Sword Art Online 12: Alicization Rising

Sword Art Online #12

by Reki Kawahara, abec (Illustrator)

Eugeo has finally met Alice again, but she's no longer the same girl he once knew, now calling herself an Integrity Knight. Even worse, the reason for Alice's unexpected return is to capture Kirito and Eugeo!

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Manga, Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Japanese Literature

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 10, 2013

About the author

Kawahara Reki (川原礫) is the writer of Sword Art Online and Accel World. He also uses the pen name Kunori Fumio. His hobby is cycling.

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid step-up for the action. For all the missing action in middle books, we get a great correction. It's especially good since we're not certain of the outcome.

Stakes: the whole world and all its people. The twist: the mindset you go out with.

I can't fault this at all. It's very beautiful. :)

[Angela Auten · Rating 5 out of 5]

That ending...

[Khari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well. I'm glad that's over.

I think I might need to take a break from this series and read something else to clear out my brain.

I just kept getting more and more irritated until I reached maximum irritation and became cynically amused.

I mean, it's just ridiculous. I can't accept the world he's building anymore. Too many crazy things have been piled on top of each other so that I can no longer believe in the edifice.

Just the premises of the world make no sense! So this little VR/not VR world was created by the Japanese Self Defense force so that they could make an AI that they could stick in a robot to go fight wars instead of humans. And actually it's not really an AI at all, it's a copy of a human infant soul that is raised inside of the VR/not VR world. Okay. The experiment is a failure because no one in the VR/not VR world can go against the Taboo Index of the Axiom church, one of which is 'thou shalt not kill'. Okay. I can follow that. But you see, there is the forbidden realm, that is full of orcs and goblins and such that just spend all day killing each other, and what do you know they also are made of copies of human infant souls...so why don't they just use the orcs and goblins to inhabit their robots and send them off to fight? Why go through the effort of trying to change the very nature of the 'human' ones? It doesn't make sense.

He's also contradicting himself right and left. So, in this VR/not VR world, it's not so much what features or characteristics things are made with, it matters what you believe about those things. So if you believe your flowers can grow after being snipped off by malicious nobles, they fuse together and grow again. If you have unshakeable belief in yourself, your sword strikes become heavier...so why can't Cardinal just believe herself taller? If the only thing that sets her apart from Administrator is her child-like body...why doesn't she just grow? If all it takes is belief, why not? Why is it that belief can bring flowers back to life, and change the forms of weapons, but it can't change the form of an imagined human body?

Actually, let's go even further back, in a VR/not VR world, why would bodily size matter at all? It's all imaginary! Actually, let's go back even farther. All of these little fluctlight human/AI/soul things are copies of infant souls. Yet they grow. How? Do souls grow? Or do bodies grow? Which one precedes the other? If you take a soul out of the body, what guarantee do you have that it would grow? Especially when you are talking about souls copied from infants. Infants have barely figured out that they have a body, let alone how to use it. So how exactly do you teach a soul that is removed from a body that it can see, and how to distinguish objects from each other? This whole VR/not VR world is built on memories right? But infants have no memories. So how can they even perceive the world? How can an infant, who hasn't grown yet, know how to grow? There's no guarantee that it would just happen automatically. We already know that hormones affect cognition, but these fluctlights are all digital, so how are they going to stimulate that growth in cognition? It's like he's just saying that the soul can be boiled down to experiences and memories. But how can you encode memories onto a soul that lacks the cognitive power to process them? Where are these little fluctlights getting that cognition?

If anything, this book is making me feel better about the state of the world and its technologies. I feel pretty certain that I don't have to worry about anyone copying my soul. Even this book that has spent pages and pages on the concept is eliding complicated issues right and left and just never dealing with them. The one thing I have learned in the past year is that everything is way more complicated than it seems, and that's just for writing a policy about candles in the workplace. The working of a human soul is infinitely more complex than that, so I feel pretty safe laughing at the ludicrousness of this book.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving the slow build to the Alicization Arc of Sword Art Online, and how it is finally picking up momentum as central characters come back together and face off with each other's new situation. The character development and plot feel more natural and believable to the Aincrad and Fairy Dance novels (though I haven't read Progressive). I was sad that this one didn't feature RATH or Asuna, as the intrigue of real life is as tantalising as Underworld. I'd say Reki Kawahara has definitely upped the ante with foreshadowing and suggestion - I'm dying to find out where and what Kayaba is doing within the system, aside from watching Kazuto wreak wonder and havoc in another world.

I am also enjoying how RATH have, with Underworld, made a virtual reality that makes Aincrad and the cardinal system Kayaba put in place seem like child's play when compared with Cardinal and Administrator.
Favourite character so far: Charlotte. Because she's a spider and she's awesome.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, since this is more like a transition book, it was ok. There's only battles with several Integrity Knights on the way up to the top, very much like Saint Seiya actually. The fights were fine, but it would've been better if Eugeo had taken more of an initiative, he was always in the back, waiting for Kirito to tell him to act to unleash his weapon, and is always Kirito fighting and showing off.
I didn't like the two little girls bit, I thought it wasn't necessary, they seem to be overly exaggerated as characters, and then all this about Kirito predicting their actions felt forced. Did not like it a bit.
I did enjoy Eugeo's sword power, I thought it was powerful and quite adequate for the weapon he is carrying, and I want to know what else he is capable of doing, so that should be interesting. As for Kirito, I know the guy is invincible, so I'd like to see him suffer a few shocks before all this is over.
The greatest thing of the story so far is basically what Cardinal has told us about the world. Now that was a proper revelation.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

V.11 ended in the middle of a conversation—and so v.12 opens with the same. But, after all that conversation, SAO 12 becomes a very battle-heavy volume as Kirito and Eugeo ascend a massive tower facing enemies much stronger than those they'd faced previously.

They're fine. Let's be honest, battles like this are tough to convey via text. Some of them are surprisingly well done (particularly the centerpiece battle between Kirito and the second-in-command), others not so well (Eugeo versus the arrow-user). That's a bit of a knock against author Kawahara, I guess, although these types of battles just thrive in a visual context—his crime, perhaps, more about envisioning visual battles more than a failure to write them—so I doubt many authors could do much better.

Without checking publication dates and whatnot, feels like Kawahara is really stealing a lot from Bleach here, yes? Definitely some strong Bleach vibes in terms of powers and mindsets. I don't really view that as a negative—assuming it doesn't become egregious mimicry—but it is interesting, and maybe more symptomatic of the shonen/tournament feel this arc has taken on, which has not been a notable feature previously.

Also notable is the complete absence of the Asuma side of the plot in this volume. In v.11 she was relegated to being an interlude, now she's barely a mention from Kirito. Not a good trend.

But, we can also start to see a possible endgame, something that had been confusing me before. One that should tie together most of the plot elements that I'd occasionally think about and be like, "Wait, this is important—how does Kirito's trek solve this?" So that's good. The journey, vaguely guided by the "Save Alice" thing has been fine, but with the crystallization of dangers facing the world in concrete terms really gives the Alicization arc driving purpose.

[Farid Aldi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incridible job from Kawahara Reki, before you go to read this novel, make sure you had well know about Underworld Concept and stuff, cause damn it took me awhile to understand whole concept, really cool and fascinating concept, complexity and detail about fluctlight and underworld system really driving me into another level of fantasy, i know this is too exageratting but i impressed how the author really go to reasearch first about AI and stuff in real world and make it "nearly" like real world concept, i wish we have that kind of stuff in 2022, ameeenn....

As a student that study AI and robotic stuff in highschool, i see this as a tool to driving my imagination and echance my understanding about how such a simple concept like looping system or type of AI can really inspire people out there to make story like this, i know SAO is not about Sao game anymore, but the author want to exlore more in the industry and the world of VR game especially in fulldive technology itself, this is why i love SAO : Alicization arc story becoz it doesnt sell much fanservice, well there is little, it sell well develop story and crazy concept about AI&VR industry in future, it makes student like me to have a spirit to develop more in this industry...

If you want to read this series, it sells LOTS of concept about AI &VR, so prepare your mind, but dont worry becoz the author had explained all in the novel, but the fun part is when you really googling about the concept itself, really fascinating...

*Note:Anime SAO:Alicization Part 1 (Beginning-Uniting) Arc has finished airing and you can watch the anime to see a beauty visual (its pretty much visualisastion of the novel) and see it to verify your imagination in fighting scene :v

Sorry for bad english :D

[Tuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alicization Rising, the fourth part in the Alicization saga, features Kirito and Eugeo on their ongoing journey to both save Alice, but to also, defeat Administrator/Pontifax. The previous volume focused on the extensive lore regarding the Underworld. It filled many gaps in Kirito's understand and also we the reader while also redirecting our priorities going forward. Here, we reached the climax of that story and the path that we would be set upon.

After so much talking it was nice to have a return to the good action and great character interactions that Kawahara is known for. The ability to give both Kirito and Eugeo vital and important roles is one that I was overjoyed to see Kawahara continue to do even this far in. By alternating the viewpoint from Kirito to Eugeo, we saw the versatile skill that Kawahara has in differentiating his characters and giving ones, that may seem similar on the surface, differing personalities.

The battles were fantastic as was the emotions that drove each character. Further the conclusion was incredible surprising and satisfying. I look forward to what comes next.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3½ stars rounded down. It was a slow starter. I haven't minded the exposition in the Alicization arc. I've rather enjoyed it actually... but this one... just felt a bit like a slog. It was interesting and I like knowing what I found out, but it was just slow. So if you're feeling that way -- keep going, it gets better, but I had to bring the whole book score down because of it. Oh and a complete lack of Asuna and Rinko. Heck, even in Alfheim where she wasn't able to do much we got to see Asuna.

And of course the conclusion -- jeepers Kawahara, you are... well, anyway, I'm glad Volume 13 is readily available.

Verdict -- Worth reading, don't give up on it or the Alicization arc -- obviously don't start here for Alice or SAO.

[Cian Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to jump straight into this following on from Volume 11, and I can say this volume did not disappoint. I enjoyed the recap of the story up to this point at the beginning from Kirito and Eugeo’s perspectives. I also found the explanation of Quinella to be interesting and I just know this is going to come into play in the next few books. The journey through the Central Cathedral gave me early Aincrad vibes of journey through the 100 floors, and the Integrity Knights act as the floor bosses, which I’m sure was a conscious decision on Kawahara’s behalf. I am looking forward to starting Volume 13 and plunging even deeper into the Alicization Arc. I may take a short detour following on from this one, to read some classic fantasy but we will see how I’m feeling.

[Jack Keener · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume we get the backstory of the Axoim Church and though we know what RATH is doing, Kirito didn't really know. The implications strike him hard given how he treats virtual worlds. The last half is comprised of three fights and each one gets more interesting. We get to see more of Kirito's high level reactions and attention to what is going on. We also get Eugeo's difficulty adapting to the Aincrad Swordstyle since he lacks both the reactions and attention to details. The ending is a nice cliff hanger and ups the stakes higher by separating our two heroes. Overall a very good volume, he story moves along and we get more insight into the Synthesis Knights.

[Chris Flynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I put down this series for a while, but the latest anime season convinced me to pick it back up. So here I am resuming mid-arc.

Holy exposition.

I understand the need for the first half of the book to finally lay out the rules of this new world, but it's quite a bit to dump out at once. Guess the author wanted to get it out of the way. Afterwards, we're thrust right back into the action with some fairly brutal fights, which are welcome given the first half.

Overall it's not bad and even the slow parts aren't aweful given the book's shorter length. The second half makes up for any introductory slowness.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of the book was pretty slow. Just two people talking until I hit 30% done. I can't even remember anything they said. It felt like filler. When they went to climbing the tower the story became exciting. The battle with the first female knight was really good. I also love what Kirito decided to do once the fight was over. Also finally making their way to Alice was nice. Only to be finish the book with a to be continued. So far I think Alicization isn't that great. It is OK. The next book seems so far away.

[Alec Rebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than volumes 10 and 11 imo, even tho there was a bunch of exposition at the beginning of the volume. I like feature of the extra sword techniques, and how they can effect the durability of the weapons that will be interesting moving forward. I also enjoyed that the story slowed down a bit again instead of the "mad dash" huge time skips you had in the previous 2 volumes. Volume 9 still stands to be the best in this story arc but here's hoping stuff continues to improve from here.

4.2

[Miracle152004 · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ THE NOVEL THAT IGNITED THE PHENOMENON!

After a brief respite, Kirito and Eugeo set off again to climb Central Cathedral-but the powerful Integrity Knights are not about to let them reach the top. Meanwhile, Kirito has learned the dark history of the Underworld and the true stakes of the battle they're fighting, and every step toward Alice brings him closer to an impossible decision...

**

[Kevin Yee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was very anime. You have sword skills/arts to the next level. I like it. The 13th volume isn't officially translated yet so now it's gonna be a wait. Excited to see how things go. The beginning spends a lot of time on talking which I enjoyed. This world and situation the characters are in is richly detailed. Kirito's character shines through as he gets closer and closer to the objective.

[Jorge Rosas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A roller coaster of emotions in such a small book, the Cardinal story was very touching the dystopian world is way more dystopian than first thought, we finally see an overpowered Kirito, then it suddenly becomes Saint Seiya. It was good and some of the battles were exciting, the best of it was the revelations, and that ending was just frustrating.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it's been too long between books but this felt very short and not especially satisfying. Yet another twist experienced, but not sure I learned much more from this installment (yes, the Cardinal's plan which we know Kirito will try to sidestep or, failing that, experience yet another twist!). Still, enjoyable read, just without the depth of other books. It felt very episodic.

[Ricardo Matos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whole Alicization arc has been a bit more miss than hit, but I really liked this volume. If it had an actual ending rather than a cliff hanger, I would probably have gone up to 5 stars.
Probably the best book in the Alicization arc so far

[kerrycat · Rating 5 out of 5]

alternate title: A Long Conversation with Cardinal
(then a bunch of fighting)

still thrilled by Cardinal's appearance at the end of volume 11 . . . Kawahara is a genius.

[Eldon Siemens · Rating 5 out of 5]

only four volumes in, and the story keeps progressing. I liked the information provided, and some good battles, but yet another cliffhanger. Still, it was an enjoyable read

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 minutes later:
Almost done this arc!
One more book and then I think im done with the series, the arc is better than most of the novels but its just not enough to redeem the rest.

[anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cada vez se va poniendo mas interesante e intrigante este arco, comenzando desde el recorrido de la torre, pasando por un personaje pelicular, hasta excitantes batallas y originales técnicas.

[Rachel Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

My deep love for Kirito as a character biases my opinion.

[Hammu · Rating 4 out of 5]

ヤベ！！ 超楽しかった！ 目が一秒しか離れたくない。

[Anna Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of the book they were explaining a lot of important things but I can see how some people might find that part of that story boring.

[Cztery Strony Prozy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jestem nieobiektywna i się z tym nie kryję. Bardzo lubię to, że w tych książkach wiele akcji jest na równi ze stanem emocjonalnym bohaterów. Napisane tak , że nie zastanawiam się czy możliwe.

[Fonsu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished, still good, but not as good as the previous one. A lot of talking, a lot of learning about this world.

[Yan M Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

No puedo creer cuán perfecta se va volviendo esta historia con el paso de los libros.
Kirito se entera de las intenciones de Administrator, quien comanda la Axiom Church. Ya se empieza a ver el inicio de una guerra que arrasará con el Mundo Humano y eso es algo que Administrator ni los Integrity Knights podrán detener. Este libro está lleno de peleas desde antes de la mitad, pero en el inicio se da la explicación magistral por parte de la sabia Cardinal, que en vez de aburrir al ser una plática casi unilateral, engancha como nada por la cantidad de revelaciones importantes para la trama de los siguientes libros. Ya veo venir la intervención de los personajes de los otros arcos que tanto extrañamos y estoy más que emocionado por eso. Algunos podrían pensar que es aburrido que el equipo de Kirito siempre gane, pero cada batalla tiene algo que la hace diferente y las emociones del espadachín negro se transmiten a pesar de que no se hable desde su punto de vista. Este es, hasta ahora, mi libro favorito del arco Alicization; y ya que aún me quedan varios libros para acabarlo, estoy seguro de que no lo será por mucho tiempo. :)

[Viszed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Al fin la historia completa de como se formo "Underworld", ahora con información y la misión encomendada por cardinal el escenario esta listo.

Las batallas contra los Integrity Knight estuvieron bien, los conflictos emocionales, como el desarrollo de habilidades, lo único que si se me hizo pesado es que sentía que las batallas se alargaban demasiado.

Esta vez sentí que la portada fallo, las niñas que aparecen atrás de Kirito, si bien son "Integrity Knight", pasaron en este libro sin pena ni gloria, fue fugas comparado con las batallas con los otros Integrity Knight, que fueron mas profundas, como cuando se enfrentaron a Deusolbert el Integrity Knight que arresto a Alice, Fanatio y la propia Alice.

Y ese final, donde Eugeo ve alejarse y caer a las dos personas mas importantes para él; solo por que se me hizo muy largo la explicación de la creación de "Underwold" y las batallas" un 3/5.