A review by phantom_25
Sword Art Online 1: Aincrad by Reki Kawahara

4.0

Well, I finally read it.

Characters: I liked Kirito from the start. I like that we are able to read from his perspective and see more from his eyes and know his inner thoughts. Liked Asuna too. To be honest, I would like to see their relationship grow more naturally, it felt rushed, but I don't think it was bad. Secondary characters felt like just that - as secondary characters in the background, some of them got more "screen time". Hopefully characters get fleshed out more in later volumes.

Atmosphere: I like video games and RPGs, might be the reasons why even picked up SAO in the first place. Playing the game, levelling up, using skills to beat monsters and bosses, SAO has that. Descriptions of the world were enough to let imagination run wild. Would love to know more and more about the SAO game itself.

Writing :Well, I can't say that the writing was the best. Sure, the story was compelling for me and such, but the structuring of the story itself felt a bit chaotic. Wanted to know about each floor and boss battle, but author used time skips to move story further instead. I feel like that the story about Aincrad could be written in multiple volumes. This one started it and ended it. Not many characters got to be fleshed out. Hopefully next volumes improve on that.

Plot: I think the idea of the plot was good and unique (of what I have read before). As a person who plays video games occasionally, I was intrigued to try SAO out. Getting stuck in a virtual reality game and not being able to get out until the game has been beaten, that idea have crossed my mind sometimes when I played something and I'm glad to pick up a work that bases it's plot around it. High stakes, life on the line and the longing of home in the real world.

Intrigue: SAO kept me reading it more and more, during the time I was on a reading slump. I wanted to know about character fates, how would it end, would they get back to the real world, who would die etc.

Logic: As a sci-fi, I think the author managed to make everything follow logic. When you start to wonder how stuff worked or why it happened, author managed to explain that through Kirito's dialogue or inner thoughts and observations. I didn't find them as info dumps, to me they felt natural.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed Aincrad arc of Sword Art Online. I just wish that it was floor by floor, longer story and fleshed out characters. Setting those complaints aside, I liked it. I know that a lot of people doesn't like SAO, but I did.