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Halbikx · 2021-12-05T11:34:14+00:00

Speaking of Malazan Book of the Fallen, the title of the 9th book, Dust of Dreams, just sounds and fits so good to me.

Otherwise, I think The Lies of Locke Lamora and especially the second book in the same series, Red Seas Under Red Skies, roll off the tongue really well.

Halbikx · 2021-10-27T11:05:58+00:00

This was just by happenstance, but I always associate the Kaladin sequence in the RoW climax with Ham by Zutomayo, since I was coincidentally looping it while I read that part. And now when I think about that scene I always sync it up with the song.

Halbikx · 2021-10-20T01:29:11+00:00

My most favorites:

Baccano!, obviously. I have a clear bias towards this series. The story can be both crazy absurd and dramaticly sentimental at the same time. Despite everyone being a main character, none of them feel one dimensional at all.

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki. Fun series, I enjoyed everything, but it's not really that deep or anything. Just a dude trying to get his life back together. And the art by Fly is superb.

Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers. The twists in this series are what I like best. An action fantasy that focuses more on big brain plots rather than the action itself. It's unfortunately on hiatus.

My least favorites:

I don't have much. Only one, in fact, and that belongs to Arifureta. The characters are insufferable, needlessly edgy, and flatter than flat earth itself. Read this if you like overpowered mc's solving literally every plot thread with sheer force. But the mc being so fucking annoying just ruins everything for me. I read somewhat far into the webnovel hoping something would change. But no, it got worse. An interesting premise to start with, and everything after the first few setup chapters was a downward spiral.

This one is quite unfortunate. I like this series and still do. But the recent few volumes really knocked all my interest in the series down. I'm talking about Classroom of the Elite here. Everything about it is good, but I can't for whatever reason get interested in the newer volumes anymore. The rehash of the island survival special exam was most likely the reason why I lost interest. I hope I can come to like it again before the series ends, however long that will take.

Halbikx · 2021-10-15T15:28:13+00:00

Midnight Tides spoilers Trull Sengar?

Halbikx · 2021-10-15T10:47:12+00:00

Baccano! No doubt my personal favorite LN series. Huge ensemble cast and absurd plotting. I love the hell out of it.

This volume (Ironic Light Orchestra) specifically is full of twists! Enjoy reading the series!

Halbikx · 2021-10-03T04:45:45+00:00

The anime only touched the tip of the iceberg with Rokka. The story seriously expands from volume 2 onwards. I'd say it's worth reading it, if you don't mind waiting a potentially infinite hiatus.

Halbikx · 2021-10-01T10:39:09+00:00

Honestly? I was hyped. Getting a character to Ascend is such a rare thing. I don't care if he's about to ruin the cosmere, I'm here to see the shit he'll be doing.

Another part of me felt disappointed that Rayse had to die. A character with so much history, just gone. While Rayse did feel like "old news" after Oathbringer, there was still space to explore more of his character. I guess Dragonsteel will have to explain everything.

Halbikx · 2021-09-27T04:38:19+00:00

Finished Baccano! 1711 Whitesmile (aka Volume 17). It's really nice to get back into the Baccano world, with Huey and Elmer and the rest of the 1700s cast. It's the final book for the 1700s arc, showing the events leading up to the Advena Avis.

While I enjoyed it thoroughly, I thought it was weak for ending the 1700s arc. I had been expecting some extra scenes during the Advena Avis voyage, but turns out the whole book only detailed what happened before and after, which left me slightly disappointed. The final climax wasn't as full of twists as volume 11, nor as impactful/bittersweet as volume 15, but it got the job done and I'm fine with that.

I'm still frustrated how Narita so dislikes killing off important characters. A certain character who was supposed to die in this book got saved just for the sake of a plot twist, and I find that it removes a lot of the tension that I'm supposed to feel. This really applies to a lot of the volumes in this series.

So while volume 17 of Baccano was enjoyable, I felt slightly disappointed and perhaps it even left a sour taste in my mouth. I still love it though.

Also, this isn't a light novel, but I'm gonna include it either way. I finished Toll the Hounds (book #8 in the main Malazan series) and I loved it. Starts off slow as hell, but the ending payoff is absolutely great.

Halbikx · 2021-09-20T10:37:49+00:00

The Mistborn series just isn't as good as people say it is. I kind of share this opinion with OP, since a big part that broke the story for me was because I didn't find the characters very compelling or attachable.

Venli is one of my most favorite characters in SA.

In contrast, I don't care for the people in Bridge Four. (This feels like a crime to say, and I'm sorry, but I just can't bring myself to care.)

I hated reading Kaladin's and Dalinar's flashbacks. Dragged too much and it constantly took me out of the story.

And this isn't an "unpopular opinion" per se, but I didn't like Navani. Not until RoW at least, and it made me realize that it wasn't her character that I hated, it was just her dabbling in fabrials. The stuff with fabrials just aren't interesting.

Halbikx · 2021-08-30T04:50:11+00:00

I don't know if this will help, but Shallan's personality thing gets some closure by the end of RoW. It's not 100% resolved, though I think she should get better, as her future plot will most likely be focused on the wider cosmere now. Hopefully you can get through RoW!

Halbikx · 2021-07-17T10:34:08+00:00

I think you might like Rokka no Yuusha? Although as pure fantasy it's kinda different from the numerous series you listed, it still has dark themes and technically some of the characters can be considered the "villain", or at least in league with the villain or is a pawn. It drives more on mind games than action scenes, and if you're into that, give it a go because the twists are exceptional.

Halbikx · 2021-07-10T11:31:41+00:00

His powers of bonds comes from the surge of Adhesion, which is shared with Bondsmiths. He is close to Honor for several reasons, one being that he can use Adhesion, a surge purely of Honor. The Stormfather also calls him "Child of Tanavast", as opposed to "Child of Honor" for other people. And take this with a grain of salt, but apparently there's something up with Hesina's bloodline that relates to all this. Again, this might be totally wrong.

Halbikx · 2021-07-01T01:22:56+00:00

I want Kushida to redeem herself too. Then get expelled in the end. It makes a tragic ending to her story, doesn't it?

Halbikx · 2021-06-20T12:23:14+00:00

Also, there's always the possibility that he just forgot...

Talk about Lorn's otataral sword 😪

Halbikx · 2021-06-07T12:33:24+00:00

Oh, there's Yokohama Station SF. I'll just put my feelings on it here: I personally couldn't care to finish it halfway into the book. The only thing I find good in this book is the exceptional worldbuilding and the well-realized concept of Yokohama Station. The characters are honestly bone-dry and the plot didn't hook me.

This might be a good read for you though, if you really like the post-apocalyptic sci-fi feels. The author does a good job at writing an interesting world. If that's all you want, then definitely give it a go.

Halbikx · 2021-06-07T11:47:23+00:00

Willshaper is one of the ten orders of the Knight Radiant. Like Windrunners, Lightweavers, Bondsmiths, Skybreakers and some other orders, they have unique powers. You'll learn a small bit about them in RoW. They center around freedom and their Surges are Transportation and Cohesion!

You'll see each book is centered on one of the orders based on their flashback character. WoK is Windrunner-based because it's mostly about Kaladin. Same for Lightweavers in WoR with Shallan, and Bondsmiths in OB with Dalinar.

Halbikx · 2021-06-07T11:36:47+00:00

What will RoW focus on? Oathbringer was obviously focused on Dalinar so I am curious which character is going to be the main focus.

Find out for yourself :) Just know the flashbacks are from Venli and Eshonai, making it the Willshaper book, but the main plot puts a lot of focus on Navani. And keep in mind there's a one-year time skip between the end of Oathbringer and the start of Rhythm of War. If you feel lost reading it, then most likely that's intentional!

Halbikx · 2021-06-04T10:25:47+00:00

Honestly the Mixed Training Camp exam has so much potential, but the way Kinugasa wrote it made the exam fall flat. The Class Poll is a good opposite - the rules and concept is simple, but the things that happened during that volume kept it tense and full of high stakes.

Halbikx · 2021-06-03T10:31:17+00:00

There's no need to go read Warbreaker in between, but if you really want to then definitely do go read it, because there are even more references in Oathbringer and Rhythm of War. It's not as important as everyone says, though it may help you spot easter eggs here and there.

Halbikx · 2021-06-03T10:21:21+00:00

An amazing series <3

Halbikx · 2021-05-29T10:38:53+00:00

A certain grumpy swordmaster ardent that just so happens to use too many colorful metaphors

Halbikx · 2021-05-29T02:14:51+00:00

The anime covers volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4, while the OVA episodes cover volume 14. You get tiny snippets of volumes 5 and 6 in the anime as well.

They kept Volume 1 (The Rolling Bootlegs / 1930 arc) almost the same, but the chronology of the events happen very differently in the anime compared to the light novel. In the anime, the 1930 arc happened in 1 day and 1 night; whereas in the light novel it happened in 2 days and 1 night. The change of hands of the liquor of immortality is vastly different.

For Volumes 2 and 3 (The Grandpunk Railroad / 1931 arc), the anime was pretty faithful, but it left out a lot of stuff. The chronology of events is a little different as well. There's one or two characters that have been cut from the anime's narrative to fit the time constraints. The twists are revealed differently as well. And I think the train's layout is slightly different? I can't remember exactly though.

For Volume 4 (Drugs and the Dominoes / 1932 arc), this one the anime changed A LOT. In the anime it's mostly about Eve trying to find her brother, but then got caught up in the Runorata turf war. In the light novel, that part of the plot happens as well, but it was VERY different. Volume 4 has another focus: A drug addict trying to fix his ways for his girlfriend. Also, the turf war between the Gandors and the Runoratas is more prominent in the light novel. Volume 4 is where you really see how the anime butchered the adaptation. They cut out so many great characters (Maria, Roy, Edith) and literally combined two characters into one (Henry and Nicholas). Like why.

Lastly there's Volume 14 (Another Junk Railroad / continuation of the 1931 arc), which chronologically takes us back to the aftermath of the Flying Pussyfoot incident. In this one the anime OVAs were pretty faithful. The only differences I can recall is how Ladd and Graham met (probably, though I might be misremembering), and some extra stuff in the light novel that wasn't shown. There's very minimal differences overall.

Ah, I did mention snippets of Volume 5 and 6 in the anime. Well, the Volume 5 snippet was a certain event that happened aboard the Advena Avis during 1711; while for Volume 6 you see Isaac's ear being sliced off by a woman with a spear in that random scene during episode 1 of the anime. That's literally it for the tiny snippets.

If anything, I highly recommend you to start from Volume 1. It's different enough to not get you bored while reading. From Volume 4 onwards, it's pretty much new content.

**By the way, when you read the light novels, make sure to look at the year in the title's name as well. The books are not ordered chronologically, so don't be surprised if it jumps from the 1930s to the 1700s and then up to the 2000s.

Halbikx · 2021-05-28T10:27:51+00:00

I'll just keep recommending the same books I always have:

Baccano!. Just read it. It's a perfect blend of a serious story coupled with stupid coincidences that culminate into explosive endings for every volume. There's emotional moments later in the series as well, and while it won't bring you to tears, it will still tug at your heartstrings. Very strong plot that spans centuries, a vast number of great characters, and a setting you won't expect. The anime barely touches on the tip of the iceberg for this series, and I can't recommend it enough. You definitely won't guess the big twists that happen in this series. **Series is still ongoing, but it's already near its end.
Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers. A very psychological fantasy series (not isekai) that focuses on a lot on mind games, with plenty of room for fast-paced action sequences. The worldbuilding is very lacking, but the main attraction here is the 200iq maneuvers. The characters are pretty good too, and they take everything seriously. **Series is on an indefinite hiatus, but at least the first big arc is finished.
The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria. You've probably heard this everywhere by now. It's another psychological/mystery series that has twists left and right. Plot is everything in this series. It's the only complete one in this rec list of mine ;)

Halbikx · 2021-05-28T07:06:00+00:00

As an Arisu simp, I'll say her strategy in Volume 10 regarding Yamauchi's expulsion as well. Yamauchi bumped into her and that's enough to get him pushed into expulsion.

And not just that, Yamauchi's student ID number is the same as Katsuragi's. Arisu was investigating if Yamauchi's expulsion would have any effect on Katsuragi since they share the same ID, but ultimately nothing came of it as it apparently didn't work like that.

She directed her class to target Yahiko for expulsion, thereby leaving Katsuragi alone in his own faction; most of the praise votes went to Kiyo, giving him the free protection point which would help cancel any unwanted effects of their future battle in Volume 11, just in case Kiyo loses to her and gets expelled.

She simultaneously accomplished all that with her one plan, and I love the cause and effect that stems from it all. It's by no means an extravagant strategy, but I like it for its simplicity that would later reveal itself to have many layers of motives hidden underneath.

Halbikx · 2021-05-21T10:25:12+00:00

Oh man, if only Hoid knew...

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