General Reading Recommendation Thread (Not Series License Requests)
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@Rahul-Balaggan So, you won't consider it?
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To clarify a bit, I am just the moderator of these forums, I have no say in any license Acquisitions at all.
Sorry.
The people working at J-Novel Club have expressed in interest acquiring a broad range of Light Novels to add to their ever expanding catalogue, however they do not comment publicly on any license acquisitions.
If you have any questions, feel free to send me a direct message.
Thank you.
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@Rahul-Balaggan Then what about Sexile that is now in Indigo Books Stores with J Novel Club written on as the publisher?
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As we are drifting a bit off topic I will send you a direct message to continue this conversation.
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As an Ascendence of a Bookworm fan for close to a year now.
I recently broke my addiction to it and now suggest people read Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.
What got me started was watching the first 2 episodes of the anime.
Here's a trailer on this series on what to expect from this series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ1I7o_t4pc -
I second your endorsement- however readers should be aware, one of the features I love about Bookworm is the unusual 'tone' that I perceive. Often wholesome, atypical for LNs there's neither a focus on romance/harem building nor on violence/fighting/sports...there are elements of both present but that isn't the focus...Jobless Reincarnation does share the deep worldbuilding with Bookworm, but isn't 'wholesome'. The MC is a delightful little pervert in early volumes and
it is a good read, and I recommend it, but I'm hesitant to say if you liked Bookworm you'll like Mushoku Tensei -
Quick question, have any of you read any of the books on Novel Horizons?(https://www.novelhorizons.com/)
If you have, what's your opinion, are they worth it? They're OEL light novels, so can't exactly say my expectations are anywhere high, but I don't mind being proven wrong...Just asking as while checking on the latest Kodomo no Jikan kickstarter update I run across a campaign for one of their books(decided to pledge for it out of curiosity, and afterwards decided to check out their site);
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/novelhorizons/shadow-of-a-god-volume-1/ -
I have a question about "How not to summon a demon lord" LN. I watched the 1 season of the anime and today i saw the 2nd season. I was wondering how accurate LN and anime? I like to read Lazy Dungeon Master but i wouldnt watch it's anime. As a LN LDM and How Not to is similar? Should you reccomend to someone who like LDM?
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@crowdcontrol i think its too late now anyway. Its really hard to reccomend to someone who likes bookworm. Bookworm's story is rare to find. There is no action like classic LN action or the world is in danger or summoned hero has to be a hero and do heroic stuff etc etc.
What did you like about bookworm? The writing or general about the world?
If writing i would reccomend mushoku. Mushoku's world building, writing, character development are really good. But its ecchi, there is action all over the place, inventing stuff are not detailed like in bookworm. So its depends. If you give couple more examples what do you like, i(we) could give better advise.
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@korppi I clicked the link to Novel Horizons and noticed they didn’t bother to capitalize the word English at the top of the page. That does not bode well for their content...
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Before I begin, let me acknowledge that I'm too lazy to read through the whole thread, so I apologize if this has already been addressed.
Request
Please recommend series that are well-written. I'm not looking for a particular genre or style. My focus here is on works that are competently constructed.Background
I recently had the experience of trying out several new series (new to me, not necessarily newly published) only to be stymied by how poorly written they were. It was bad enough that it broke my willful suspension of disbelief. These series suffered from obvious flaws such as: bad sentence or paragraph structure, bizarre word choice, unnecessary exposition, telling rather than showing, arbitrary and even nonsensical plot points, characters that behave and react unlike any actual human being would behave or react, dialog unlike any that actual human-beings would engage in, etc.I understand that there is wide variation in LN quality. And I'm happy to acknowledge the subjectivity in such judgments. It certainly may be the case that other people take no similar issues with a series that bothers me. For this reason, I will refrain from trashing any series by name.
I'm not a literary critic. On the scale of artistic taste, I'm somewhere around "philistine". I'm cognizant that LNs are not meant to replace Shakespeare - students will not be reading them 100 years from now in a "Great Literature of the 21st century" class. I'm fine with that. All I'm looking for is an easy couple hours of escapism that doesn't feel like it was written by someone who has only ever observed other human beings from the top of a mountain through a telescope.
Positive Examples
- Ascendance Of A Bookworm - One of the best-written LN series that I've read. Those who recognize my username will most likely know me from the AoaB forums.
- Good I have such high praise for this series that it is difficult for me to analyze it objectively. Nearly everything about this series feels - to me - deliberate, planned, competently executed, and well-edited. The people feel human. The culture feels believably alien.
- Bad A bad series will come-off as a sequence of events seemingly chosen by random dice roll. Characters will be flat and robotic. Dialog will seem scripted.
- Overlord - Intentional manipulation and subversion of isekai tropes.
- Good Overlord does a few things very well, and is a surprisingly deeper story than you might at first expect. One thing that stands out to me is the deft way that the author, through careful story structure, tricks you into rooting for the bad guys. By the time you realize just how evil the denizens of Nazarick really are, it's already too late. That's a really hard trick to pull off and is a testament to the careful writing in the series.
- Bad A bad series will be one that doesn't challenge the reader in any way. The morality in all cases will easily correspond with modern western values, the good guy will be obviously good with only superficial flaws, and the bad guys will be obviously bad. No attempt will be made to analyze or deconstruct such judgments.
- Arifureta - It's OK to embrace the tropes.
- Good Perhaps a weird choice to include on this list. I include it to show that I'm fine with the zanier and less serious. What I like most about Arifureta is that even its tropiest most cliche scenes are always done with a nod and a wink. The author is in complete control of the narrative and has just made the eyes-wide-open decision to do the most cliche thing imaginable (usually with tons of style).
- Bad A poorly written series will fall back on tired tropes completely seriously and unironically. They will all be played straight with no meta commentary or self-awareness whatsoever.
- Ascendance Of A Bookworm - One of the best-written LN series that I've read. Those who recognize my username will most likely know me from the AoaB forums.
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@unknownmat since you haven't mentioned which series you've read, I'll just mention a few from JNC:
- The Faraway Paladin - one of the best written (and best translated) LNs, and a great starting point if you haven't read it yet. It has a very good introspective character development.
- Altina the Sword Princess - a more conventional fantasy military story. The author knows where he's going, and is able to use use comedy and clichés when it's appropriate. It's quite fun to read.
- Invaders of the Rokujouma!? - if you want something more lighthearted, it has 38 volumes and counting that was planned from the beginning. It takes a few volumes before the proper story starts, but after that I always want to know what happens next.
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@unknownmat said in General Recommendation Thread (Not Series License Requests):
Please recommend series that are well-written.
If well-written and competently constructed is what you're looking for, I can't not recommend Tearmoon Empire. It's just... mwah, chef's kiss.
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@crimson-wise said in General Recommendation Thread (Not Series License Requests):
since you haven't mentioned which series you've read, I'll just mention a few from JNC:
The Faraway Paladin...Altina the Sword Princess ... Invaders of the Rokujouma!?
I have read Faraway Paladin and I agree that it is well written, good recommendation.
Altina sounds intriguing based on your description. I'll stick it at the head of the queue (I own the series already, actually, as I have a bad habit of buying books that I'll definitely get around to eventually, ahem).
I saw the first 10 minutes of the Rokujouma anime and thought it was so dumb that I couldn't watch it any further. Maybe I need to stick with it a bit longer...? How closely does the LN track with the anime?
@masterlillyclaw said in General Recommendation Thread (Not Series License Requests):
If well-written and competently constructed is what you're looking for, I can't not recommend Tearmoon Empire. It's just... mwah, chef's kiss.
Perfect. Another one that I already own and was meaning to get around to eventually. I will place it at the top of the queue.
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@unknownmat The anime does take some liberties, particularly at the end, but I think the tone at the beginning is pretty much the same as the novels.
The first three volumes were OK, but then things move up from there, and the actual plot starts around volume 7. I do love the series and I think it's worth it, but it's of course up to you whether you want to dedicate your time to it.
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@unknownmat said in General Recommendation Thread (Not Series License Requests):
I saw the first 10 minutes of the Rokujouma anime and thought it was so dumb that I couldn't watch it any further.
The 1st episode of the Rokujouma anime covered the whole of Volume 1. The anime is not a good way to check how amazing Rokujouma is. It was too rushed and many important scenes were skip or changed. It was so rushed that they covered 7 volume of the LN. Just imagine how many scenes were skipped or changed to fit that amount of content in a 12 episode series.
Edit: The first 7 volumes of Rokujouma is the whole introductory arc. After that is when the story starts to really get going.
JNC LN Ranking:
1st - Rokujouma
2nd - Realist Hero
3rd - Bookworm -
@unknownmat Have you tried Mushoku Tensei? A rich world with a MC that's dfinitely NOT a moral paragon, with a story that while it wasn't definitely thought out from the onset (the author has openly revealed that he thought it up in reaction to the readers commentaries), it still feels coherent and cohesive enough aside from a few parts. I like the way characters are presented, they feel quite humane instead of just caricatures or tropes. I'd suggest to wait until Seven Seas updates their translation tho. Or watch the anime, it was a very faithful adaptation of the first 3 books
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@bartzbb said in General Recommendation Thread (Not Series License Requests):
The anime is not a good way to check how amazing Rokujouma is.
But it served its purpose - it hooked me on the idea of finding out why the two love interests seemed just a bit too much like their characters in the play.
Going back to @unknownmat's criteria, I agree the story is more important than the genre. There are lots of times that I encounter a book of a genre I don't generally follow, but the story isn't a slave to that genre.
I've been recommending Lazy Dungeon Master to a friend who would be absolutely clueless about the tropes involved, but would appreciate it nonetheless for the characters involved (we're both "there was a box?"-types, like Keima). Maybe when he finishes his year-long move to a new home.
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@crimson-wise, @BartzBB , @SomeOldGuy
Wow, Rokujouma fans are pretty serious about it, huh? You've convinced me to give it another go. I will have to warn you in advance, though, that harem antics don't do much for me. I think I've just outgrown them. I realize that's weird given the presence of Arifureta in my list, but I will just have to plead an inconsistency in my tastes.
@paulnamida said in General Recommendation Thread (Not Series License Requests):
Have you tried Mushoku Tensei?
Yes! Another well written series and a great recommendation.
I was so intrigued by the first episode of the anime (the "dirty old man" narration cracked me up - it was such a contrast from the innocent-seeming antics of a toddler) that I blew through all the available novels before episode two. Sadly this was before the censorship fiasco came to light and so my original readings of the scenes-in-question are tainted by the bad-faith editing.
@someoldguy said in General Recommendation Thread (Not Series License Requests):
I've been recommending Lazy Dungeon Master to a friend who would be absolutely clueless about the tropes involved, but would appreciate it nonetheless for the characters involved (we're both "there was a box?"-types, like Keima). Maybe when he finishes his year-long move to a new home.
Thanks for the recommendation. I have read Lazy Dungeon Master. I do enjoy it, but LDM is a strange one given my criteria above. As a series that doesn't take itself all that seriously, I tend to grade on a pretty forgiving curve. I guess I would say that it falls to the lower end of what I am willing to tolerate before my suspension of disbelief reaches its limit. It's got elements that I genuinely enjoy, but also elements that just make me roll my eyes.
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@someoldguy said in General Recommendation Thread (Not Series License Requests):
I agree the story is more important than the genre. There are lots of times that I encounter a book of a genre I don't generally follow, but the story isn't a slave to that genre.
Agreed. I've come to realize that plot and setting almost don't matter when it comes to how much I enjoy a story. Fundamentally, good writing can make any story interesting and satisfying, while poor writing can ruin even the most exciting plot setup. This is one reason that I don't get terribly worked-up about spoilers - well-written stories are just as enjoyable even when you know what's coming.
While I realize this intellectually, I have a hard time internalizing it. I spend way too much time reading series descriptions - I'm partial to supernatural elements, mystery, deception, and external conflict (and, being honest, OP protagonists). Some of my favorite series are ones that I put off for a long time because the plot summary didn't strike my fancy. One Punch Man being perhaps the most prominent example of great storytelling around a (intentionally) dumb premise.
