An Unruly Summon: Volume 1 by Cathfach: review

3/5 stars on Goodreads

An Unruly Summon by Cathfach

An Unruly Summon is a fun subversion of the isekai genre. A country at war with demons is in a desperate need of a hero summoned from another world. But they’ve summoned heroes before and things haven’t gone well. Heroes don’t have a cause to fight, their unlimited magic causes trouble, they have strange ideas about slavery being bad, and they always want to invent soy sauce.

King and his council come up with a plan to carefully curate what the hero sees after summoning, so that he’ll help voluntarily. They even gather a harem for him, so that he doesn’t have to do it himself, because that always ends up happening. And they promise to send him back if he doesn’t want to stay.

The plan works well. Thomas is summoned, and unlike so often, knows immediately what is going on. What he sees and learns makes him agree to help the country. He even turns out to be extremely powerful with magic. He learns complicated spells instantly and spells he hasn’t been taught yet. Only problems are that he tends to overuse his mana and pass out, and a dragon haunts him in his dreams, trying to kill him. Oh, and Thomas has no interest in his harem, because he has a girlfriend at home where he intends to return.

Things take a bit of a turn when Thomas learns about having been led. But since the demons are a real threat, the plan remains the same. And then it’s time for the battle. Thomas faces a massive horde of demons and kills them all with a powerful spell. Problem is, demons aren’t the only things it kills. But the hero’s job is done, and it’s time to go home.

This was a good, entertaining read. It was the First Prize winner in the first-ever J-Novel Club Original LN Contest, and I’m sure it deserved to be. Thomas was a good hero, the girls had a role other than bedfellows, because he didn’t want them in his bed, and bad guys weren’t the obvious people.

It was much too long though. The bulk of the book’s almost 400 pages—massive for a light novel—is taken by Thomas’s training. He doesn’t learn about being led until beyond half-point, and the battles don’t take place until 75% mark, after which everything is crammed in a small space. This could’ve been cut to a half of its length and the story would’ve remained the same. Epilogue sets the stage for the next volume, but the events of this one conclude here. I don’t need to read more.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

I’ve seldom read Ilona Andrews, but the moment this book hit my radar, I wanted to read it. It’s in isekai genre, which has been popular in East-Asia for decades, but which has been making its way to western fantasy only in recent years.

In isekai, a person from our world is transported to a fantasy world, an alternate reality, game or, like here, into a world of a book the protagonist has been reading. They often bring something unique from the original world that gives them an edge in the new world. In this book, the protagonist has an encyclopaedic knowledge of her favourite book, knows exactly what’s going to happen, and sets out to change the future.

Maggie has woken up in a ditch in a strange medieval city without clothes and no idea how she’s ended up there. She’s had a couple of days to adjust when the book begins, so she’s already figured out the pertinent: she’s in the world of her favourite book she’s been reading obsessively for the past decade. She also knows what isekai is and understands that she’s been transported. She doesn’t remember dying, which is often a requirement in isekai, but she knows she’s her original self and hasn’t taken the body and life of an existing character in the book. It’s a cruel and violent world where her favourite characters are more likely to die than not, and she knows it’s headed to a violent and bloody upheaval.

She sets out to survive. She needs money and shelter, and she knows where to find both. The first requires a robbery which she has no compunctions committing. It leads to a stunning discovery: she can’t die, hence the series name, Maggie the Undying. Or rather, she dies and comes back to life a little later unharmed. The world doesn’t reset when that happens, like often in isekai, and she’s able to continue with what she’s gained.

Once she has her basic needs met, she starts making little changes in the lives of her favourite characters. Little changes lead to large ones and before she knows it, she’s leading a group of people determined to prevent the bad future from happening. She utilises the intimate knowledge she’s gained from the point of view characters, and trades in secrets to win people on her side. It isn’t smooth sailing, but with some sacrifices—usually her—they get to their goal. And then it turns out the goal isn’t what they thought, because there are only two books in the series with the third never published. Maggie doesn’t know how the story ends.

This was a great book. It’s told solely from Maggie’s first-person point of view and utilises the tropes of isekai well. She knows what’s at stake, knows the players, and is aware that with every change she makes, the future changes beyond her knowledge of it. She gathers a found family around her, mostly by being nice and helping them, which in the book’s cruel world is unheard of. Her allies are capable and loyal, the mysteries are suitably complicated but not impossible, the twists are good, and bad guys are perfectly evil. The love interest is straight from a fantasy. The narrative flows well, the pacing is good, and the plot keeps in its grip. The ending is the worst kind of cliffhanger, and I hope this series won’t have the fate of Maggie’s favourite book.

My only gripe is that since Maggie knows she’s in a book, she narrates what she’s supposed to feel—fear, love, lust—instead of feeling it. It distances the reader from the emotions, making it difficult to enter into her sentiments. The romance especially suffers from this. The reader knows why Maggie thinks she should find him attractive—although she wasn’t attracted to him in the book—but we’re never shown the attraction and love she feels. There’s no quickening of her pulse, no flushes of heat, or sweating of her palms when he’s around or kissing her, only analysing narrative. So, while I root for the pair, I think I might be fine if they never ended up together. But this isn’t a romance first and foremost, so I can live with that.

The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, Vol. 3 (light novel) by Yatsuki Wakatsu: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter vol. 3 by Yatsuki Wakatsu

First up, beware: this is the last volume. I didn’t know it going in and wasn’t adequately prepared emotionally for it to end. It left me slightly upset despite the ending being good. But now you know and can read it accordingly.

Volume 3 of the light novel has a subtitle Magic Research Exchange Plan and that’s what the story is about with no side plots. An envoy arrives from a distant country to study Romany’s summoning magic. Seiichirou is roped in to guide the visitors, as the whole project is his idea. It’s about sending him and Yua, the Holy Maiden, back to their own world.

Leading the visitors is the country’s third prince, Lars, who shows great interest in Seiichirou. Not romantically though; he’s impressed by his efficiency and considers recruiting him to work for his country. Despite Seiichirou’s skills, the visit is a bit chaotic, as the group includes mages who are very excitable and have no patience for anything but magic. Seiichirou is kept busy and he doesn’t have enough time for his partner, Aresh.

Aresh has anticipated this though. For the welcoming party, he arranges a suitable attire for Seiichirou, complete with a brooch that declares he and Seiichirou are engaged. He just doesn’t think to inform Seiichirou about it. Seiichirou doesn’t take it well that Aresh does such a huge thing behind his back, as if he isn’t part of the relationship. A fight ensues and the pair doesn’t speak in days.

It doesn’t help that Aresh is summoned home by his parents. Lars is trying to arrange a marriage between his youngest sister and the youngest son of Idolark family. That’s Aresh. Seiichirou learns about this from other people and it adds to his upset. When he finally has a chance to ask Aresh about it, the other man goes into another huff. And then leaves to escort the envoy back to their country.

A weaker man might despair. Seiichirou isn’t one of those. He goes after his man. Matters are cleared between the two, including the biggest cause of upset for Aresh: Seiichirou returning to his own world.

This was a good book, but it read like another middle book and it came as a surprise that it ended. After all the hardships, the series deserved a stronger ending. The great magical feat of sending Seiichirou and Yua back was solved rather fast with a time jump. It left the reader to wish that at least some of it had been made into another volume, maybe about the days leading up to the reverse summoning. There could’ve been lot of drama about it, and we could’ve finally witnessed Seiichirou and Aresh settle into a happy life together. Seiichirou opened about his feelings only in the last chapter and I would’ve loved to read more about that. Even the epilogue was more about general story than the two of them.

After the epilogue there were two extras, one from Norbert’s point of view as he reports to the king, and another from Aresh’s, which explains his point of view about the spat. In the afterword, the author admits that some storylines were left open, but didn’t promise more stories. I don’t really need those; only the bit that was missing from this one. But it was a sweet story as it was, with some spice, and I’m happy with where the men ended up.

The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish Vol. 3 by Xue Shan Fei Hu: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish vol 3 by Xue Shan Fei Hu

The delightfully silly transmigration story has reached its third volume. Prince Jing has been ordered to the empire’s western border to show his mettle, and naturally Li Yu, his beloved pet fish, follows him there. It’s a quiet town pestered by bandits and locusts, and Li Yu has practical suggestions for solving both. The latter is handled by bringing ducks to the affected areas to eat the insects, which leads to establishing a restaurant too.

The main story is Prince Jing and Li Yu consummating their relationship (which I thought they’d done already), which leads to a surprise pregnancy. The fish scamming system, the programme guiding Li Yu’s transmigration journey, had asked for Li Yu’s consent, but did it during the act itself, when he wasn’t exactly paying attention and just agreed to anything it said. The possibility of pregnancy hadn’t even occurred to him, both of them being male.

Luckily, the system gives him a choice to handle the pregnancy as a fish. It still makes him a rather unique male fish, but at least the entire thing is easy for him. The only difficulty is hiding it from Prince Jing, because he still believes the prince doesn’t know the man in his bed and his favourite pet fish are the same. But when four fish eggs pop out, it’s difficult to keep secrets anymore.

Four lovely boy fishes emerge, but they need to wait for nine months before they turn into babies, a good stretch to fake Li Yu’s pregnancy. Despite some questions raised, most people take it in a stride. In the background, Prince Jing is trying to make the emperor to accept Li Yu as his consort instead of concubine. Once the babies are born, i.e. turn human, he finally gets the permission and the two get married. No one opposes and no one questions that the babies are theirs. There’s even blood test done by imperial physicians who confirm the children’s lineage.

Apart from one last test for Li Yu, during which he learns to transform into a merman, the rest of the story revolves around the babies. They’re rather unique, having spent nine months as fishes learning things a normal human baby has no idea of. They can communicate with each other and try to do so with others too, and learn to walk and talk and even sort of write before they’re even a year old. They’re cute, but not as cute as Li Yu as a fish, and there are no silly antics. Even outsiders notice this, when Prince Jing tries to show off a substitute fish as his favourite pet.

But the sixth prince hasn’t given up his ambition to be named as the crown prince. He’s stirring trouble on the background, and is ready to strike. The volume ends just as he makes his move. It’s a cliffhanger of sorts, but I would’ve read on even without it. The feel-good, low angst silliness of this series keeps me happy for days.

That being said, I only gave the volume four stars for slightly slower pace. Li Yu turned into a respectable adult who no longer had time for his fishy antics, and the children weren’t quite up to his level of cuteness yet. The next volume appears to be the final, so I’m hoping it’ll bring the old Li Yu back.

The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish vol. 2 by Xue Shan Fei Hu: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish by Xue Shan Fei Hu

Volume 2 of The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish is even cuter than the first. Prince Jing is such a simp while Li Yu believes he’s only helping the prince in order to fulfil the tasks of the computer program, aka ‘the fish scamming system’, in charge of his transmigration journey back to human.

The volume starts where the previous one ended, with Prince Jing realising that Li Yu, the young man who mysteriously appears and disappears in his quarters, is in fact his beloved pet fish Xiaoyu. But instead of being shocked, he concludes Li Yu must be a yao, an animal spirit that can take a human form, on a personal trial. And since Li Yu doesn’t reveal his true identity, he concludes the spirit wants to keep it a secret, so he won’t bring up that he knows the young man and the fish are the same. It causes many silly moments as Li Yu struggles to hide before he transforms back to a fish, believing his identity is still a secret.

Li Yu has no idea he’s supposed to be a yao. He has his hands full with increasingly bizarre demands of the fish scamming system, like indulging with the prince. His rewards include a transformation into a proper koi fish, much to the astonishment of everyone, and learning Prince Jing’s secrets that raise more questions than they solve. But he’s still limited to only two hours as a human every day.

Prince Jing has his own ideas of what it means that the fish is a yao: he must share essence with the young man in order for him to grow. And that means intimate contact. But when he tries to kiss Li Yu, everything goes sideways. Li Yu has no idea what’s come over the prince and finds the whole incident frightening. It leads to maybe the best scenes in the book where the prince tries to make up to the fish who keeps moping. But Li Yu figures out his own feelings in the end and making out with the prince doesn’t sound so bad after all. If only he could stay as a human longer for them to take matters further.

There isn’t as much court intrigue as in the first book, but the other princes fighting to become the crown prince still cause Prince Jing constant trouble. Prince Jing deals with them with the help of his fish. And he’s starting to think that he should try for the crown himself too. But even though he manages to please his father the emperor, there’s no reward. Instead, there’s a great change for Jing and his fish. The book ends there.

This was such a bowl of cotton candy, silly and cute, with occasional darker moments to balance things out. Prince Jing’s amusement with his lover trying to hide his fishness, and secretly helping him, and Li Yu’s obliviousness is fun to follow. There are many silly moments when Li Yu earnestly tries to please the prince, only to make a mess. They are so much fun together. It seems Li Yu will be successful in his overall mission of preventing Prince Jing from becoming a tyrant, but there’s still a lot to come. We’ll see how things go in the next book.

The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter, Vol. 2 by Yatsuki Wakatsu: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

The Other World's Books Depend on Bean Counter vol 2 by Yatsuki Wakatsu

Volume 2 of the light novel has a subtitle Church Management Support Plan. Kondou Seiichiro, the Japanese accountant who was accidentally transported to another world with the young girl who was their Holy Maiden, has his hands full of work that’s mostly his own doing. But he doesn’t know how to rest.

In this book, Seiichiro is sent to audit the church. It’s a dangerous place for him as it’s full of magic that he’s deadly allergic to, and Aresh Indolark, the young commander who has made it his business to keep Seiichiro alive, isn’t happy. The two are now living together, thanks to Aresh’s high-handed manners, but while the commander has feelings for Seiichiro, the older man’s feelings aren’t clear even to himself.

Aresh is right to be worried. Things don’t go smoothly and Seiichiro uncovers an embezzlement plot that leads to a magical attack on him. But Aresh, the only person who can heal him, isn’t home. It may be that a young, handsome priest who resembles Aresh will have to step up for the healing. And, as those who have read the books know, that involves sex.

This was a fun volume. Seiichiro is much like he’s been, fully focused on his work and ignoring his health. He’s growing accustomed to Aresh’s healing methods, but as he intends to return to his own world, he’s not willing to start a relationship. But feelings get in the way, and even Seiichiro is unable to ignore them. There were some sweet and heated moments between the men, and the end left them in a new place in their relationship. Will that lead to Seiichiro deciding to stay, or will he want to leave home anyway?

There were some new side characters that were interesting, and the old ones, especially Norbert, featured too. There’s a chapter at the end of the book from his point of view as he continues to report to the king. The ending wasn’t a cliffhanger, but it left things in an interesting place and I’m eager to read more.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler

I’ve been waiting for a good western take on Asian isekai genre for so long that I eventually had to write one myself. It’s such a popular genre in Asia that it’s surprising it hasn’t taken in the west. The few western versions that I’ve read have tried to imitate the originals, but they lack the charm and whimsy. But now there’s How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler. It takes the idea of isekai and makes it thoroughly its own.

For those not familiar with the term, in isekai light novels and mangas a person from the modern world is transported to a secondary world, a book, game or fantasy world, either bodily or as a character there, and has to adapt to a new reality. Sometimes there’s a time loop element where the character starts over every time they die. Sometimes their life is improved by the change, sometimes they set out to make the changes themself with the knowledge they have.

Davi is from the modern-day US, she thinks. She doesn’t quite remember anymore, because she’s been in a fantasy world for a better part of a millennium. She was brought there by a wizard as the saviour of the humans from the Dark Lord, and has died hundreds of times in the service of the Kingdom, only to return to the moment she arrived to this word to start again.

Now she’s had enough. Clearly, she isn’t the saviour, because she hasn’t managed to save the Kingdom in all this time. It’s time to switch teams to the winning side. She’ll become the Dark Lord. Easier said than done, because Dark Lords aren’t human. They’re wilder: orcs, werewolves, snake people and other humanoid beasts that don’t look at all like human. But she has an ace in her sleeve. She can pass as a wilder the way humans can’t.

It takes several efforts—and deaths—to get the ball rolling. She recruits a small band of orcs and sets out to build herself a horde to attend a convocation where they choose the next Dark Lord. The way is difficult, geographically and politically, but she prevails, liberating the oppressed and growing her army as she goes—mostly accidentally. And the farther she advances, the more important it becomes that she doesn’t die. Because then everything will reset and she’ll have to start again, and the events have been so fantastical that she couldn’t possibly recreate them again.

But the possibility of starting over is there. Until it isn’t.

This was a great start to a series. Davi is a fairly typical sarcastic UF heroine who runs a constant commentary (in footnotes, which was a tad difficult in an ebook) and references pop culture she really shouldn’t remember, as she doesn’t even remember where she’s from. She’s probably not entirely sane, but who would be after being tortured to death several hundred times, but she’s clever and tenacious. However, part of her grit comes from the knowledge that she can just give up and start again. Until she can’t. The paradigm change is hard on her, but she’s not alone to handle it.

In her quest to become the Dark Lord, Davi accidentally builds herself a family. They’re supposed to be minions, but they’re friends and lovers (she’s permanently horny). The side-characters remain a little distant, as Davi is very self-absorbed in her narrative, but they’re nice and more humane than the humans she’s tried to save all these centuries.

The book is a bit too long though. It’s heavy reading with all the gore and commentary, and the plot advances slowly. Part of the charm of light novels is their shorter length and longer series that don’t really mind pesky things like story arcs. It might’ve worked here too, if it hadn’t been necessary to bring the first book to a turning point to suit western traditions. Now it took me surprisingly long to wade it through to the end.

Ending isn’t a cliffhanger, but it puts Davi on crossroads in her quest. It’ll be interesting to see how she’ll handle the turn her life has taken.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.