To complain a little, at times it gets weirdly patriarchal though. Like, imagine if your identity was in doubt, and your husband had a definite proof you are who you say, but then didn't tell you anything while you were worrying about the whole case, until the time came to reveal the facts to the council (overwhelmingly made of other men). You'd probably be more than a little pissed off at him for never telling you and letting you worry, rather than just be amazed at how he heroically swooped in to save you with information he already possessed for some time, right? And if not pissed, then at least confused, because what reason could he possibly have to hide that information from you when he's on your side the whole time? It feels like the author felt the need for the men to be doing something, and for the ladies to concern themselves with being refined and doing social stuff, and so they cut the storylines in two without bothering to check if it makes any sense.

Also, sometimes I wish the novels weren't so noble-centric. This time there's literally no named character who isn't a noble or a perfectly loyal long-time personal servant of one.

@pcj said in My Magical Career at Court Vol. 3 Discussion!:

Would it be beyond this author to have her wind up being the Elf Queen's half sister, thus giving her a potential claim to a throne, too? That would solve the duke vs commoner problem right quickly.

Given how this series deals with nobility (they seem to have a high percentage of stuck up prejudiced jerks), it doesn't feel like one of those where "secretly noble all along" would be an appropriate solution. I'm betting on them both eventually getting so powerful nobody dares to object.

Just finished volume 2! So far, so good, though by the looks of it nia's not gonna find her evenly match encounter despite still being in what is still infancy for her lifetime. Dunno how to feel about the broadcasting aspect of the story, especially since it's hard to picture what the broadcasting could be like from start to finish... and it's not like there was just one topic, too. The character dynamic between the three girls is fine, but it's sorta like something is missing... probably just that we're overlooking the part where they're all still single digits in age (nia is an exception, but still... sure they're nobility, but maturity isn't downloaded into people's brains the same way as birds knowing when and where to migrate). It's nice that things aren't being time skipped much (I binged 6 volumes of conqueror of a dying kingdom and that happening a few times made it really hard to immerse oneself and gain attachment), but the world is something of an enigma with the way it's been depicted... floating islands? Magivision? Chi? Demon swords? nia herself definitely doesn't help with that, which adds to the confusion. The picture is being painted for sure, but it's hard to get an idea on what could come next that's not just left for the author to paint out certain blanks on their impulse

Can't remember what it was about the vtubers in the end of volume 1, it's been too many months for me to remember. I probably just glossed over it at the time and didn't pay much attention, but apparently they took some backlash by the looks of it

Just finished the volume and up until part 11 or 12, thought it was going to finally conclude. Instead...death. Sad, meaningless death.

Kudou got somewhat of a redemption. Based on his actions as the demon king, you couldn't really ask for a happy ending for him, even after finding out the motivation behind his desire to destroy the world.

But Berta's death was just pointless. It was a death she wanted and the best death she could have gotten, but it was still tragic and depressing.

And then we learned of the final days of the beast of darkness. After Berta's passing, I couldn't take the side story and had to walk away from the volume for a few days. Her viewing herself as alien and worthless...this almost feels like the Empire Strikes Back of the series.

With Krone now nearly 16 and Ein's magical growth spurt it's less awkward to see them flirting and acting like adults, as with Chris' obvious infatuation for him. I also found a bit funny that the author's way to justify Ein being attracted to his mother is by saying he sees her as his sister...regardless, I hope he will keep shipping them and won't back down from having her in the harem.
This should be the last we hear of Heim but since it appears to be infiltrated by the red foxes there is still a chance the country will get destroyed later and Ein might have to cross blades with his father and brother. Or maybe he'll have to save them and there will be so,e sort of reconciliation? Only time will tell.

Nice ending to the story.

@pcj said in Villainess Level 99 Act 4 Discussion!:

As I was reading this part, I kept thinking "yay, we really did get the intelligent Yumiella back!"

She's still having her insane flights of fancy, but she's actually learned from experience that she's thinking insane things and catching herself before putting them into action. This is fantastic character development for her. And about two volumes overdue. On the one hand I want to think maybe she was using Patrick as a handicap so she wouldn't have to think. On the other, maybe the author had just lost their groove and now has gotten it back.

Tbh it feels more that the author is leaning heavily on the "Patrick is the Yumiella Whisperer and Keeper" schtick for low-effort Manzai comedy. It's a pity because it really makes Yumiella as a character come across as an obnoxious, impulsive moron with zero self control and really unlikeable and tiring in my view. I much prefer the Yumiella that acts mostly like a high-functioning independent person that doesn't need a handler to function in society.

In volume 3 I literally forced myself to keep reading through the garbage in the first couple of chapters and was glad I did because the story got (mostly) better from around chapter 3 onwards. In this volume I just quit after she met Gilbert because I'd skimmed through the first part again and was just tired of it at that point. It was really so much better before the author made Yumi such an addled mess.

@Segoth If you're reading in horizontal/paginated mode, a quick fix if it's a problem with the part is to try switching to vertical/scrolling mode. If that works, then there's a bit of code in the part that's causing it to break your reading.

In this case, I found the offending code and removed it, so hopefully you should be able to read it now!

Loving seeing the growth of Ernie. Cant wait to see what happens in book 4 next

Princess Dragon Exterminator is quite the mouthful for a moniker, but it'll do.

Liedis, no, stahp.
Liedis, yes, more of that.

Overall this volume didn't hit as well as v1 did for me, but it is also very much an intermediary volume. I still enjoyed it plenty.

The only one I've managed to try and guess at myself is no skeleton haunting this place, no cursed saint remains as a Drecom title: 骨骸の剣聖が死を遂げる ～呪われ聖者の学院無双～ MTL:The Skeletal Sword Saint dies ~ The Academy of Cursed Saints Musou

Just finished reading the whole series over the last 2 days after seeing it on catchup - honestly surprised by the overall story, wasn't going into it expecting much but was an enjoyable romp, would def recommend.

@Greg-Elwell

The process of getting books out is a long and complicated one with several moving parts.

Unfortunately, a straightforward answer not always available.

All of this is to say, for a general overview of how new volume starts are handled at J-Novel Club. Please see the new volume release topic in my post signature.

Thank you

@Vine said in The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage's Carefree Life in Another World Vol. 1 Discussion!:

First thought:
alt text

Second thought:
alt text

Trauma is not an easy thing to recover even when you are OP.

Ok I'll say it, such a missed opportunity
a "crazy ape"? should be a 'rape ape'

[Pile of engagement proposals.]

Sounds like that can be dealt with by using three simple criteria:

Must be able to live in and work out of Dark Mountain. (The Goddess sent her to where she was needed most.) Sara must accept them. (She has a barrier that only allows people she accepts.) Must be close in age to Sara. (Mom's prerogative: creeps need not apply.)

Volume 2 (Premium Edition): 3 bonus short stories Such Enticing Honey: By the Storehouse—Senai and Ayhan One Day, in the Cornr of a Yurt—Aymer A Few Days Later at the Village Square—Dias

Volume 23 (Premium Edition): A Bonus Short Story & Full Wraparound Cover Jacket illustration The Heads of the Small Clans

Volume 16 (Premium Edition): 2 Bonus Short Stories Gerard's Aspiration The Former Goddess and Her Gourmet Tour in Lumiest

Just wondering if someone can help me, for purposes of completing a challenge, and listing this as a book as a qualifying read, does anyone know the gender of the writer of this series?