Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner, Vol. 1

Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner #1

by Yu Godai, Kevin Frane (Translator)

The first in a five-volume series of novels set in the world of the bestselling “Digital Devil Saga” and “Shin Megami Tensei” roleplaying video games. Six tribes battle in the post-apocalyptic Junkyard, a grim world of demons and evil powers that block entrance to the promised land, Nirvana.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Novels, Japanese Literature, Action, Japan

247 pages, Hardcover

First published February 18, 2011

About the author

See also 五代 ゆう.

Reviews

[AZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great novel based on a great game. They novel expands and holds a different world in the game, think of this more of what Yu Godai originally intended the story to be then what the DDS games ended up as. Writing is superb, characterization is much more well spread out and defined, all around pretty good (even some surprises near the end wink wink).

[Squid · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's really good

I'll preface this by stating that I gravitated to this because I love Digital Devil Saga; I count the two among my favorite games, period.
This is a review of the book, not the games, though. So how's the book? It's bloody fantastic. the story and concepts are fascinating, the characters are very well written, and the translation is perfect; I often forgot what I was reading was originally written in Japanese at all. Before I even finished the book, I thought to myself that I couldn't wait for vol. 2 to be translated, and the ending just magnifies that. I want more, man, because when you get down to it it's a damn good book

[Maverynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book an extra star as it seems to deviate from the game and doesn't kill off it's women like the game.

So to set this up, Godai Yu actually was working on the game script as well as the novel in Tokyo, but had to quit due to being sick and unable to adjust to Tokyo life. So ATLUS then took what she gave them and ran with it.

However she did write this and it's pretty bad with it's female characters. All of them are shown to be weak in some way, Sera literally so. All are sexualized in some way. Sera is the fragile deer that needs and Onii-san to support her, Argilla has a slit up the side of her skirt (in battle?), Jinana is just stated outright. So it fails on that front. Argilla has an added bonus of having her atma have boob mouths... I am not joking. I have seen Sera's atma and it's a pink feminized version of Varuna. Gross.

Now the story? Knowing what the ultimate 'gotcha' is for it, the setup of the plot pretty much screams what the twist is. I mean if you can't read it in the title of the game. That being said the rest of the story is pretty much "blood and gore everywhere. Entrails. Fighting. More blood. Fighting. Rinse. Repeat. " oh and I almost forgot "Transformed into their atma. Transformed out of their atma." There. That's the rest of the story. "Drank blood, goes a bit out of control, regains control, etc." Nothing else happens.

[Shiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bagi saya, novel ini bukan sekedar novelisasi seperti yang biasa saya beli atau temukan di net. Ini jauh lebih kompleks, dan disesuaikan agar benar-benar menjadi sebuah cerita utuh.
Banyak perubahan yang ditemukan, di antaranya, cara Sera menenangkan para Shura bukanlah nyanyian, tapi DARAH-nya. Lalu, detail event pun jadi lebih panjang, dan yang paling utamam tentu saja, Serph jadi punya kepribadian jelas.
Buku 1 (rencananya akan jadi 5 jilid) ini berakhir dengan pertemuan Embryon dengan Loopa, yang anehnya di sini bukan Leader dari Hounds, tapi seorang Newborn.

[Nico D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Om mani padme hum

Set in the dystopian Junkyard, a world where the cycle of conflict is unending as the bodies of the dead are absorbed by eternal rain only to be reborn and perpetuate more conflict, until one tribe attains complete dominion over the entire land .To that tribe will be the ultimate reward: Nirvana. Our protagonists are from the up-start Embryon tribe, whom we follow through a bloody battle which leads to three anomalies to occur in the Junkyard all at once:

1.) The warriors-- dubbed children of purgatory-- awaken to hence unknown emotion.
2.) An enigmatic, dark haired girl appears unconscious in the center of the battlefield
3.) The warriors are forcibly transformed into demonic states and must devour their enemies in order to avoid a berserker madness and being devoured themselves

This sets the stage for an interesting and unique take on the cyber punk sci-fi novel, with lots of character moments and a hefty dosage of references to Hinduism. It should be noted that this book may not be for the faint of heart. There’s a wondrous amount of body horror (which, if you’re like me and you’re all about that life, you’ll be very pleased) to keep the stomach turned. Even those who are less-inclined to enjoy the more horrific elements may find the overarching mystery compelling enough to make this a real page turner. Just keep in mind that this first “arc” occurs between this and Vol. 2, so the ending of Vol. 1 feels a lot like a midseason cliff-hanger. If you’re halfway through this and enjoying it, I’d recommend picking up the second book with it so you can read it as soon as you’ve put the other down. Just my two cents.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a fair number of pulp video game fantasy and science fiction novels, and although I greatly enjoy them, they usually don’t really make me think at all. Avatar Tuner, much like the game it shares its setting with, is quite a bit more contemplative than other fiction like it, exploring some of the philosophy behind the game world. Although its writing is fairly unsubtle, it has some nuance, and it diverges from the plot of the game enough to make even a seasoned player wonder what’s going to happen next. It’s not nearly as gory as I expected, but there’s still some gore in it, so if that’s a hard pass for you, I’d avoid this one; what gore there is feels well-integrated and not overly gratuitous. I like the attention played to characterizing Cielo, who didn’t get a lot of spotlight in the games, although Argilla, Heat, and Serph definitely form the core of the cast.

All of that said, the author is kind of obsessive about conventional gender roles (though knowing what I know about the background of the novel, I imagine and hope that this will be subverted later on in the series), and the whole thing does come off as kind of... hot for cannibalistic monsters, and that may or may not be your thing: :p

[RATA 🐀 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ★ The plot was really nice, although the writing was basic I still loved how some parts were described. I’m not usually into monster(ish) things but this was a nice start. Sadly it doesn’t seem like the other parts will be translated anytime soon.

[Maddox Lauberth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, I’ve re-read it twice usually

[Laertes]

"The rain washed across the battlefield.
It had no weight to it, no warmth—it merely hung there, painting
the air silver."

The prose omfg I'm actually moaning

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid re-imagining of the classic PlayStation 2 era role playing games! Granted, this is said to be the author's original idea for the Digital Devil Saga story - in the afterword she talks about having to leave the project fairly early on due to trouble adapting to life in Tokyo and poor health. Luckily, it sounds like this could be part 1 of a 5 part series, so we may be blessed with many more volumes if this sells well. Translations of Japanese light novels (sort of like YA books here) have only recently started getting translated on a wide basis here, so supporting this could mean that we get translations of other books related to Shin Megami Tensei. This book does diverge quite a bit from the games, story so this is NOT a novelization - it's like an alternate timeline.

[Jessica-Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the Digital Devil Saga games, which brought me to these books, and I ended up loving them just as much. I liked that whilst the two stories were similar, the books differed from the games and told a different story that I found intriguing and enjoyable.

[Ivon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dipinjemin seorang teman yang baik. :*

Untuk yang sudah main gamenya: bacalah ini untuk mendapat latar cerita yang lebih jelas.

Untuk yang tidak main game, maupun belum pernah dengar judul ini: bacalah ini untuk mendapat cerita sci-fi berlatar Hindu yang selain 'serius', juga punya plot dan world building yang lumayan rumit untuk ukuran Light Novel.

Sayang belum diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Indonesia, tapi kalau ada saya akan mengoleksinya tanpa pikir panjang. :*

[Namelessfox · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with Ammon. The first 2/3 of the book is bogged down by exposition and world building. However, once you hit the last 1/3 bit, the story took off nicely. The book ended on a nice cliffhanger. Looking forward to reading the next volume :)

[Ammon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much exposition bogs down the first 2/3 of the book. The remaining 1/3 carries a solid recommendation and sets up the series for some interesting reveals.

[The Final Song ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

You cannot escape your hunger.

>Vol 2 when