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A review by alice_digest
Sword Art Online 1: Aincrad by Reki Kawahara
2.0
Sword Art Online is one of those where I absolutely love the idea but am really disappointed by the execution. I probably should have known better because I didn’t really like the anime when I tried to watch that, but I thought maybe I’d get on better when the novel. The novel pretty much reads like a description of the anime (I know the novel came first), although I’ve not read anything Japanese before so I don’t know if that is the style to exaggeration emotions and psychical responses. I dislike far more anime and JRPG games than I like (so far found two I only two I did like – Eternal Sonata and Tales of Vesperia) so I probably need accept that these are genres that aren’t for me!
The idea of Sword Art Online is just brilliant! Gamers become trapped inside a virtual world (a VRMMORPG) by the insane creature of the programme, with their real life bodies held hostage in the outside world. The virtual world now becomes their reality as they must work to beat the game if they ever hope to escape alive. It’s just awesome, and the world of Aincrad is very well built as are all the mechanics of the game (which is pretty standard fantasy world just without magic). The author also does a good job of exploring the various reactions and emotions players experience as a result of being trapped in the game.
The protagonist and narrator is Kiroto a sixteen year old gaming fanatic, he was a beta tester so had the advantage of prior knowledge of the game come release day (the day they got trapped) and he has trained to a very high level. He plays solo, not wanting to be part of a Guild or the Army. Then we also have Asuna, which is where things started to take a dive for me. Asuna is also a very high level player, incredibly skilled with a rapier sword (enough to earn her the moniker The Flash) and is supposedly a vice-commander in the best/biggest Guild in the game. So far so good… but then a lot of time is spent describing how beautiful she is, and how great her body is... and it is THIS that makes her special, not her skill. Apparently no attractive or thin girls play games (in fact hardly any girls, SOA is a bit of sausagefest), so as a pretty one in a sea of uglies she stands out is something of celebrity (I should point out that their avatars were turned off and their real life appearances revealed early on). Ok maybe I can see past the painful sexism in that… but then there are too many descriptions of her good looks, and coupled with the illustration of her in in underwear (actually the copy I have has two.. one in full colour. Note that all the illustrations of Kiroto show him being hero and fully clothed). She’s constantly sexualised and it makes me feel icky.
I also don’t really understand her personality. I expected her to be a badass and as a vice-commander have ab it of authority, a bit of something about her. She seems to essentially be a trophy for the Guild, you don’t see her involved in it at all other than her wish to leave to be with Kiroto. She has armed escort all the time, and it seems like she is just kept locked away. When it comes down to it all she wants is to be Kirotos wife and live in a little cottage (she’s a master Cook too.. he loves her sandwiches *eyeroll*). They run off and give up the fight at one point to do this! I suppose Japanese society is still pretty male chauvinist, and this is fairly typical of the genre... but that doesn’t mean it didn’t deeply irritate me!
This is a love story when it comes down to it... and once again one I didn’t believe in. They feel in love really fast, and ok yes they’re teenagers, but it was all a bit intense with very little foundation. It all comes to a bit of an abrupt end too which surprised me... I know this is series, so I don’t know how the timeline works on in further books. I think I’d rather have read about the early days than the two year leap forward that we get in this book.
I also struggled a bit with the way it was written. Because it is an English translation of the original Japanese I found it overly descriptive, and often you get three or four words to describe something that if the original language would be conveyed with just one word. Everything is exaggerated too but I have a feeling that is part of the style. It is easy to read, but not to be personal taste.
There are things to love about it but there as more I hated. Very disappointing because I am in love with the idea of being trapped in the VRMMORPG!
The idea of Sword Art Online is just brilliant! Gamers become trapped inside a virtual world (a VRMMORPG) by the insane creature of the programme, with their real life bodies held hostage in the outside world. The virtual world now becomes their reality as they must work to beat the game if they ever hope to escape alive. It’s just awesome, and the world of Aincrad is very well built as are all the mechanics of the game (which is pretty standard fantasy world just without magic). The author also does a good job of exploring the various reactions and emotions players experience as a result of being trapped in the game.
The protagonist and narrator is Kiroto a sixteen year old gaming fanatic, he was a beta tester so had the advantage of prior knowledge of the game come release day (the day they got trapped) and he has trained to a very high level. He plays solo, not wanting to be part of a Guild or the Army. Then we also have Asuna, which is where things started to take a dive for me. Asuna is also a very high level player, incredibly skilled with a rapier sword (enough to earn her the moniker The Flash) and is supposedly a vice-commander in the best/biggest Guild in the game. So far so good… but then a lot of time is spent describing how beautiful she is, and how great her body is... and it is THIS that makes her special, not her skill. Apparently no attractive or thin girls play games (in fact hardly any girls, SOA is a bit of sausagefest), so as a pretty one in a sea of uglies she stands out is something of celebrity (I should point out that their avatars were turned off and their real life appearances revealed early on). Ok maybe I can see past the painful sexism in that… but then there are too many descriptions of her good looks, and coupled with the illustration of her in in underwear (actually the copy I have has two.. one in full colour. Note that all the illustrations of Kiroto show him being hero and fully clothed). She’s constantly sexualised and it makes me feel icky.
I also don’t really understand her personality. I expected her to be a badass and as a vice-commander have ab it of authority, a bit of something about her. She seems to essentially be a trophy for the Guild, you don’t see her involved in it at all other than her wish to leave to be with Kiroto. She has armed escort all the time, and it seems like she is just kept locked away. When it comes down to it all she wants is to be Kirotos wife and live in a little cottage (she’s a master Cook too.. he loves her sandwiches *eyeroll*). They run off and give up the fight at one point to do this! I suppose Japanese society is still pretty male chauvinist, and this is fairly typical of the genre... but that doesn’t mean it didn’t deeply irritate me!
This is a love story when it comes down to it... and once again one I didn’t believe in. They feel in love really fast, and ok yes they’re teenagers, but it was all a bit intense with very little foundation. It all comes to a bit of an abrupt end too which surprised me... I know this is series, so I don’t know how the timeline works on in further books. I think I’d rather have read about the early days than the two year leap forward that we get in this book.
I also struggled a bit with the way it was written. Because it is an English translation of the original Japanese I found it overly descriptive, and often you get three or four words to describe something that if the original language would be conveyed with just one word. Everything is exaggerated too but I have a feeling that is part of the style. It is easy to read, but not to be personal taste.
There are things to love about it but there as more I hated. Very disappointing because I am in love with the idea of being trapped in the VRMMORPG!