There’s no way to beat this game. The only difference is when and where you die…"
One month has passed since Akihiko Kayaba’s deadly game began, and the body count continues to rise. Two thousand players are already dead.
Kirito and Asuna are two very different people, but they both desire to fight alone. Nonetheless, they find themselves drawn together to face challenges from both within and without. Given that the entire virtual world they now live in has been created as a deathtrap, the surviving players of Sword Art Online are starting to get desperate, and desperation makes them dangerous to loners like Kirito and Asuna. As it becomes clear that solitude equals suicide, will the two be able to overcome their differences to find the strength to believe in each other, and in doing so, survive?
Sword Art Online: Progressive is a new version of the Sword Art Online tale that starts at the beginning of Kirito and Asuna’s epic adventure—on the very first level of the deadly world of Aincrad!
Content warnings if known
Some passing mentions of suicide and despair amongst the general player base, iirc. Nothing more graphic than that though.
Why are you nominating this book: it’s a very fun retelling of the beginning of Sword Art Online. The dynamic between the two main characters is enjoyable, and there are interesting tensions and novelties between different groups and subcultures in the book. Progressive series in general feels a bit more accessible and interesting than the main SAO series. It’s a bit more lighthearted, and you get both Kirito and Asuna’s perspective, plus more exposure to a bit more of what’s going on with other background characters and groups. Also interesting musings about where the line between AI & humans in a fully VR game is.
You know, it occurs to me there’s potential for setting up some sort of watch-along anime club in conjunction with this one, given how a good number of the popular LNs we’re likely to see nominated will have an anime adaptation.
Not sure how it would all work; would people be interested in something like that?
Probly better to start one new thing at a time. If the LN club gets going solidly, then might be worth revisiting. Also wouldn’t want people to feel pressured to do both, or like they’re missing out if they don’t do the anime. Might feel like to much time commitment.
Anime also introduces potential for spoilers, depending on the adaptation. Some things might be out of order, dropped, added, etc.
Tilana Exedilika, junior knight from another world. A fair skinned beautiful girl (note: she is 20, though, not sure if that’s still in the “girl” category, but fine I guess).
Kei Matoba, one of the finest detectives from the San Teresa Police Department. Has cat allergy and isn’t great socially.
The two of them have been ordered to cooperate on an investigation in the city of San Teresa, a city connected to another world through an interdimentional gate.
Even as they keep fighting about everything and insulting each other, they track their common enemy. In doing so, a strange sense of trust starts blossoming between them…
A complete rewriting and extension of “Dragnet Mirage”! A thrilling police action story!
Content warnings if known
That’s a “hardboiled” type of story. Expect violence and really skimpily dressed women (plus a lot of illegal stuff like drugs, gambling, prostitution, …).
Why are you nominating this book: I read the first book in the series about 6 months ago and I really loved it. I really like the concept of having a noir detective story that involves magic. In particular, I loved how the police has to deal with crimes that merge both. Also! Main characters are adults! With a relevant background that justify why they are head-and-shoulders above average people. I was thinking of reading volume 2 soon-ish, but reading the first volume again with the club could be a nice way to get back into it.
That cover shouts Murata-sensei. He has a very identifiable style.
I think having on the list the size of the book in pages, number of volumes, completed/ongoing and level would be useful, but it might be too much information to fit in the table?
Thinking about it some more, would it be helpful to have # of volumes and completed/ongoing? Especially since we’d probably only be reading the first volume.
Level I definitely agree; unfortunately Discourse’s auto-link title generator thingy is broken still, else I would’ve linked that. :\ I guess I’ll manually type in the level for now, and hopefully once it gets itself sorted I can replace stuff…
I’ve been looking through my own lists of books to nominate, and I have a feeling we might run into the “is this a light novel or a novel” question sooner rather than later (i.e. once I put up the nomination). Unless you guys want to hack out a formal system, we’ll have to have a certain degree of flexibility, I suppose.
There was one series I wanted to nominate because, based on my reading of other books in that series, it’s probably going to sit on the easier side, and I would love to see lower-level learners join in. But there’s no digital version. :\ Not a huge dealbreaker in the grand scheme of things, but it’s real hard to beat that convenience factor…
Is there an ebook available?: yes Is there an audiobook available?: no Is there an all-furigana version available?: no (took a peek at the preview, and there does seem to be quite a bit of furigana in the first chapter at least.)
(DeepL)
What is the true intention of the flying dragon that attacks the village but does not kill people? What is the course of the trial of the fairy cat that the old man is involved in? What is the true nature of the beast that devours the daughters in the village with its sharp bark? Mythical beasts, creatures with unique ecology and supernatural powers. Because of the increasing number of conflicts between these mysterious beings and people, the state has appointed specialists to investigate and sometimes exterminate them. One of these experts, researcher Feri, is on a journey to complete the world’s only book on mythical beasts, with “the coexistence of humans and mythical beasts” in mind. This is a cruel and tender fantasy tale of the relationship between man and mythical beasts.
Content warnings if known
None known
Why are you nominating this book: I read the manga version (in English) way back and enjoyed it. I love fantasy, and the heroine has a cool rabbit monster sidekick.
Is there an ebook available?: yes Is there an audiobook available?: no (there is a physical-only drama CD) Is there an all-furigana version available?: no
(DeepL)
Keita Sakamaki, a successful model, is in the middle of an elegant cruise for a commercial shoot. His only complaint is the crew member in charge of his cabin, Yoshitaka Fukuchi. He is a nice guy with perfect customer service manners, but for some reason, he has a condescending smile that he doesn’t like, and he rebuffs him at every opportunity. Then, while out on location on a small island, his boat is wrecked! Keita is thrown off the boat and is left alone with Gikyo on the deserted island…? Survival love on a southern island *The illustrations in the paper version are not included in the electronic version.
Content warnings if known
None known
Why are you nominating this book: I’m a big fan of one of the author’s other series, so I’ve been wanting to try out one of their other works for a while. This one isn’t historical, so we can remove that difficulty hurdle, and I’ve generally felt the author’s writing style was pretty clear-cut otherwise.
While this one is marked as a novel on Natively, that was due more to me just not really having a good LN vs. novel guiding principle when I submitted it. I can definitely rescind this nomination if others feel it may not be light novel-y enough.
I do think it has some influence. If there’s not going to be a continuation, it’s an indicator of “how much on your own” are you left with, in case you want to continue. Thus why I think if it’s ongoing/completed and number of volumes are relevant.
Okay, series status/volume numbers added, with finished series bolded. We’ll have to see if this is worth keeping up; the chart will be out-of-date whenever a new book (本好き) gets added. Hopefully it should work as a basic gloss.
Something we’ll have to keep in mind for the future, potentially.
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