Kieli, Volume 4: Long Night Beside a Deep Pool

Kieli Novels (キーリ ライトノベル) #4

by Yukako Kabei

It’s been a year and a half since Harvey left Kieli and the Corporal in Beatrix’s care. Though she hasn’t heard a word from him in all that time, Kieli can’t forget the Undying who took her under his wing. When Beatrix receives a cryptic note from Harvey indicating that he’s discovered information about Kieli’s mother, Kieli abandons the Corporal and Beatrix in an effort to track Harvey down, but the passing of time has not been kind to the Undying. Will Harvey and Kieli have a second chance at a life together, or is this the end of their story?

Genres: Light Novel, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Japanese Literature, Fiction, Adventure, Novels

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Japanese profile: 壁井ユカコ

Reviews

[Ricardo Matos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Complete change of pace for the series. The author's writing has improved significantly. There's also a move from depressing or sappy ghost stories to proper horror. So far, this was the volume in the series I liked the most.

Also, the author now seems to be leading the overarching story somewhere rather than just keeping it very "slice of lify" with not much happening other than the ghost story of the day!

[Eggi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nach dem Ende des 3. Bandes musste ich weiter lesen! Immerhin diesmal endet der Band so, dass ich erst mal eine Pause einlegen kann, da ich zwei andere Bücher lesen sollte. Bin aber gespannt, wie es weiter geht mit meinen liebgewonnen Figuren.

[Cherney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally it was better towards the middle

[Lexie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prelim Review: I've found that in a lot of the light novel series I've read the author attempts to make them as stand alone as possible so that if a reader picks up say book 3 without having read the first 2, they'll be able to read the third book without complications or confusion. Which can be a little frustrating since few enough writers aim for that goal in America. Then also many of the light novels I've read didn't begin as novels at all--they were serialized stories in a magazine later collected (like manga).

So going into book 4 of this series I've re-read Kieli/Harvey/the Corporal's first meeting, their first train ride, and the first time Harvey got seriously injured three other times. The various adventures that accumulated throughout the books--Harvey stopping by to see a dead friend, the sad clown, etc--are rarely mentioned unless in relation to the current events. Like the train conductor from book 1 (the dead one).

Important steps were made however; Kieli met a person (and a car full of ghosts) who knew her mother, Jude and even Kieli herself when she was a baby. Julius (from book 2: White Wake on the Sand) re-appears and he's surprisingly useful in this book. He's grown up, much like Kieli, and hopefully will prove to be a responsible person in the future as well.

Full review to be posted at Poisoned RAtionality

[Niquie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75