ARIA the Masterpiece volume 2 (read for fun)

Return to Aqua for the winter. 

Here we have more slice-of-life tales of Akari the Undine in the city of Neo-Venezia. The story arch here is her first Autumn and Winter in her new home. There's a lot of world-building involved.

First, there's the contrast between Aqua and Manhome. This started in the first volume, with how much more rustic Aqua is than Manhome. Volume 2 builds on that. It sounds like Earth has become more like a single sprawling city with few if any natural areas. This would explain why Neo-Venice has so many tourists. In fact, natural areas from Manhome have been recreated on Aqua. There's an island nearby Neo-Venezia that is a Japanese forest temple. Supposedly, kitsune weddings take place there. 

Second, there's holidays like Vogare Longa (alternatively "Vogalonga"), a gondola race that marks the change of seasons. It's a very big deal. It's also a real thing. The real-life Venice does this every year.  Akari also celebrates New Years Eve with her new friends and reflects on how much has happened in her life over the past year. 

Third, there is a nice mixture of grand and mundane. For the grand scale sci-fi flavor stuff, there's a chapter about Aqua's Gnomes. These are the professionals who maintain Aqua's artificial gravity. They live underground similar to how Akatsuki the salamander lives on a floating island. Then there's some more mundane and small-scale stuff, like gondola cleaning. 

Fourth, the art is beautiful. From the forest temple, to the Bridge of Sighs in Neo-Venice, to the underground city of the Gnomes, it is all beautiful.  This pairs well with the peaceful stories. Really relaxing reading. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "ARIA the Masterpiece volume 2" an A+

Click here for my next book review: Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle volume 5 (Read for fun)

Click here for my previous book review: Kikuchi's Sushi (read for fun)

Brian Wilkerson is an independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor's degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Kikuchi's Sushi (read for fun)

This is a book I found at a Friends of the Plymouth Library book sale. It is a children's picture book that gives an overview of sushi - ingredients, preparation and eating-  along with some other concepts in Japanese culture. 

It is presented as the tale of a talking fox learning from this old and successful sushi chef, Kikuchi. It is a cute tale, simple but informative, and cutely illustrated. Seriously, these illustrations have a simplistic design, almost like a children's cartoon, that is endearing. 

The tale includes other tidbits of Japanese culture. The idea of the "Bento", or boxed lunch, is included here, as well as certain festivals like Boy's Day and Girl's Day. 

It's a very quick read. It's the sort of thing to read aloud with your kids. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Kikuchi's Sushi" an A+

 

Click here for my next book review:  ARIA the Masterpiece volume 2 (read for fun)

Click here for my previous book review:  How Not to Summon a Demon Lord - volume 5

Brian Wilkerson is an independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor's degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord - volume 5 (read for fun)

 I found this at a used book sale put on by The Friends of the Plymouth Library in Minnesota. I had already watched two seasons of the anime, and so I was curious about what the book series would be like. This book takes place in the midpoint of season 2, Diablo challenging his own dungeon to retrieve an item that can cure a magical disease. 

By and large, the anime is a faithful and straightforward adaptation. One does not miss much by only going the anime route but you will miss something if you don't read the book. The book uses Diablo's perspective, and so the reader is privy to more of his thoughts and motivations.

In this story, one gets the thought processes behind the design of each level of the dungeon. In the anime, they're just weird things, basically Big-Lipped Alligator Moments. Here, one learns their origins. For instance, the maze level was designed to be a survival-horror type experience, and the Idol-Genre themed level was inspired by a cross-promotional event between Cross Reverie (the in-story video game) and an Idol-Genre game produced by the same company. Diablo made the second one to stay current with trends. 

There is also a significant context present in the books that is missing in the anime. In the books, Diablo is low on MP when starting his dungeon challenge. This is due to lingering fatigue and exhaustion of supplies during the events of the previous volume. He is weaker than normal. Indeed, his knowledge of the dungeon is more valuable than his magic power, because he can rely on his party members for assistance. Then an event happens where he loses his top-ranked gear, thus making him more vulnerable than he's ever been thus far. 

Finally, it is a lot easier to play-out Horn's Sweet-Polly-Oliver in text format than visual format. When watching the anime, I was unaware that Horn was ever pretending to be a boy. I thought Horn was just a girl wearing practical adventurer clothing. So, the reveal is more significant. 

The fan-service is still present, but only when the book specifically chooses to focus on it which, fortunately, isn't often. 

Trickster Eric Novels give "How Not to Summon a Demon Lord -  volume 5" a B+

Click here for my next book review (read for fun):  Kikuchi's Sushi (read for fun)

Click here for my previous book review (read for fun): Marvel Universe Doctor Strange (read for fun)

Brian Wilkerson is an independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor's degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Marvel Universe Doctor Strange (read for fun)

This is a collection of Doctor Strange adventures.  I found it at a used book sale put on by The Friends of the Plymouth Library in Minnesota. 

Some of them are one-shots staring the Sorcerer Supreme and others appear to be stories of other characters where he appears, such a Spiderman and Hulk. 

These are fun reads, but kinda lack-luster. The first one, with the villain Nightmare, feels like the final issue of a longer story, and so its resolution falls flat here. The one with Hulk is a status-quo sort of thing. The one with the reality-eating creatures is better because it has a good set up, execution and resolution. Likewise with the Captain-America one. However, the best one here is the one in Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #9: Contractual Discombobulations. The sight of an evil and unstoppable reality warper forced to obey silly rules is hilarious. The resolution is perfect. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Marvel Universe Doctor Strange " a C+

Click here for my next book review:   How Not to Summon a Demon Lord - volume 5 (read for fun)

Click here for my previous book review:   She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wiseman - Volume 1 (read for fun)

Brian Wilkerson is an independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor's degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.