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Blade & Bastard Light Novel #1
Blade & Bastard, Vol. 1 (light novel): Warm ash, Dusky dungeon
Deep in the unexplored reaches of the dungeon, a corpse is discovered―one that shouldn’t exist. After Iarumas is resurrected, his memories of life before death are gone, and he spends his days delving into the dungeon to retrieve the bodies of dead adventurers. Can they be revived as well? Or will God reduce them to piles of ash on the altar? Either way, Iarumas collects his finder’s fee. And though his skills earn him some grudging respect, he’s also scorned for this cold, utilitarian attitude. The living keep their distance―Iarumas consorts primarily with the dead. That is, until he meets Garbage, a feral young swordswoman who’s the sole survivor of a massacred party. With Garbage by his side, Iarumas ventures deeper, scouring the dungeon for clues to his past, avoiding monsters, traps, and the inevitability of a permanent ashen demise.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published December 9, 2022
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173 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 27, 2024
I didn't realize that this was a tie-in to the old RPG series Wizardry, but like with any good D&D fantasy, it doesn't really matter if the story's written well enough. Many points to Kumo Kagyu for a pointed statement about how slavery is reprehensible, which I like to think is aimed at other light novel authors.
April 9, 2024
Iarumas is, quite often, likened to that of a monster. He is indifferent to misfortune (either his or someone else's). He is driven by singular, low, and selfish motives. And he is "steeped in the ways of dungeon life" (page 78), meaning he navigates dungeons with the caution, rigor, and morbid sarcasm one can only assume comes with years of dancing with death.
Iarumas is, at turns, also viewed as a felon, a coward, a humorous scoundrel, and more. In BLADE & BASTARD v1, readers catch a glimpse of each rumor, as the adventurer with unkempt black hair ekes a meager living as a body-bag man for the local dungeon. This novel may not be worth the cost of admission for those readers who are tired of conventional adventurer tales packed too tightly with enigmatic protagonists. However, for those who wade deep enough, BLADE & BASTARD v1 may be a worthy investment.
An extraordinarily narrow scope, highly intimate character arcs, and a comfortable if borrowed narrative landscape make BLADE & BASTARD v1 an entertaining read. But it takes time. The book's early chapters are muddled with a forced, third-person limited perspective that deliberately withholds information. And the author's obvious affection for amnesiac characters, abandoned characters, abused characters, and characters cast off from their kin mean the story leans a little too heavily on unwieldy tragedy as a motivating element for future growth.
Of the book's narrow scope: When people die in the dungeon, whether eviscerated by a kobold or blown to smithereens from a treasure chest trap, their party can have them resurrected at the temple (for a fee, of course). Iarumas, a dual-class adventurer skilled with the blade as well as higher-end magic, is derisively called "Iarumas the corpse-hauler" (page 137), among other nasty things, for just such a reason. The novel tracks Iarumas as he retrieves dead bodies in the local dungeon and returns topside, where an elf priestess, Sister Ainikki, greets him at her temple, with cheerful conversation and good company.
Of the book's character development: Readers will knead their knuckles into the heft of characters who start from nothing, struggle earnestly, and still gain very little though risking much, and all with an aim toward understanding one fraction of their totality.
Raraja is an inexperienced thief/rogue who stumbles into camaraderie with Iarumas. The young man has never known comfort, but he soon finds he's willing to enjoy the risks associated with dungeon-crawling if others have his back.
Garbage is strange abomination of a child. The girl, beset with a wiry frame and messy red hair, is an illiterate barbarian girl and former slave. Her history is the stuff of whispers among amulet-wielding mage assassins. She cannot speak, and is often relegated to barks and yips, like a dog. She's not devoted, or kind, or partial, but she can definitely fight.
Iarumas is indifferent to a fault, meaning he's hard to like, despite his impressive combat abilities, his obviously shadowy past, and his odd socializing skills. His allyship with other adventurers is never deliberate, and occurs only by happenstance. Iarumas is the main character, but BLADE & BASTARD v1 makes it clear that he's far from the most interesting one. Raraja the dungeon thief with a conscience? Garbage the bastard child with ridiculous strength? Sister Ainikki, the temple elf who can resurrect the dead, brew delicious tea, and swing a broadsword without breaking a sweat? Iarumas is a smokescreen of a protagonist, if there ever was one.
The novel constantly propels its characters against their presumption of what's best for them. Defeating possessed mages, hired assassins, and assorted drunks? That's nothing new. Indeed, this is not a book about seeking and finding a known terror and saving the land from its grip. Instead, this is a book about a random group of slightly impoverished, ethically dubious, formerly enslaved individuals whose wayward paths just so happened to intersect at this point in time.
Iarumas is, at turns, also viewed as a felon, a coward, a humorous scoundrel, and more. In BLADE & BASTARD v1, readers catch a glimpse of each rumor, as the adventurer with unkempt black hair ekes a meager living as a body-bag man for the local dungeon. This novel may not be worth the cost of admission for those readers who are tired of conventional adventurer tales packed too tightly with enigmatic protagonists. However, for those who wade deep enough, BLADE & BASTARD v1 may be a worthy investment.
An extraordinarily narrow scope, highly intimate character arcs, and a comfortable if borrowed narrative landscape make BLADE & BASTARD v1 an entertaining read. But it takes time. The book's early chapters are muddled with a forced, third-person limited perspective that deliberately withholds information. And the author's obvious affection for amnesiac characters, abandoned characters, abused characters, and characters cast off from their kin mean the story leans a little too heavily on unwieldy tragedy as a motivating element for future growth.
Of the book's narrow scope: When people die in the dungeon, whether eviscerated by a kobold or blown to smithereens from a treasure chest trap, their party can have them resurrected at the temple (for a fee, of course). Iarumas, a dual-class adventurer skilled with the blade as well as higher-end magic, is derisively called "Iarumas the corpse-hauler" (page 137), among other nasty things, for just such a reason. The novel tracks Iarumas as he retrieves dead bodies in the local dungeon and returns topside, where an elf priestess, Sister Ainikki, greets him at her temple, with cheerful conversation and good company.
Of the book's character development: Readers will knead their knuckles into the heft of characters who start from nothing, struggle earnestly, and still gain very little though risking much, and all with an aim toward understanding one fraction of their totality.
Raraja is an inexperienced thief/rogue who stumbles into camaraderie with Iarumas. The young man has never known comfort, but he soon finds he's willing to enjoy the risks associated with dungeon-crawling if others have his back.
Garbage is strange abomination of a child. The girl, beset with a wiry frame and messy red hair, is an illiterate barbarian girl and former slave. Her history is the stuff of whispers among amulet-wielding mage assassins. She cannot speak, and is often relegated to barks and yips, like a dog. She's not devoted, or kind, or partial, but she can definitely fight.
Iarumas is indifferent to a fault, meaning he's hard to like, despite his impressive combat abilities, his obviously shadowy past, and his odd socializing skills. His allyship with other adventurers is never deliberate, and occurs only by happenstance. Iarumas is the main character, but BLADE & BASTARD v1 makes it clear that he's far from the most interesting one. Raraja the dungeon thief with a conscience? Garbage the bastard child with ridiculous strength? Sister Ainikki, the temple elf who can resurrect the dead, brew delicious tea, and swing a broadsword without breaking a sweat? Iarumas is a smokescreen of a protagonist, if there ever was one.
The novel constantly propels its characters against their presumption of what's best for them. Defeating possessed mages, hired assassins, and assorted drunks? That's nothing new. Indeed, this is not a book about seeking and finding a known terror and saving the land from its grip. Instead, this is a book about a random group of slightly impoverished, ethically dubious, formerly enslaved individuals whose wayward paths just so happened to intersect at this point in time.
January 7, 2023
a truly amazing dark fantasy novel
Blade & bastard was a really good light novel that had extremely interesting characters. I found the story very lengthy but still captivating. If you enjoy fantasy I would recommend it
Blade & bastard was a really good light novel that had extremely interesting characters. I found the story very lengthy but still captivating. If you enjoy fantasy I would recommend it
May 7, 2024
I don't usually write reviews, and I also don't usually read light novels, but the few light novels I have read set me up to not expect much from this book. Unfortunately, it was uniquely bad compared to the few light novels and many manga series I have read.
I became interested in Blade and Bastard because I'm a fan of the Wizardry games. I checked out the preview on the J-Novel Club website and I was blown away with how awkward and stiff the writing was even a few pages in. I thought itd be fun to see just how bad it got, which was a mistake.
This novel begins with a group of 6 characters all calling each other by their first names to introduce them to the audience, which is not only not how people talk, but also was unnecessary since 5 of these 6 characters only show up one time later on and do nothing of consequence.
The other thing I noticed in the preview was the way the author talked about spellcasting in this universe. The original games had strange nonsensical spell names that you would have to learn about by reading the manual while playing, as a form of copy protection. It's fine to be proud of those names and how theyve stood the test of time, but the way the author talks about spells feels more like he was reading out of the manual or the wiki and then writing so that long time fans knew that he was a fan too. It just felt weird.
This brings me to one of the main issues I had with Blade and Bastard; it feels less like a story written inside of the Wizardry universe and more like someone writing "remember this?" For 200ish pages. The actual original story is shallow and boring and its constantly reminding you that it's based on a video game by talking about grid maps, hit points, level drain, etc. The point of role playing games (at least in the Wizardry era) was to have a game system that you could use to tell your own stories. You could think of the story your character went through separate from the numbers of the system and even the limited graphics in the case of early Apple II RPGS. But this, (much like the author's other series, Goblin Slayer) is more interested in thinking of it as a game than an adventure, leading to it focusing less on making the characters memorable or likeable.
To be fair, the first 4 games in the Wizardry series (which Blade and Bastard is based on) did not have much in terms of lore. But I think the setting was good enough to have stories at least as good as a short D&D campaign.
One of my other main problems was just the writing in general. I dont have a way of knowing if this was a translation issue or not, but there were a lot of times where I was begging the author to just say "said." Half the awful dialogue in this book is punctuated with "that voice came from so-and-so." It was so exhausting to read after a while that it actually took me months to get through these 200ish pages.
The middle of this novel feels like it goes on forever. It felt like the characters were just meandering and getting nothing done, going between the tavern and the dungeon, sometimes at a pace where I was confused why they were in the dungeon again or if it was a flashback or some sort of non linear storytelling bit. Luckily none of it mattered since there was no character development or plot happened at this point.
Speaking of characters, one of the main mysteries, and also one of the only things to latch onto the entire time, was the main character Iarumas's backstory. His memory was wiped by a late game enemy who can use level drain (Wizardry is a brutal game) and characters keep questioning if he is a mage or a warrior since he uses a sword and casts spells at the same time. A fan of the games, or other rpgs of the same type would see this and say "oh he's a samurai" which would be the correct assumption and make this entire mystery pointless (the reveal is in the very end of the book). A person who is not familiar with the games would see him using a katana and see that his name is SAMURAI backwords and say "oh he's a samurai" and also not get anything out of the mystery.
Overall, I dont know who this book is for. I feel like most fans of the series would get annoyed at the "remember this?" writing pretty quickly, as well as the weird way they talk about how the dungeon works as to try and justify 1982 game design (talking about time passing differently, the grid being unclear distance, wireframe walls) and people who know nothing about Wizardry would just be confused about why they keep mentioning hit points and experience points and a wireframe dungeon.
I didn't even mention the dog slave girl. Thats a whole other can of worms.
I dont reccomend this, you could use this money and time for something much more worthwhile.
I became interested in Blade and Bastard because I'm a fan of the Wizardry games. I checked out the preview on the J-Novel Club website and I was blown away with how awkward and stiff the writing was even a few pages in. I thought itd be fun to see just how bad it got, which was a mistake.
This novel begins with a group of 6 characters all calling each other by their first names to introduce them to the audience, which is not only not how people talk, but also was unnecessary since 5 of these 6 characters only show up one time later on and do nothing of consequence.
The other thing I noticed in the preview was the way the author talked about spellcasting in this universe. The original games had strange nonsensical spell names that you would have to learn about by reading the manual while playing, as a form of copy protection. It's fine to be proud of those names and how theyve stood the test of time, but the way the author talks about spells feels more like he was reading out of the manual or the wiki and then writing so that long time fans knew that he was a fan too. It just felt weird.
This brings me to one of the main issues I had with Blade and Bastard; it feels less like a story written inside of the Wizardry universe and more like someone writing "remember this?" For 200ish pages. The actual original story is shallow and boring and its constantly reminding you that it's based on a video game by talking about grid maps, hit points, level drain, etc. The point of role playing games (at least in the Wizardry era) was to have a game system that you could use to tell your own stories. You could think of the story your character went through separate from the numbers of the system and even the limited graphics in the case of early Apple II RPGS. But this, (much like the author's other series, Goblin Slayer) is more interested in thinking of it as a game than an adventure, leading to it focusing less on making the characters memorable or likeable.
To be fair, the first 4 games in the Wizardry series (which Blade and Bastard is based on) did not have much in terms of lore. But I think the setting was good enough to have stories at least as good as a short D&D campaign.
One of my other main problems was just the writing in general. I dont have a way of knowing if this was a translation issue or not, but there were a lot of times where I was begging the author to just say "said." Half the awful dialogue in this book is punctuated with "that voice came from so-and-so." It was so exhausting to read after a while that it actually took me months to get through these 200ish pages.
The middle of this novel feels like it goes on forever. It felt like the characters were just meandering and getting nothing done, going between the tavern and the dungeon, sometimes at a pace where I was confused why they were in the dungeon again or if it was a flashback or some sort of non linear storytelling bit. Luckily none of it mattered since there was no character development or plot happened at this point.
Speaking of characters, one of the main mysteries, and also one of the only things to latch onto the entire time, was the main character Iarumas's backstory. His memory was wiped by a late game enemy who can use level drain (Wizardry is a brutal game) and characters keep questioning if he is a mage or a warrior since he uses a sword and casts spells at the same time. A fan of the games, or other rpgs of the same type would see this and say "oh he's a samurai" which would be the correct assumption and make this entire mystery pointless (the reveal is in the very end of the book). A person who is not familiar with the games would see him using a katana and see that his name is SAMURAI backwords and say "oh he's a samurai" and also not get anything out of the mystery.
Overall, I dont know who this book is for. I feel like most fans of the series would get annoyed at the "remember this?" writing pretty quickly, as well as the weird way they talk about how the dungeon works as to try and justify 1982 game design (talking about time passing differently, the grid being unclear distance, wireframe walls) and people who know nothing about Wizardry would just be confused about why they keep mentioning hit points and experience points and a wireframe dungeon.
I didn't even mention the dog slave girl. Thats a whole other can of worms.
I dont reccomend this, you could use this money and time for something much more worthwhile.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2025
2025: Currently rereading this since I have gotten hold of the next volumes in the series! Still an interesting story. Now that my memory is refreshed, I will be ready to read volume 2.
2023: Iarumas is an adventurer of sorts in the city of Scales who has no recollection of his past. Outside the city lies The Dungeon filled with treasure and monsters. Folks from all around the world have flocked to Scales to obtain the treasure. Groups of six go in, but not all come out alive. That is where Iarumas comes in. To pay for his resurrection, he gathers the bodies of adventurers for Sister Ainikki to raise from the dead or be turned into ash. While in the dungeon he gains two companions - Garbage - a fierce girl, and Raraja, a low-level thief. Iarumas also gains friendship with Sezmar and his group of adventurers. The tales of their adventures provide background for what looks to be a series culminating in a fight to save the world. Or maybe not. But it will be an interesting journey to see what happens next to Iarumas and his friends.
Thanks Netgalley and Yen Press for the chance to read this volume.
2023: Iarumas is an adventurer of sorts in the city of Scales who has no recollection of his past. Outside the city lies The Dungeon filled with treasure and monsters. Folks from all around the world have flocked to Scales to obtain the treasure. Groups of six go in, but not all come out alive. That is where Iarumas comes in. To pay for his resurrection, he gathers the bodies of adventurers for Sister Ainikki to raise from the dead or be turned into ash. While in the dungeon he gains two companions - Garbage - a fierce girl, and Raraja, a low-level thief. Iarumas also gains friendship with Sezmar and his group of adventurers. The tales of their adventures provide background for what looks to be a series culminating in a fight to save the world. Or maybe not. But it will be an interesting journey to see what happens next to Iarumas and his friends.
Thanks Netgalley and Yen Press for the chance to read this volume.
February 7, 2024
Give me back every millisecond of time I spend reading this. From start to finish I was so utterly unentertained. I think the word that best describes this story would be shallow. Everything from the characters and their interactions, the world the story is set in, the fight scenes, and the dungeon where a lot of the story takes place in. The most interesting chapter by far was the prologue, from there it just went downhill.
I think my biggest irk is the character Garbage. The author thought it would be a fun idea to have a character talk like a dog and to describe this character as a feral animal. He goes further by having the characters also treat her like some puppy or wild animal, and for the ENTIRETY of this book call her Garbage. Nobody thought not to call a human being anything other than Garbage, there isn't some final scene where they finally give her a name, they kept treating her like a pet to end. Sometimes they even call her Garbage-chan, which I do find to be infuriating and funny at the same time. Through her POV's it shown that she isn't in fact an wild beast just someone with a sad past and likely developmental issues(these aren't touched on though). It's like the author can't see the problem how literally every time you read Garbage, it just breaks immersion. It's utterly frustrating how the author adds one line where a character says "If Garbage is her real name, I’ll give her parents a thrashing", and they continue to call her Garbage. This only adds to the fact that her dialogue is absolutely terrible with “Woof"s and “Growl"s being her only communication method. She's never treated like a human being by the author despite being one, even the scene where she gets a bath is treated like how you would wash a stray dog you've decided to take in. Then there's the audacity of the author to try to make a future storyline surrounding this character.
I'm thoroughly incensed by this terrible writing, but that's the only memorable feeling I got reading this piece of fiction. The rest of the story just wasn't interesting. Nothing is fleshed out in this story, the dungeon isn't, the magic isn't, the characters aren't with the exception of Raraja who isn't even slightly compelling despite the author's best efforts. This book had by far the most uninteresting fights I've read so far. They aren't unreadable, just really unengaging. It was the first time I just got bored in the middle of what was supposed to be a climatic fight scene. The world isn't really fleshed out with the exception of a few tidbits that could have made for a more compelling world if actually explored. I found none of the characters interesting despite there being potential at the beginning. There wasn't any part of this book that made me feel anything other than anger. I didn't laugh, smile, or get excited. Ultimately I'm just glad it's over, and I feel I could have found much better use for my evening.
I've had a lot more fun writing this review than droning over the pages of this book.
I think my biggest irk is the character Garbage. The author thought it would be a fun idea to have a character talk like a dog and to describe this character as a feral animal. He goes further by having the characters also treat her like some puppy or wild animal, and for the ENTIRETY of this book call her Garbage. Nobody thought not to call a human being anything other than Garbage, there isn't some final scene where they finally give her a name, they kept treating her like a pet to end. Sometimes they even call her Garbage-chan, which I do find to be infuriating and funny at the same time. Through her POV's it shown that she isn't in fact an wild beast just someone with a sad past and likely developmental issues(these aren't touched on though). It's like the author can't see the problem how literally every time you read Garbage, it just breaks immersion. It's utterly frustrating how the author adds one line where a character says "If Garbage is her real name, I’ll give her parents a thrashing", and they continue to call her Garbage. This only adds to the fact that her dialogue is absolutely terrible with “Woof"s and “Growl"s being her only communication method. She's never treated like a human being by the author despite being one, even the scene where she gets a bath is treated like how you would wash a stray dog you've decided to take in. Then there's the audacity of the author to try to make a future storyline surrounding this character.
I'm thoroughly incensed by this terrible writing, but that's the only memorable feeling I got reading this piece of fiction. The rest of the story just wasn't interesting. Nothing is fleshed out in this story, the dungeon isn't, the magic isn't, the characters aren't with the exception of Raraja who isn't even slightly compelling despite the author's best efforts. This book had by far the most uninteresting fights I've read so far. They aren't unreadable, just really unengaging. It was the first time I just got bored in the middle of what was supposed to be a climatic fight scene. The world isn't really fleshed out with the exception of a few tidbits that could have made for a more compelling world if actually explored. I found none of the characters interesting despite there being potential at the beginning. There wasn't any part of this book that made me feel anything other than anger. I didn't laugh, smile, or get excited. Ultimately I'm just glad it's over, and I feel I could have found much better use for my evening.
I've had a lot more fun writing this review than droning over the pages of this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2023
I'd like this book a lot better if the main female character wasn't a slave as well as just an animal. She literally barks and stuff. And is also named Garbage. What worse is when you find out that she's supposed to be super important.
This was also written by the author of Goblin Slayer so.... yeaaah.
Otherwise we have our edgy hero named Samurai... I mean Iarumas which is totally not Samurai spelled backwards. Garbage is the female character we need but I feel the author just didn't want. Then there is Raraja which is mostly the reader's perspective.
This book likes to keep Iarumas' class a sooper big secret, but all you have to do is just look up the game to know that Samurai is a class that uses katanas... and well there's also the name flip.
Which is a THING that Wizardry is known for so it doesn't come off as so silly, but really.
Boltac's name is also flipped into Catlob for some reason. This even goes into the main bad of this book.. Egam Evif.... Mage Five.
Rhea is now a race, which I think replaces hobbit probably due to copyrights.
As for the story, it really takes to long to get to where it's going and there's a lot of repeat on how grueling the dungeon and how unforgiving etc.
The good things however, even though it's the GS author, is that it doesn't get gross with it's women. Garbage overall doesn't really need to be saved and she murders things left and right. Aine also has a moment to shine. Though Garbage is still called a 'waif' even though she's swinging a greatsword around. We can't have women looking like they can actually lift the equipment they use because then they'd look ugly!
However there's very little female presence in the actual story so there shouldn't be a celebration here. Garbage is the main one and she's only making dog sounds all the time.
If you like Wizardry it's not a bad read and it doesn't get Grimdark™ so there's still hope for it. However it's not super breaking anything new. It also might require playing the first 3 games, the author suggests the GBC versions however there's versions translated for NES, GB/C, SNES, PC and of course the originals.
This was also written by the author of Goblin Slayer so.... yeaaah.
Otherwise we have our edgy hero named Samurai... I mean Iarumas which is totally not Samurai spelled backwards. Garbage is the female character we need but I feel the author just didn't want. Then there is Raraja which is mostly the reader's perspective.
This book likes to keep Iarumas' class a sooper big secret, but all you have to do is just look up the game to know that Samurai is a class that uses katanas... and well there's also the name flip.
Which is a THING that Wizardry is known for so it doesn't come off as so silly, but really.
Boltac's name is also flipped into Catlob for some reason. This even goes into the main bad of this book.. Egam Evif.... Mage Five.
Rhea is now a race, which I think replaces hobbit probably due to copyrights.
As for the story, it really takes to long to get to where it's going and there's a lot of repeat on how grueling the dungeon and how unforgiving etc.
The good things however, even though it's the GS author, is that it doesn't get gross with it's women. Garbage overall doesn't really need to be saved and she murders things left and right. Aine also has a moment to shine. Though Garbage is still called a 'waif' even though she's swinging a greatsword around. We can't have women looking like they can actually lift the equipment they use because then they'd look ugly!
However there's very little female presence in the actual story so there shouldn't be a celebration here. Garbage is the main one and she's only making dog sounds all the time.
If you like Wizardry it's not a bad read and it doesn't get Grimdark™ so there's still hope for it. However it's not super breaking anything new. It also might require playing the first 3 games, the author suggests the GBC versions however there's versions translated for NES, GB/C, SNES, PC and of course the originals.
January 28, 2024
Special thanks to the author(s), publisher, Goodreads and/or NetGalley for the review copy. All views and opinions expressed are honest and my own.
I was conflicted on whether or not I should pick up this light novel. There’s a lot going on in the cover and although I like the action genre, I’m not a fan of the dungeon environment found in many. Nevertheless, I’m glad I gave it a chance because I will be continuing this series.
Iarumas is resurrected after being found in an “unexplored area” of the dungeon, however he has no recollection of his past. Thus, he spends his days retrieving corpses of dead adventurers in the dungeon in hopes to find some hint of his past. After collecting his payment, he’s typically back in the dungeon looking for more which earns him scorn from many. Until one day, he happens upon a feral swordswoman, Garbage followed by Raraja.
The story has a slow start. It’s not information heavy but through Iarumas we learn about the dungeon and the world. Personally, I was initially grateful for this information but it became repetitive later on. The story has a few ongoing mysteries, such as Iarumas’ past as well as who Garbage is in reality. I did like those additions because it gave the story some boost in an otherwise plateau storytelling.
The story is told from multiple perspectives. It starts primarily in Iarumas’ perspective with Raraja’s perspective coming in second. There are also short sections told from the perspective of other characters. I do like the idea of multiple perspectives because it broadens the understanding, however I was getting confused. It was changing between perspectives quite unevenly and suddenly which did disrupt the flow of the story.
There are a few pieces of artwork in this light novel and we have strong female characters. I wish we had done more artwork because Aine’s bloody yet shining moment was beautiful. Aine and Garbage are prominent female characters and strong. I enjoyed this depiction although I wish Garbage had a different name and didn’t act like a dog.
Overall this was a good read. Although blood and violence are mentioned quite a bit, somehow the story reads more calmly. I feel like that’s an ode to Iarumas’ personality, even though he has many layers to uncover. There’s a lot of unknowns, so I will be continuing this series.
Read more reviews @ Mystic's Review Shelf
I was conflicted on whether or not I should pick up this light novel. There’s a lot going on in the cover and although I like the action genre, I’m not a fan of the dungeon environment found in many. Nevertheless, I’m glad I gave it a chance because I will be continuing this series.
Iarumas is resurrected after being found in an “unexplored area” of the dungeon, however he has no recollection of his past. Thus, he spends his days retrieving corpses of dead adventurers in the dungeon in hopes to find some hint of his past. After collecting his payment, he’s typically back in the dungeon looking for more which earns him scorn from many. Until one day, he happens upon a feral swordswoman, Garbage followed by Raraja.
The story has a slow start. It’s not information heavy but through Iarumas we learn about the dungeon and the world. Personally, I was initially grateful for this information but it became repetitive later on. The story has a few ongoing mysteries, such as Iarumas’ past as well as who Garbage is in reality. I did like those additions because it gave the story some boost in an otherwise plateau storytelling.
The story is told from multiple perspectives. It starts primarily in Iarumas’ perspective with Raraja’s perspective coming in second. There are also short sections told from the perspective of other characters. I do like the idea of multiple perspectives because it broadens the understanding, however I was getting confused. It was changing between perspectives quite unevenly and suddenly which did disrupt the flow of the story.
There are a few pieces of artwork in this light novel and we have strong female characters. I wish we had done more artwork because Aine’s bloody yet shining moment was beautiful. Aine and Garbage are prominent female characters and strong. I enjoyed this depiction although I wish Garbage had a different name and didn’t act like a dog.
Overall this was a good read. Although blood and violence are mentioned quite a bit, somehow the story reads more calmly. I feel like that’s an ode to Iarumas’ personality, even though he has many layers to uncover. There’s a lot of unknowns, so I will be continuing this series.
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March 18, 2025
Volume 1 of Kagyu's Blade and Bastard chronicles the adventures of Iarumas and his eclectic team as they navigate a dungeon, salvaging the remains of fallen adventurers to return them for resurrection at a temple, all while Iarumas seeks clues to his own identity. Having been resurrected himself after dying in the dungeon, Iarumas grapples with amnesia, unable to recall his past.
Although the artwork captivated me, the narrative fell short of expectations. I could not engage beyond the second chapter, marking it as a rare did-not-finish (DNF) on my reading list. It's hard to pinpoint whether the awkwardness stemmed from the original writing or its translation, but the prose felt overly simplistic and repetitive, relying more on exposition than immersive storytelling. The structure bore the hallmarks of what some might term a LitRPG, despite lacking explicit labeling as such. The experience was akin to reading a lackluster transcript of a tabletop RPG, complete with an emphasis on characters' levels and classes, a requisite party size of six, and a seemingly infinite dungeon partitioned by locked doors. My fondness for engaging in RPGs, whether tabletop or online, did not translate into enjoyment of a narrative attempting to mimic such a gaming structure.
***Many thanks to Netgalley & Yen Press for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Although the artwork captivated me, the narrative fell short of expectations. I could not engage beyond the second chapter, marking it as a rare did-not-finish (DNF) on my reading list. It's hard to pinpoint whether the awkwardness stemmed from the original writing or its translation, but the prose felt overly simplistic and repetitive, relying more on exposition than immersive storytelling. The structure bore the hallmarks of what some might term a LitRPG, despite lacking explicit labeling as such. The experience was akin to reading a lackluster transcript of a tabletop RPG, complete with an emphasis on characters' levels and classes, a requisite party size of six, and a seemingly infinite dungeon partitioned by locked doors. My fondness for engaging in RPGs, whether tabletop or online, did not translate into enjoyment of a narrative attempting to mimic such a gaming structure.
***Many thanks to Netgalley & Yen Press for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
December 16, 2022
The dead bodies found in the deepest crevices of this other world, can be resurrected at any time...Apparently the author of this new light novel series has come back from writing Wizadry (20 years ago)...to write this new, coming back to life adventure. It is more dark than the normal light novel series that deal with dungeon delving...the illustrations remind me of the Overlord illustrations.
Not much else to say...It's technically not isekai if you get reincarnated to the same world that you died in, right? But why lose all of your memories? Is it because the main character was "dead" for too long? Is it to create controversy and "fake-drama"? Iarumas gets reincarnated again by someone that wanted to know what would happen...and then this story begins, with a dog-like slave called "Garbage" and a Thief called Raraja, this team of misfits and unwanteds sets out to defeat the Dungeon and get revenge once again...
Not much else to say...It's technically not isekai if you get reincarnated to the same world that you died in, right? But why lose all of your memories? Is it because the main character was "dead" for too long? Is it to create controversy and "fake-drama"? Iarumas gets reincarnated again by someone that wanted to know what would happen...and then this story begins, with a dog-like slave called "Garbage" and a Thief called Raraja, this team of misfits and unwanteds sets out to defeat the Dungeon and get revenge once again...
August 2, 2024
I recently rediscovered my love for dungeon crawler games with the remastered version of the granddaddy of them all, the first Wizardry game. Inspired, I decided to explore dungeon crawling adventures in book form and stumbled upon a Japanese Light Novel tie-in about Wizardry. Perfect! This was my first experience with a Light Novel, and I enjoyed it. It seems to be the equivalent of a YA novel, but with some anime sensibilities.
The story itself was a bit disjointed but strangely compelling. It follows a group of characters delving into a mysterious dungeon in pursuit of gold and glory. World-building is minimal, and the main character is shrouded in mystery and amnesia. We get glimpses of the characters' backgrounds throughout the story, along with plenty of dungeon exploration and action.
Fueled by my fondness for dungeon crawler games, I'm eager to continue with the second book and see how things evolve.
The story itself was a bit disjointed but strangely compelling. It follows a group of characters delving into a mysterious dungeon in pursuit of gold and glory. World-building is minimal, and the main character is shrouded in mystery and amnesia. We get glimpses of the characters' backgrounds throughout the story, along with plenty of dungeon exploration and action.
Fueled by my fondness for dungeon crawler games, I'm eager to continue with the second book and see how things evolve.
March 31, 2025
- Abgebrochen bei 81%
Wieder eine Light Novel, die so gar nichts für mich ist. Es hat ein paar interessante Ideen, wie die fehlenden Erinnerungen, Garbages Verhalten aber dann werden immer neue Figuren eingeführt, anstatt den Existierenden irgendeine Tiefe zu geben. Und es wird schnell klar, dass hier der Schock-Faktor die treibende Kraft ist.
(+)
- Interessante Grundideen
(-)
- Generische Welt ohne Tiefe
- Garbage könnte auf der Linie von interessant und unangenehm sein, aber wie der Autor es schreibt, ist es vor allem zweiteres
- Wiederbelebung zu einfach
Mein Booktube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWsL...
Mein Bookstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nico_fantas...
Wieder eine Light Novel, die so gar nichts für mich ist. Es hat ein paar interessante Ideen, wie die fehlenden Erinnerungen, Garbages Verhalten aber dann werden immer neue Figuren eingeführt, anstatt den Existierenden irgendeine Tiefe zu geben. Und es wird schnell klar, dass hier der Schock-Faktor die treibende Kraft ist.
(+)
- Interessante Grundideen
(-)
- Generische Welt ohne Tiefe
- Garbage könnte auf der Linie von interessant und unangenehm sein, aber wie der Autor es schreibt, ist es vor allem zweiteres
- Wiederbelebung zu einfach
Mein Booktube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWsL...
Mein Bookstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nico_fantas...
April 4, 2025
Про чувака, труп якого знайшли в міфічному Лабіринті та оживили, і тепер він відновлює свою пам’ять та збирає трупи інших пригодників в Лабіринті, щоб заробити грошей на їх воскресінні у спеціальному храмі. І ще щоб знайти своїх бувших партійців, якщо вийде. Перший том закидає замало гачків. Поки що невідомі межі сил головного героя - отримати щось поза балансом в черговий раз ой як не хочеться.
І ще до мінусів - невдалий діалоговий шрифт та оформлення, як у піратської манги.З малюнком теж якась дивина - місцями незрозуміло, чи герої десь в печерах, чи у відкритій локації.
І ще до мінусів - невдалий діалоговий шрифт та оформлення, як у піратської манги.З малюнком теж якась дивина - місцями незрозуміло, чи герої десь в печерах, чи у відкритій локації.
December 17, 2025
I felt thoroughly delighted with how the author managed to destroy a lot of what we would consider a fiction book. Plot? Non-existant. Characters? Who cares, they delve into the dungeon and think how their "HP (focus)" gets lower with each unfortunate attack they dodge. What about death? No matter, they'll get resurrected if their party members have the gold. It's quite astonishing, really. Imagine how you watch one random Youtube video in a 100 hours long Wizardry LP (doesn't matter which one), looking at every fight and journey to the tavern to regain resources. That's what that book is.
May 30, 2023
Technically I’d rate this one 3.5 stars, but since we can only select whole stars, I had to go with 4.
If you’ve read the Goblin Slayer series (which is quite excellent), then you’ll have a feel for Kumo Kagyu’s work and know what to expect.
This one is maybe a little more grimy (not as grimy as Goblin Slayer’s armor though).
The characters are interesting enough (though not quite as entertaining as the group from GS).
Overall it was an engaging enough story.
If you’ve read the Goblin Slayer series (which is quite excellent), then you’ll have a feel for Kumo Kagyu’s work and know what to expect.
This one is maybe a little more grimy (not as grimy as Goblin Slayer’s armor though).
The characters are interesting enough (though not quite as entertaining as the group from GS).
Overall it was an engaging enough story.
November 21, 2025
2,5 stars
January 10, 2024
This is my first manga-type of novel, and I am HOOKED! It's a cross between the video games uncharted and star tropics and it has a choose-your-own-adventure vibe. The world building and attention to detail is phenomenal. I feel as if I am right there with the characters, walking through the dungeons and marketplace with them. Definitely looking forward to volume 2!
January 8, 2024
A fun dungeon dive style book with some strange characters. The setting of this world is just on the end of insanity and just makes the story better. I also love the interactions between characters and the hints on what's to come in the future volumes. I look forward to Volume 2!
March 16, 2024
First - thank you to NetGalley for this opportunity to read and review Blade & Bastard, Vol. 1 written by Kumo Kagyu.
Overall, I enjoyed Blade & Bastard, Vol. 1. I had trouble getting into it because I have experience with dungeon crawlers and found the beginning full of basic dungeon-crawler knowledge that wasn't new to me. However, when I observed the story from the perspective of someone who isn't as familiar with the dungeon crawler genre, I grew to appreciate the writing and found myself wanting to continue reading. I am interested in seeing if the second volume moves away from that introductory point of view or if the series will continue to read the same. You can tell the author cares about this genre and wants to share their interest with the readers. I enjoyed the plot and thought this volume set a good foundation. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series.
Overall, I enjoyed Blade & Bastard, Vol. 1. I had trouble getting into it because I have experience with dungeon crawlers and found the beginning full of basic dungeon-crawler knowledge that wasn't new to me. However, when I observed the story from the perspective of someone who isn't as familiar with the dungeon crawler genre, I grew to appreciate the writing and found myself wanting to continue reading. I am interested in seeing if the second volume moves away from that introductory point of view or if the series will continue to read the same. You can tell the author cares about this genre and wants to share their interest with the readers. I enjoyed the plot and thought this volume set a good foundation. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series.
December 22, 2023
Sorta ok. The art is extremely good, but I found it very hard to get into. Pretty typical fantasy fare, not served up with much originality.
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