Spice and Wolf volume 10

This is a return to form for the series. The Town of Strife two-parter was disappointing, and the first Side Colors was unusual (but definitely enjoyable!), and now we return to the good stuff. Here we have another economic problem for our two leads to puzzle out, and they puzzle it out themselves. In Town of Strife, they were oddly disconnected, like passive side-characters who didn't know what was truly going on. Here they are properly active.  

Also, more supernatural stuff. The old gods are involved in this problem that the Kingdom of Winfel is experiencing. And not only that, but it relates to Holo's homeland issue. She and Lawrence basically know where Yoitsu is by now, but this story approaches the subject from a different angle. It's very interesting. 

What we have here in this story is a three-way confrontation between Brondel Abbey, a very large landowner in Winfel as well as the chief producer of its biggest export, the king of Winfiel, and the Ruvik Alliance, which is a basically a conglomeration of trading companies. To give the reader a sense of the scale of this alliance of merchants, just one of its middle-managers, never mind its top rank, is equivalent to or greater than the head of the guild that Lawrence belongs to. Lawrence, Holo and Cole enter this confrontation seeking tales of wolf god bones.  What I find most interesting is how the trio goes about doing this.

Their plan is to use human connections. One cannot simply walk up to a Christian abbey and ask them if they're storing the bones of a pagan deity. That's not going to work. So they learn about the local situation and find someone who can assist them in discerning if the wolf god bones are real and present. Their two main resources here are Piaksy, a merchant working for the Ruvik Alliance, and Huskins, a very old shepherd working for the abbey. However much they want to confirm the truth of the wolf god bones, neither Lawrence nor Holo want to use the force of a living wolf god. 

That is what their relationship is like at this point. They recognize how much the other means to them, but that recognition is implicit.  It is not enough for them to stay together at this point. Lawrence feels that he needs to be of use to Holo in order to continue traveling with her. He is a merchant with a merchant's mindset, and so his narration is about providing for her. There is one powerful and sweet scene where he confides in Cole about how he enjoys being the one she relies on (Holo is, of course, eavesdropping, and arranged for the scene to take place, and Lawrence only realizes these two facts after the embarrassing words have left his mouth). 

 It is scenes like these that make the series so enjoyable. It is never just about the economic puzzle of the book, or about finding Yoitsu or interacting with the mythic or real presence of the old gods. It is a blend of those things with aspects of Lawrence and Holo's relationship. Piasky, for instance, is held up as a foil of Lawrence as a good man and a merchant, but better. Simultaneously, Lawrence feels admiration for Piasky and a certain anxiety because he feels that Piasky is an "objectively better" choice for Holo. Who, for her part, is indirect at best about her unending loyal to Lawrence. Then this comparison blends with something else. 

I'm looking forward to the next volume.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Spice and Wolf volume 10" an A+

Click here for my next book review: A Certain Magical Index - light novel volume 2

Click here for my previous book review:  Sweetness and Lightning volume 2

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

Sweetness and Lightning volume 2 (read for fun)

I'm starting with this series because it was recommended to me by an acquaintance. He said it was indeed a sweet series. I'm starting with this volume because it was the earliest that my local library had. So between the recommendation and the local library's collection, I am able to enjoy this series. 

It is a cooking manga in the Iyashikei genre. The frame narrative is single father Kohei Inuzuka learning how to cook with his young daughter Tsumugi and one of the students in his high school math class, Kotori Lida. Because of the Iyashikei genre, this situation is totally wholesome and innocent. The three of them take their time preparing a meal together and then they eat together once finished. That's the premise.

It is precious. 

Each chapter is a self-contained story, a handful of the meals that the trio prepare together. In one of them, Kohei is trying to find a way for his daughter to eat bell peppers, which she thinks are disgusting. The story doesn't go the way of "Green eggs and Ham". No, Kohei's first attempt ends up making Tsumugi cry because of how bitter his bell pepper dish tastes. The story goes into detail about how young children have sensitive taste buds, and so Kohei and Kotori work together for a solution. 

Another chapter is a Gyoza party, which is when friends get together, make "gyoza", and then eat it together. This appears to be something that real-life Japanese people do, because the author says that they did this with some friends in the afterword. Gyoza is a stuffed bread dish. One takes meat and/or vegetables and wraps them up in bread wrappers, which are then boiled/fried/baked etc. depending on the recipe. 

It is a light read. Light and sweet, like the title says. It's a good thing to read before bed to move into a relaxed state of mind prior to sleep. Unless, of course, the stories make you hungry. The food looks good. I'd like to try it at some point. 

Sweetness and Lightning volume 2 an A+

Click here for my next book review:  Spice and Wolf volume 10

Click here for my previous book review:  The Wee Free Men (read for fun)

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

The Wee Free Men (read for fun)

One of the reviews compared this book to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don't understand that. Buffy never made a habit of carrying string everywhere. 

Tiffany is a sensible girl. She carries string because it has many uses on a farm in the Chalk. She knows many such useful bits of information because she is observant and willing to re-evaluate her current knowledge and understanding. These are traits that make her a potential witch, and the Chalk needs a new witch. 

You see, the Chalk needs a witch to look after it, kind of like a flock of sheep need a shepherd, and the previous witch is several years dead. Tiffany's grandmother used to look after the Chalk, and now it's Tiffany's turn. Her first task is to stop the Queen of the Fairies from invading her world, and also rescue her little brother from the Land of the Faerie. 

And no, at no point does she meet some handsome and charming fairy boy who is supposed to be her enemy. There is no romance subplot in this story. I think Mr. Pratchett parodies this, actually. More on that later. 

On the surface, this is a pretty standard fantasy-adventure novel. Our protagonist, Tiffany Aching, is going about life in the rural farming area known as the Chalk, and then she encounters trouble. It takes the form of a supernatural creature in the local river. The trouble escalates into more numerous and more dangerous creatures, ultimately leading Tiffany to enter the creatures' own world. She consults with a mentor, acquires supernatural aid, and then overcomes many challenges. Finally, she comes face-to-face with the ruler of the monsters in an epic showdown. Her adventure complete, she returns to her mundane farm life. 

This is the surface, what you would see if you used Second Sight. It fits the general conception of a fantasy novel, and so it appears to be such.  You see something different with First Sight. 

That's one of the things I like about this story. It is a reformulation of fantasy tropes, making them both familiar and new.  Other fantasy stories would say that Second Sight is a supernatural sight, for seeing ghosts and stuff. Tiffany even mentions this. No, in this story, "Second Sight" is more like a Weirdness Censor. It is what people don't see because it doesn't fit their worldview. First Sight is when you see the world (and yourself, that's important) as it really is, unencumbered by preconceptions.  This means that if a ghost is there, you will see it, and if there isn't any ghost, then you won't see it. This is a useful ability when dealing with Fair Folk, tricky creatures who work through illusions and dreams. 

That's another subject, dreams. Following one's dreams/believing in one's dreams is another common trope in fiction for young adults, such as fantasy novels.  Early on, Tiffany's mentor says that such talk is nonsense and harmful, because it is laziness. That rubbed me the wrong way, because it sounded like cynicism for the sake of a joke. This line was couched in a scene that portrayed teachers as vagrants and chicken-thieves, which made it seem all the more so. Except, this line of thinking is developed throughout the book. 

It's not that dreams, i.e. aspirations, are bad. No, it is that one has to know what one truly wants, as well as the implications and realities of that aspiration. Then one has to take the necessary steps, in reality, to achieve that aspiration. In other words, wishing on a star gets you nowhere, but /studying/ the star can get you somewhere, if your aspiration is to be an astronomer. 

Tiffany's little brother is a glutton for sweets. All he does is demands sweets from his parents and elder sister/ babysitter. When the Fairy Queen kidnaps him, she surrounds him with delicious sweets. This makes him miserable, because it is more sweets than he can eat. He ends up not eating any of them because he can't eat all of them at once. 

The Fairy Queen's realm is stuck in perpetual winter because the queen herself is upset. She had a domestic spat with the Fairy King, leading him to leave the world entirely for a different one. Then winter set in, and instead of dealing with it, she created a dream of summer to live in. And she's still upset. 

Tiffany's dream is to become a witch. She has her own preconceptions about what it means to be a witch, all kinds of magic and flying on broomsticks. All those things really do exist and are part of being a real witch. She meets several witches who can do those things, but being a witch in reality is not like being a witch in her dream. She has to adjust her expectations. There is this marvelous scene after all the supernatural adventure stuff is over, where one normally expects falling action and the protagonist accepting their normal mundane life (a-la the Blue Bird of Happiness). That's not what happens. Instead, we get something else. 

Tiffany accepts what is basically an offer of apprenticeship from a real witch. It will begin when she is a little older, so she can leave home without spooking her family. In the meantime, she goes back to her farm life, except with the understanding that "being a farmgirl" and "being a witch", are not too terribly different. After all, Tiffany's grandmother was a witch and a shepherdess and never made a distinction between the two roles.  Nobody ever thought she was a witch, just a wise and skilled old woman who worked hard and could solve problems. That is basically what a witch is supposed to be. 

One more thing about dreams. In your dreams, have you ever encountered monsters with flaming eyes and teeth like razor blades? Did you ever wonder how they could see with eyes made of fire, or how their razor teeth didn't cut open their own mouths? Evidently, that is exactly what happens when hellhounds leave the land of dreams and enter reality. 

Now for the romance parody. That is a great part of the story. It is funny stuff. 

There is a scene where Tiffany becomes the "kelda" for the Nac Mac Feegle (the Wee Free Men from the title). A "kelda" is the word for the leader of a clan of Nac Mac Feegle, who is also the mother of the clan, and is married to one of its members. Neither Tiffany nor any of the Feegles are happy about this, but it's the rule and so they have to obey it. In another fantasy story, this could be part of a set up for a romance arc (Marriage Before Romance). Instead, we get this funny scene of both sides repulsed by the idea, and Tiffany finding a loophole to make sure the actual marriage never happens. 

Also, she happens to find a lost baron's son in the Fairy's World. Would you expect him and Tiffany to work together, bond through danger and fall in love? He turns out to be useless, unconscious for most of the time, and kind of a prat. There isn't a hint of romance here.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "The Wee Free Men" an A+

P.S. Not-as-Big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-Bigger-than-Wee-Jock Jock is a famous name among the Nac Mac Feegles, and passed down through generations. 

 Click here for my next book review: Sweetness and Lightning

Click here for my previous book review: Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon. Volume 1

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

Yashahime is someone's D&D campaign (a fan's theory)

Hello Internet! Today I'm going to explain why I think the Yashahime anime is based on someone's Dungeon and Dragons campaign. 

SPOILER ALERT! This is going to involve spoilers for the first season, so beware of that. SPOILER ALERT!

I finished watching season 1 of Yashahime this past week. It was good. It wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be, but that is a different subject. It is a related subject because it is what lead me to this fan theory, but I won't go further into that. 

The first season has kind of a strange start to it. First it uses In Media Res as a frame narrative for jumping back to the original cast of Inuyasha. Then it jumps forwards to the main characters of Yashahime, but not as they are in the first scene of the show. There isn't a series goal like in the original show, not even after a couple of episodes to set things up. In fact, the three half-demon princesses of the title refuse a quest from the Tree of Ages that could become such a series goal, and then they go off to slay random demons, and they may or may not even work together doing that much. 

It is directionless, few things have narrative build-up, and the three main characters all act on their own initiative instead of collaborating towards a larger group goal. That's when it hit me, this is a Dungeons and Dragons party!

There are three player characters, and all of them choose the same class, race, background etc. None of them wanted to change for party diversity, so their party consists entirely of half-demon magic knights who fight in melee. All of them choose to be descendants of this mega important lore character (Inu-no-Tashio/ The Great Dog General), so the dungeon master decides that they are all related to each other, but only the player for Towa likes this idea. Towa's player decides that her character and Setsuna are twin sisters, but Setsuna's player isn't eager to agree, so the dungeon master splits the difference and says that Towa and Setsuna ARE sisters and also says that Setsuna doesn't remember the time they were together. This way, both players can do their own roleplay the way they want. 

The dungeon master creates this epic campaign narrative where the three half-demon princesses work together to defeat an old foe of their grandfather, Kirinmaru, and chooses the Tree of Ages to deliver this quest to them. However, the players decide they're not interested. Towa is more interested in her own character quest (recovering Setsuna's memories), and Setsuna and Moroha want to do their demon slaying / bounty hunting roleplay. 

Thus, the dungeon master, not wanting to railroad the players, decides to give them what they want. First, DM creates a new quest giver in Juybei the corpse collector, who then tells them about demons causing trouble in the area. This leads to a bunch of one-shot sessions staring random demons, which the three player characters kill quickly and easily. In D&D 5E, random encounters and non-boss encounters only last a handful of rounds, after all, and these three players started at levels higher than first level, too. That's why they have so many abilities at the start of the campaign. 

Also, the demon bounty targets tend to evaporate or turn to ash when slain, so no bounty. No treasure and no loot. This is the dungeon master being sore over not getting to play out their epic quest. 

Then the dungeon master slips plot-relevant demons into the bounty hunting, the Four Perils who serve Kirinmaru. The one-shot quests then become tied into the original epic quest that the dungeon master planned. Then there's Homura, who fills in a necessary gap in the backstory for the Towa and Setsuna PCs. At that point, the players decide to humor the dungeon master and try the epic narrative. So they go back to the Tree of Ages, the original quest giver, but the dungeon master has already changed the prepared narrative so that the Tree of Ages isn't important anymore (at least right now). 

It is at this point that the players for Setsuna and Moroha complain to the dungeon master about the favoritism shown to Towa. They're all players so why is Towa's character arc getting so much more focus than them? The dungeon master explains that Towa's player gave her character a character arc, and they did not do the same for theirs. So, they work together to create something, which is introduced to the narrative in more one-shot sessions. 

Moroha gets the history that she trained with a wolf demon, and then gets a present-day duel with her former teacher, which the dungeon master ties into the main narrative via the Four Perils. 

Setsuna gets the history of the hidden half-demon village/orphanage where she was raised. She says that she regularly patrols the surrounding area to chase away demons.  At least, she patrols when she has time for it. This is a justification for why she hasn't done any patrolling before now in the story. 

Towa's player isn't happy about being excluded from both of these sessions/episodes, so the dungeon master frames the second one as an opportunity for Towa to bond with Setsuna. That pleases her. 

Finally, we come to the season 1 finale. The Towa and Setsuna players are finally onboard with the epic quest that the dungeon master wanted to do at the start, but Moroha's player isn't, so Towa and Setsuna get her onboard by saying they will place a bounty on Zero (Kirinmaru's sister) themselves. This leads to the epic fight that the DM has been planning since the Tree of Ages offered this quest. In gratitude, DM lets the players use higher level abilities by staging the fight on a Place of Power, the ruined mansion where their grandfather died. 

Finally, we come to Setsuna's death. The player for Setsuna has bonded with Towa's player enough to feel comfortable roleplaying the long-lost-sister angle, and acknowledges this in character. Towa's player is still committed to this idea, hasn't gotten bored of it, and so the dungeon master lends them a hand. He has a lore important NPC, Sesshoumaru, offer a chance at an unorthodox resurrection technique. 

Did this really happen? Is Yashahime based on someone's D&D campaign? Probably not. But it's fun to think about. By viewing the series through this lens, I could enjoy it more. 

What do you think? Does my theory make sense? Let me know in a comment. 

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon. Volume 1

You read that title correctly. This is a reincarnation isekai about someone reincarnated as a literal vending machine. And get this - the author sticks to this premise. 

The protagonist is a vending machine, and he can only do what vending machines do. That is, dispense products in exchange for money. There is one exception, an ability called "Force Field" that he uses in self-defense, but that is it.  The protagonist, who is named "Boxxo" in his new life, is a literal machine. He cannot move on his own, cannot speak except in a handful of stock phrases such as "Welcome" and "Insert Coins", and can't take any action other than dispensing and restocking products. To my surprise, the author does a lot with this premise. 

First, he acknowledges just how ridiculous this premise is. Boxxo reflects on the strangeness of his situation, and that becomes fuel for jokes on a couple of occasions. One such occasion is when he considers whether his new life is a divine reward or punishment. He was a vending machine fanatic in his previous life, and even died trying to prevent vending machine from crashing (it crushed him), so is becoming a vending machine a good thing or a bad thing? Another occasion is during the obligatory hot springs episode, and he remarks that such a situation doesn't do anything for him, because he is a vending machine, and physically can't get aroused. 

But the author also shows that this story can be serious. 

You see, Boxxo is a living creature, and thus requires sustenance like any other living creature. In his case, his food consists of coins. He "eats" the money people put into him. So, over time, the quantity of silver coins in his new hometown decreases. No one is emptying him of coins, after all. So, there is a whole chapter devoted to this currency shortage that he unwittingly created. 

Another serious scenario is when he is recruited to join a raid on a monster lair. No, he doesn't do any fighting. He is a vending machine. He can't even dispense his products by firing them like projectiles. He contributes by providing tasty food, fresh water, first aid supplies, etc. Everything he does is logistics support. He ends up providing a key non-combat assist in the boss fight, as well as guarding the wounded. This, then, signals to hunters that he is a very valuable asset in their line of business, and potentially worth stealing. 

This story is mostly an episodic slice-of-life sort of story. There is a legitimate progression of events. Time passes, and one event leads to another, but it is a loose sort of thing. 

There is only one thing that I dislike about this story. There is chapter that focuses on Boxxo providing "adult items" for a woman who runs "a business of the night". That, by itself, is not what I dislike. It adds another dimension to the town the story takes place in and to the narrative. It is a serious scene, not given to immature jokes, and it deals with the aftermath of a major story event. It fits with the premise of a living and magical vending machine. What I dislike is what comes after this. 

Certain events that follow this are suspiciously similar to the harem antics that take place in other isekai stories. These are not funny. They take time away from the idea of a sapient vending machine's life. In terms of silliness, they are a bridge too far. There is also a point of contradiction. 

 Because of this woman, Shirley, Boxxo flip-flops between "I cannot be aroused because I am a machine" and "my circuits are overheating". To the author's credit, he does lampshade this. Evidently, Boxxo cannot be aroused because he is a machine, but because he remembers being a human man, he can intellectually appreciate how sexy Shirley is, and thus he "thinks" aroused instead of "feel" aroused. In either case, the whole thing feels pointless. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon. Volume 1" a B+

Click here for my next book review:  The Wee Free Men

Click here for my previous book review:  The Demon Prince of Momochi House - volume 1

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

The Demon Prince of Momochi House - volume 1

I found this at my local library. When I see volume 1 of an interesting series at the library, I check it out so I can get the intro info and feel better about jumping around volumes later. You never know what you're going to find at the library. 

In this story, Himari Momochi travels to a remote mansion in the mountains because she received a letter stating that she has become its owner. She is an orphan, never knowing her parents, and so this mansion is a chance to connect with her family. What she finds are three guys squatting in it, one of whom is Aoi. The situation quickly becomes more complicated and then, disappointingly, much less so. 

You see, the story has an interesting start and then drops off into sentimental nothing. In the first chapter, Himari has a distinctive personality and character. She wants to learn about her family history and is motivated to stay at Momochi House because she sees it as part of her family's legacy, and she wants to maintain the house for that reason. Even when she learns that this legacy involves mediating between the human and spirit worlds, she is undaunted. She avoids such stereotypes such as being afraid of ghosts, and is not (initially) charmed by the boys she meets even though she admits that they are gorgeous. In fact, when literal ghosts show up, she holds a flashlight under her face and shouts "no squatting!" at them. 

There is even this suggestion that the letter Himari received was a trap meant to lure her, the true heir, to the house for a nefarious purpose, and also that Aoi meet/knew of Himari before they meet in this chapter. However, this all drops off rather quickly. 

By the third chapter, Himari is totally focused on Aoi. Who he is, what he is, how being Momochi House's guardian burdens him, how much she wants to help him, etc. She doesn't seem as interested in her family's legacy anymore and isn't as assertive as she was in the first and second chapters. The myth arc doesn't progress at all. Even the point at the end isn't new information; the reader was already told that in ch 1, although the point wasn't emphasized like it is at the end of ch 3.

The only saving grace here is the implication that Aoi has a hidden agenda. In ch 1, he says that he happened to stumble into Momochi House as a child, and the House chosen him as its guardian for want of the true heir, Himari. It was just bad luck for him to take the role that was meant for Himari. Certain things he says and does imply that this is not the case. 

He switches rather quickly from trying to convince Hmari to leave to bonding with her, and the third chapter makes a point of emphasizing how much Himari is thinking about Aoi. She herself reflects that she "can't stop" thinking about him.  The ayakashi (basically, evil spirits) of Momochi House seek to possess her because her blood as the true heir will make them more powerful. Finally, the very first page has a bystander warn Himari that the Omamori-sama (Aoi) will curse her if she goes to Momochi House.  Thus, this otherwise disappointing third chapter might not be a shojou cliche sinkhole but an implication of Himari being literally-magically charmed by Aoi. 

The art is good. Definitely. It leans towards the cute/pretty side of things. The ayakashi can be spooky too, sinister instead of elegant. However, the "action scenes", such as they are, leave much to be desired. If one is going to devote a significant portion of a book's premise to something like "I am the guardian of the border with the spirit world, and I must seal evil spirits", then more space should be allocated to this duty. 

Trickter Eric Novels gives "The Demon Prince of Momochi House - volume 1" a C+

Click here for my next book review:  Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon. Volume 1

Click here for my previous book review:   Generation Witch - volume 1

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

Generation Witch - volume 1

This is something I found while browsing my local library. You can find a lot of good stuff by browsing your local library. 

This book here is a slice-of-life fantasy about witches in modern life. In this setting, witches live openly in human society. To be a witch is just like having a natual talent for something; if you are born with it, then you can do it. Your parents might brag about you, and your peers might tease you, but that's it. No need to hide.

Does anyone reading this remember the time when it was a given that magical societies were hidden? Especially in modern day settings, it was expected for magical folk and creatures etc. to hide from the non-magicals. I wrote a blog post about that. Anyway, back to the review. 

This volumes contains four short stories featuring the lives of four different witches. They are unrelated, though the first three cameo in the story for the fourth. 

You know, it kind of reminds of Issac Asimov's "I, Robot". That's a strange comparison, isn't it? But let me explain. Issac Asimov wrote short stories to examine different aspects of The Three Laws of Robotics, different situations to show how they would work in detail. It's kind of like that here. What we have are four snap-shots of this magical modern society. 

In the first one, we glimpse something of a "normal" situation, a witch-in-training and her relationship with her younger sister. We take the perspective of the younger sister, who wants to have a study date without interruptions. The elder sister wants to help! Well, that particular witch is not quite "normal", but I imagine is close. The story is cute. 

In the second one, we see two witches. Thus, we have two perspectives. One is a girl who is basically shunned for embracing the image of a witch (in a "ignore that weirdo" sense instead of a "burn the unclean!" sense), and the other is a boy who doesn't like the fact that he has magical powers. Yes, males with magical powers are still called "witches" in this verse (Not "Witcher", ^_~), but it is more rare for this to happen. He has image problems himself. So, two witches with image problems work together on a small-scale quest using their magical abilities.  

This one has a lot of feels. It has more emotional heft than the first one because it has a weightier storyline.  There is more struggle. The first witch was an apprentice to the Great High Witch, and these two appear to be self-taught and raw ability.  So making the magic happen is part of the challenge. 

In the third one, well, I don't want to say much about the third one. It is an unfolding situation that shifts the reader's understanding. It is an experience. Saying much of anything can ruin that initial experience. It is a bittersweet experience. 

In the fourth one, we see a cultural celebration and a period of mourning. It is a most somber story. Having a girlfriend who can predict the future can lead to painful misunderstandings. All I can say about that one is that I am thankful for the epilogue joke to lighten the mood. 

I would appreciate more lore in the stories. Like the history of witch society, how magic is performed, how it is inherited through bloodlines, that sort of thing. It interests me. However, I understand why it is not included. This is a story about the lives of witches. It is not about their magic. The focus of the story is where it should be. 

The art is good. It is cute during light moments and it can also be stark in heavy moments. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Generation Witch - volume 1" an A+

Click here for my next book review: The Demon Prince of Momochi House - volume 1

Click here for my previous book review:   The Isolator - Realization of Absolute Solitude. manga volume 1

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

The Isolator - Realization of Absolute Solitude. manga volume 1 (read for fun)

This is a book that I found at my local library. You can find a lot of good stuff by browsing your local library. This is the manga adaptation of the first light novel. 

In this story, a Mass-Super-Empowering Event took place in the modern world a couple years prior to the start of the story proper. One of those empowered is our protagonist, Minoru Utsugi. He developed a personal force field that protects him from harm and dulls external sounds, metaphorically isolating him from the world, in accordance with his wish to be separate from the world. Minoru is aware of this power, to some extent, from the story's beginning. 

In his view, his wish was misunderstood. Instead of Barrier Warrior type abilities, it sounds like what he wants is the ability to fade out of the world entirely and live in a void. Why the desire for isolation? That is slowly revealed. It has good build up. Though, I'd say the manga adaptation fumbles the revelation a bit. 

See, we are introduced to Minoru when he is jogging as a ritual of forgetting. He's trying to suppress some terrible memory. A bit later on, it seems as though this terrible memory is a teacher speaking badly of his lunch and Minoru shouting at them. It is clear that the nerve touched actually relates to his sister, who made the lunch, and thus this memory leads to the true terrible memory, but the presentation is still kind of narmy. Even when the truth comes out, it is so abrupt and laconic, that the emotional weight isn't present. This singular event that has shaped Minoru's life and personality isn't explored. I don't know if this is true in the light novel as well, but here in the manga version, it falls flat for me. 

What DOESN'T fall flat is the plot thread involving Minowa's pursuit of Minoru. The boy seeking absolute solitude has a girl trying to get closer to him. She is introduced early on, during the jogging scene that also introduces Minoru. No, she doesn't run into him; no Crash-Into-Hello / Meet Cute here. She actually has trouble catching up to him which, incidentally, ties into the narrative development of Minoru's superpower. Her character develops alongside his, and so we learn a good bit about her. 

We get her history, her hobby (track team star), and why she is pursuing Minoru. We even learn a detail like she recently cut her hair short because of the high school track team's rule. Her Moe rating is high. So when the villain of the arc targets her, reader concern for her is also high. 

Now about that - when a love interest is threatened by a villain, it can feel artificial. You know, like it is an excuse to get the hero and villain into conflict. Not so here. The villain and love interest are developed independently, and so the reader can see why The Biter is after Minowa in particular. It makes perfect sense why their paths would cross, and thus why Minoru is pulled in as well. It is not a case of "my love interest is in danger!" No. It follows the development Minoru has so far. 

He wants to avoid bad memories, so he wants to avoid regrets. He wants to avoid the emotional pain caused by regrets and bad memories. That's why he thinks his force field is useless - it does nothing for his emotional pain. So when he has even an inclination that Minowa could be in trouble, he investigates so he doesn't regret not taking action later. This natural development, the culmination of the actions taken by all three characters up to this point, is what leads to the climax. THAT is a satisfying payoff. 

The art is great. Minow is cute. Minoru always looks like he needs a hug. The villain is menacing. All that good stuff. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "The Isolator - Realization of Absolute Solitude. manga volume 1" a B+

Click here for my next book review:  Generation Witch - volume 1

Click here for my previous book review:  A Magical Medieval Society - Western Europe - Second Edition

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

A Magical Medieval Society - Western Europe - Second Edition

As a novelist of the fantasy genre, as well as a Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master, I often want to create a medieval European fantasy world. I seek to delve into its details and bring it to life. Not just as a backdrop for an adventure, but to create a fully realized simulation of reality. This book helps me do that, both in a novel and in a campaign setting for a tabletop roleplaying game.

This book lays out how to generate manors, medieval towns, and keeps. It provides rules for creating settings at the scale of kingdoms, villages, and everything in between; both generalized methods and more detailed methods. With a little bit of time and math, a novelist or game master can work out how many people are in a given area, how many of them are spellcasters, how much food they raise, how much land is under cultivation, etc. That is useful, but this book is more than just a collection of generators.

It lays out, in general terms, how the medieval system commonly known as "feudalism" works, both historically and how things like D&D-style magic fit into such a system. It gives a brief description of concepts like vassalage, land=power, the medieval idea of "justice", and how non-modern systems of commodity exchange function. Again, this is in general terms. The author mentions that there are many variations of these customs and things changed over time, because the concept of "Medieval Europe" encompasses over a dozen nations over a thousand or so year period (the medieval idea of "nationhood" is also touched on).

When the author says this is a book for creating a medieval society that is not restricted to real life medieval history, that is a true statement. At no point does real life history influence a section, nor does a real life country stand as a substitute. What is present here are common structures, practices, customs etc. that can create the flavor of a generalized medieval European culture without adapting any particular country's history. The author even mentions which parts of medieval society would be influenced by modern ideas, such as gender equality, and advises the novelist/GM in question to consider the implications of such for their fictional country's history.

The book also has sections for building organizations. Guilds, manor staff and armies are laid out in detail. There are tables for generating them, such as how much to pay for a particular kind of soldier, and how much food a given soldier of a given race needs to consume. There are explanations of how guilds function, and certain rules used by historical guilds to govern themselves. From the baker's guild to the royal court, this book provides novelists and game masters a template to work from, thus reducing their research and prep time. 

Finally, spread throughout the chapters, are considerations about how magic as presented in D&D would influence a medieval world. For the most part, not much. Magic can be one more resource a lord can tax to add to their wealth or prepare for war. Wizards can be one more trade guild among many. Clerics possessing divine magic isn't going to stop them from getting into theological disputes with each other, nor from insisting to non-clerics that their god is the only one deserving of worship.  Admittedly, that is kind-of depressing. 

However, this is only for a low-magic setting. The author assumes a low magic setting, where even low-level spell casters are few in number, and the secrets of both Arcane magic and Divine magic are closely guarded and regulated secrets. The author admits this is to keep the scale of the societal alterations manageable. 

In the book, the author states that a moderate or high-level magic setting would cause so many changes to the medieval European world that the scale of it becomes mind-boggling. Thus, it would be difficult to state in brief. Indeed, many of the considerations of the influence D&D style magic has on historical medieval Europe are short. They are limited to small scale instances like, "most building teams probably have at least one person who knows the Feather-Fall spell", or something like "any king who can manage it likely has an abjuration wizard in his bodyguard". 

This is understandable. A full consideration of the effects of D&D style magic on a historical medieval Europe would be very long, like one volume per aspect of the society. Then there's the possibility that the GM/novelist using this book doesn't use D&D-style magic, which would then limit the book's usability. So, the author's desire to be small scale and general in the interest of staying concise is totally understandable. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives an A+

Click here for my next book review:  The Isolator - Realization of Absolute Solitude. manga volume 1

Click here for my previous book review:  So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 5

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 5 (book review)

For those of you who watched the anime first, or are planning to watch the anime, note this before you proceed.  Volume five marks the end of the anime adaptation's first season. 

This volume is structured by two separate conflicts. On Komoko's side, the invasion of Kent in the country of Sariella by an alliance of the nation of Ohts and the Word of God Church. On Shun's side, the assault upon the Elf Village by an alliance of the Renexandt Empire, the Demon Army and the Taratect Army. Part of the fun is seeing how the first influences and builds up to the second. 

I normally don't like shifting perspective novels, but Okina Baba makes it work. It works because the perspectives are always relevant to every other perspective. They provide information and perspective on the same things. 

For Komoko's side, this volume is basically a breather volume. Yes, the Demon Lord Ariel is still chasing her, but Komoko can avoid her with relative ease, and Ariel isn't even actively chasing her for a good chunk of the novel. Instead, Komoko gets to wipe out humanoid bandits easily and without any danger to herself, and be worshipped by a grateful town's population. They place offerings of fruit at the edge of the forest where she's taken up residence. Yes, being worshipped is unsettling for a socially awkward shut-in, but it's much better than constantly fighting for one's life against monsters. 

I'll say that again, for the first time, we get to see Komoko doing something other than Survive-by-fleeing-or-fighting. We get to see how her moral compass functions outside of life-and-death situations. It is really interesting. It's not concerned with either charity or selfishness; neither is her motivation. To put it concisely, the reasoning would be "I don't have a reason to /not/ heal the begging sick person. I'll only eat their cancerous organs, not their whole body, because I don't waste food." 

I couldn't make it more concise than that. On one hand, Komoko performs miracle-level healing upon a stranger simply because they asked her to. On the other hand, Komoko considers eating said stranger's limbs, and tries to justify it to herself by saying she could regenerate them. So she only eats the sick person's cancerous organs, and then regrew those, because she couldn't heal the organs outright. Do cancerous organs taste good? No, Komoko just has a mental block against leaving fresh meat to rot. It really is interesting to watch these ethical questions roll around in her head. 

Now for Shun's side of the story. 

Shun's side takes place entirely in the Elf Village. Like the last volume, we see some good character development going on, especially for Anna. I'm going to focus on her in my review because she has focus in the book. Fei has this great perspective chapter that ties her past as a school bully to the haughty behavior of the elves, but it is built on Anna's development. 

Anna is a half-elf woman who is basically Shun's surrogate mother. She has served Shun's family for several generations, first as a court mage and then retiring from that role to nurse baby Shun. She was born in the Elf Village, but was cast out for being a half-elf. Elves in this world are supremely arrogant and racist, and so they gave Anna a rough time of things when she was a kid. Not only does this give much character development to her but it also, at the same time, gives much development to the Elf Village and the elven people as a whole. It is world building created through character development that is 100% appropriate to the pacing of the story, supporting the here and now and also something that happens later on. 

These conflicts are tied together by numerous factors. The one that I find most interesting is Potimas's involvement in both of them. He is becoming an important character. Indeed, it starting to look like he could be a major villain. In the first volume, he was just "a reincarnation's father". Now I'm thinking he could be the Big Bad of this entire series.  That is an impressive development. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 5" an A+

Click here for my next book review: A Magical Medieval Society - Western Europe - Second Edition

Click here for my previous book review:   So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 4

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 4 (book review for fun)

 So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 4

It's safe to say that I am a major fan of this series by now. Okina Baba writes an amazing voice for "Komoko", but the way the story is structured is also amazing. It's like there are two stories that, when taken together, create a larger narrative, and thus a composite third story. For instance, this volume has Komoko's ongoing war with Mother, the Queen Taratect who laid her egg, as the first story. The second story is Shun's group traveling to the Elf Village. The composite story between them is the experience of the Great Elroe Labyrinth, and how it is effectively a microcosmos of the word itself. 

First, let's talk about Komoko's story. She is engaged in conflict with her mother, a Queen Taratect. She feels that Mother is a threat to her existence because of the influence that Mother has on her mind through Kin Control. It is this influence that led Komoko to finish off Fire Dragon Rend after Mother had weakened him. Komoko doesn't want to be a solider in Mother's army, so she sent her Parallel Minds to eat away at Mother's soul. She knows that she doesn't stand a chance against Mother in straight-forward combat, so she's taking this long-distance damage-over-time approach. As long as she stays alive long enough, her trio of Parallel Minds will eventually consume all of Mother's soul, killing her. 

Of course, Mother isn't going to let that happen. She knows all about tricks, traps and ambushes, and is far more experienced with them than her wayward daughter. She can monitor Komoko's position through Kin Control, and send out her army of taratects to move Komoko into vulnerable positions. And if that isn't enough, she can call in her own mother. 

Thus begins a game of cat-and-mouse to determine the superior taratect. It is super fun. There are many twists and turns, and not artificially so either. I've watched shows where there is a shifting of advantage every five seconds, as predictable as a pendulum, so that it becomes exhausting and trite, not clever. This is clever. It is based on established skills and traits. 

Second, let's talk about Shun's story. In this volume, Shun and his party are traveling to the Elf Village. Hugo seeks to destroy it out of petty vengeance on Mis. Oka, so Shun's party is going there to reinforce it and ideally settle their score with Hugo. This trip leads to a lot of character development. This is Shun's first outing as the official Hero, and so he has a lot of learning to do about what that means in practice. He gets advice from older veterans, and experience fighting monsters in the Great Elroe Labyrinth. 

Yes, the only way his party can travel to the Elf Village is through the Great Elroe Labyrinth, where Komoko was born and raised. We get an extensive look at what it is like for non-natives to travel through this place. It is dangerous. Even for competent warriors with a knowledgeable guide, it is dangerous. The perpetually dark and seemingly timeless environment causes a kind of psychological affliction that wears humans out. In addition to normal monsters, The Nightmare of the Labyrinth (i.e. Komoko) and its Remnants are one of the labyrinth's hazards, and they are one of the most feared of all, due to their dangerous abilities and their strange behavior. This is one of the elements that create the larger narrative. In Komoko's time, for instance, the prevailing advice was "burn any webs you see as a matter of course", and in Shun's time that advice has changed to "whatever you do, do NOT burn any webs." 

We also get to see how all the reincarnations have been doing. Since early on, Miss. Oka has been talking about how her village has been sheltering the reincarnations in this dangerous new world. Now we see that the situation is not quite so simple. This is what leads to the composite storyline. 

The third storyline is the Great Elroe Labyrinth. Both stories involve traveling through and surviving in this underground den of monsters. We see it from the perspective of the monsters who live here, killing and eating each other to survive. We see it from the perspective of humans traveling through it, avoiding conflict when possible and killing monsters when necessary. When viewed through the "Dark Secrets of the Other World" (chapter title), one sees that the Great Elroe Labyrinth is not exceptional in the world. It is fundamentally the same as the rest of the world. This shouldn't be too surprising, after all, the head administrator for this world is a self-proclaimed "evil god". 

Trickster Eric Novels gives So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 4 an A+

Click here for my next book review: So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 5

Click here for my previous book review:  Today's Menu at the Emiya Household volume one

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

Today's Menu at the Emiya Household volume one (read for fun)

Light and relaxing reading.  That is how I describe Today's Menu at the Emiya Household. It is also funny, but the comedy is a runner-up. The goal here is low-key warm fuzzies. 
 
This story is a spin-off of Type Moon's Fate Stay Night storylines. It is based on the idea that the Fifth Holy Grail War somehow ended with the vast majority of the cast surviving. Now they live peaceful and quiet lives in Fuyuki city. As part of this quiet life, Shiro Emiya spends a lot more time cooking than fighting. His household consists of the main cast, other masters and servants, who drop by to help cook or bring ingredients. Saber is the only person actually living with him. 

The volume is episodic. Each chapter starts with a particular event framework, and then Shiro (or someone else, but mostly Shiro) cooks a dish. He explains in brief how to cook the dish, and then his "household" enjoys the delicious result with him. At the end of the chapter is a full recipe for the dish in question. 

It really is relaxing. I read a chapter of this before going to sleep. Every now and then is a light chuckle, such as Shiro's response to Lancer selling fish, the incapacitating effect of the kotatsu, and Archer's general behavior where Shirou is involved (spoilers). 

The food, of course, looks fantastic. Even in black and white, it looks good. 

I picked up this volume at Barnes and Noble because I finished watching the anime. I wanted more. It surprised me how much fun a cooking manga could be (and not a super-competitive one like Food Wars). This volume here clearly provided the bulk of the material for the first and (as of this review,) currently the only season. It's a faithful adaptation. If you only want unfamiliar storylines, you should start with volumes 2 or 3. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Today's Menu at the Emiya Household - volume one" an A+

Click here for my next book review: So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 4

Click here for my previous book review:  A Tale of the Eternal Stones: Firestone

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.

A Tale of the Eternal Stones: Firestone (review request)

This is a review request for Ryan Carriere.

NOTE: Between when I received this book and now when I am publishing my review, I think the author changed the book's title and perhaps other information. So the factual contents of my review are accurate according to the copy that I have and not the copy that you might find these days on Amazon.

This story has a fantastic opening. It shows our young hero-protagonist dropped off on a beach, and resolving not to cry from homesickness on her first mission.  It is an attention-grabbing opening that springboards into the main action. But more importantly, for this reader at least,  it sounds like the plot hook for a D&D campaign. 

Seriously, that is what it comes off to me and that is what hooked my interest. The hero-protagonist, Stephanie, is a musician who comes from a family of merchants. She is drafted to join the Crystal Hunters, quickly trained as a crystal hunter, and sent to join her new team in the field. This is a concise way to establish who the hero-protagonist is and what she is doing here, on this adventure, given her background and personality. It justifies things like "why is a merchant bard on a team with two fighters?" It gets better.

What follows is like a prologue mission from a video game. It is an immediate dungeon with traps and monsters and puzzles and treasure. We see what Stephanie is immediately capable of, and we see some foreshadowing for later. This is a great set up for the rest of her adventure. 

See, after this first mission, which establishes the core cast in a quick action sequence, we get to see the wider world. It's like an opening sandbox. More world building, more exposition, and the establishment of the main mission. 

It's all well-executed and interesting. The set-up of Atlantean society and all the ominous splendor that the leader of the Crystal Hunters sets up around himself both count as interesting. The guy's name is "Sin". So, yes, he is ominous. 

While she adventures, Stephanie draws in her sketchbook. She is an artist in addition to a musician, and so she makes sketches of the landscapes, people, and creatures that she meets. The end of each of her chapters is marked by actual pages in her journal. The pages of the book itself are stylized to look like brown leather-y pages from the journal, complete with sketches and Stephanie's notes. I really like those. 

Now, did you notice that I wrote "her chapters", just now? Yeah, Stephanie is not the only hero-protagonist in this book. There is another one. His name is Roeg Stoneholder, and his narrative is completely separate from Stephanie's. 

It is related to Stephanie's narrative, taking place in the same society and general area, but they never meet up. It's teased at one point, but it never happens. The two narratives are only tangentially related, and it takes several chapters before even that develops. At first, I was like 'why is Roeg's narrative included'?  

I think that is why I didn't like this book as much as I was expecting to, based on the start of Stephanie's narrative. It is why it took so long for me to finish reading this book. Every chapter of this cool, interesting, exciting, D&D-style adventure was interrupted by this slice-of-life style narrative in a totally other place. Even after Roeg starts on his own adventure, it doesn't really feel like an adventure. It feels more like a field-trip with his grandfather. 

That is seriously what it feels like. For reasons, Roeg isn't allowed to go on this special hunting trip with the other villagers, which is a huge deal in his hunter/gatherer society. So his de-facto grandfather, the village shaman, takes him on this special trip for a spiritual/supernatural purpose. What happens is walking through the wilderness, gathering water, avoiding wild animals, and not much of substance about the special purpose of this trip until much later. 

This double narrative, in my opinion, harms the story because it bogs both narratives down. Any momentum built up by either is broken by the switch. As I said, they are only tangentially related. Whenever I was reading Stephanie's narrative, I would look forward to what happened next for her. Roeg's narrative was boring. It was a distraction from what I wanted to read about, but I didn't skip over it because I felt that something important would happen. It did happen. 

Eventually, the reader comes to learn that Roeg's adventure is actually more important than Stephanie's. In fact, Stephanie's group is subjected to dramatic irony. The reader knows that her group is working towards something that is going to make everything worse for everyone, but she and her group have no idea. 

Roeg's adventure becomes interesting towards the end. I'd say the time when his de-facto grandfather leaves is when the change begins, which is a pity, because I found him to be the most developed character at the time. Roeg learns of his journey's purpose, and so the adventure feels more like an adventure instead of a field trip. His two companions stop looking like the same character due to divergent growth.  It took a while to get there, and it doesn't really feel worth it. 

I don't understand how Roeg resolved his adventure's climax at the end. It feels like a plot contrivance. There could be a lore-based reason, but there isn't sufficient exposition present to make this clear. It feels like it comes out of nowhere, and so it falls flat, at least for me. 

Now Stephanie's climax! That climax is fantastic. It is a true consequence of all of the build-up that has taken place in her adventure, and so there is a satisfying pay-off at the end of the book.  It shows great development of her character. It shows the growth of her skills, and how she uses those skills to accomplish her goals. 

The book looks good. I don't recall many, if any, technical mistakes. 

Stephanie's sketches add a lot of character to her and her quest. It's not something you see in many novels. This isn't, you know, "polished" real-life artwork but the rough sketches of someone who was drawing a harpie while they were ridding a boat and actually watching a harpy fly on nearby cliffs. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "A Tale to the Eternal Stones: Firestone" a B+

This has been a free review request. The author asked for my honest opinion in exchange for a free copy of their book. 

Click here for my previous book review:  A Witch's Printing Office - Volume 4

Click here for my next book review: Today's Menu at the Emiya Household - volume one

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor 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.