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Overlord #1
オーバーロード 1 不死者の王
その日、一大ブームを起こしたゲームはサービス終了を迎えるはずだった。
――しかし、終了時間をすぎてもログアウトしないゲーム。
意思を持ち始めたノンプレイヤーキャラクター。
なにやらギルドごと、異世界に飛ばされてしまったらしい! ?
骸骨の肉体を持つ最強の大魔法使い――モモンガの本当の伝説がここからはじまる!
――しかし、終了時間をすぎてもログアウトしないゲーム。
意思を持ち始めたノンプレイヤーキャラクター。
なにやらギルドごと、異世界に飛ばされてしまったらしい! ?
骸骨の肉体を持つ最強の大魔法使い――モモンガの本当の伝説がここからはじまる!
362 pages, Paperback
First published July 30, 2012
964 people are currently reading
3500 people want to read
About the author
Kugane Maruyama
120 books359 followersMARUYAMA Kugane
Name (in native language): 丸山くがね
Name (in native language): 丸山くがね
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 368 reviews
February 20, 2017
It's a bit complicated. On the surface, "Overlord" seems as simple as a straight-up wish fulfillment fantasy and children pulling the wings off flies. But that's the point.
"Overlord" is the story of a nihilist anti-hero that has lost the majority of his humanity to the simulated world designed for wish-fulfillment (or a coma or a hell or other, but that's another discussion). Ainz is an unchallenged super-being with godlike powers, who could, as all his followers in Nazarick do, view "humans" of that world as nothing more than insects. He could go forth on a terrible genocidal spree of unparalleled and unstoppable carnage. However, he does not.
For all his power, Lord Momonga has lost everything, and Ainz is all that remains. He has become trapped in a world he does not understand, for indiscernible reasons, with an unknown fate. The "real world" is lost to Momonga-- he may even be "dead" physically. While as Ainz he has attained godhood, Momonga has lost everything: ultimate choice, control, his friends, and increasingly, his humanity. He could fall into self-pity and mourning. He could mope around the Tomb of Nazarick, surrounded by memories and crushed by self-indulgent despair (until his undead nature inevitably erased all emotion). He does not.
It seems the last vestiges of his humanity still guide his actions-- first and foremost in the search for his former guildmates; and second, as memories of his friends that color his decisions. The search for his friends is a twist on the classic Hero's Quest, with a few key differences: he knows whom he is seeking without any destination or proof that goal is obtainable or realistic or will modify his situation. It may be that Momonga's friends don't exist in this world. It may be that locating his friends will not free him from the "simulation." Nevertheless, Ainz goes to great lengths reconnect with them. In a way, Ainz is trying to regain his lost humanity and his freedom by reconnecting with friends he had when he was Momonga, but there is no proof he can ever regain either.
Since the NPCs of Nazarick seem to have achieved a level of sentience, there is no evidence that any of the beings he has met since the transition is "another person." They could all be "other" and far "lesser" than Ainz. He is for all intents and purposes, completely alone. He faces the sharp precipice of desolate isolation, of being, perhaps, the only "real" person in existence and no way to discern if any of the beings in the world are also "real."
On the other hand, having achieved sentience, the NPCs now seem, or possible are, as "real" as any real-life gamers Ainz would meet. Ainz would have no way to determine between the two-- unless they were his former friends from Yggdrasil. It is to that end he assumes the guild name Ainz Ooal Gown as his sobriquet. The alias represents shared symbolism that only Momonga's friends would recall. But it also indicates a wistful lonesomeness and only reinforces the otherness of the beings around Ainz.
As a gamer in a world where all beings are "lesser," Ainz has little cause to act with morality or concern for individuals he meets. The entire world of Yggdrasil existed for the whims and wish-fulfillment its players. Except for other players, the beings encountered in Yggdrasil were simplistic AI NPCs of little value to be used as desired without conscience. However, in this new world, the NPCs seem to have achieved sentience. It seems they are capable of self-direction, self-reflection, and they experience sensation and emotion, pleasure and pain.
Ainz is not a part of this world, he is an outsider, with godlike power, who has lost everything. As far as Ainz knows, he's the only "real" person. The beings around him are indiscernible from "real" people. How should Ainz treat "people" he meets? At least the NPC followers of Nazarick hold a sentimental value as mementos from Momonga's former guildmates. The NPCs of Nazarick remind him not just as his friends' creations, but some of his friends' personalities have colored the behavior of the NPCs. The Nazarick NPCs are the strongest representations of the friends, otherwise never shown, that he is seeking and explains Ainz's strong affinity for them. But all the other individuals Ainz encounters are unknown strangers, possible antagonists, likely not "real," and incredibly, insignificantly weak. Even the NPC followers of Nazarick view all the beings they encounter as "lesser" and "insects."
The logical answer, the one directed by Momonga's inhuman undead self, is to use them merely as tools of convenience to further his main quest-- locating his former guildmates. Even seeing the villagers slaughtered by knights of the Slane Theocracy or killing a knight himself does not stir an emotional response of outrage or pity. It is only the memory of his former guildmate, memories of his friends, that spurs Momonga into action. It is the memory of being human, and a sense of his loss, more than empathy for humanity or even noblesse oblige, that impels Ainz to act. But despite himself, from that impetus of finding friendship and honoring his friends' memories, he ends up caring for certain of these lesser beings around him who are sentient and human-seeming-- while having a slaughter-fest through any lesser beings that impede his goal.
That, ultimately, is the point. Ainz, now ultra-powerful, undead, and gradually losing every sensation of humanity, is not yet completely divested of his individuality and memory. Without his desire to find his friends, champion the less fortunate (in honor of his friend), or seek revenge, Ainz would become a mostly apathetic (except for undead misanthropy) and uncomplicated character. He would end up doing the only logical thing-- either avoiding conflict, remaining safe in the Tomb of Nazarick, guarding himself and the guild treasures, or killing and enslaving all lesser beings. He would become as inhuman and predictably rote as the Nazarick NPCs were before sentience.
Without vestigial humanity, Ainz becomes an undead lich so incredibly straightforward and easily anticipated and controlled by other beings within the simulation. Imagine, for example, if Ainz had not been "very hypocritical" in the battle with Clementine. It's true that his moments of humanity are often savage -- a thirst for power, vanity, revenge, etc. It is Ainz's remaining humanity, no matter how warped, that keeps others guessing his true intentions. Despite seemingly every reason and impulse not to, Ainz ends up caring, in some measure. As he befriends individuals in this new world, it brings Ainz closer to his goal of reconnecting with Momonga's "true" friends from Yggdrasil. Every action he makes in the simulation either reinforces his simulated identity (undead/Ainz) or his past self (human/Momonga). Hence his struggle to regain companionship and freedom while immersing himself in a more apathetic, badass, Overlord identity necessary to achieve it IS the core conflict. But which is a more genuine reflection of his character*?
I enjoy stories of characters who have lost everything yet fight to persevere. I'm interested in characters that unravel motivations beyond the script of everyday life and make difficult moral and existential choices, forging experience, ethics, and personal resolve into meaning in a world that, ultimately, has none of those things. Give me characters with character, not caricature. *((Although he's roleplaying fantasy tropes the whole time to prevent anyone from knowing his truth, eesh.))
I also enjoy mindfucks-- and a tale of existentialist/dystopian horror wrapped in a wish-fulfillment story is a nice twist.
The novelization fleshes out (hah, lich main character) more of Momonga's thinking and explains why he doesn't initially go on a rampage. It also makes clear why some of the NPCs are terrible tropes and the pervading influence of Japanese Otaku culture on Yggdrasil and the guild of Ainz Ooal Gown.
There are some teeth-grindingly awful moments where Mare is presented in a provocative and titillating manner. We get it, Otaku, you love your underage children in short skirts. It's an awful trope, leave it in 4-chan and get over it.
The novelization also suffers difficulty with the translation. There are places with painful redundancy, and overall the prose could be more elegant. Still, it's a fun light read and a good companion to the anime for fans who want to delve further into the world of Overlord and gain a deeper understanding of the characters.
"Overlord" is the story of a nihilist anti-hero that has lost the majority of his humanity to the simulated world designed for wish-fulfillment (or a coma or a hell or other, but that's another discussion). Ainz is an unchallenged super-being with godlike powers, who could, as all his followers in Nazarick do, view "humans" of that world as nothing more than insects. He could go forth on a terrible genocidal spree of unparalleled and unstoppable carnage. However, he does not.
For all his power, Lord Momonga has lost everything, and Ainz is all that remains. He has become trapped in a world he does not understand, for indiscernible reasons, with an unknown fate. The "real world" is lost to Momonga-- he may even be "dead" physically. While as Ainz he has attained godhood, Momonga has lost everything: ultimate choice, control, his friends, and increasingly, his humanity. He could fall into self-pity and mourning. He could mope around the Tomb of Nazarick, surrounded by memories and crushed by self-indulgent despair (until his undead nature inevitably erased all emotion). He does not.
It seems the last vestiges of his humanity still guide his actions-- first and foremost in the search for his former guildmates; and second, as memories of his friends that color his decisions. The search for his friends is a twist on the classic Hero's Quest, with a few key differences: he knows whom he is seeking without any destination or proof that goal is obtainable or realistic or will modify his situation. It may be that Momonga's friends don't exist in this world. It may be that locating his friends will not free him from the "simulation." Nevertheless, Ainz goes to great lengths reconnect with them. In a way, Ainz is trying to regain his lost humanity and his freedom by reconnecting with friends he had when he was Momonga, but there is no proof he can ever regain either.
Since the NPCs of Nazarick seem to have achieved a level of sentience, there is no evidence that any of the beings he has met since the transition is "another person." They could all be "other" and far "lesser" than Ainz. He is for all intents and purposes, completely alone. He faces the sharp precipice of desolate isolation, of being, perhaps, the only "real" person in existence and no way to discern if any of the beings in the world are also "real."
On the other hand, having achieved sentience, the NPCs now seem, or possible are, as "real" as any real-life gamers Ainz would meet. Ainz would have no way to determine between the two-- unless they were his former friends from Yggdrasil. It is to that end he assumes the guild name Ainz Ooal Gown as his sobriquet. The alias represents shared symbolism that only Momonga's friends would recall. But it also indicates a wistful lonesomeness and only reinforces the otherness of the beings around Ainz.
As a gamer in a world where all beings are "lesser," Ainz has little cause to act with morality or concern for individuals he meets. The entire world of Yggdrasil existed for the whims and wish-fulfillment its players. Except for other players, the beings encountered in Yggdrasil were simplistic AI NPCs of little value to be used as desired without conscience. However, in this new world, the NPCs seem to have achieved sentience. It seems they are capable of self-direction, self-reflection, and they experience sensation and emotion, pleasure and pain.
Ainz is not a part of this world, he is an outsider, with godlike power, who has lost everything. As far as Ainz knows, he's the only "real" person. The beings around him are indiscernible from "real" people. How should Ainz treat "people" he meets? At least the NPC followers of Nazarick hold a sentimental value as mementos from Momonga's former guildmates. The NPCs of Nazarick remind him not just as his friends' creations, but some of his friends' personalities have colored the behavior of the NPCs. The Nazarick NPCs are the strongest representations of the friends, otherwise never shown, that he is seeking and explains Ainz's strong affinity for them. But all the other individuals Ainz encounters are unknown strangers, possible antagonists, likely not "real," and incredibly, insignificantly weak. Even the NPC followers of Nazarick view all the beings they encounter as "lesser" and "insects."
The logical answer, the one directed by Momonga's inhuman undead self, is to use them merely as tools of convenience to further his main quest-- locating his former guildmates. Even seeing the villagers slaughtered by knights of the Slane Theocracy or killing a knight himself does not stir an emotional response of outrage or pity. It is only the memory of his former guildmate, memories of his friends, that spurs Momonga into action. It is the memory of being human, and a sense of his loss, more than empathy for humanity or even noblesse oblige, that impels Ainz to act. But despite himself, from that impetus of finding friendship and honoring his friends' memories, he ends up caring for certain of these lesser beings around him who are sentient and human-seeming-- while having a slaughter-fest through any lesser beings that impede his goal.
That, ultimately, is the point. Ainz, now ultra-powerful, undead, and gradually losing every sensation of humanity, is not yet completely divested of his individuality and memory. Without his desire to find his friends, champion the less fortunate (in honor of his friend), or seek revenge, Ainz would become a mostly apathetic (except for undead misanthropy) and uncomplicated character. He would end up doing the only logical thing-- either avoiding conflict, remaining safe in the Tomb of Nazarick, guarding himself and the guild treasures, or killing and enslaving all lesser beings. He would become as inhuman and predictably rote as the Nazarick NPCs were before sentience.
Without vestigial humanity, Ainz becomes an undead lich so incredibly straightforward and easily anticipated and controlled by other beings within the simulation. Imagine, for example, if Ainz had not been "very hypocritical" in the battle with Clementine. It's true that his moments of humanity are often savage -- a thirst for power, vanity, revenge, etc. It is Ainz's remaining humanity, no matter how warped, that keeps others guessing his true intentions. Despite seemingly every reason and impulse not to, Ainz ends up caring, in some measure. As he befriends individuals in this new world, it brings Ainz closer to his goal of reconnecting with Momonga's "true" friends from Yggdrasil. Every action he makes in the simulation either reinforces his simulated identity (undead/Ainz) or his past self (human/Momonga). Hence his struggle to regain companionship and freedom while immersing himself in a more apathetic, badass, Overlord identity necessary to achieve it IS the core conflict. But which is a more genuine reflection of his character*?
I enjoy stories of characters who have lost everything yet fight to persevere. I'm interested in characters that unravel motivations beyond the script of everyday life and make difficult moral and existential choices, forging experience, ethics, and personal resolve into meaning in a world that, ultimately, has none of those things. Give me characters with character, not caricature. *((Although he's roleplaying fantasy tropes the whole time to prevent anyone from knowing his truth, eesh.))
I also enjoy mindfucks-- and a tale of existentialist/dystopian horror wrapped in a wish-fulfillment story is a nice twist.
The novelization fleshes out (hah, lich main character) more of Momonga's thinking and explains why he doesn't initially go on a rampage. It also makes clear why some of the NPCs are terrible tropes and the pervading influence of Japanese Otaku culture on Yggdrasil and the guild of Ainz Ooal Gown.
There are some teeth-grindingly awful moments where Mare is presented in a provocative and titillating manner. We get it, Otaku, you love your underage children in short skirts. It's an awful trope, leave it in 4-chan and get over it.
The novelization also suffers difficulty with the translation. There are places with painful redundancy, and overall the prose could be more elegant. Still, it's a fun light read and a good companion to the anime for fans who want to delve further into the world of Overlord and gain a deeper understanding of the characters.
June 8, 2021
3.5/5 Overlord Volume 1 was a fun Isekai light novel and probably one of the most popular series along with Sword Art Online and Re:Zero.
Momonga is the guild leader for one of the strongest guilds in Yggdrasil Online, Ainz Ooal Gown. However as the game comes to an end he is the only member left. Momonga decides to stay on until the server shuts down on Yggdrasil. However after the servers shut down Momonga isn't logged out instead his guild castle is transported to another world and all of his guild's NPCs (non player characters) are now sentient.
The first half of the light novel is pretty dull unfortunately but it serves it purpose of introducing our characters and the setting. Once you get past that point it start's picking up and becoming a lot more interesting. During the second half Momonga and the waifu demon Albedo save a town that's under attack by knights. In typical Isekai fashioin Momonga and his minions are all super overpowered and lay waste to everything. For those who have watched any of the anime this first novel covers just about the first 4 episodes.
You are offered a lot more insight into the characters thoughts and motivations in the light novel than in the anime. This makes it easier to follow and certain aspects of the plot are a lot clearer. Momongo's diminishing humanity is a lot more apparent as are his choices and decisions by contrast.
While I did enjoy Overlord I don't think I'm going to continue. Not at this time anyway. Other series just hold more interest to me. I'm still glad I gave it a shot though.
Read as a Buddy Read with Jenny @TheMangaSquad.
Momonga is the guild leader for one of the strongest guilds in Yggdrasil Online, Ainz Ooal Gown. However as the game comes to an end he is the only member left. Momonga decides to stay on until the server shuts down on Yggdrasil. However after the servers shut down Momonga isn't logged out instead his guild castle is transported to another world and all of his guild's NPCs (non player characters) are now sentient.
The first half of the light novel is pretty dull unfortunately but it serves it purpose of introducing our characters and the setting. Once you get past that point it start's picking up and becoming a lot more interesting. During the second half Momonga and the waifu demon Albedo save a town that's under attack by knights. In typical Isekai fashioin Momonga and his minions are all super overpowered and lay waste to everything. For those who have watched any of the anime this first novel covers just about the first 4 episodes.
You are offered a lot more insight into the characters thoughts and motivations in the light novel than in the anime. This makes it easier to follow and certain aspects of the plot are a lot clearer. Momongo's diminishing humanity is a lot more apparent as are his choices and decisions by contrast.
While I did enjoy Overlord I don't think I'm going to continue. Not at this time anyway. Other series just hold more interest to me. I'm still glad I gave it a shot though.
Read as a Buddy Read with Jenny @TheMangaSquad.
June 2, 2016
Overlord was an... odd read.
I didn't dislike it, but there were times I forgot I was reading it.
The use of color inside the book was marvelous, but the plot was a bit peculiar.
Seems like this book sets up the premise for the series , but not much happens in it.
I'm just not sure what I feel.
There were things I liked, things I disliked, and things I didn't understand but am curious or meh about.
I feel like I don't really know much about Momonga, the main character. His feelings of nostalgia, his feelings of being left behind, and his hope that someday his friends would find him again, those were great. But outside of that he seemed an enigma. It doesn't help that his personality is being changed as a result of what happened to him, though I did like he was asexual and it's different reading about a villain like character.
The other characters have potential, but it's too soon to tell. I just wished the inclusion of Enri had been done better.
The setting of the world is different too. Momonga is trapped in the avatar he played in Yggdrasil with the same stats he had in the game. He's in the guild (dungeon) he and his party members lived in together with NPC's designed by his guild friends. So all of that is the same as in the game, but outside of the guild dungeon the world has changed. He finds himself in a completely new continent surrounded by familiar and unfamiliar concepts with no clue why.
Not gonna lie, I'm a bit worried the answer to why this happened to him will never be explained, but that's just an assumption based on no real evidence.
So this is like being trapped in a game world and transported into a fantasy realm will embracing being the last boss like character. Bit of a head scratcher, but interesting in that it's different from the usual storyline.
I'm not really invested yet, but I figure I'll read the next book and see if that changes. Plus Yen On did a really good job with the color illustrations. I did notice some awkwardness in the translation from time to time (an extra word or letter), but nothing too bad.
My only real complaint are the scenes narrated from the antagonist's pov. I'm sorry, but even if they were awful I don't want to read about their feelings of horror and fear as Momonga toys with them until he's ready to slaughter them. I'm hoping this isn't going to be something that happens every book, but I'm worried it will be.
Final Thoughts: Glad I finally read Overlord , Not gonna lie, I'm not sure why it's so popular, but I'm willing to continue reading to find out. I just really want to know if he ever meets anyone from his guild, that's pretty much the only part of the story I'm currently invested in.
I didn't dislike it, but there were times I forgot I was reading it.
The use of color inside the book was marvelous, but the plot was a bit peculiar.
Seems like this book sets up the premise for the series , but not much happens in it.
I'm just not sure what I feel.
There were things I liked, things I disliked, and things I didn't understand but am curious or meh about.
I feel like I don't really know much about Momonga, the main character. His feelings of nostalgia, his feelings of being left behind, and his hope that someday his friends would find him again, those were great. But outside of that he seemed an enigma. It doesn't help that his personality is being changed as a result of what happened to him, though I did like he was asexual and it's different reading about a villain like character.
The other characters have potential, but it's too soon to tell. I just wished the inclusion of Enri had been done better.
The setting of the world is different too. Momonga is trapped in the avatar he played in Yggdrasil with the same stats he had in the game. He's in the guild (dungeon) he and his party members lived in together with NPC's designed by his guild friends. So all of that is the same as in the game, but outside of the guild dungeon the world has changed. He finds himself in a completely new continent surrounded by familiar and unfamiliar concepts with no clue why.
Not gonna lie, I'm a bit worried the answer to why this happened to him will never be explained, but that's just an assumption based on no real evidence.
So this is like being trapped in a game world and transported into a fantasy realm will embracing being the last boss like character. Bit of a head scratcher, but interesting in that it's different from the usual storyline.
I'm not really invested yet, but I figure I'll read the next book and see if that changes. Plus Yen On did a really good job with the color illustrations. I did notice some awkwardness in the translation from time to time (an extra word or letter), but nothing too bad.
My only real complaint are the scenes narrated from the antagonist's pov. I'm sorry, but even if they were awful I don't want to read about their feelings of horror and fear as Momonga toys with them until he's ready to slaughter them. I'm hoping this isn't going to be something that happens every book, but I'm worried it will be.
Final Thoughts: Glad I finally read Overlord , Not gonna lie, I'm not sure why it's so popular, but I'm willing to continue reading to find out. I just really want to know if he ever meets anyone from his guild, that's pretty much the only part of the story I'm currently invested in.
September 8, 2015
Какая на удивление отличная вещь оказалась. Наткнулась на Владыку я совершенно случайно - по этому ранобэ вышло аниме. Обычно я не люблю смотреть онгоинг, а предпочитаю ждать завершение сезона и смотреть все сразу, но в этот раз встряло неожиданное обстоятельство - меня зацепило описание. Неожиданное потому, что я обычно описания не читаю. А тут что-то снизошло. И вот, после просмотра семи серий (стоит отметить озвучку анидаба. парень озвучивающий Аинза просто Бог. такой голос, что ради него вообще стоит смотреть аниме), я узнаю что оказывается, аниме снято не по м��нге, к чему я привыкла, а по ранобэ. Раньше я его не читала. Не было ни желания ни времени. По сути, ранобэ - это та же книга. Разве что там есть иллюстрации. Объем немаленький. Чтобы прочитать все три переведенных тома у меня ушло две недели. А читала я каждый день.
Идея в принципе не так нова, есть масса подобных аналогов, но все-таки Владыка отличается от остальных. Во-первых: жестокость. Было кроваво, правдоподобно, жестоко, беспощадно. Во-вторых: прописка мира и деталей игры. На высшем уровне, до самых мелочей. В-третьих: персонажи. Они смотрят на мир без розовых очков, осознавая свою слабость/силу и принимая последствия. Так же стоит отметить некие неожиданности в поворотах сюжета. Несколько моментов меня мягко говоря повергли в шок. Экшн здесь на высоте. В конце третьего тома была описана действительно потрясающая битва. Я даже оторваться не могла, каждая мелочь продумана, создается эффект присутствия. Стоит отметить перевод на русский - он хорош. Переводчик отлично совладал с игровым жаргоном, делая сноски в действительно нужных местах.
Создатели аниме не отходили от оригинала, отсебятины нет. Единственное что, иногда не понимаешь поступков некоторых персонажей. Если в ранобэ все нормально разъяснили, то в аниме приходиться ломать голову. Рисовка приятная, музыка опенинга и эндинга въедается.
Так что советую тем, кто хочет действительно с головой уйти в мир РПГ и потеряться там на несколько дней.
Итог: 10 из 10
Идея в принципе не так нова, есть масса подобных аналогов, но все-таки Владыка отличается от остальных. Во-первых: жестокость. Было кроваво, правдоподобно, жестоко, беспощадно. Во-вторых: прописка мира и деталей игры. На высшем уровне, до самых мелочей. В-третьих: персонажи. Они смотрят на мир без розовых очков, осознавая свою слабость/силу и принимая последствия. Так же стоит отметить некие неожиданности в поворотах сюжета. Несколько моментов меня мягко говоря повергли в шок. Экшн здесь на высоте. В конце третьего тома была описана действительно потрясающая битва. Я даже оторваться не могла, каждая мелочь продумана, создается эффект присутствия. Стоит отметить перевод на русский - он хорош. Переводчик отлично совладал с игровым жаргоном, делая сноски в действительно нужных местах.
Создатели аниме не отходили от оригинала, отсебятины нет. Единственное что, иногда не понимаешь поступков некоторых персонажей. Если в ранобэ все нормально разъяснили, то в аниме приходиться ломать голову. Рисовка приятная, музыка опенинга и эндинга въедается.
Так что советую тем, кто хочет действительно с головой уйти в мир РПГ и потеряться там на несколько дней.
Итог: 10 из 10
November 8, 2019
OH. MY. WORD.
This was a three star read because it was a little slow and there was a lot of set up for things to come but the story is so worth it. The cast of characters is hugely unique and they all have such big personalities, I can’t wait to see more of them as I continue with this series. Also, the writing style is delightful! My main issue was the pacing, but that’s always going to be a bit of an issue in the first book of a long series. A good story always needs good set up.
Overall, apart from the pacing, this was absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait to read the others!!
This was a three star read because it was a little slow and there was a lot of set up for things to come but the story is so worth it. The cast of characters is hugely unique and they all have such big personalities, I can’t wait to see more of them as I continue with this series. Also, the writing style is delightful! My main issue was the pacing, but that’s always going to be a bit of an issue in the first book of a long series. A good story always needs good set up.
Overall, apart from the pacing, this was absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait to read the others!!
August 5, 2019
DNF'ing at 30%.
A friend of mine gave me this because he ordered a copy online and somehow got two of them.
Pretty standard isekai. Guy is online in a future VR MMO a-la Sword Art Online when the servers shut down, leaving him as the only person in the game, with almost unlimited power.
Honestly just couldn't grab my interest and it is painfully things-I've-seen-before.
A friend of mine gave me this because he ordered a copy online and somehow got two of them.
Pretty standard isekai. Guy is online in a future VR MMO a-la Sword Art Online when the servers shut down, leaving him as the only person in the game, with almost unlimited power.
Honestly just couldn't grab my interest and it is painfully things-I've-seen-before.
January 24, 2016
For you wondering whether it's another typical transferred to a fantasy world, this one is very unique, I
January 30, 2020
Overlord is one of my favorite series. I was introduced to the anime a few years back by a friend and was hooked from the start, subsequently reading through all the available light novels to see how the story progressed. My review here is from my second reading of Overlord Vol. 1, and will touch on my general opinions of the book while also discussing some interesting theoretical questions that can be raised in relation to the main concept of this series (i.e. you are now your video game avatar in a new world, you don't know how you got there, but you are tremendously powerful and have access to vast resources: how do you proceed?)
There is a lot to love about Overlord Vol. 1. To begin, I have always been a fan of the main character Momonga. He is cold and calculating, while at the same time self-doubting and careful. I appreciate that he notices and thinks about changes in his own personality and thought processes based on the position he is thrust into, as this provides reasoning relating to some actions that might otherwise come across as character inconsistency.
Furthermore, the viewpoints of the secondary characters provide a fantastic compliment to the viewpoint of Momonga. Knowing how these other characters see Mononga (e.g. as an infallible, all knowing supreme leader, or as a monster of terrifying strength) help situate the reader's understanding of what Momonga thinks is going on, and how his words/actions are actually interpreted by others. The viewpoints of the many Floor Guardians are particularly interesting, in that they are entities that have personalities and backstories, but these elements of their persona were written by Momonga's guildmates, making their personalities unique (but somewhat limited) reflections of their creators, perversions and all. As such, it is interesting to see the result of manifested consciousness in such characters.
The struggle for Momonga in figuring out where he is, what he has become, what to do, and how to interact with others (both the NPCs of his guild that are now apparently fully conscious, and the people in the new world he finds himself in) is also explored quite well in my opinion, and leads to exposition on who he is as a character, and the world he is in (both geography and history). While certain parts at the beginning of the book had the feel of an info dump, the majority of information about the characters and the world was welcome, and plenty of things are left open to drive intrigue moving forward.
The writing style, while lacking in elegance (potentially because I read the English translation), is straightforward and easy to read. There are also multiple elements that people who have played MMO games will appreciate. Realistic guild member names like "Touch Me" and "HeroHero", the integration of buffs, items, skills, and spells with names like "Sixfold Slash of Light", "Hellfire", and "Black Hole", and summon names like "Principality of Observation" and "Dominion Authority" make the world feel welcomingly familiar, which I appreciate in the fantasy genre. This also adds both an intense and comical element to the fight scenes that makes it hard to stop reading during such encounters.
Finally, this book did a good job at raising a lot of interesting questions for me in thinking about the situation the main character finds himself in. How would one adjust to being stuck in a game, unable to log out. Do you try to figure out what happened? Are you concerned about your body? Have you died? Do you try and get out? Do you even want to get out? You have god-like abilities, and your life was pretty much devoted to playing this game anyways, but does the unknown excite or scare you? Your closest "allies" are the characters your actual friends created, who are now somehow conscious. They are familiar, but you are not sure of their feelings for and their intentions towards you. Your base is familiar, but the world around you is new. You have no idea if other players from the game are in the same situation as you. You have no idea if any of your former guildmates are in the same situation as you. You have no idea how powerful the average being in this new world is. You are unsure how your abilities work in this new world vs. the game you are used to. Lastly, your body is different, no longer human. You perceive things differently, and you feel emotion differently. You can still develop empathy, but you now look at humans and feel about as much connection to them as you might a bug. Your sexual desire is non-existent, and your desire in general is lower. Something suppresses any emotions you have that are too positive or negative. You can and do kill humans without feeling remorse. What does this say about you? Did you actually cease being human? Where do you go from here? Being in a situation with so many unknowns, while also having to adjust to a different body and different emotional makeup would be a lot to take in, and as such, makes me ponder what I might do, and how I might feel, if I found myself in a similar situation.
Overall, I would say this entry was a 4.5/5 for me. It drew me into the world, the characters engaged me, left room for both character and story development, provided MMO-like story elements for me to appreciate, and got me thinking about a lot of questions in general. Oh, and the illustrations are also fantastic. I would recommend this book (and this series in general) to any fan of fantasy, particularly if you have ever played an MMO video game, as it does a great job of character development and world building while also being short and easy to digest. I would also highly recommend this series if you watched the anime and enjoyed it, as there are plenty of extra details that are missing from the anime, particularly as it pertains to Momonga's thoughts, and some of the knowledge of the characters in the new world.
There is a lot to love about Overlord Vol. 1. To begin, I have always been a fan of the main character Momonga. He is cold and calculating, while at the same time self-doubting and careful. I appreciate that he notices and thinks about changes in his own personality and thought processes based on the position he is thrust into, as this provides reasoning relating to some actions that might otherwise come across as character inconsistency.
Furthermore, the viewpoints of the secondary characters provide a fantastic compliment to the viewpoint of Momonga. Knowing how these other characters see Mononga (e.g. as an infallible, all knowing supreme leader, or as a monster of terrifying strength) help situate the reader's understanding of what Momonga thinks is going on, and how his words/actions are actually interpreted by others. The viewpoints of the many Floor Guardians are particularly interesting, in that they are entities that have personalities and backstories, but these elements of their persona were written by Momonga's guildmates, making their personalities unique (but somewhat limited) reflections of their creators, perversions and all. As such, it is interesting to see the result of manifested consciousness in such characters.
The struggle for Momonga in figuring out where he is, what he has become, what to do, and how to interact with others (both the NPCs of his guild that are now apparently fully conscious, and the people in the new world he finds himself in) is also explored quite well in my opinion, and leads to exposition on who he is as a character, and the world he is in (both geography and history). While certain parts at the beginning of the book had the feel of an info dump, the majority of information about the characters and the world was welcome, and plenty of things are left open to drive intrigue moving forward.
The writing style, while lacking in elegance (potentially because I read the English translation), is straightforward and easy to read. There are also multiple elements that people who have played MMO games will appreciate. Realistic guild member names like "Touch Me" and "HeroHero", the integration of buffs, items, skills, and spells with names like "Sixfold Slash of Light", "Hellfire", and "Black Hole", and summon names like "Principality of Observation" and "Dominion Authority" make the world feel welcomingly familiar, which I appreciate in the fantasy genre. This also adds both an intense and comical element to the fight scenes that makes it hard to stop reading during such encounters.
Finally, this book did a good job at raising a lot of interesting questions for me in thinking about the situation the main character finds himself in. How would one adjust to being stuck in a game, unable to log out. Do you try to figure out what happened? Are you concerned about your body? Have you died? Do you try and get out? Do you even want to get out? You have god-like abilities, and your life was pretty much devoted to playing this game anyways, but does the unknown excite or scare you? Your closest "allies" are the characters your actual friends created, who are now somehow conscious. They are familiar, but you are not sure of their feelings for and their intentions towards you. Your base is familiar, but the world around you is new. You have no idea if other players from the game are in the same situation as you. You have no idea if any of your former guildmates are in the same situation as you. You have no idea how powerful the average being in this new world is. You are unsure how your abilities work in this new world vs. the game you are used to. Lastly, your body is different, no longer human. You perceive things differently, and you feel emotion differently. You can still develop empathy, but you now look at humans and feel about as much connection to them as you might a bug. Your sexual desire is non-existent, and your desire in general is lower. Something suppresses any emotions you have that are too positive or negative. You can and do kill humans without feeling remorse. What does this say about you? Did you actually cease being human? Where do you go from here? Being in a situation with so many unknowns, while also having to adjust to a different body and different emotional makeup would be a lot to take in, and as such, makes me ponder what I might do, and how I might feel, if I found myself in a similar situation.
Overall, I would say this entry was a 4.5/5 for me. It drew me into the world, the characters engaged me, left room for both character and story development, provided MMO-like story elements for me to appreciate, and got me thinking about a lot of questions in general. Oh, and the illustrations are also fantastic. I would recommend this book (and this series in general) to any fan of fantasy, particularly if you have ever played an MMO video game, as it does a great job of character development and world building while also being short and easy to digest. I would also highly recommend this series if you watched the anime and enjoyed it, as there are plenty of extra details that are missing from the anime, particularly as it pertains to Momonga's thoughts, and some of the knowledge of the characters in the new world.
February 4, 2019
Underhållande isekai om ett semiondskefullt skelett. Misstänker dock att översättningen är lite halvdan och att författaren aldrig pratar med kvinnor.
August 25, 2022
My first light novel and it was a blast!
May 3, 2024
I really enjoyed this book! I already liked the anime quite a bit, but it’s fascinating to me to see a bit more insight into what is going on behind the character’s decisions.
May 28, 2016
Overlord finds itself as the latest entry in the growing field of trapped in a game world series. YenON publishes other series of this type (Log Horizon, Sword Art Online, No Game No Life), so fans of their books will easily find themselves at home here. What sets this one apart is that instead of having a lead who provides all the solutions to ever problem with his epic skills as the fated human, we have a big bad raid dungeon boss of an undead variety who has no other allies except the ones he created who faces the challenge of trying to spread his guilds name while trying to be somewhat human. Easily he ranks high up on the list for leads that actually kill characters and at times one wonders if he is an antagonist but I think he stays somewhat human. This makes the book very interesting.
The writing starts off a bit slow with little to no conflict provided beyond just detailing the world, but that sort of mystery provides the intrigue to keep people interested. Why is Satoru Suzuki trapped in this world? Are there are other humans here? How does this world have elements of Yggdrasil in it? Will the guardians of the floors turn back on him ever? All this and more are things that kept my interest and will keep my interest in the series.
The cast is filled with great characters who have many rich interactions with each other and with the lead character. I cant wait for more time with many of them.
Easily this is the best fantasy book of this year thus far.
Quality wise, excellent paper choice chosen for this hardcover book helped to enhance the great colored artwork on the pages. so-bin has great art and the style works well with the paper choice, it truly feels like a ornate tome you'd find in any medieval setting.
There were about four noticeable grammar typos though. Minor but noticeable
The writing starts off a bit slow with little to no conflict provided beyond just detailing the world, but that sort of mystery provides the intrigue to keep people interested. Why is Satoru Suzuki trapped in this world? Are there are other humans here? How does this world have elements of Yggdrasil in it? Will the guardians of the floors turn back on him ever? All this and more are things that kept my interest and will keep my interest in the series.
The cast is filled with great characters who have many rich interactions with each other and with the lead character. I cant wait for more time with many of them.
Easily this is the best fantasy book of this year thus far.
Quality wise, excellent paper choice chosen for this hardcover book helped to enhance the great colored artwork on the pages. so-bin has great art and the style works well with the paper choice, it truly feels like a ornate tome you'd find in any medieval setting.
There were about four noticeable grammar typos though. Minor but noticeable
January 13, 2023
Expected to like this but found it really tough going. The prose was overly dense with little poetry, the characters were stock and the plot kind of sat in neutral. For how awesome the cover was, I had higher expectations than usual going in to this light novel.
September 9, 2018
Read the official English translation
+ Original plot and ironic interpretation of the isekai genre
+ Simple and easy to read
. Effective description, though bordering on excessive
. Funny and loveable characters, though somewhat unoriginal
- Too much exposition
+ Original plot and ironic interpretation of the isekai genre
+ Simple and easy to read
. Effective description, though bordering on excessive
. Funny and loveable characters, though somewhat unoriginal
- Too much exposition
April 25, 2018
Potentially the most autistic thing I have ever read, Overlord follows the exploits of a Japanese salaryman who finds himself a) sucked into the virtual-reality MMORPG Yggdrasil while simultaneously b) his guild's base from the game gets shifted to an apparently "real" parallel fantasy world wherein all the magic, races, and classes work similarly to the game's mechanics.
Through the limited third-person narration, the audience follows Satoru Suzuki's attempts to understand this new fantasy world, learning as we go just how shitty our hero's real life used to be, perhaps allowing us to better "feel" for his overpowered avatar as Momonga, the lich overlord. Interestingly, the name "Satoru Suzuki" does not even appear until quite a ways into the novel (I think over halfway through, though I couldn't find it when I flipped through the book just now), relying almost entirely on the game username "Momonga," before a curiously moving scene in which the protagonist adopts his former guild's name as his new moniker, "Ainz Ooal Gown."
We get very little of the man behind Momonga/Ainz. We know he was a more-or-less faceless salaryman in his life on Earth, though his lack of confidence hides whether he was a decent employee or just another waste of space. His only apparent social interactions include awkward encounters with convenience store clerks who prefer to drop change into his open palm for risk of making direct contact with his hand. If not for his job, "Suzuki" would be considered a NEET, spending little recreational time hanging out in society, instead dedicating all his free time and money to the Yggdrasil game. It is said Momonga had no hobbies other than this MMO, so he's dumped so much of his salary into microtransaction "gacha" systems within Yggdrasil, spending his time grinding skill levels for his character, resetting levels to undo progress, and grinding some more to min-max his spellcaster build. With the forty other members of Ainz Ooal Gown, Momonga worked to create the "Great Tomb of Nazarick," an enormous, sprawling "dungeon" composed of nine distinct areas, each guarded by non-player character "Floor Guardians" programmed by the Ainz Ooal Gown members, with a group of a butler and several battle-maids guarding the Throne Room level of the Tomb. Momonga's dedication to the game, as guild master of Ainz Ooal Gown, leads him to log in to Yggdrasil on the last day before servers shut down, wandering the halls of the Great Tomb until midnight, when he expects to be booted from the game with its demise.
Being a Japanese light novel, it is only obvious that Momonga would get sucked into a fantasy world. As it happens, this world is neither the actual-video-game-world of Sword Art Online, nor the video-game-inspired-fantasy-world of something like KonoSuba. It is a combination of both possibilities, with Nazarick's NPC denizens "realized" into sentient beings with distinct personalities based on the background stories written by the members of Ainz Ooal Gown, and everyone outside of Nazarick appears to be flesh-and-blood, denizens of another world entirely. Whether or not it may truly be considered "original" to simply merge the two concepts is debatable (okay, no it isn't), but the fact is, this shit is fun. Maruyama gives himself the task of balancing the world-building of Momonga's memories of Yggdrasil alongside the slightly-different fantasy world in which he finds himself. The result is somewhat questionable, as the reader is given far less information than Momonga himself, whose experiences trying to gain information about the new world is so closely tied to his deep understanding of his beloved game world. The author perhaps assumes his readers have some basic knowledge of MMORPGs and Japanese fantasy games to allow a basic level of understanding the goings-on of Momonga's adventure. While I've not played any real MMOs (I can perhaps count Monster Hunter and Phantasy Star Online as "online RPGs," but neither allowed for any "massive multiplayer), I am familiar enough with Dragon Quest, et al., to get the basic gist of Yggdrasil's jargon (a key to understanding Japanese-made fantasy: play a couple Dragon Quest games, as they are the basic blueprint for everything that follows). More importantly, Momonga's high level from Yggdrasil carries over into the new world as absurdly potent magical force, making him nearly invincible during the course of this novel's events, so he is free to experiment with the ins and outs of the new world's magic system w/r/t its similarities with the Yggdrasil "original." Maybe it is weak writing to cast such an overpowered character in the lead role, but it more or less works here. And while I can understand complaints of Momonga's being a "self-insert" character, it seems strange anyone would want to identify too closely with someone who would inadvertently experience a forced "escapism" into a new reality free from the harshness of Japanese working life (or whatever). At the very least, Momonga was a working adult, instead of the teenage hikikomori we see in so many other "isekai"-type stories.
This, I assure you, is a very important part of the review, using the above segue: Maruyama takes advantage of the more mature (literally, w/r/t Momonga's age) level of the novel and its presumed reader demographic to include some lewdness far exceeding any I have read previously in other light novels of similar ilk. I refer, specifically, to the "Intermission" section of this novel, wherein "lolita"-esque vampire Shalltear Bloodfallen (please pardon the names of some of these characters; they have the in-universe excuse of having been coined by working-class adult otaku) comments on the soiled nature of her underwear upon being addressed by Momonga, her panties allegedly ruined by a rather severe state of sexual arousal, leading her to criticize main girl Albedo for not getting "wet" due to Momonga's presence. What a curious thing, A Certain Magical Index can say "fuck" and retain a "13 & Up" rating, yet Overlord is hit with a "16 & Up" just because a vampire's pussy gets soaked from seeing a powerful skeleton-wizard? Come on, Yen Press! Also, and it isn't worth it to start a new paragraph for this, Albedo and Shalltear's bickering over who loves Momonga more is pretty kawaii. Or maybe I've lost too many braincells reading and reviewing so many fucking light novels.
Anyway, to finally review the novel's overall narrative, I would have to say this really works better as a "slice-of-life" thing, focusing on Momonga getting accustomed to his new world. That is to say, it is almost worthless to see this novel in the same way one might read, say, Sword Art Online. There is no clear direction here, whether for this volume as a stand-alone, or for the series as a whole. Sections in the first two chapters set up the events of Chapter Three, whereupon the volume's plot actually starts, but these flashes-forward do tend to feel a little forced, disrupting Momonga's initial confusion in his new surroundings with snippets that seem to shout "Trust me, I'm going to slide into the conventional light novel structure by setting up a major battle scene." And when the battle actually happens, spread over chapters three, four, and five, it seems a bit underwhelming, due in large part to Momonga/Ainz's great power dwarfing the knights and casters of this new world, though it could be argued Maruyama is attempting to subvert expectations for basic light novel fight scenes. Regardless, things resolve themselves too easily/quickly to a degree that borders more on padding of the novel's length rather than a genuine desire to tell the story of the town of Carne. The point is that Ainz is abusing his salvation of the villagers to get more information about the new world, as well as gain footing within the kingdom to better secure his chances of survival while he figures out what to do next. According to Maruyama's afterword, Ainz is supposed to be a vile sort of hero who helps the weak only if he personally has something to gain, yet Ainz actually comes across as a pretty nice guy in the text proper. There seems to be an interesting subplot going on, wherein Suzuki-as-Momonga is viewing his environs from the perspective of a human mind, too attached to his previous reality, balanced quite frightfully against his close aide Albedo's apparent hatred of humanity (ironic because her character background was written by one of Suzuki's human pals from the guild), her obsessive love for the lich Ainz at odds with his secret human identity. But it seems Maruyama is more interested, at least initially, with having Ainz's subordinates (Demiurge in particular) mistake a joke about world conquest for sincere desire. And it is this misunderstanding that acts as sequel-hook in this volume's epilogue.
Lastly, the prose here is actually pretty good for a light novel. Not really the level of a big-boy book, but still pretty good. In terms of raw narration, at least. I mean, Nisioisin's Monogatari novels are probably better written overall, but mostly because they focus of somewhat meaningless banter rather than strict storytelling or world-building. Overlord instead focuses on those latter things, so it helps that the novel feels like it was written for someone better resembling a real adult. Neat stuff.
Through the limited third-person narration, the audience follows Satoru Suzuki's attempts to understand this new fantasy world, learning as we go just how shitty our hero's real life used to be, perhaps allowing us to better "feel" for his overpowered avatar as Momonga, the lich overlord. Interestingly, the name "Satoru Suzuki" does not even appear until quite a ways into the novel (I think over halfway through, though I couldn't find it when I flipped through the book just now), relying almost entirely on the game username "Momonga," before a curiously moving scene in which the protagonist adopts his former guild's name as his new moniker, "Ainz Ooal Gown."
We get very little of the man behind Momonga/Ainz. We know he was a more-or-less faceless salaryman in his life on Earth, though his lack of confidence hides whether he was a decent employee or just another waste of space. His only apparent social interactions include awkward encounters with convenience store clerks who prefer to drop change into his open palm for risk of making direct contact with his hand. If not for his job, "Suzuki" would be considered a NEET, spending little recreational time hanging out in society, instead dedicating all his free time and money to the Yggdrasil game. It is said Momonga had no hobbies other than this MMO, so he's dumped so much of his salary into microtransaction "gacha" systems within Yggdrasil, spending his time grinding skill levels for his character, resetting levels to undo progress, and grinding some more to min-max his spellcaster build. With the forty other members of Ainz Ooal Gown, Momonga worked to create the "Great Tomb of Nazarick," an enormous, sprawling "dungeon" composed of nine distinct areas, each guarded by non-player character "Floor Guardians" programmed by the Ainz Ooal Gown members, with a group of a butler and several battle-maids guarding the Throne Room level of the Tomb. Momonga's dedication to the game, as guild master of Ainz Ooal Gown, leads him to log in to Yggdrasil on the last day before servers shut down, wandering the halls of the Great Tomb until midnight, when he expects to be booted from the game with its demise.
Being a Japanese light novel, it is only obvious that Momonga would get sucked into a fantasy world. As it happens, this world is neither the actual-video-game-world of Sword Art Online, nor the video-game-inspired-fantasy-world of something like KonoSuba. It is a combination of both possibilities, with Nazarick's NPC denizens "realized" into sentient beings with distinct personalities based on the background stories written by the members of Ainz Ooal Gown, and everyone outside of Nazarick appears to be flesh-and-blood, denizens of another world entirely. Whether or not it may truly be considered "original" to simply merge the two concepts is debatable (okay, no it isn't), but the fact is, this shit is fun. Maruyama gives himself the task of balancing the world-building of Momonga's memories of Yggdrasil alongside the slightly-different fantasy world in which he finds himself. The result is somewhat questionable, as the reader is given far less information than Momonga himself, whose experiences trying to gain information about the new world is so closely tied to his deep understanding of his beloved game world. The author perhaps assumes his readers have some basic knowledge of MMORPGs and Japanese fantasy games to allow a basic level of understanding the goings-on of Momonga's adventure. While I've not played any real MMOs (I can perhaps count Monster Hunter and Phantasy Star Online as "online RPGs," but neither allowed for any "massive multiplayer), I am familiar enough with Dragon Quest, et al., to get the basic gist of Yggdrasil's jargon (a key to understanding Japanese-made fantasy: play a couple Dragon Quest games, as they are the basic blueprint for everything that follows). More importantly, Momonga's high level from Yggdrasil carries over into the new world as absurdly potent magical force, making him nearly invincible during the course of this novel's events, so he is free to experiment with the ins and outs of the new world's magic system w/r/t its similarities with the Yggdrasil "original." Maybe it is weak writing to cast such an overpowered character in the lead role, but it more or less works here. And while I can understand complaints of Momonga's being a "self-insert" character, it seems strange anyone would want to identify too closely with someone who would inadvertently experience a forced "escapism" into a new reality free from the harshness of Japanese working life (or whatever). At the very least, Momonga was a working adult, instead of the teenage hikikomori we see in so many other "isekai"-type stories.
This, I assure you, is a very important part of the review, using the above segue: Maruyama takes advantage of the more mature (literally, w/r/t Momonga's age) level of the novel and its presumed reader demographic to include some lewdness far exceeding any I have read previously in other light novels of similar ilk. I refer, specifically, to the "Intermission" section of this novel, wherein "lolita"-esque vampire Shalltear Bloodfallen (please pardon the names of some of these characters; they have the in-universe excuse of having been coined by working-class adult otaku) comments on the soiled nature of her underwear upon being addressed by Momonga, her panties allegedly ruined by a rather severe state of sexual arousal, leading her to criticize main girl Albedo for not getting "wet" due to Momonga's presence. What a curious thing, A Certain Magical Index can say "fuck" and retain a "13 & Up" rating, yet Overlord is hit with a "16 & Up" just because a vampire's pussy gets soaked from seeing a powerful skeleton-wizard? Come on, Yen Press! Also, and it isn't worth it to start a new paragraph for this, Albedo and Shalltear's bickering over who loves Momonga more is pretty kawaii. Or maybe I've lost too many braincells reading and reviewing so many fucking light novels.
Anyway, to finally review the novel's overall narrative, I would have to say this really works better as a "slice-of-life" thing, focusing on Momonga getting accustomed to his new world. That is to say, it is almost worthless to see this novel in the same way one might read, say, Sword Art Online. There is no clear direction here, whether for this volume as a stand-alone, or for the series as a whole. Sections in the first two chapters set up the events of Chapter Three, whereupon the volume's plot actually starts, but these flashes-forward do tend to feel a little forced, disrupting Momonga's initial confusion in his new surroundings with snippets that seem to shout "Trust me, I'm going to slide into the conventional light novel structure by setting up a major battle scene." And when the battle actually happens, spread over chapters three, four, and five, it seems a bit underwhelming, due in large part to Momonga/Ainz's great power dwarfing the knights and casters of this new world, though it could be argued Maruyama is attempting to subvert expectations for basic light novel fight scenes. Regardless, things resolve themselves too easily/quickly to a degree that borders more on padding of the novel's length rather than a genuine desire to tell the story of the town of Carne. The point is that Ainz is abusing his salvation of the villagers to get more information about the new world, as well as gain footing within the kingdom to better secure his chances of survival while he figures out what to do next. According to Maruyama's afterword, Ainz is supposed to be a vile sort of hero who helps the weak only if he personally has something to gain, yet Ainz actually comes across as a pretty nice guy in the text proper. There seems to be an interesting subplot going on, wherein Suzuki-as-Momonga is viewing his environs from the perspective of a human mind, too attached to his previous reality, balanced quite frightfully against his close aide Albedo's apparent hatred of humanity (ironic because her character background was written by one of Suzuki's human pals from the guild), her obsessive love for the lich Ainz at odds with his secret human identity. But it seems Maruyama is more interested, at least initially, with having Ainz's subordinates (Demiurge in particular) mistake a joke about world conquest for sincere desire. And it is this misunderstanding that acts as sequel-hook in this volume's epilogue.
Lastly, the prose here is actually pretty good for a light novel. Not really the level of a big-boy book, but still pretty good. In terms of raw narration, at least. I mean, Nisioisin's Monogatari novels are probably better written overall, but mostly because they focus of somewhat meaningless banter rather than strict storytelling or world-building. Overlord instead focuses on those latter things, so it helps that the novel feels like it was written for someone better resembling a real adult. Neat stuff.
July 2, 2017
Read this review (and others) at: https://literatureislife.com/2017/07/...
Overlord is a “trapped in a game” story, similar to Tron or Log Horizon. The rules here are a little different from some other “stuck in virtual reality” stories. It is just one guy (username Momonga) who is trapped instead of the usual group of people. Despite not having other players trapped with his, the NPCs controlled by his guild have all come to life. They are now real people, but their personalities stay just like in the game. Saying they view Momonga as the boss is an understatement; he is more like a god to them.
This world they are trapped in is a bit different from similar stories as well. The video game Momonga was playing, Yggdrasil, is not where they are. They have been transported to an entirely new world; they are in unknown territory. By and large Momonga and his Guardians (essentially generals who defended his guild base from invaders in Yggdrasil) seem to be extremely powerful in this new world, but for all they know something just around the corner could be tough enough tOverlord, o crush them like ants. Interestingly, the book does not mention how or why Momonga got stuck in this new world. It just…happens. Presumably, that is a point that will be covered in the later books.
As characters, Momonga and the Guardians seem more in line with villains than protagonists. You have a lich (Momonga), demon man, a pair of dark elves, giant bug-man, vampire girl, demon lady, and a butler who probably is not human either. Beyond Momonga, there is not too much character development in this book. At the beginning of the book it is shown that each of the NPC characters had backstories in the game, so we will probably learn more about them later on in the series.
Usually the goal in these “trapped” stories is to get out and go home. Momonga has absolutely no interest in doing that. On the contrary, he seems happy with this turn of events. He has gone from being a video game obsessed office worker to a supreme overlord with an army overnight. Momonga is, if anything, the bad guy. He has become an (evil?) undead with a legion of monsters ready to serve him. By no means is he a nice person in this story, but he is not unnecessarily killing or torturing people either. But he would do both of those things if it furthered his goals. A lot of things in this story seem to be on the flipside of what you would usually expect and that is what makes it so interesting.
Overlord is a “trapped in a game” story, similar to Tron or Log Horizon. The rules here are a little different from some other “stuck in virtual reality” stories. It is just one guy (username Momonga) who is trapped instead of the usual group of people. Despite not having other players trapped with his, the NPCs controlled by his guild have all come to life. They are now real people, but their personalities stay just like in the game. Saying they view Momonga as the boss is an understatement; he is more like a god to them.
This world they are trapped in is a bit different from similar stories as well. The video game Momonga was playing, Yggdrasil, is not where they are. They have been transported to an entirely new world; they are in unknown territory. By and large Momonga and his Guardians (essentially generals who defended his guild base from invaders in Yggdrasil) seem to be extremely powerful in this new world, but for all they know something just around the corner could be tough enough tOverlord, o crush them like ants. Interestingly, the book does not mention how or why Momonga got stuck in this new world. It just…happens. Presumably, that is a point that will be covered in the later books.
As characters, Momonga and the Guardians seem more in line with villains than protagonists. You have a lich (Momonga), demon man, a pair of dark elves, giant bug-man, vampire girl, demon lady, and a butler who probably is not human either. Beyond Momonga, there is not too much character development in this book. At the beginning of the book it is shown that each of the NPC characters had backstories in the game, so we will probably learn more about them later on in the series.
Usually the goal in these “trapped” stories is to get out and go home. Momonga has absolutely no interest in doing that. On the contrary, he seems happy with this turn of events. He has gone from being a video game obsessed office worker to a supreme overlord with an army overnight. Momonga is, if anything, the bad guy. He has become an (evil?) undead with a legion of monsters ready to serve him. By no means is he a nice person in this story, but he is not unnecessarily killing or torturing people either. But he would do both of those things if it furthered his goals. A lot of things in this story seem to be on the flipside of what you would usually expect and that is what makes it so interesting.
May 24, 2019
Nunca hay suficientes Isekai.
La primera novela ligera de Overlord El rey no muerto, abarca los primeros cuatro capítulos del anime. En éste primer tomo, nos encontramos en los últimos momentos antes del cierre del servidor del juego de inmersión "Yggdrasil" , en el cual nos presenta a un usuario dentro del juego el líder del gremio Ainz Ooal Gown,Momonga, el cual está aguardando los últimos momentos del juego y recorriendo por última vez la Tumba de Nazarick, su base. Durante el cierre de los servidores ve que no pasa ¿¿¿¿nada???? En realidad se ve atrapado en un mundo desconocido, la Tumba es transportada a otro lugar y los personajes dentro del juego (NPC) parecen seguir una configuración que parece haberles dado vida, siendo fieles al único miembro que permaneció hasta el final. Me encantó el diseño de personajes, también que a pesar de contar con conocimientos dentro del juego no se confía y actúa de manera prudente, hasta conocer más del mundo y ver hasta donde pueden llegar sus habilidades. Es una novela introductoria, en la que aún falta conocer a fondo a los personajes y el mundo al cual llegaron.
La primera novela ligera de Overlord El rey no muerto, abarca los primeros cuatro capítulos del anime. En éste primer tomo, nos encontramos en los últimos momentos antes del cierre del servidor del juego de inmersión "Yggdrasil" , en el cual nos presenta a un usuario dentro del juego el líder del gremio Ainz Ooal Gown,Momonga, el cual está aguardando los últimos momentos del juego y recorriendo por última vez la Tumba de Nazarick, su base. Durante el cierre de los servidores ve que no pasa ¿¿¿¿nada???? En realidad se ve atrapado en un mundo desconocido, la Tumba es transportada a otro lugar y los personajes dentro del juego (NPC) parecen seguir una configuración que parece haberles dado vida, siendo fieles al único miembro que permaneció hasta el final. Me encantó el diseño de personajes, también que a pesar de contar con conocimientos dentro del juego no se confía y actúa de manera prudente, hasta conocer más del mundo y ver hasta donde pueden llegar sus habilidades. Es una novela introductoria, en la que aún falta conocer a fondo a los personajes y el mundo al cual llegaron.
September 11, 2018
I began reading this on a whim but I'm glad I did ｡+ﾟ.。+。(´ω｀*)♪♪
So the story goes that in the future,games are super immerse with the most popular one being YGGDRASIL.our protagonist is momonga,the leader of a guild called Ainz Ooan Gown and he's pretty sad cuz they're gonna shut down he servers of the game.so he's remembering the glory days of the guild and the good ol' times and waiting for the server to shut down at midnight but it never does. Instead he's stuck inside his game avatar and transported into another world.with the NPC he and his friends created looking up to him as he 'evil overlord' he's supposed to be.
I don't know if other light novels are similar to this one but the writing in overlord is superb;both the description and dialogue is wonderful.
It's great,can't think of anything bad about this except the necessary sexualisation of female characters ( again ) but I hear that wish fulfilment is a pretty standard thing for light novels...sigh.
So the story goes that in the future,games are super immerse with the most popular one being YGGDRASIL.our protagonist is momonga,the leader of a guild called Ainz Ooan Gown and he's pretty sad cuz they're gonna shut down he servers of the game.so he's remembering the glory days of the guild and the good ol' times and waiting for the server to shut down at midnight but it never does. Instead he's stuck inside his game avatar and transported into another world.with the NPC he and his friends created looking up to him as he 'evil overlord' he's supposed to be.
I don't know if other light novels are similar to this one but the writing in overlord is superb;both the description and dialogue is wonderful.
It's great,can't think of anything bad about this except the necessary sexualisation of female characters ( again ) but I hear that wish fulfilment is a pretty standard thing for light novels...sigh.
July 24, 2023
This was a very fun read. I am not the biggest fan of Isekai stories but I have heard a lot of praise for this series and the artwork has always caught my eye. I had to take a 6 hour flight and decided to give this a try. We have a story of a man that gets stuck in his favorite DMMO when the servers go dark. As he starts to figure out what is going on, we are introduced to a lot of characters. They all see fun except for the loli vampire that looks like a kid but is 60 years old trope. This book had a good solid blend of video game world building, fantasy world building, and character development. The fan service was very light and the action had some really good and gory moments. I will definitely give volume 2 a try.
August 31, 2018
Well, what can I say, it was awesome! I’ve been watching the anime so I had an idea of what was coming, as a book I felt like it was missing something, but I still enjoyed it very much. We meet Momonga and his outspoken persona before the event and get to know about Ygdrassil and Nazarick, there were many characters here and because of that there wasn’t a chance to develop them besides Albedo, the Bios at the end of the book are quite helpful, I never imagined that Mare was better in general stats than Aura!
January 6, 2025
In der Light Novel geht es um Ygdrassil, das Spiel soll abgestellt werden und Momonga möchte bis der Server abgestellt wird im Spiel online bleiben. Doch irgendwie wird er nicht ausgeloggt. Und sein Interface ist auch nicht mehr da?
Die Gedanken die der Spieler am Anfang hat sind für mich nachvollziehbar. Auch seine Handlungen und das austesten von Grenzen scheint mir plausibel. Die anderen Charaktere hat man bisher noch nicht so wirklich vielschichtig erlebt. Dennoch bringen sie eine gewisse Dynamik mit.
Die Welt finde ich sehr interessant aufgebaut und ich kann verstehen das es am Anfang doch viele Erklärungen braucht. Dennoch machen diese Erklärungen, vor allem die erste Hälfte des Bandes, zäh. Das was sich danach zeigt macht aber definitiv Lust auf mehr.
Die Gedanken die der Spieler am Anfang hat sind für mich nachvollziehbar. Auch seine Handlungen und das austesten von Grenzen scheint mir plausibel. Die anderen Charaktere hat man bisher noch nicht so wirklich vielschichtig erlebt. Dennoch bringen sie eine gewisse Dynamik mit.
Die Welt finde ich sehr interessant aufgebaut und ich kann verstehen das es am Anfang doch viele Erklärungen braucht. Dennoch machen diese Erklärungen, vor allem die erste Hälfte des Bandes, zäh. Das was sich danach zeigt macht aber definitiv Lust auf mehr.
July 5, 2022
Imagine how bland this world would be without imagination right? The ability to make believe the most incredible, unique stories and have the reader finishing the story - almost believing that such a world could exist - is truly magnificent.
It means that your average 9-5 day ends with you travelling to a mystical wonderland and who doesn’t want that?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that when I read this I felt transported. So yeah, read it!
It means that your average 9-5 day ends with you travelling to a mystical wonderland and who doesn’t want that?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that when I read this I felt transported. So yeah, read it!
February 12, 2018
This was an interesting read for me. My son decided I should branch out and read a book that has a video game premise as its subject. The idea behind it is interesting, we go with Momonga as he tries to figure out just what happened the final moment his game was supposed to shut down. The characters are interesting, but it does seem a little one dimensional. The art profiles at the back of the book are really neat, and so is the cover art for each chapter. If you ever wanted a peek into what a computer game like Everquest can be like, here's a story for you.
July 11, 2025
Honestly super impressed the the first few episodes of the anime followed the book very well. I love that we get to see more internal dialogue for Momonga and how he truly feels about all his guild members. I’m excited to see more of the NPC’s for this series. I was obsessed with the anime and will probably be obsessed with the light novel!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2017
MUITO BOM!! Terceira vez que eu leio e não deixa de ser maravilhoso.
O anime é muito bom, o mangá é ótimo, mas a ln é perfeita. Se você gostou do mangá ou do anime leia a ln você não vai se arrepender.
O anime é muito bom, o mangá é ótimo, mas a ln é perfeita. Se você gostou do mangá ou do anime leia a ln você não vai se arrepender.
August 15, 2024
Me pareció un buen inicio de historia, sin esforzarse tanto en darme introducción al mundo de manera aburrida, ya que estamos conociendo este sitio a la par del protagonista.
Algo excelente si quieres comenzar con fantasía o fantasía oscura sin sumergirte en algo muy elaborado.
Algo excelente si quieres comenzar con fantasía o fantasía oscura sin sumergirte en algo muy elaborado.
May 17, 2021
sehr gut
March 30, 2023
I just went ahead and read all the light novels up to #14, and I got #15 queued up. Theyre pretty good.
July 18, 2024
Literal perfection. Duurde wel tering lang voor ik hem af had maar dat lag aan mij. Glory to the Sorcerer Kingdom!!!
dnf
September 4, 2024I didn't realize this was another MMORPG isekai
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