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月の白さを知りてまどろむ [Tsuki no Shirosa wo Shirite Madoromu] (Novel) #1
A Pale Moon Reverie: Volume 1
Irede, the town of fine drink, masterful performing arts, and holy courtesans, was built long ago as an offering to a god. Travelers gather here in droves from across the continent, but unbeknownst to them, shades—creatures who lead humans astray—lurk in the streets.
Sari, a maiden with the ability to bind shades, is the proprietress of a living the courtesan house Pale Moon. And when she meets Xixu, a shadeslayer fresh from the capital, restless shadows begin stirring beneath the town’s surface...
Sari, a maiden with the ability to bind shades, is the proprietress of a living the courtesan house Pale Moon. And when she meets Xixu, a shadeslayer fresh from the capital, restless shadows begin stirring beneath the town’s surface...
392 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 10, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 3, 2023
Xixu is an earnest young professional soldier, half-brother of the current king, but as an illegitimate child raised as a commoner and now treated as family. Sari is a 16-year old (spiritual) leader of the town of Irede who has seen very little of the world, a town of entertainment and seal on the prison of an unknown destructive entity bound underneath. The two meet while shades, dark spirits invisible to most that are created by and influence the darker emotions of humans, run on a killing spree in Irede, something they usually cannot do.
The story is mostly an action orientated one, fighting shades and human conspiracists in the defence of Irede and the King (the volume basically consisting two arcs). It has strong romance elements, but considering the personalities and upbringing of the two involved, it is awkward with little progress beyond at best the acknowledgement of there something being there. The world is reasonably interesting, although nothing particularly unique (beyond perhaps it not being isekai), but it is mostly the characters that drive the story. They have reasonable depth for the most part, although some of the side characters come across as fitting the tropes a bit too much.
While I found the whole thing intriguing, it is not exactly the kind of story I tend to enjoy. It all felt a bit too dramatic for my taste. The plot is for a large part driven by a lack of communication and people taking big somewhat unnecessary risks. The actions are believable for the personalities of those involved (except perhaps the king), it is just not something I like.
So while enjoyed the story for the most part, there were a few too many eyeroll moments with not enough twists to give it 4 stars.
The story is mostly an action orientated one, fighting shades and human conspiracists in the defence of Irede and the King (the volume basically consisting two arcs). It has strong romance elements, but considering the personalities and upbringing of the two involved, it is awkward with little progress beyond at best the acknowledgement of there something being there. The world is reasonably interesting, although nothing particularly unique (beyond perhaps it not being isekai), but it is mostly the characters that drive the story. They have reasonable depth for the most part, although some of the side characters come across as fitting the tropes a bit too much.
While I found the whole thing intriguing, it is not exactly the kind of story I tend to enjoy. It all felt a bit too dramatic for my taste. The plot is for a large part driven by a lack of communication and people taking big somewhat unnecessary risks. The actions are believable for the personalities of those involved (except perhaps the king), it is just not something I like.
So while enjoyed the story for the most part, there were a few too many eyeroll moments with not enough twists to give it 4 stars.
May 30, 2023
I have a paid subscription to J-Novel, which allowed me to read the pre-pub version on the J-Novel website before the book officially released.
I don’t know if it’s the translation or the writing, but the prose is quite beautiful and elegant at times. The story world is like a fantasy version of ancient historical Kyoto.
The story world and characters are interesting, but I was disappointed by two TSTL moments that seemed to be inserted very conveniently to set up the story a certain way. Maybe because I’m a writer, I found that to be a poor bit of writing by the author, since better character motivations could have set up the scene better than using a dumb action on the part of a character.
The story world and magic system and characters are all intriguing, but the contrived plot points made the story end with a bit of disappointment for me.
I don’t know if it’s the translation or the writing, but the prose is quite beautiful and elegant at times. The story world is like a fantasy version of ancient historical Kyoto.
The story world and characters are interesting, but I was disappointed by two TSTL moments that seemed to be inserted very conveniently to set up the story a certain way. Maybe because I’m a writer, I found that to be a poor bit of writing by the author, since better character motivations could have set up the scene better than using a dumb action on the part of a character.
The story world and magic system and characters are all intriguing, but the contrived plot points made the story end with a bit of disappointment for me.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews