Spice & Wolf, Book 1
by Isuna Hasekura
Ebook, UNFINISHED
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Boring! Could not finish.
Tag: Light Novel
Skies of Dawn
Skies of Dawn
The Twelve Kingdoms #4
Fuyumi Ono
Light Novel
4 Stars
dtb, 642 pages
the story of 3 girls. Yoko, the new king of Kei, must face rebellious underlings who isolate her and keep her out of the loop. Shoukei, a former princess of another kingdom, must learn about real life and the responsibilities she forsook as a princess. Suzu, a human from our world, like Yoko, learns that she alone decides if she is miserable or happy. All three stories intertwine and weave together seamlessly and the end works out very well. I continue to enjoy these light novels and the wonder and joy began by the anime is alive and well in these novels..
The world Ono describes and writes about continues to grow in our minds. A well written story, even as it covers up its “morality play” underpinnings.
A worthy continuation of the series.
Tale of the Dead Town
Tale of the Dead Town
Vampire Hunter D #4
Hideyuki Kikuchi
SF
1 star
167 pages
The cleanest, morally, so far. Also the dumbest. D goes to a floating town where experiments have gone on to spread vampirism like a plague instead of through bites. I’m not going to be reading any more of this trash.
Demon Deathchase
Demon Deathchase
Vampire Hunter D #3
Hideyuki Kikuchi
Light Novel
1 Star
D, in direct competition with a clan of Hunters, goes after a Vampire who has absconded with a willing woman. The pair are trying to get to space to escape. Pretty much everybody but D dies. No loose ends that way.
I have one more VHD book, and that will be it. In this one, a woman is raped, repeatedly by her 4 brothers. Kikuchi is one sick ******.
Vampire Hunter D
Vampire Hunter D
Vampire Hunter D #1
Hideyuki Kikuchi
Light novel
3 stars
238
The first novel in the Vampire Hunter D light novel series.
A young woman is bit by a local Noble and hires D to kill the Noble to free her. A local human thug, some mutant rebels and other demons all come together to make life hard for D as he just tries to do his job.
Obviously a first novel. Descriptions go something like this “The wind snarled like a beast across the barren sky”. It is like using fingerpaints to do a portrait. Gets the job done, but kind of makes you groan at the amateurishness of it. No real character development, but since I’m guessing D is the only character common in all the books, not surprising.
A nice light read.
The Vast Spread of the Seas
The Vast Spread of the Seas
Twelve Kingdoms #3
Fuyumi Ono
Light Novel
4 stars
294 pages
the story of En. The Taiho chooses a king. The king appears lacksadaisical and everything. A regent of the land starts up a rebellion ostensibly to make things better for the people. In truth he just wants praise. The King gets things taken care of with minimal bloodshed and the Enkai/Taiho, etc, etc, learn to trust the king. I really hope Tokyopop lasts long enough in the publishing biz to bring out all 7 novels. This was enjoyable.
Update-Tokyopop has shutdown and we are stuck at book 4. Sucks to be a fan…
Sea of Wind
Sea of Wind
The Twelve Kingdoms #2
Fuyumi Ono
light novel
4 stars
317 pages
chronologically, takes place shortly before Sea of Shadow. Deals with the Kirin of Tai. He was blown into our world by a Shoku and didn’t come back for 10 years. His story as he adjusts to the fact that he is a Kirin and must choose the next king of Tai. Much shorter than Sea of Shadow, but MUCH less confusing; mainly because it doesn’t deal with as much.
Sea of Shadow
Sea of Shadow
The Twelve Kingdoms #1
Fuyumi Ono
light novel
4 stars
462 pages
A girl is confronted by a stranger who gives his allegiance to her and then is swept into another world. Yoko starts out as a self-centered, cowardly whining girl. By the end of the novel she is a strong, capable woman. Turns out she is the next Queen of Kei. This is the book that the anime was based on but this was much tighter and focused exclusively on Yoko. I really liked it and look forward to the next 10 novels as they are released.
