girl named Mira to set things right, rescue his friends, and hopefully survive long enough for Cole to find his way back home….

Personal & Info

I love the Fablehaven series, so I want to try more books by the same author. This book is volume one of the Five Kingdoms series. It’s five volumes long, and I have all five ahead of time, because I have high hopes. If I like this series, I’ll probably continue to buy books by Brandon Mull.

Characters

Cole Randolph is the main character. He’s in sixth grade, and shorter than most in his class.

Dalton is Cole’s best friend. He’s on the shorter side, like Cole, and he is easily stressed and anxious.

Jenna Hunt is Cole’s childhood crush. He swears he doesn’t like her that way anymore, but it’s hard to tell.

Mira is an eleven year old girl who works for the Sky Raiders. She was a scout until she showed shaping potential.

Durny is a professional looking man with a cain. He works for the Sky Raiders as their head shaper, and has a close relationship with Mira.

Jace is a scout for the Sky Raiders. He seems moody, arrogant, and rash, but good at heart. I suspect he will have a significant amount of character development as the series progresses.

Ruben, mostly known as Twitch, is around ten. He’s a scout for the Sky Raiders, and he is overly cautious.

Liam is a talented shaper. He lives in hiding, but helps out with the adventure whenever he can.

There are a ton of characters with names that hold little significance as a whole. The ones I listed here are the ones I think are most important. There are more plot significant characters, but I feel some of those are better off not said to keep some surprise in the story. The ones here are the ones I feel are most important. If the ones I chose not to list become bigger roles later in the series, I will list them in those volumes and possibly come back here to add them in.

Story & Thoughts

This book pulls a plot twist within the first fifty pages. It’s not really a spoiler, because the first fifty pages of a book are basically the introduction. The premise states it’s up to Cole and a girl named Mira to save his friends. The story starts off with Cole following abductors through a portal to do just that, and I thought it would be like a jumping off point where he might accomplish something and regroup or what have you, but that’s not what happens. He almost immediately gets caught and enslaved along with his friends.

As the first volume in the series, there’s a lot of ground to cover with world building. I think this book does that very well while pushing the story along. Mira takes the time to explain how long years and seasons and days are. Another character, Declan, functions as a sort of NPC lore dump. You know, like how in video games there are characters to talk to where you can just ask them a bunch of questions and they give long winded explanations? That’s Declan, except he’s an important person.

It seems like each book is going to take place in a different kingdom of the Outskirts, so we’ll likely get lore for each area as the story progresses.

I love the whole shaping concept. I’ll let the book explain what that is. The items made with that remind me a lot of D&D magic items. The basic examples use ropes that can do various tasks, and some of those examples have basically the same descriptions as D&D items.

Brady’s Wilderness is really cool. I think seeing that place animated or live action would be amazing. Even a terrible jerky 80s rendering with bad CG and animatronics would make it work.

Content Warnings

Slavery is a big industry in the Outskirts. If you don’t like elements of slavery in your stories, this series is not for you.

There is a young character whose number of years is more than their appearance, but not in a creepy way. They are a child, and think of themself as a child, despite their number of years. Any crushes regarding this character are not intended to be creepy. The idea is they are as old as they claim to be, because they have never been any other age. I can see how this might still upset some people, so just use your own discretion.