So, some people may know from the Discord server that I am a fan of the broad genre known as "Light Novels". The term is pretty much analogous to "anime" and "manga", in that it just describes a medium that tends to originate in Japan; in this case, the term is basically exactly the same as "Young Adult". It has nothing to do with the size of the books, but instead the intended audience.
Much like any other medium, there's also a lot of trash to sift through, and I'm hoping to provide a bit of a service by talking about the ones I do read. I have a lot of books already that I'm planning to write some reviews and commentary on when I have the time, but I also want to know what any of y'all are reading! There's been a lot of diamonds in the rough that I've picked up that I wouldn't have taken a second look at otherwise, after all.
I do, though, want to start this thread off with at least one recommendation: Ascension Of A Bookworm is sooooooooooooooooooooo good. It's what I refer to as a "mundane fantasy", which is a more recent trend in light novels to write stories where the protagonist's goal is usually pretty low-key. In Bookworm, our heroine is reborn in a new world as a sickly child, and all she wants to do is what she loves: Read books. However, as the daughter of a poor, lower-class soldier, she has barely any access to writing, let alone books, and so begins her journey to develop all the technologies to allow her to make her own books! Eventually some of the typical fantasy elements start entering the picture, but even when that happens the story remains very low level, focusing on what the heroine is able to do in front of her, and what the world is like around her at that moment. It's so good! It's also got two seasons of an anime adaptation that covers all of Part 1 (3 books) and half of Part 2 (2 books), with a total of 8 books released in English so far. I can't call it my favourite light novel series because #1 for me is a book that's very focused on my tastes, but it's a very close second place. Check it out!
Much like any other medium, there's also a lot of trash to sift through, and I'm hoping to provide a bit of a service by talking about the ones I do read. I have a lot of books already that I'm planning to write some reviews and commentary on when I have the time, but I also want to know what any of y'all are reading! There's been a lot of diamonds in the rough that I've picked up that I wouldn't have taken a second look at otherwise, after all.
I do, though, want to start this thread off with at least one recommendation: Ascension Of A Bookworm is sooooooooooooooooooooo good. It's what I refer to as a "mundane fantasy", which is a more recent trend in light novels to write stories where the protagonist's goal is usually pretty low-key. In Bookworm, our heroine is reborn in a new world as a sickly child, and all she wants to do is what she loves: Read books. However, as the daughter of a poor, lower-class soldier, she has barely any access to writing, let alone books, and so begins her journey to develop all the technologies to allow her to make her own books! Eventually some of the typical fantasy elements start entering the picture, but even when that happens the story remains very low level, focusing on what the heroine is able to do in front of her, and what the world is like around her at that moment. It's so good! It's also got two seasons of an anime adaptation that covers all of Part 1 (3 books) and half of Part 2 (2 books), with a total of 8 books released in English so far. I can't call it my favourite light novel series because #1 for me is a book that's very focused on my tastes, but it's a very close second place. Check it out!