Poll: Which novel should we read first?
| Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World (Romance story with politics and magic) |
|
0 |
| Roll Over and Die: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword (lesbian sword) |
|
4 |
| Total: 4 vote(s) | ||
Bad Light Novel Book Club
![[Image: U7dyPAD.png]](https://i.imgur.com/U7dyPAD.png)
if it's translated, and the reading's not too heavy, then i'm game
100% pure gamer 100%
I was about to start reading a series titled Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World.
It has an anime adaption airing this season and it sounded like it would be an interesting Romeo and Juliet-like plot, but with political and magical stuff thrown in. Turns out it just kind of sucks and is kind of generic bland main characters. People claim the novels are better though, so I purchased the novel to see if that was true or not.
So, my vote is for that one. It's available physical and digital for purchase. And it's weird what you can find when you search the title and append "pdf" to your search. Make sure not to accidentally get the manga adaption.
---
Another option is the first volume of Roll Over and Die: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword.
I don't remember why I bought this.
For this one make sure you do not accidentally purchase the manga adaption.
It has an anime adaption airing this season and it sounded like it would be an interesting Romeo and Juliet-like plot, but with political and magical stuff thrown in. Turns out it just kind of sucks and is kind of generic bland main characters. People claim the novels are better though, so I purchased the novel to see if that was true or not.
Quote:Embroiled in a hundred-year war, young Iska is sent to assassinate the Ice Calamity Witch, Aliceliese. Meant to murder each other, their initial encounter on the battleground creates doubt in their missions, but finding common ground together would make them traitors to their own countries. Though circumstances previously made them enemies, their now conflicted hearts may just make them lovers!
So, my vote is for that one. It's available physical and digital for purchase. And it's weird what you can find when you search the title and append "pdf" to your search. Make sure not to accidentally get the manga adaption.
---
Another option is the first volume of Roll Over and Die: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword.
I don't remember why I bought this.
Quote:Flum Apricot was never meant to be a hero. Despite zero stats across the board and a power she can’t even use, she somehow finds herself included in a party of heroes. But Flum’s life hits rock bottom when the party’s renowned sage, Jean Inteige, decides that the useless girl is dead weight, and arranges to have her sold into slavery. Tossed to monsters to be feasted upon for her master’s entertainment, Flum makes the desperate choice to reach for a cursed weapon…and something new awakens within her. A grimdark tale about one woman’s blood-soaked quest to reclaim her life!
For this one make sure you do not accidentally purchase the manga adaption.
![[Image: s2n7oi.png]](https://files.catbox.moe/s2n7oi.png)
How do we want to frame the discussion once we've all read it? Like a normal book club?
Starting with where we list our thoughts and expectations going in
Notes and thoughts on each chapter
Closing thoughts
Statement on whether we will continue with the series on our own
Just trying to get an idea of how I should do my notes as I read.
Starting with where we list our thoughts and expectations going in
Notes and thoughts on each chapter
Closing thoughts
Statement on whether we will continue with the series on our own
Just trying to get an idea of how I should do my notes as I read.
i feel like thats fine for now. i figure we can figure out how we want to mix up the format after the first discussion
100% pure gamer 100%
I guess as a reminder: Discussion is tomorrow.
I forgot to post my stuff, but it seems like I wasn't the only one...
My initial thoughts I wrote down before I read:
I don’t remember why I bought this. Maybe I heard it was good. Maybe I wanted to read about a pure lesbian relationship between adventurers. The synopsis does not give me hope though. If a light novel in a fantasy setting has f’ing video game stats assigned to characters, I usually suspect it will be a weird power fantasy kind of story where the numbers get real big and don’t mean anything. Just a lazy way to convey growth and strength of a character. So, I am assuming the rest will be lazy.
Overall thoughts:
This really started off being super edgy and then Flum was kind of just handed the cursed sword and was able to be very cool and good. I actually think it’s cool that she often applied skills and knowledge she got from her party members throughout the book. Though, I would have liked to see more of that foreshadowed up front. Instead it came off as Flum going "Oh, let me just pull a deus ex machina real quick."
Jean sucks a whole lot. I’m not sure why her other party members just accepted his BS because they actually seemed fine after the initial standoffish impressions. In fact they hated Jean with a passion and seemed to enjoy Flum's company. I think it would have been better if they properly showed and developed the relationship between all the party members instead of just starting the novel off telling us that Flum thinks they all hate her and telling us to accept that. I was expecting some ambiguity, but no, they all actually like Flum and just sucked at showing it?
I got more interested in the later half when Sara and Flum ended up in the weird research facility. It seems like the church was obsessed with Flum and did research pertaining to her Reversal skill possibly. The whole “the church is actually corrupt and bad” was suspected in this kind of story, but I appreciate it. Usually it hints at a grander narrative and is a sign the author is not just making stuff up as they go. I thought it was weird that the demon, Neigass, wasn’t even secretive or being an annoying riddle teller at the end of their adventure this time. She just came out and said “yo, the church sucks, don't believe them." Normally that kind of thing is stretched out to give us a "are we the bad guys?" story. But, nah the demons are actually going to be just upfront about being on the same side and such.
Eterna showing up at the end in their house is a little too convenient and now Flum knows that only Jean sucked. So, all of that resentment and anger she gained from thinking her team betrayed her... is that just gone now?
Thoughts on the characters:
Flum: She was a slave for a few days and became a murderous monster, which is a bit of a leap. I know she thinks her hero team betrayed her and she lost faith in humanity from that I guess? But, she also thought they were all jerks to begin with anyway? Literally from the kind country girl who tried her best to make sure everyone was happy and cheerful to “some people don’t deserve to live.” But, they balance out her edgy parts, so I think she’s fine. Her dial very quickly goes from like a 3 to an 11 at the slightest trigger though.
Milkit: Very boring and kind of milquetoast, her name is really funny though. That’s all I got to say about her. The author was not-so subtle about the whole “she was a slave and abused her whole life, but now she will be humanized over the course of the series.” I honestly do not care about her.
Jean: I hated him a lot as a character for just being comically evil in the beginning. Once they developed his dumb complex and arrogance in the intermissions, it seemed less comical and a bit more rooted in something. So, I properly hate him now. I think the story should have started with that instead of introducing him as a comically evil guy. It could use some more background as to why he has this complex or whatever, but I can just accept it's because he is a strong hero and he always got his way before now.
The rest of the party: Apparently they appreciated and liked Flum, but sucked at showing it. I figured they all would suck because that’s how it normally goes. Surprised to see they are actually falling apart and splitting up though. That's kind of a new dynamic. I do not really feel anything about them though.
Sara: Is fine. I mean she’s the pure one who starts to doubt everything she was raised to believe. So, I assume she’s going to go through this whole arc throughout the rest of the series.
Will I continue reading the series:
Probably not. I am kind of interested to see where the details of the overarching plot will go, but it’s not enough for me to get past the uninteresting writing. I know where this kind of story is going for the most part and the characters, as they are now, are not enough to carry me through their version of this kind of story.
My initial thoughts I wrote down before I read:
I don’t remember why I bought this. Maybe I heard it was good. Maybe I wanted to read about a pure lesbian relationship between adventurers. The synopsis does not give me hope though. If a light novel in a fantasy setting has f’ing video game stats assigned to characters, I usually suspect it will be a weird power fantasy kind of story where the numbers get real big and don’t mean anything. Just a lazy way to convey growth and strength of a character. So, I am assuming the rest will be lazy.
Overall thoughts:
This really started off being super edgy and then Flum was kind of just handed the cursed sword and was able to be very cool and good. I actually think it’s cool that she often applied skills and knowledge she got from her party members throughout the book. Though, I would have liked to see more of that foreshadowed up front. Instead it came off as Flum going "Oh, let me just pull a deus ex machina real quick."
Jean sucks a whole lot. I’m not sure why her other party members just accepted his BS because they actually seemed fine after the initial standoffish impressions. In fact they hated Jean with a passion and seemed to enjoy Flum's company. I think it would have been better if they properly showed and developed the relationship between all the party members instead of just starting the novel off telling us that Flum thinks they all hate her and telling us to accept that. I was expecting some ambiguity, but no, they all actually like Flum and just sucked at showing it?
I got more interested in the later half when Sara and Flum ended up in the weird research facility. It seems like the church was obsessed with Flum and did research pertaining to her Reversal skill possibly. The whole “the church is actually corrupt and bad” was suspected in this kind of story, but I appreciate it. Usually it hints at a grander narrative and is a sign the author is not just making stuff up as they go. I thought it was weird that the demon, Neigass, wasn’t even secretive or being an annoying riddle teller at the end of their adventure this time. She just came out and said “yo, the church sucks, don't believe them." Normally that kind of thing is stretched out to give us a "are we the bad guys?" story. But, nah the demons are actually going to be just upfront about being on the same side and such.
Eterna showing up at the end in their house is a little too convenient and now Flum knows that only Jean sucked. So, all of that resentment and anger she gained from thinking her team betrayed her... is that just gone now?
Thoughts on the characters:
Flum: She was a slave for a few days and became a murderous monster, which is a bit of a leap. I know she thinks her hero team betrayed her and she lost faith in humanity from that I guess? But, she also thought they were all jerks to begin with anyway? Literally from the kind country girl who tried her best to make sure everyone was happy and cheerful to “some people don’t deserve to live.” But, they balance out her edgy parts, so I think she’s fine. Her dial very quickly goes from like a 3 to an 11 at the slightest trigger though.
Milkit: Very boring and kind of milquetoast, her name is really funny though. That’s all I got to say about her. The author was not-so subtle about the whole “she was a slave and abused her whole life, but now she will be humanized over the course of the series.” I honestly do not care about her.
Jean: I hated him a lot as a character for just being comically evil in the beginning. Once they developed his dumb complex and arrogance in the intermissions, it seemed less comical and a bit more rooted in something. So, I properly hate him now. I think the story should have started with that instead of introducing him as a comically evil guy. It could use some more background as to why he has this complex or whatever, but I can just accept it's because he is a strong hero and he always got his way before now.
The rest of the party: Apparently they appreciated and liked Flum, but sucked at showing it. I figured they all would suck because that’s how it normally goes. Surprised to see they are actually falling apart and splitting up though. That's kind of a new dynamic. I do not really feel anything about them though.
Sara: Is fine. I mean she’s the pure one who starts to doubt everything she was raised to believe. So, I assume she’s going to go through this whole arc throughout the rest of the series.
Will I continue reading the series:
Probably not. I am kind of interested to see where the details of the overarching plot will go, but it’s not enough for me to get past the uninteresting writing. I know where this kind of story is going for the most part and the characters, as they are now, are not enough to carry me through their version of this kind of story.
Users browsing this thread: