@HarmlessDave said in suggestions for a novel to read?:

I'd tell them to start with the light novels

It's always best to start with the novel and usually just fine to stay with it. With the bright exception of The Apothecary Diaries, I can't recall an anime that rises up to the level of or enriches much a good novel.

@Reshes

Hello,

Sorry for any confusion. A few things to go over here:

It isn't that we are against advertising print editions put out by our friends at Yen Press and Seven Seas. Just that it isn't our license. It is theres, and we leave advertising to them.

While Yen Press is the print publisher for Hell Mode.
J-Novel Club is the print publisher for Campfire Cooking.

Our last print blog post has a recap of our last batch of print announcements.
https://j-novel.club/blog/new-titles-for-print-release

These are from February, so they are not in the carousel anymore,

We do have a filter for series printed by Yen Press (and Seven Seas): https://j-novel.club/series?search=tag:"print by yen press"

Thank you

@Renn Historically, LN series that have older anime adaptations (not within the last couple years) do not sell well. Unfortunately, we've licensed plenty of them and they have taught us that there simply isn't enough demand for them to be worth the time and resources needed to license and publish more.

Hoping for a volume 15.

@doceirias I see, ok. Thanks for the response.

I was satisfied with the ending we got, I don't know what has been added to the web novel so I'm not sure if the plot kept going or there are just short stories, an epilogue or whatever.
Would be nice if JNC was able to vrjng that material to us, especially for other series that were axedwithout a proper conclusion, but from what I understood it's not easy and might create problems with Japanese publishers. I'm not even sure the contracts between authors and the original publishers allow the former to negotiate with a new publisher if the series are canceled, so JNC publishing those web novels themselves might not be possible to begin with.

Audiobooks in general are not for me, mostly because I can read much faster than normal speech, but also because the voices aren't what I'm expecting.

I have the same problem with a fair amount of YouTube instructional content. Videos are good for showing some things like setting up a computer in a specific case, but I'd much rather read text than wait for someone to slowly explain something.

@yukie14

Hello,

I am sorry. There is no news that can be publicly shared beyond what has been said.

@leej nothing I've heard. V10 came out of nowhere when we weren't expecting it.

@Serah said in What are your favourite Top 5 (2025):

Since I know the other titles already you have mentioned in your top 5 and honourable mentions - how about the rising stars of yours? Or maybe you have another tip like Zilbagias for me.

Err, what about the Rising Stars? Or are you just asking if I have any others? Because that list hasn't changed. Though, I did read all seven volumes of Dungeon Crawler Carl recently. Not a light novel, but now it's one of my favorite series of all time.

Anyway, a few that didn't make it into my top five but have been there before or are well regarded:

Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom (currently stalled at v7) A Pale Moon Reverie (complete at v3) Fiance No More (complete at v3) Dahlia in Bloom (ongoing) Ideal Sponger Life (ongoing?)

Adding to what GeorgeMTO said, the series is published by Shufunotomosha under their Hero Bunko label. Below are four licensed series from the same publisher.

The Apothecary Diaries
Shufunotomosha released Volume 16 on 2025-05-30. That will be 161 days this Friday.

I Could Never Be a Succubus!
J-Novel Club finished Volume 6 pre-pub wise on 2025-02-08. Japan had released Volume 7 on 2024-07-31 and J-Novel Club didn't start Volume 7 pre-pubs until 2025-04-05. That is a 248 day gap, however it is possible that the delay between J-Novel Club finishing Volume 6 pre-pubs and starting Volume 7 pre-pubs had nothing to do with licensing.

The Ideal Sponger Life
J-Novel Club caught up to Japan with Volume 14 pre-pub wise on 2023-10-24. Japan then released Volume 15 on 2023-12-28 and J-Novel Club didn't start Volume 15 pre-pubs until 2025-01-28. That is a 397 day gap.

Restaurant to Another World
Seven Seas caught up to Japan with Volume 5 on 2020-10-22. Japan then released Volume 6 on 2021-10-29 and Seven Seas won't be releasing Volume 6 until 2025-11-13. That is a 1,476 day gap.

The remaining three licensed series from Shufunotomosha are Dimension Wave (last Japanese release was Volume 7 on 2024-09-30), Knight's & Magic (last Japanese release was Volume 11 on 2021-11-29), and Seventh (last Japanese release was Volume 10 on 2020-10-30).

@orchio there was a big gap between v10 and v11, so I wouldn't be too concerned right now. J-Novel Club have historically been very good at translating every volume published in Japan.

Fully translated is obviously a fair few years away though.

@HarmlessDave said in Hanashi releases The New Gate LN vol 1:

The New Gate LN

Oh that's exciting. I liked the anime. I'll have to check it out.