Title: The Rising of the Shield Hero, Volume 1
Series: The Rising of the Shield Hero
Author: Aneko Yusagi
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: One Peace Books
Release Date: September 15, 2015 (English); August 22, 2013 (Japanese)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336

 

The Rising of the Shield Hero is a popular topic among anime fans right now. The anime had me hooked fast, so I decided to pick up the books as well. This is part of the “isekai” genre, where characters are trapped in another world. Naofumi, the titular Shield Hero, and three other individuals are sent into a fantasy world against their will. While they are not sucked into a video game, this new world works on RPG video game rules. To return home, they must fight and defeat a threat known as the Waves of Destruction.

Now there are a couple of things Rising of the Shield Hero does differently. These are all factors that make it stick out from other, similar stories. First off, the main character is not overpowered or some kind of genius savant. Just the opposite, in fact, he starts off underpowered compared to the other heroes. More than that, without spoiling anything specific, Naofumi gets emotionally destroyed early in the story. He goes from being a happy, average young man to a darker, more cutthroat personality. While at the core he is a decent person, his outlook on the world changes drastically and affects him psychologically.

At the start of the story, some of the characters are a bit bland. However, they do develop in the later books as we start to see more of their histories and motivations. Aside from Naofumi, his partner Raphtalia is really the only one with significant development in the first book alone. But like many first books in any series, there is a lot of world-building in this volume. Initial world-building is critical but does take up page space. Being told from Naofumi’s point-of-view, Rising of the Shield Hero teaches readers about this new world as Naofumi learns these things himself.

Since this story is from Naofumi’s point-of-view, there are some scenes in the anime that are more fleshed out. Details Naofumi learns of later in the books are sometimes shown when events initially happen in the books. On the flipside, the books do have details left out of the anime. In the beginning, these are little things, like more detailed explanations of how magic works. In later volumes, there is more information left out, but that is neither here nor there for this first volume. If you like “trapped-in-another-world” stories or fantasy in general, Rising of the Shield Hero is highly recommended.

Title: Overlord, Vol. 10: The Ruler of Conspiracy
Series: Overlord
Author: Kugane Maruyama
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: May 21, 2019 (English); May 30, 2016 (Japanese)
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 336

 

The Ruler of Conspiracy picks up shortly (a few weeks) after the end of the previous book. For anime viewers, this book takes place just after the third season ended. This book focuses almost entirely on Ainz, which was refreshing. As Overlord as progressed, Ainz has received less and less facetime despite being the main protagonist. While it is nice to see other characters as more than background decorations, too much time was being taken away from Ainz to do so. The Ruler of Conspiracy focuses primarily on Nazarick’s efforts on establishing their new nation as a recognized world power.

Having been a salaryman in his previous life, Ainz takes a corporate mindset towards running his country. His thought process heavily involves evaluating resources as well as losses/gains. While his minions have no issue using unethical tactics or direct military force, Ainz puzzles out (relatively) peaceful solutions. Or stumbles into them. Since most The Ruler of Conspiracy is from Ainz’s POV, readers are reminded that he is a normal guy. He commands great military power but intellectually he is fairly average. Most of his opponents do overestimate his intellect and trip themselves up, assuming coincidences were actually brilliant tactical maneuvers.

Perhaps due to his experience as a businessman, Ainz is a master of “fake it til you make it”. His magical power impresses the heck out of people. As does his unconventional use of that magic. When other rulers observe him using monster minions powerful enough to single-handedly destroy countries as guards and manual labor, they are more than a little shocked. Due to his power and influence, everyone around Ainz makes a lot of assumptions. And once aware of those assumptions, Ainz just rolls with it. “Yes, that was my plan all along!” No one has the gall to call him out and realize he is full of baloney.

The plot in this volume is two-fold. One part deals with Ainz establishing diplomatic relations with the Empire. The other deals with Albedo doing the same thing in the Kingdom. Inadvertently, both these actions also affect the Sorcerer Kingdom’s relationship with the Theocracy, the third nearby nation. The Ruler of Conspiracy also starts to mention other nations that are not in the immediate area more heavily. The book mentions there is another nation Demiurge is dealing with while this book ends with Ainz preparing to leave for another nation entirely. It seems that as of this volume, Nazarick’s goal of world conquest is truly underway.

Title: The Warded Man (originally The Painted Man)
Series: Demon Cycle
Author: Peter V. Brett
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Random House (originally Harper Voyager)
Release Date: March 23, 2010 (originally September, 2008)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 453

 

Many of the best fantasy stories are ones with some sort of unique plot hook. The driving force needs to be something more generic than “go slay the evil dragon”. Peter V. Brett hit that nail on the head by twisting an age-old concept into his own idea. Demons are real in this world, rising from the ground each and every night. Mankind’s only defense are walls protected by magical wards, whose own defenses are imperfect. But mankind was not always the prey and The Warded Man begins a tale of resurgence against their demon oppressors.

In a word: wow. The Warded Man just gets everything right. It does not show, at all, that this was Peter V. Brett’s first novel. This is the level of work typically seen of authors with decades of experience under their belts. The world-building here is absolutely beautiful. Brett guides viewers into the state of the world despite all the history humanity has lost after centuries of demon attacks. The rediscovery of some of this lost knowledge is extremely important to the plot. Even still, enough rocks are left unturned that they can be revealed in the later books.

But as simple yet engaging as the story and world-building is, the Demon Cycle is ultimately about the characters. The Warded Man bounces between three different perspectives as the main trio is slowly brought together. Stretching from early childhood into adulthood, readers see how people live in this demon-infested world. How some people are broken by it while others fight tooth and nail against it. Not to mention how people will play politics and can be as monstrous as the creatures lurking outside their wards. This first book gives us Brett’s world as it is while the other novels will show how it changes.

If something bad had to be said about The Warded Man, it would be the slow start. Aside from the occasional demon, a lot of what happens in the beginning is slice-of-life stuff. The opening of the book pours the soft clay of the main three protagonists while the rest of the story molds them. This first entry in the Demon Cycle series is letting readers know who these people are and why. As the series continues, the new hardships they face will either reshape or shatter them. Only time will tell. But either way, it is going to be a wild ride.

Title: Fool Moon
Series: The Dresden Files
Author: Jim Butcher
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: January 9, 2001
Format: Paperback
Pages: 401

 

Harry Dresden is back for his second adventure as Chicago’s top ^{and only} private investigator wizard. In my review of the first book, I mentioned a friend convinced me to give this series a shot. That same friend warned me that Fool Moon and book #3 do not hold up to Storm Front. But that the series does pick back up again if you stick with it for a bit. That being said, do not go into Fool Moon with the expectations set by Storm Front. If anything, be happy the series only skimmed shark-infested waters instead of jumping over those sharks this early on.

So, back to the modern-day pulp fiction at hand. Fool Moon was early in Jim Butcher’s career and that “budding author” writing style is apparent here. The characters are a bit 2D in this story, swaying towards being tropes instead of people. Some of them are almost insufferable, particularly Harry and Murphey’s currently strained relationship. The new bad guys were pretty staple villains, although Marcone pops up again and remains interesting. But while the characterization is a bit plain in that “developing talent” sense, other aspects of the story improve.

The mystery the plot revolves around is much more fleshed out in Fool Moon. This time around it is a murder mystery, with multiple suspects and twists and turns as more evidence is uncovered. And while Fool Moon can be read as a standalone story, an overarching plot starts to develop here. We start to learn a bit more about Harry’s past, including things Harry himself was unaware of. The epilogue also works on pushing the main plot forward; while a series of “adventure of the week” stories can work, the Dresden Files would probably not be as popular as it is if it had the same structure and pacing as a 90s sci-fi/fantasy TV show.

Another key thing here is this book showcasing just how powerful Harry is as a wizard. The first book mentions it but it is more explained than shown. This time around, we get a show-of-force example of how crazy powerful Harry can be when he needs to be. It is always fun to see the protagonist be a badass.

On the whole, this was a good book. Not great, but good. And if this level of quality qualifies as a “bad” book in the Dresden Files series, the great ones should be pretty phenomenal.

Title: Zoe's Tale
Series: Old Man's War
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Sci-fi
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: August 19, 2008
Format: Paperback
Pages: 335

 

In a nutshell, Zoe’s Tale follows the same story as The Last Colony. But this time around the story is told from Zoe’s point-of-view. Scalzi is able to accomplish three things by doing this. One, it fills in some of the unanswered questions from the last book. Two, it gives Zoe more character development since she was a little sparse on that before. Three, Scalzi once again shows he is capable of writing very different points-of-view. Across this series, we have gone from standard soldier to spec ops soldier to ex-soldier civilian to teenage girl. And each time he switches up perspectives, it works.

Being written from a teenage girl’s POV, Zoe’s Tale reads very much like a YA novel. She is deeply embroiled in events that will determine the ultimate fate of humanity and countless alien races. At the same time, she is a teenage girl. She has normal teenage girl problems on top of the “save humanity” stuff. Not to mention her tragic background stretching back to the second book. All the while, the adults do not fully grasp what she is going through as they deal with the threats everyone is facing in their own way.

One of the key things about Scalzi’s writing is the lack of descriptions. Sci-fi concepts like unique aliens are barely described, if at all. The ideas are good but the writing is simple to follow. Characters are a bit of a mix between 2D and 3D. There is a big, bad but also “good” government in place to keep order despite committing atrocities. All of these factors are pretty common in YA books. Since Zoe’s Tale is more of a YA book than the rest of Old Man’s War, all of that writing is more in line this time around.

That being said, there is no reason to read Zoe’s Tale if you have not read the previous book. Certain key details from The Last Colony are not mentioned here. This is meant to be an expansion of the previous novel, not a story in and of itself. And while all the extra details are nice to have, it does not really advance the story any. Old Man’s War was originally written as a trilogy and everything past book three really feels tacked on. Not necessarily bad reads, but not on par with the original three novels.

Title: Caina
Author: Joe Albanese
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Mockingbird Lane Press
Release Date: July 5, 2018
Format: Paperback
Pages: 174

 

A copy of Caina was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Caina follows the story of Lee, a man with debts associated with the less-than-savory members of the Los Angeles community. With nowhere else to turn, he reaches out to his estranged twin brother, Grant. But Grant was not entirely the little-goody-two-shoes Lee remembered, and Lee’s problems soon go from bad to worse. For a little novella, Caina was pretty entertaining. It had its ups and downs but was overall a fun little story.

Personally, I am not used to novellas. Most of my reading comes from novels, so that does affect my judgment with Caina. This story seemed like it could have had more to it. The small page count keeps things fast-paced, with things like mid-chapter scene jumps between paragraphs. These transitions are a bit rough and can make it a little tricky to follow the story.

For the limited page count, the characters are very well developed. Lee is a deadbeat but grows throughout the story as he is forced to play the role of Grant. His friends/associates are pulled into this mess with him and none of them are quite the same by the end. Everyone gets a little growth and development instead of being 2D cutouts.

If you read the synopsis, you pretty much know what Caina is about. It follows a fairly by-the-book pattern for this type of mystery-crime story. The short length makes the novella feel more like an episode of a crime drama TV show than anything else. On the whole, it is a good little afternoon read with deeper, underlying tones. If Joe Albanese wanted to expand this into a full-fledged novel, he could do it. There is room here for a lot more, but as it is now the story is still good.

Title: Storm Front
Series: The Dresden Files
Author: Jim Butcher
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin ROC
Release Date: April 2000
Format: Paperback
Pages: 322

 

A close friend recommended The Dresden Files series to me, which was my main reason for picking it up. This particular friend is very familiar with what I like and do not like in fiction and knows urban fantasy is not really my thing, but he recommended it anyway. With all that in mind, I picked it up based on his suggestion and was happy to be proven wrong. Despite my current attitude towards urban fantasy, I used to love it. Storm Front is far from the first urban fantasy book I have ever read. That all being said, lots of things in this review are going to reflect my own experiences and biases with urban fantasy.

So more about the book itself and less about me. Harry Dresden, wizard and private eye, living in Chicago. Kind of like that one old HBO movie from back in the day, but with magic being low-key. Dresden himself is a somewhat typical urban fantasy protagonist. He is very powerful but shunned by his branch of the supernatural community because of <reasons>. Dresden is a loner, a smart aleck, a man caught up in trouble because of his innate need to do the right thing.

The world-building here is also pretty standard. Supernatural stuff is real and exists just under the surface of regular society. And the more well-known stuff is in pop culture, the better the odds of running into it. Tropes non-withstanding, it is easy to see why fans regard The Dresden Files to highly. The setting and characters are just complex enough. Nothing feels 2D but it is not difficult to follow either. On the whole, everything feels real. People are making decisions in a mix of emotion and logic, not just adhering to one or the other. Other characters are not as dynamic as Dresden himself, but they just have less face time so what are you gonna do?

Storm Front can read like a standalone book, which is true for most of The Dresden Files from what I understand. It will probably take some time before an overarching plot and villain appear. That being said, this is the issue I have seen with many urban fantasy series. They have strong starts but struggle to keep going. Oftentimes, the hero passes up opportunities to stop the villain and end the madness for moral or arbitrary reasons. I plan to keep reading The Dresden Files between other books, so hopefully, it breaks that cycle and holds my interest throughout. On the whole though, Storm Front is one of the best urban fantasy books out there.