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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
This, might be a game, but it isn't meant to be played.
- SAO Programmer: Kayaba Akihito
...
The first book in a long series by [a:Reki Kawahara|5529995|Reki Kawahara|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-e89fc14c32a41c0eb4298dfafe929b65.png], [b:Sword Art Online 1: Aincrad|18513556|Sword Art Online 1 Aincrad|Reki Kawahara|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1393218012s/18513556.jpg|6720981], is a very good light novel that you might love, especially if you are an MMO gamer. The exciting story-line starts when Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya finds himself among 10000 players stuck in a Virtual Reality MMORPG world where "Game Over" means DEATH, both virtual ... and real! and just for the record,
Spoiler
there was a total of 3,853 deathsThe detailed and well written descriptive passages of characters, places and actions allow you to imagine the exact beautiful scenes where the events took place. If you watch the anime too, you will understand what I really mean by "exact".
[bc:Sword Art Online 1: Aincrad|18513556|Sword Art Online 1 Aincrad|Reki Kawahara|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1393218012s/18513556.jpg|6720981]
If you're looking for a vanilla LitRPG with all the anime/manga tropes to boot, this is it. Take the .hack// franchise and strip out all of it's complexities, and you'd get this arc of SAO.
Sword Art Online is a fantasy swords & sorcery-lite VRMMORPG that of course has a very special twist: on launch day, everyone inside the game is unable to log out (sound familiar?) The bad dude who made the game wants someone to beat it by scaling all 100 floors of dungeons, clearing bosses and monster as they go. Oh yeah, and if they die they actually die for realz (no, really, familiar?) We follow solo player Kirito who decided to make his own way. Fast-forward two years and the players have settled into a rhythm: warriors go scout, map, defeat, repeat; creators craft things to aid them. Factions formed, like the Army and the Knights of the Blood. Kirito's still a lone-ranger, but he has a friend in hot girl KoB Vice Commander Asuna. There are over 25 floors left to go. Will they fight their way to the top? Dun-dun-DUUUUN.
Having never watched the anime, I came into it fresh with an open mind. It's a light novel and so an easy breezy sort of YA read. I guess I liked the general LitRPG aspect of the tropey premise, and the twists while predictable came at about the right rate. It's fairly straightforward as a narrative, so nothing too deep or complex. The "romance" is pretty bland and just... happens. It's not overly emotional, perhaps because it feels more told than shown (for all the description of tears and feels, Kirito seems pretty emotionally dead). The big climactic reveal also felt a bit tossed out there just because it needed to happen rather than because everything had built up to that moment. Side characters? What side-characters? They have names but not much character.
What bugged me no end was the anime-ness of it all (go figure, it became an anime for a reason). Namely: sexism. Asuna is Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood, so skilled in speedy swordplay she's nicknamed The Flash and yet... She's treated like an object, a simpering plot device for Kirito to work around. Exhibit A: she asks her boss for a time out from the front lines. Boss then proceeds to demand a willy-waving contest with her male friend. She whimpers from the sidelines, the reason for her needing a break from the action forgotten and made totally irrelevant because SWORDS. She's Vice Commander and yet she gets treated with zero respect. Everything becomes about her appearance and cooking skill. We get a picture of her in her undies. Kirito even does the accidental anime boob-grab-squeeze combo on her for pity's sake. Geez, teenage male fantasy much. Maybe I'm too old, too #MeToo'd or #woke'd or whatever, but this stuff done for the lulz just isn't even mildly amusing anymore. Is it any wonder female gamers and convention-goers get treated the same way?
Other than that, I quite liked the slowed down fishing lake sequence. Meeting another character, someone completely unlike everyone else in the game, was a nice change of pace from pretty bland fight scenes and descriptions of combos.
This one has me all conflicted really. It's OK for what it is, but I wish it wasn't so invested in the boy-anime tropes.
Sword Art Online is a fantasy swords & sorcery-lite VRMMORPG that of course has a very special twist: on launch day, everyone inside the game is unable to log out (sound familiar?) The bad dude who made the game wants someone to beat it by scaling all 100 floors of dungeons, clearing bosses and monster as they go. Oh yeah, and if they die they actually die for realz (no, really, familiar?) We follow solo player Kirito who decided to make his own way. Fast-forward two years and the players have settled into a rhythm: warriors go scout, map, defeat, repeat; creators craft things to aid them. Factions formed, like the Army and the Knights of the Blood. Kirito's still a lone-ranger, but he has a friend in hot girl KoB Vice Commander Asuna. There are over 25 floors left to go. Will they fight their way to the top? Dun-dun-DUUUUN.
Having never watched the anime, I came into it fresh with an open mind. It's a light novel and so an easy breezy sort of YA read. I guess I liked the general LitRPG aspect of the tropey premise, and the twists while predictable came at about the right rate. It's fairly straightforward as a narrative, so nothing too deep or complex. The "romance" is pretty bland and just... happens. It's not overly emotional, perhaps because it feels more told than shown (for all the description of tears and feels, Kirito seems pretty emotionally dead). The big climactic reveal also felt a bit tossed out there just because it needed to happen rather than because everything had built up to that moment. Side characters? What side-characters? They have names but not much character.
What bugged me no end was the anime-ness of it all (go figure, it became an anime for a reason). Namely: sexism. Asuna is Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood, so skilled in speedy swordplay she's nicknamed The Flash and yet... She's treated like an object, a simpering plot device for Kirito to work around. Exhibit A: she asks her boss for a time out from the front lines. Boss then proceeds to demand a willy-waving contest with her male friend. She whimpers from the sidelines, the reason for her needing a break from the action forgotten and made totally irrelevant because SWORDS. She's Vice Commander and yet she gets treated with zero respect. Everything becomes about her appearance and cooking skill. We get a picture of her in her undies. Kirito even does the accidental anime boob-grab-squeeze combo on her for pity's sake. Geez, teenage male fantasy much. Maybe I'm too old, too #MeToo'd or #woke'd or whatever, but this stuff done for the lulz just isn't even mildly amusing anymore. Is it any wonder female gamers and convention-goers get treated the same way?
Other than that, I quite liked the slowed down fishing lake sequence. Meeting another character, someone completely unlike everyone else in the game, was a nice change of pace from pretty bland fight scenes and descriptions of combos.
This one has me all conflicted really. It's OK for what it is, but I wish it wasn't so invested in the boy-anime tropes.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is the first book I decided to listen to as an audiobook as I always thought audio listening outside of music wasn't for me. But not only did it show me how wrong I was (it was such an enjoyable experience) but it was the first time I got to read the light novel. And genuinely, it was as emotional and captivating as the anime but even more. Definitely recommend this, and the audiobook. (Which is narrated by Kirito's English Voice Actor, so it's like hearing Kirito tell the story.)
Okay, so where to start with this ...?
I watched the first episode of the animé before reading this, and that's about it. I heard it was based on a book and stopped watching on principle alone; I can't watch something that's based on a book without reading the book first. I'm very pleased to say that I wasn't disappointed ... much, but we'll get to that.
First off, I'd like to compliment the translation, it was done excellently and I could only occasionally find something that didn't feel right to read. Kirito's narration is very good, and his relationships with the other characters feel relatively genuine as far as I can tell. The story is told excellently through Kirito's eyes, and I truly felt I was with him every step of the way.
I only really have two complaints.
One: The romance between Kirito and Asuna felt about as rushed as it could have. This is one of the only times you'll catch me saying that the show did it better than the book (not just for this, but for anything in general); we don't even get an explanation on when Asuna's feelings started to occur until later on, AFTER they've gotten married.
Two: That big-ass two-year timeskip near the beginning. Did nothing interesting or important happen during those two years ...? That annoyed me, and I was glad to see the Aincrad Arc expanded on in Volume 2.
I genuinely enjoyed Sword Art Online Volume 1, and I'll definitely be sticking with the series as it continues. 4/5 stars!
I watched the first episode of the animé before reading this, and that's about it. I heard it was based on a book and stopped watching on principle alone; I can't watch something that's based on a book without reading the book first. I'm very pleased to say that I wasn't disappointed ... much, but we'll get to that.
First off, I'd like to compliment the translation, it was done excellently and I could only occasionally find something that didn't feel right to read. Kirito's narration is very good, and his relationships with the other characters feel relatively genuine as far as I can tell. The story is told excellently through Kirito's eyes, and I truly felt I was with him every step of the way.
I only really have two complaints.
One: The romance between Kirito and Asuna felt about as rushed as it could have. This is one of the only times you'll catch me saying that the show did it better than the book (not just for this, but for anything in general); we don't even get an explanation on when Asuna's feelings started to occur until later on, AFTER they've gotten married.
Two: That big-ass two-year timeskip near the beginning. Did nothing interesting or important happen during those two years ...? That annoyed me, and I was glad to see the Aincrad Arc expanded on in Volume 2.
I genuinely enjoyed Sword Art Online Volume 1, and I'll definitely be sticking with the series as it continues. 4/5 stars!
This was the book that later began a now extremely popular anime of the same name.
I read this, specifically because I wanted to read a Japanese "Light" Novel, and thought this would be a good one to start with.
If you have seen Sword Art Online, this book adds very little to the story you already know. It follows the same exact story and progression as the anime, with much of the dialogue even the same.
The book does cut out many of the parts of the anime I despised, like the terribly annoying A.I. the Kirito and Asuna "adopt". It also gives very little information on the early part of the game, jumping right into the end game.
The writing style is quick, action packed, and filled with some interesting description. It was a fast and easy read, that was fun, but not particularly artful.
Much like the actual anime, Asuna and Kirito's relationship at times is VERY cheesy, but at least cute. The actions scenes are evocative and well described.
This would be a great way to be introduced to the series, as it cuts the garbage the anime adds. But if you have already scene the anime, unless you are looking the experience the anime in a different format it doesn't add much.
I read this, specifically because I wanted to read a Japanese "Light" Novel, and thought this would be a good one to start with.
If you have seen Sword Art Online, this book adds very little to the story you already know. It follows the same exact story and progression as the anime, with much of the dialogue even the same.
The book does cut out many of the parts of the anime I despised, like the terribly annoying A.I. the Kirito and Asuna "adopt". It also gives very little information on the early part of the game, jumping right into the end game.
The writing style is quick, action packed, and filled with some interesting description. It was a fast and easy read, that was fun, but not particularly artful.
Much like the actual anime, Asuna and Kirito's relationship at times is VERY cheesy, but at least cute. The actions scenes are evocative and well described.
This would be a great way to be introduced to the series, as it cuts the garbage the anime adds. But if you have already scene the anime, unless you are looking the experience the anime in a different format it doesn't add much.
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Was an interesting read after watching the anime, bought the novel accidentally instead of the graphic novel but glad I kept it! Very interesting read and differs to the anime so there are still some surprises install. Nicely written, extra details of Aincrad previously missed in the anime but think the two work well together as the constructing of characters isn't brilliant. A really good read and would recommend to fans.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
(czytałam po polsku)
It's so nostalgic, that it brought back the same feeling I had while watching the anime for the first time in 2015. I'm shocked that so many parts of the story I watched in anime weren't in the first book, even though the action was still in SAO. I'll probably read more books but I still need a brake for something deeper and less adventurous than this light novel.
It's so nostalgic, that it brought back the same feeling I had while watching the anime for the first time in 2015. I'm shocked that so many parts of the story I watched in anime weren't in the first book, even though the action was still in SAO. I'll probably read more books but I still need a brake for something deeper and less adventurous than this light novel.