Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 18 (light novel)

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Light Novel #18

by Fujino Omori, Suzuhito Yasuda (Illustrator), Dale DeLucia (Translator)

The white fairy swears to serve the goddess.   The black fairy inscribes the mood of the times.  The prum weeps as four regrets become power.  The chariot advances to cut down all but the goddess.   And the monarch demands a show of power that is neither dream nor sophistry.  From this point on, the boy will have to write his own legends.

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Adventure

456 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2023

About the author

OOMORI Fujino
Name (in native language): 大森藤ノ
Associated Names:
OHMORI Fujino
OMORI Fujino
ŌMORI Fujino

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did this volume need to be so long? Almost certainly not, because while Fujino Omori is several cuts above most light novel authors, allowing him this many pages means that he's free to indulge in his trademark overwritten fight scenes. Yes, it's about a war game between Hestia and Freya Familias, but oh my God. We could have gotten the truth about Allen and Ahnya's relationship, Lilly's impressive leadership, and the return of the Benevolent Mistress ladies in many fewer pages, and I think it would have been a stronger novel for it.

Because this is a very strong book. Although Bell gets the final say, it's at its best when discussing the other characters. Even if you don't ship Lilly and Finn, his interest in her and in helping her to get to the point where she's a capable commander of multiple familias is excellent, and watching Freya's actions from volume seventeen truly shape public opinion and the events of this book is rewarding. Hands-down, the best moments belong to Lyu and her triumphant return as the heir to all of Astraea Familia's gifts and powers, with Astraea herself in tow. Having Lyu's new skill be Astrea Record beautifully builds on the tragedy of her past and the triumph of her acceptance of it during the fight against the Juggernaut, and the implication that her sisters are still helping her from beyond the grave is heartachingly lovely.

There are also strong themes of thinking that you know what's best and what you want, only to learn that you were on the completely wrong track. That's Freya's real tragedy; she thinks that by building a strong familia, she'll find her Odr, but in truth she's just surrounding herself with sycophants without true love. She has to recognize that power and love don't always go together, much like Royman's bureaucratic hypocrisy has him equating power with the greater good of Orario.

This really could have been about half its length and been a stronger novel. But it's still very good, and I'm looking forward to where the series goes from here.

[MIKE Watkins Jr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest, this is likely the worst book I've read in 2024, which is ironic considering that I finished it on 12/30. I ended my reading journey crashing and burning. I was motivated to read this because the anime is decent so I figured the light novel adaptation was too.


Pros:

1. The end battle was phenomenal and very well-detailed by Fujino.


2. Fujino did a great job of bringing out the back stories behind certain characters. This shift in focus pushed me to like characters that I disliked in the past. Detailing the context behind said character's upbringing forced me to relate and better understand said character.





Cons:

1. Fujino spends way too much time focusing on low-powered side characters. I understand zeroing in on side characters that are just as strong, almost as strong, or stronger than Bell (the MC). However, there is no reason to devote an entire chapter to a character that....idk how else to put it....is an ant in the grand scheme of things.


2. Fujino did a terrible job translating this novel. Due to major spelling and grammar errors, it was hard to understand various passages.


3. The ending, after the epic battle, didn't make sense whatsoever, and it was far from realistic. By realistic I don't mean realistic in a "this could happen in this world" sense; this book is a fantasy after all. What I mean is that the way that the "main villain" responded emotionally to the result was unrealistic. And while good fantasy books deviate from realism if we're talking about the laws of nature....good fantasy books don't stray much if we're talking about emotional digestion.

[Tomcat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Messy story and overuse of plot armor.

This volume concludes the fourth arc, or The Fertility Arc. The end of the previous volume brought a real complicated plot, a war with Freya Familia was a strange and tough choice for the author. The problem came with this volume and the way this war was supposed to be done. There are many characters in this volume, and the focus is in so many that you start loosing track of who is talking or doing what, and because of this, none of the main characters do anything remarkable, this volume was a good opportunity to focus on Freya's familia members, but what they got was a flashback of how the join the family. Now, some spoilers ahead. It looks like every time the author find the coalition in a pinch, he solved it with some plot armor, which is ok if use sparingly. But is use so many times, that by the end anything surprises anymore. Even the rules are twisted, for example Lyu joining the fray, but in order to join they need to have a god in the field, no problem, armor plot, her god returns and is back in town. How about a double level up, because she was without updating her status, so now she can fight as a level 6. Freya Familia was the strongest familia, without them, I don't know how the power balance will be from here, I guess some more plot armor will come handy. After the Xenos and the deep levels survival quest with Lyu, this volume was disappointing.

[Kavatarapu Kun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this volume, the war game was really well written with some unexpected twists (at least I didn't expect them). What I do have a problem with is how the author kept drumming up Lilly as a great commander and stuff when it didn't really feel to me like she was as outstanding as they are drumming her up to be (though she really did do a good job). Lyu's way of talking like a Russian was weird too. I didn't get a chance to read Astrea records yet, so Idk if she really speaks that way with rivals/enemies. (OR it might be just my head that immediately jumps to a Russian accent whenever I hear comrade, haha).

Overall an amazing volume and the thickest LN volume I ever read. I had been waiting for this volume to release since forever. Am also glad they finally referenced Lefiya a bit (at least I think it's her as Hedin says "Thousand"). Now I'm back to waiting for Sword Oratoria Vol 13 and 14. And I'm excited to see if Freya will have a further role in the story or if she just gets forgotten with time.

[Jake Sarauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

First review this series. This Volume should have been 5 stars. But the reason it gets knocked down 1 star is the build up of of the odds against the coalition. I understand that good stories come from conflicts that are challenging and require sacrifices... however this one went past that to where the plot is so unbelievable that even I was thinking no way. What I usually refer to as plot armor became a plot castle... which is odd because Omori has no problem killing off characters in Sword Oratoria.... BUT the ending is what makes this volume come back to life and makes it a fourth star.

[Scott Mattson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a huge wargame. Freya Famila one of the top two families in Orario is going against tiny Hestia famila and their allies.

Their was a lot of action, a lot of which seemed almost like filler. The Issues with Freya herself was confusing, has it has been the past several books. The behind the scenes stuff setting up the battle, wasn't always handled well. The battles were alright. I rthink the book, could have been written better.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was such a good book with a lot of long long long lore coming together and freya being my favourite character it all tug on my heartstrings so much.. since the next volume isnt translated/available yet, this is the perfect book to end my long journey of reading this series with, until its time again to continue

[slugbiscuit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was outstanding. There were several standout moments where storylines came together to deliver some solid emotional payoffs. Even I got a bit misty-eyed. Looking forward to start of next arc, which feels like we are getting closer to the end.

[Roxanne Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent conclusion to the whole Freya ordeal! Characters who deserved their cool moments got their cool moments, and got their own conclusions! I only wish Ottar had a bit more meat to his own story as the strongest adventurer, but other than that it was an overall very fun read.

[Nate Wynter · Rating 5 out of 5]

a satisfying conclusion to this arc

Absolute cinema. 17 chapters all leading up to this moment, from my first watch in 2015 to today, nearly nine years since this story and I’ve grown with it everyday. Truly a beautiful piece of fiction.

[rachel d dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Job!

I really enjoyed the book and the completion of the “Fertility Arc.” It remained engaging throughout - with fights, intrigue, and awesome, hero-defining moments. Highly recommend.

[Eldon Siemens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a ride! How do you come off a crazy (thick) read like that! Excellent writing, as always, no idea how he can top this.

[James Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

I really enjoyed this book. I didn't like the end. I will keep getting them though because they are really good.

[Eric Snell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't as compelling as the previous arc. Way too many nonsensical saves for the MC.

[Kayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely thrilling, so exciting

[Victor Sandoval · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book good. Me like. Me wonder what next.

[Jeff R. Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love conquers all

The best yet..Had me on edge throughout the whole thing. That’s why Bell is the hero.. Looking forward to the next book and the anime adaptation.

[George Vasilev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection. Culmination of everything the anime and the novels have been building up, up to this point.

[Dustin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easily the most tedious volume in the series. It's pretty much just one long fight scene after another featuring pretty much every named character in the series. I'm really hoping the author got all of this out of his system in this volume and the next one is more enjoyable to read.

[Duane]

I was waiting for this book for almost a year and my word, it was worth the wait.

[Duane Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was waiting for this edition for over a year after the way Book 17 ended. Bell's growth throughout the series is steady and though is was exceedingly fast to begin with, like all leveling systems, it gets harder the higher you go. Even though his growth is faster than anyone else, I love how Omori doesn't rush that aspect of the story and sticks to key moments which contribute to his fast but steady (for him anyway) leveling up.

His growth as a person and leader is also evident as his strength of will is tested in this edition deciding to stick his conviction and not be swayed.

I can hear the bell toll the way it did on the 18th floor of the Dungeon and my way have I missed it.

I was definitely happy with this edition and even went and ordered the print edition despite having bought it on Kindle.

The length for other may have been too much but not for me. I enjoyed that 80% of this edition was the War Game that everyone has been waiting for and what a War it was.

Looking forward to the next one Omori, the tale has yet to conclude.