You have 699 coins, what novel you gonna be reading?
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I’m going to have to break my recommendations down by genre
comedy
Tearmoon Empire: volume 9 just started prepub
The spiel: Hands downs the best thing I’ve read on JNC and the one with the most wondrous use of language. A hilarious comedy of misunderstandings with a ton of heart. Mia is the empire’s crown princess who is put to the guillotine when a horrible famine sparks a violent revolution, only to herself waking up in the past as her twelve year old self…with her bloody diary detailing the bad future that will come to pass! Deathly afraid of ending up back at the guillotine, Mia bumbles her way towards a better and bright future, so that she do what she actually wants to do, laze around in peacemystery
Apothecary Diaries: recently finished volume 6Girl apothecary is begrudgingly compelled to a solved mysteries in the court of not-Imperial China. I love the MC of this one because she has a sharp tongue and takes no sh*t from anyone.
Isekai
Dahlia In Bloom: just completed volume 5
This one has Bookworm vibes, though each volume has long descriptions of food & drinks, which I love but YMMV. There is also a thread of a very slow-burn romance
Blurb: “ After dying of overwork in Japan, Dahlia is reborn into a world filled with magic. Raised by a master of magical toolmaking, she develops a passion for the craft and becomes engaged to her father’s apprentice. Before her father can see her wed, however, he suddenly passes away. As if this weren’t enough, on the day before their wedding, her fiancé announces that he’s in love—but not with her! Dahlia finally realizes she needs to live for herself. She vows to be her own woman from now on and devote herself to her craft, even if it’s not quite the quiet life she was hoping for! From a chance encounter with a knight to starting her own company, there are challenges aplenty on the horizon. But this young craftswoman is no longer a shrinking violet—she’s Dahlia, and she’s ready to bloom.”Fushi No Kami
Has similar themes to Bookworm in that the MC is using past life knowledge to raise the technological level of their society and will rampage to make that happen
Blurb: “Ash is a young boy with apparent past-life memories who lives in a remote, deserted village. As he remembers leading a bountiful life, he can’t bear living in a world akin to the Dark Ages, where not even the internal combustion engine exists. Ash envisions the rebirth of a civilization where housing with proper sanitation is the norm and the world is connected via a means of transportation faster than horses. For that reason, he is eager to consult books containing knowledge from a highly-developed ancient culture that is rumored to have existed far in the past. Ash makes use of the church’s resources, learning how to read and obtaining the knowledge that he seeks. In addition, he enlists the help of the people around him, including Maika, the village chief’s daughter. Together, they aim to develop their own village. This is only the beginning of the story about a young boy who sets out to revolutionize the world in order to rebuild civilization and create his ideal life!”That will do for a start,
Let me know if you want more recommendations
“There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
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Sounds like you are looking for a series that just started and you want to continue reading? Considering you are interested in bookworm, I think I would go with Conqueror of a Dying Kingdom. Really enjoyed the first volume which expired on the 17th and the second volume is currently being translated.
Now I am a Demon Lord is a fun, laid back series with an OP protagonist. The 2nd volume should be available until November 15th, with the 3rd currently being translated.
Finally, another series you might be interested in is Fumi No Yushi. Volume 7 is currently being translated, but it is on catch up until Tuesday morning-ish, so you could check out the first volume at least to see if you are interested in the series. Doesn't seem like it will meet you criteria however.
EDIT: Also, I believe you should get an additional 699 coins as a premium member every month on the 15th, somewhat expanding your selection of series.
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@LegitPancake
Thanks for the recommendations! D-Genesis, Death's Daughter, and Seventh were the most helpful, though Tearmoon and Great Cleric sound really really good.On slight tangent, is it just me or does D-Genesis have a Gate vibe to it.
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@HarmlessDave
I watched The Faraway Paladin anime and liked it a lot. Did you by chance watch it? if so how do they compare. -
@Soul47 said in You have 699 coins, what novel you gonna be reading?:
@HarmlessDave
I watched The Faraway Paladin anime and liked it a lot. Did you by chance watch it? if so how do they compare.If you liked the anime then you will love the light novel. The light novel is one of the best written things on JNC and while the anime was good, I felt the production didn’t always convey the majesty of the story
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@Soul47 said in You have 699 coins, what novel you gonna be reading?:
On slight tangent, is it just me or does D-Genesis have a Gate vibe to it.
Nah, not really much like Gate at all. While we know some form of entity is behind the dungeon manifestations, there's no active invasion through them like at the start of Gate, nor is there active colonisation back through them, just gaining resources from the dungeons while still being on Earth. It's more in line with Dungeon Busters (although so far less nationalist) and Solo Leveling/various other Korean modern dungeon series.
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@kuali
I just want to say thank you for putting in links! it made searching for the novels so much easier.I haven't purchased/read any of the bookworm separate side content, so thanks for suggesting them. I'm in the process of rereading the series and probably will get the Royal Academy Stories, (I'm glad there's only one book right now and it sounds really interesting.) though I'm not sold on the Fanbooks. The descriptions were pretty vague and not really appealing. The later two mentioned several side stories but not who they were from. Any highlights from the Fanbooks one should defiantly read for themselves?
Tearmoon, Death's Daughter, and The Apothecary Diaries really piqued my interest. You mentioned something called catchup. how does that work, and do you think those book could be on a monthly list?
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@Soul47 said in You have 699 coins, what novel you gonna be reading?:
You mention something called catchup. how does that work, and do you think those book could be on a monthly list?
How catch-up works is around the start of each month, the staff unlocks the few series that for the duration of that month you can read every volume in the series, so it's great for checking out volumes of series where are the prepubs have expired. I love catch-up because it lets me check out older series releases without having to buy the first few volumes. Catch-up usually consists of about 30 total volumes.
To answer your second question, any title in the JNC catalog is eligible to be part of catch-up.
You will always see this month's catch-up on the JNC homepage
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@Lily-Garden
I appreciate the links and extra effort in organization. Makes forum reading more enjoyable.Tearmoon, Apothecary, and Dahlia in Bloom are the most interesting. Focusing in a Dahlia in Bloom. The novel sounds prettying tragic near the beginning, (I actually love super tragic underdog stories.) but also sounds a bit bubbly as well. what's you take on it.
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@Soul47 said in You have 699 coins, what novel you gonna be reading?:
the Royal Academy Stories, (I'm glad there's only one book right now and it sounds really interesting.) though I'm not sold on the Fanbooks. The descriptions were pretty vague and not really appealing. The later two mentioned several side stories but not who they were from. Any highlights from the Fanbooks one should defiantly read for themselves?
Only one Royal Academy stories volume so far in Japan too, so probably won't be a second. There's a couple of various short story books that we'll hopefully get at some point, but it just depends on what kind of workload the translation team can endure. Bookworm is not a light workload, and they don't want to slow the main volumes to do side content.
All 3 fanbooks so far have had a lot of really cool background q&a info that makes sense for the world, but are either a little too subtle in Rozemyne's PoV or impossible to insert at all (for example fanbook 1 confirmed that Benno's late fiancee had the Devouring before it came up in the main series), as well as some detailed maps for Temple (FB1), Royal Academy dorm room (FB2), Royal Academy Library (FB3). You can check out Fanbook 3's prepubs for an idea though, there's nothing wrong with reading them out of order, since they're all supplemental books to the main series. Fanbook 1 had a story from the perspective of Nicola in the Temple, set between P2V4 and P3V1. FB2 has too many short stories to list, but my favourite was one from a neutral mednoble who attended Ferdinand's harspiel concert having tea with her Former Veronica Faction sister who didn't get to attend.
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@Kurzaa
Well Sh*t. I read the description for Conqueror of a Dying Kingdom, and it was really really interesting. It's truly a shame that the first volume pre-pub expired.There are several stories that have a "purchase volume 1 read the 2nd one free" situation and I don't know which to choose! I'll just have to make a poll for that. (I don't know how to make a poll here so if someone could message me how that would be great)
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@GeorgeMTO
I totally forgot that Solo was a thing. D-Genesis definitely feels more like that. -
@Soul47 You're Welcome, I'm a studying Librarianship so the organization of information comes with the territory 😉
As for Dahlia in Bloom, the fiance had pushed a lot of his insecurities onto her, so when he breaks their engagement she's actually gets to start living her best life, which really involves a lot of good food and drink, experimenting with magical tool making, and making new connections, one of which is a handsome knight she helps out after a chance encounter in the Woods. So I wouldn't call it a tragic story, but has a bit of that Underdog Rising Star themes to it.
If you want a really tragic story, Seven Seas Entertainment is publishing the light novel I Swear I Won't Bother You Again which the best portrait I’ve seen in a light novel of trauma and abuse, in which an aristocratic young lady tries to overcome her past trauma in a redo of her life.
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@Lily-Garden
I Swear I won't Bother You Again does sound much more enjoyable. -
@Soul47
Fanbook 1: A Q&A, some character sketches, some bonus art, some comfy life with my family strips, and the extra chapters:
Temple Tour [Nicola]
My Daughter's about to be a Criminal [Gunther] (a manga chapter)Fanbook 2:
More Q&A, character sketches, an account from an audio cd recording session, a noble family tree for Ehrenfest, some extra comfy life strips, and the bonus chapters:
One Winter's Day
I'm Not Givin' Ya My Daughter! [Gunther]
My Handful of a Little Sister [Tuuli]
Studying Literature and Picture Books [Tuuli]
A Tea Party with My Older Sister [Christel] (Christel doesn't show up in the main series, but she was one of the noblewomen in the audience at Ferdinand's Harspiel concert. This is the chapter GeorgeMTO mentioned.)
Feelings of Panic [Tuuli]
The Start of Life as a Retainer [Brunhilde]So if you just want the side stories, FB2 is a better choice than 1 or 3. Especially if you like Tuuli's POV. Lots of Tuuli in that one.
Dahlia in Bloom: While it never exactly trivializes the damage her ex-fiancee did, most of the series is somewhat lighter-hearted, concentrating more on her 'new life' than on her confronting residual trauma or anything. Overall, while its still one of the series I spend coins on in months when Rozemyne and Maomao don't have new volumes, the pace can be kinda slow (more so in the later volumes) and the sheer detail lavished on the food and especially alcohol can turn some readers off.
I Swear I Won't Bother You Again really does give a good portrayal of a lifelong abuse victim. The only reason(s) I wouldn't have recommended that one are that you can't buy it with your j-novel.club coins... and the supporting cast (even the 'good' ones) mostly just irritate me. Especially the presumable love interest, a manipulative obsessive stalker.
Though I'll add a third series along those lines to the suggestions - Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! Light Novels or Manga. It kinda hits the middle ground between them - takes itself and its lead pair a little more seriously than Dahlia does, and spends less (but definitely not 'no') time gushing about drinking and the female lead's cooking, but also seems to have an overall more positive outlook (and in my opinion, a better supporting cast) than Bother You does.
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@Lily-Garden
I have just one question. Why is the synopsis in the article not the books description? Jests aside, the review was really good. The short description definitely made the book more appealing, and the review tells a person what they need to know. Tragedy, time loop, hope... Maybe. Elements I never get tired of.Do you know if J-novel club has any forum topics or review sections similar to the article in your link? (I.e 4/5 star)
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@Soul47 as far I know there is no official review section on JNC with ratings stars; that’s one of the reasons I find things like Anime News Network helpful
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@Soul47 said in You have 699 coins, what novel you gonna be reading?:
@HarmlessDave
I watched The Faraway Paladin anime and liked it a lot. Did you by chance watch it? if so how do they compare.The anime was very faithful to the first volume and part of the second, and I enjoyed it too.
The novels were even better, and there are five of them. The fifth is sort of like an after story since it's mostly slice of life short stories.
If you decide to try it, I'd recommend starting with volume one to read all of the details and inner monologue that weren't in the anime.
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@Soul47 said in You have 699 coins, what novel you gonna be reading?:
I'm not sold on the Fanbooks. The descriptions were pretty vague and not really appealing. The later two mentioned several side stories but not who they were from.
Just in case it isn't clear, the stories are all written by Miya Kazuki, the series author. They are "Fanbooks" in the sense of being extra content made for fans, but not in the sense of being made by fans.
