What is the definition of a Light Novel?

geetop

I was wondering what everyone considers to be the definition of a Light Novel. Is it something that is uniquely Japanese? I use Goodreads to track all my books and use a Light Novel category and place books into it that I feel fit the definition even if their origin is not Japanese (or sometimes I am not certain).

For example I have enjoyed reading the Tipsy Pelican Tavern series by August which appears to be self published and was written in English (can be had on Kindle Unlimited last time I looked) worth a look if you like fantasy/slice of life stories.

Ran

I'd consider a light novel any story that's somewhat shorter than a regular novel and often adapted from a (web) serial, with occasional illustrations, and usually translated from Japanese or Korean.

That would rule out the German-language novels from J-Novel, though, so perhaps removing the bit about translation entirely would work better. Any story I read on royal road is a web novel as much as any uploaded to Shosetsuka ni Naro, so it'd make sense to call the resulting story a LN if it gets published on Amazon too.

WaterDweller

The explanation I've seen used in several places is that the term "light novel" is a marketing category. Thus, the definition of a light novel is a book that is marketed as a light novel, whether in Japan or the rest of the world.

That's not to say there aren't common elements to books marketed as light novels. Like, they're generally short, are written in simple(r) language, targeted at teenagers, and contain illustrations in the manga/anime art style. Of course, not all books marketed as light novels conform to those criteria (at least if we count books considered light novels in the English speaking market. The Japanese market is a bit stricter with its definitions, and for example things like Ascendance of a Bookworm are, as far as I can tell, not considered light novels in Japan, despite sharing many of the same traits).

Sekki

Wiki description is:

A light novel (Japanese: ライトノベル, Hepburn: raito noberu) is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students.[1][2] The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language.

I would say western version of such novels would be "The Ninja" novel series as well as cowboy and romance novels that were quite popular in 70s and 80s. They were easy to read, cheap and targeted toward teenagers. They were released in large numbers. Things changed when internet got faster :)

Shiny

I asked ChatGPT to define a light novel, and it said:

A light novel is a style of Japanese novel that typically targets young adult readers and has a focus on a fast-paced and engaging storytelling style, with a mix of text and illustrations. Light novels often feature elements of popular genres such as fantasy, science fiction, romance, and adventure, and are usually serialized in magazines before being published in book form.

Light novels are often characterized by their length, with most volumes consisting of around 50,000 to 60,000 words, making them shorter than traditional novels. They also often include anime or manga-style illustrations that are interspersed throughout the text, which add to their visual appeal.

Light novels are a popular form of entertainment in Japan, and many have been adapted into anime, manga, and video games. They have also gained a significant following outside of Japan, particularly among fans of Japanese popular culture.

That seems like a reasonable general description, with many elements being typical but not mandatory but it being a Japanese novel being a basic requirement.

As has been discussed, an alternative definition is that a light novel is a Japanese novel marketed in Japan as a light novel. Such books are typically printed in a small, pocket-sized paperback format on inexpensive, lightweight paper that is similar in quality to the paper used for manga.

I don't think a book becomes a light novel just because it is marketed as such in the West as or has similar characteristics, as the term in its normal use relates to a Japanese publishing category for Japanese novels. I would for my own usage instead call it something like "A Korean/English/etc novel in the style of a Japanese light novel".

In terms of what a light novel isn't, according to https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/2934/is-harry-potter-vol-1-a-light-novel 89% of JNC members who voted said the first Harry Potter book wasn't a light novel (while 11% said it was). In that discussion it was noted that in the Japanese Wikipedia entry for light novels it is stated that: "There is no clearly agreed upon definition".

Edit: I've updated this post after further consideration of the topic.

pcj

@Sekki Going by your definition there, the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series (which I grew up with) probably qualified as light novels, and given their storytelling style and frequency of illustrations, I would tend to agree with that definition.

geetop

@pcj

I never thought of the Hardy Boys as Light Novels (which I loved when I was kid and probably the books that made me love reading).

Thanks for pointing that out.

SomeOldGuy

Just to be arbitrary...

"Light novel" = "less than or equal to 50mm thick".
"Regular novel" = "51mm to 75mm thick".
"Heavy book" = "76mm or thicker".

The fact that they're putting more text on the pages doesn't matter. I remember reading a number of books 40+ years ago that, if printed today, would be "heavy pamphlets" instead of the "novels" they were.

What they're called doesn't really matter to whether or not someone likes them. Size seems to be related to how long it will take you to read the story, and the story is the important part. Picking a size to read limits your choices.

Geezer Weasalopes

@pcj
I was never into Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys.
Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, on the other hand... I think I read the first 20 volumes at my local library before I shifted over to SF following dad getting subscriptions to Analog and F&SF. (The April 1972 issue of Analog was the first to arrive.)

Given how loosely defined Light Novels are as to subject matter, the pagination and interior illustrations probably qualified, yes.

Travis Butler

@Geezer-Weasalopes said in What is the definition of a Light Novel?:

@pcj
I was never into Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys.
Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, on the other hand... I think I read the first 20 volumes at my local library before I shifted over to SF following dad getting subscriptions to Analog and F&SF. (The April 1972 issue of Analog was the first to arrive.)

And the Mad Scientist's Club? Alvin Fernald? :)

Geezer Weasalopes

@Travis-Butler said in What is the definition of a Light Novel?:

@Geezer-Weasalopes said in What is the definition of a Light Novel?:

@pcj
I was never into Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys.
Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, on the other hand... I think I read the first 20 volumes at my local library before I shifted over to SF following dad getting subscriptions to Analog and F&SF. (The April 1972 issue of Analog was the first to arrive.)

And the Mad Scientist's Club? Alvin Fernald? :)

But of course!
Scholastic Book Service for the win!
OK, the Alvin Fernalds, at least some were Archer Books?

Travis Butler

@Geezer-Weasalopes said in What is the definition of a Light Novel?:

@Travis-Butler said in What is the definition of a Light Novel?:

@Geezer-Weasalopes said in What is the definition of a Light Novel?:

@pcj
I was never into Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys.
Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, on the other hand... I think I read the first 20 volumes at my local library before I shifted over to SF following dad getting subscriptions to Analog and F&SF. (The April 1972 issue of Analog was the first to arrive.)

And the Mad Scientist's Club? Alvin Fernald? :)

But of course!
Scholastic Book Service for the win!
OK, the Alvin Fernalds, at least some were Archer Books?

Hmm... I couldn't say. I got at least half of my copies used with a variety of covers, a few even in hardcover, so I don't remember any house style that would identify them.

This is a job for... SuperWeasel!

admin

As people have mentioned on this thread before, "Light Novel" is more a marketing term than anything else.

I suppose a good parallel would be "Blockbuster" for movies.

Like, we know some things about what kind of movie a movie labeled with that could be, like it probably comes out in the summer (though, for example the star wars comes out in the winter?), it usually has a certain budget, a big star or two, or comes from a major studio. But none of these things are required and really calling anything a "Blockbuster" just sort of "sets the expectations" of the consumer toward a certain direction.

That's what "Light Novel" is to me. A marketing term that sets expectations in a certain way, but that the work itself can very much betray those expectations.

There are times we call things "Light Novels" in english when they aren't called that in Japan, like JK Haru (you could argue that Hayakawa's label it was published under was a light novel label, but most of the other books under that label were much closer to literature, and JK haru had no internal illustrations).

Geezer Weasalopes

@Travis-Butler
There was a time when Scholastic Books published under the operating name of "Scholastic Book Services", with a considerable percentage of their sales through a reader's magazine they distributed to the various schools.

My sister purchased a variety of such works in early elementary school, some of which I still have on my shelves some 50+ years later.

SBS Logo 1960s?

My copy of *The Mad Scientist's Club" was one of theirs. A couple of the Alvin Fernalds as well.

Some slight research was required before I realized it was "Archway" that also published some of the Fernalds. Archway was an imprint of Pocket Books.

Absolutely no useful information concerning SBS shows up on Scholastic's official site or Wikipedia, which appalls me; they were iconic to anyone of my vintage.

myskaros

If you guys want to start a new topic for this other discussion, feel free, but otherwise you shouldn't hijack this one to have separate conversations.