What do you think?
Rate this book
The Saga of Tanya the Evil Light Novel #9
幼女戦記 9 Omnes una manet nox
幼女(バケモノ)さえ抜け出せぬ混沌。
療養・再装備のため、帝都へ帰還したレルゲン戦闘団。
そこで目にしたのは、死という非日常に慣れてしまった祖国の日常だった。
激烈に損耗し、閉塞感に囚われた帝国の世論は
あまりにも『勝利』を渇望してやまない。
そして新たにターニャに与えられた「無理」な仕事は、
潜水艦による敵戦隊の捜索撃滅。
秘密兵器はMAD手製の大型魚雷。
死力を燃やし尽くしてなお、その先にも暗闇が横たわる。
己に平穏を――。
ターニャのささやかな願望さえも、あまりに遠い。
出口のない戦争は激化の一途をたどる。
療養・再装備のため、帝都へ帰還したレルゲン戦闘団。
そこで目にしたのは、死という非日常に慣れてしまった祖国の日常だった。
激烈に損耗し、閉塞感に囚われた帝国の世論は
あまりにも『勝利』を渇望してやまない。
そして新たにターニャに与えられた「無理」な仕事は、
潜水艦による敵戦隊の捜索撃滅。
秘密兵器はMAD手製の大型魚雷。
死力を燃やし尽くしてなお、その先にも暗闇が横たわる。
己に平穏を――。
ターニャのささやかな願望さえも、あまりに遠い。
出口のない戦争は激化の一途をたどる。
472 pages, Hardcover
First published January 12, 2018
24 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 26, 2022
This is the beginning of the end.
The soldiers scarcely trust their generals to strategize beyond the purview of survival. The generals have abandoned their expectations of the political machine's capacity to invest in objective goal-setting. And the politicians, mired in the paralyzing pitch of victory at all costs, refuse to admit succumbing to the treachery of having believed their own propaganda. In THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL #9, readers witness Tanya's pleas for rational de-escalation. By all measures, the Empire's multifront war is neither tenable nor winnable. Extricating oneself, one's battalion, or one's army from the muddy grip of total war, may prove impossible.
Tanya and the Salamander Kampfgruppe, after much agony, have returned to the rear. The armored units head for some skills training on the range. The artillery and infantry units chart a course farther south, toward a comfortable sentry post along the southern coast of the Empire's occupied territory. And the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion snares a few days' leave at a resort in Berun, the capital city. Finally, some rest.
Until, of course, Colonel von Lergen and Lieutenant General von Rudersdorf, both gaunt and twitchy from anxiety, pull Tanya into an extended conversation on the Empire's chronic shortcomings: weakened food stores, deficient layperson empathy, and a pervasive ignorance of political fatalism and its consequences. The joke is not that the Empire and its threadbare military needlessly extends an unwinnable war for little material gain; the joke is that the Empire, too terrified of its own failures, will likely continue on the path of denialism until the country has withered, shrunken, and died, no more compelling than a whisper on the wind. The fatherland would rather grind itself, its ideals, and its people into dust, and fade away with time, than to learn from its mistakes and peaceably survive under the shadow of failure. "Humans," Tanya notes, "are frequently capable of forgetting the inconvenient," (page101).
THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL #9 is the most cerebral installment of the novel series thus far. A great deal of kudos surely goes to the novel series' translator in this regard. The first one-third of the novel is high-stakes rhetorical theater of the best kind, as characters bicker, rationalize, and debate the veracity of the Empire's eroding strength, and of the role of each character, in the nation-state machine, to either support or subvert the country's progressive decline. Readers unaccustomed to the philosophizing native to the darkest corners of political science may fall asleep, but for a novel series whose breadth of grit and cleverness spans so far and wide, the book's narrative arc is superbly effective at shifting the unthinkable and the improbable into the inevitable and the forsaken.
For example, Rudersdorf, once narrowly focused on operational supremacy, now transfers his staunch pragmatism toward examining a dangerous bifurcation: (a) use the army to carry out increasingly meaningless military ventures, thereby surviving as long as possible; (b) use the army to execute a false-flag operation to shock the whole nation back to reality, thereby ending the war with blood and bitterness on the home front.
Rudersorf, Lergen, and Degurechaff all shield their ulcerative misgivings behind pitiful smiles, starched salutes, and short, curt laughs. They all know the war has gone on too long. They all want this damnable catastrophe to come to a close. But how far will each of them go snare a viable solution? Rudersdorf never says yes to the implications of a coup d'etat, but he never says no, either (Tanya: "It's not a denial. It's a refusal to give a straight answer masquerading as a denial," page 33). Lergen's nerves are too frayed for the man to think straight. And Degurechaff vacillates, sometimes comically, between her desire to fight until her last breath and the cloying interest of outright desertion.
The longer the fighting continues, the more likely the Empire will be on the losing end of the war. Conflict in the north is stable; conflict in the east is unpredictable; conflict in the west is worsening; and conflict in the south is at a debatable impasse. A nation overwhelmed is a nation defeated. The only catch is that while the Empire is crumbling, it hasn't yet fully crumbled; the Empire is dying, yet isn't fully dead. Tanya is left to question whether further combat will either hasten the Empire's death, absentmindedly prolong it, or gear it toward a dramatic and climactic conclusion that will see everyone go down in flames.
And the deeper one sinks into THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL #9, the higher the flames of decay lick at the fuselage of the Empire's withering war machine. The author introduces numerous humorous and frustrating examples in the book's second half that readers will surely appreciate. For one, a certain maniacal fellow with the Technical Arsenal division makes a triumphant return (and once again, Tanya and the 203rd are forced to deploy insanely dangerous means to fend off their enemies, this time in the middle of southern sea lanes). Also, the eternally entertaining General von Romel, last encountered in The Saga of Tanya the Evil #3 (as the man in charge of the Empire's Southern Continent Expeditionary Corps), pops in for some hard-earned social commentary on the dangers of arrogance in politics, token diplomacy, blind nationalism, and the magnificence of the military's growing antipathy toward rational solutions.
Readers would be well served from seeing Romel gain greater influence in the future: "Give a medal to a man whose subordinates were killed by shitty politicians mishandling the situation! I'm a big fan of medals, but this one I'm sure I'll never be able to like," (Romel, page 285).
The most pressing example involves the Salamander Kampfgruppe's Captain Meybert (artillery) and First Lieutenant Tospan (infantry), who get into a major fracas with the untrained and undisciplined idiots of the southern army group (together rear-stationed at a former republic navy port). Alas, the "waste-of-oxygen officers" of the southern army group nearly doom the whole port. Meaning Meybert and Tospan must contend with the complacency of their cohorts, survive the knock-on dangers of said complacency, and then endure the consequences of their stalwart training and experience, in spite of their success. The novel thus posts: If intelligent and experienced soldiers are criminalized for doing good, while ineffective and well-worn soldiers are bestowed shiny new medals, then what value is there in fighting at all?
Lieutenant Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff is neither out of options nor is she in a rush to identify an answer that will resolve these myriad crises. Throughout the novel, the characters wrestle with a philosophy not too far removed from Goto and Arakawa's famous dialogue in Oshii's Patlabor 2, as Tanya opines, "Even the most unjust peace is surely preferable to the most just war," (page 258).
But as the war effort lingers, her options grow increasingly stark and each possible answer becomes increasingly difficult to stomach. The previous novel gently hinted at a possible future in which Tanya becomes a political figure, willingly or otherwise, and the current volume toys with the idea even more. But before that logical conclusion can come into play, Tanya must outmaneuver her colleagues' sense of resignation, her colleagues' thirst for treason, and her colleagues' feverish and compelling case that a war is only winnable if a nation invests in humanism.
The soldiers scarcely trust their generals to strategize beyond the purview of survival. The generals have abandoned their expectations of the political machine's capacity to invest in objective goal-setting. And the politicians, mired in the paralyzing pitch of victory at all costs, refuse to admit succumbing to the treachery of having believed their own propaganda. In THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL #9, readers witness Tanya's pleas for rational de-escalation. By all measures, the Empire's multifront war is neither tenable nor winnable. Extricating oneself, one's battalion, or one's army from the muddy grip of total war, may prove impossible.
Tanya and the Salamander Kampfgruppe, after much agony, have returned to the rear. The armored units head for some skills training on the range. The artillery and infantry units chart a course farther south, toward a comfortable sentry post along the southern coast of the Empire's occupied territory. And the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion snares a few days' leave at a resort in Berun, the capital city. Finally, some rest.
Until, of course, Colonel von Lergen and Lieutenant General von Rudersdorf, both gaunt and twitchy from anxiety, pull Tanya into an extended conversation on the Empire's chronic shortcomings: weakened food stores, deficient layperson empathy, and a pervasive ignorance of political fatalism and its consequences. The joke is not that the Empire and its threadbare military needlessly extends an unwinnable war for little material gain; the joke is that the Empire, too terrified of its own failures, will likely continue on the path of denialism until the country has withered, shrunken, and died, no more compelling than a whisper on the wind. The fatherland would rather grind itself, its ideals, and its people into dust, and fade away with time, than to learn from its mistakes and peaceably survive under the shadow of failure. "Humans," Tanya notes, "are frequently capable of forgetting the inconvenient," (page101).
THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL #9 is the most cerebral installment of the novel series thus far. A great deal of kudos surely goes to the novel series' translator in this regard. The first one-third of the novel is high-stakes rhetorical theater of the best kind, as characters bicker, rationalize, and debate the veracity of the Empire's eroding strength, and of the role of each character, in the nation-state machine, to either support or subvert the country's progressive decline. Readers unaccustomed to the philosophizing native to the darkest corners of political science may fall asleep, but for a novel series whose breadth of grit and cleverness spans so far and wide, the book's narrative arc is superbly effective at shifting the unthinkable and the improbable into the inevitable and the forsaken.
For example, Rudersdorf, once narrowly focused on operational supremacy, now transfers his staunch pragmatism toward examining a dangerous bifurcation: (a) use the army to carry out increasingly meaningless military ventures, thereby surviving as long as possible; (b) use the army to execute a false-flag operation to shock the whole nation back to reality, thereby ending the war with blood and bitterness on the home front.
Rudersorf, Lergen, and Degurechaff all shield their ulcerative misgivings behind pitiful smiles, starched salutes, and short, curt laughs. They all know the war has gone on too long. They all want this damnable catastrophe to come to a close. But how far will each of them go snare a viable solution? Rudersdorf never says yes to the implications of a coup d'etat, but he never says no, either (Tanya: "It's not a denial. It's a refusal to give a straight answer masquerading as a denial," page 33). Lergen's nerves are too frayed for the man to think straight. And Degurechaff vacillates, sometimes comically, between her desire to fight until her last breath and the cloying interest of outright desertion.
The longer the fighting continues, the more likely the Empire will be on the losing end of the war. Conflict in the north is stable; conflict in the east is unpredictable; conflict in the west is worsening; and conflict in the south is at a debatable impasse. A nation overwhelmed is a nation defeated. The only catch is that while the Empire is crumbling, it hasn't yet fully crumbled; the Empire is dying, yet isn't fully dead. Tanya is left to question whether further combat will either hasten the Empire's death, absentmindedly prolong it, or gear it toward a dramatic and climactic conclusion that will see everyone go down in flames.
And the deeper one sinks into THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL #9, the higher the flames of decay lick at the fuselage of the Empire's withering war machine. The author introduces numerous humorous and frustrating examples in the book's second half that readers will surely appreciate. For one, a certain maniacal fellow with the Technical Arsenal division makes a triumphant return (and once again, Tanya and the 203rd are forced to deploy insanely dangerous means to fend off their enemies, this time in the middle of southern sea lanes). Also, the eternally entertaining General von Romel, last encountered in The Saga of Tanya the Evil #3 (as the man in charge of the Empire's Southern Continent Expeditionary Corps), pops in for some hard-earned social commentary on the dangers of arrogance in politics, token diplomacy, blind nationalism, and the magnificence of the military's growing antipathy toward rational solutions.
Readers would be well served from seeing Romel gain greater influence in the future: "Give a medal to a man whose subordinates were killed by shitty politicians mishandling the situation! I'm a big fan of medals, but this one I'm sure I'll never be able to like," (Romel, page 285).
The most pressing example involves the Salamander Kampfgruppe's Captain Meybert (artillery) and First Lieutenant Tospan (infantry), who get into a major fracas with the untrained and undisciplined idiots of the southern army group (together rear-stationed at a former republic navy port). Alas, the "waste-of-oxygen officers" of the southern army group nearly doom the whole port. Meaning Meybert and Tospan must contend with the complacency of their cohorts, survive the knock-on dangers of said complacency, and then endure the consequences of their stalwart training and experience, in spite of their success. The novel thus posts: If intelligent and experienced soldiers are criminalized for doing good, while ineffective and well-worn soldiers are bestowed shiny new medals, then what value is there in fighting at all?
Lieutenant Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff is neither out of options nor is she in a rush to identify an answer that will resolve these myriad crises. Throughout the novel, the characters wrestle with a philosophy not too far removed from Goto and Arakawa's famous dialogue in Oshii's Patlabor 2, as Tanya opines, "Even the most unjust peace is surely preferable to the most just war," (page 258).
But as the war effort lingers, her options grow increasingly stark and each possible answer becomes increasingly difficult to stomach. The previous novel gently hinted at a possible future in which Tanya becomes a political figure, willingly or otherwise, and the current volume toys with the idea even more. But before that logical conclusion can come into play, Tanya must outmaneuver her colleagues' sense of resignation, her colleagues' thirst for treason, and her colleagues' feverish and compelling case that a war is only winnable if a nation invests in humanism.
February 19, 2020
這一集仍然沒出現「存在 X」。我只能說，這或許是連載小說無可避免的問題︰在開場時並延續至前幾冊中的重要元素（神與主角的互相辯駁場景），隨著故事的展開，讓作者愈來愈寫不出它的作用，因此便只能一路忽視下去了……
《幼女戰記．9》的故事，已經讓主角所屬的「帝國（影射德意志）」在高層的顢頇政策之下，即使搞到國家組織整體資源的匱乏，仍不願與交戰國議和而結束戰爭。因此主角的幾位參謀部的長官們，似乎有著打算拉下那群高層官僚發動軍事政變的打算……
這一集的主軸，是以女主角（某大叔）離開了僵持的東方前線回到本國，隨後被指派到內海（地中海）支援，讓隆梅爾的南方軍隊安全撤退回到本國。在這一段裡，那位許久不見的瘋狂科學家「修格魯」再度出場，帶著「人操魚雷︰V-2」，安排讓主角所屬的魔導師精銳部隊搭乘。由於帝國的海上軍力完全比不上「聯合王國（影射英國）」，為了護衛南方部隊渡海，因此只能讓主角諸人從潛艇出發，由海面之下偷偷地接近敵方的龐大艦隊，再由空中加以突襲。主角雖然抱怨連連，卻也順利地完成任務。
——讀到這部分，好奇查了一下，發現義大利人還真的有在兩次大戰期開發出「Maiale」這種由人力來控制的魚雷哩。至少比日本在大戰開發的自殺兵器「回天」人道多了……
這部小說讀到了這第九集，最能吸引到我這枚歐吉桑的，仍是主角對於組織團體中的「管理」方式的議論，並不時提出許多尖酸刻薄的嘲諷︰常常在閱讀中可以響起「上班族／社畜」的共鳴。至於主角能夠在戰場上一路無敵外掛大顯神威至今，反倒成了次要的情節了（先前在劇場版談過，在「影像化」的要求之下，武戲的份量不能太少，不像文字型的小說可以用長篇的角色內心獨白來鋪陳與推動故事）。
另外，雖然我不太清楚德意志第三帝國的內部政治情況，但與大日本帝國的情況相比，日本在當年可是參謀總部一路暴走、打擊文官、不斷戰到最後一兵一卒的。而在這部作品中卻反過來︰參謀本部希望快快停戰，而統治的高層文官卻不顧國力、逼著全國上下打到最後一兵一卒。非常有趣的對比。
#下一冊再沒出現我就當存在X跑去永眠不再提起了
《幼女戰記．9》的故事，已經讓主角所屬的「帝國（影射德意志）」在高層的顢頇政策之下，即使搞到國家組織整體資源的匱乏，仍不願與交戰國議和而結束戰爭。因此主角的幾位參謀部的長官們，似乎有著打算拉下那群高層官僚發動軍事政變的打算……
這一集的主軸，是以女主角（某大叔）離開了僵持的東方前線回到本國，隨後被指派到內海（地中海）支援，讓隆梅爾的南方軍隊安全撤退回到本國。在這一段裡，那位許久不見的瘋狂科學家「修格魯」再度出場，帶著「人操魚雷︰V-2」，安排讓主角所屬的魔導師精銳部隊搭乘。由於帝國的海上軍力完全比不上「聯合王國（影射英國）」，為了護衛南方部隊渡海，因此只能讓主角諸人從潛艇出發，由海面之下偷偷地接近敵方的龐大艦隊，再由空中加以突襲。主角雖然抱怨連連，卻也順利地完成任務。
——讀到這部分，好奇查了一下，發現義大利人還真的有在兩次大戰期開發出「Maiale」這種由人力來控制的魚雷哩。至少比日本在大戰開發的自殺兵器「回天」人道多了……
這部小說讀到了這第九集，最能吸引到我這枚歐吉桑的，仍是主角對於組織團體中的「管理」方式的議論，並不時提出許多尖酸刻薄的嘲諷︰常常在閱讀中可以響起「上班族／社畜」的共鳴。至於主角能夠在戰場上一路無敵外掛大顯神威至今，反倒成了次要的情節了（先前在劇場版談過，在「影像化」的要求之下，武戲的份量不能太少，不像文字型的小說可以用長篇的角色內心獨白來鋪陳與推動故事）。
另外，雖然我不太清楚德意志第三帝國的內部政治情況，但與大日本帝國的情況相比，日本在當年可是參謀總部一路暴走、打擊文官、不斷戰到最後一兵一卒的。而在這部作品中卻反過來︰參謀本部希望快快停戰，而統治的高層文官卻不顧國力、逼著全國上下打到最後一兵一卒。非常有趣的對比。
#下一冊再沒出現我就當存在X跑去永眠不再提起了
September 6, 2022
This is easily my favorite Tanya book so far!
The way Zen describes the current state of the war, both within the Empire's borders and without, is extraordinarily mesmerizing. The way The Empire is depicted as a withered state, where violence and death has become so normalized that everyone has no option but to just bare with it really struck a chord with me, it reminded me of how a similar level of violence and death has been normalized within our current society. I know that Zen was depicted a country that destroyed itself because of its obsession with victory and war, and not a country that destroyed itself because of its apathy for its own people, but it still stuck with me either way.
Zen's writing was easily at its peak here, even when he's just focused on the taste of food, to describing the emotions of the defeated people around her, Zen puts so much interesting detail into every though that goes through Tanya's head. This has always been the strong suit of this series, but it shines especially bright here.
I found every chapter extremely investing in their own way, but I particularly loved the chapter that focused on Maybert fighting off an invasion without the help of Tanya and the rest of the Kampfgruppe. I wasn't expecting to like seeing inside his head so much, yet here I am, enjoying him more than many of the other characters.
I'm excited to see what's going to happen in the next volume. It seems everything is heading towards a violent boil, and the status quo of the series is going to be irreparably changed. I'm wondering if things are going to go in the direction I'm expecting them to, or if the series is going to go in a completely different direction. Either way, let's go baby!
The way Zen describes the current state of the war, both within the Empire's borders and without, is extraordinarily mesmerizing. The way The Empire is depicted as a withered state, where violence and death has become so normalized that everyone has no option but to just bare with it really struck a chord with me, it reminded me of how a similar level of violence and death has been normalized within our current society. I know that Zen was depicted a country that destroyed itself because of its obsession with victory and war, and not a country that destroyed itself because of its apathy for its own people, but it still stuck with me either way.
Zen's writing was easily at its peak here, even when he's just focused on the taste of food, to describing the emotions of the defeated people around her, Zen puts so much interesting detail into every though that goes through Tanya's head. This has always been the strong suit of this series, but it shines especially bright here.
I found every chapter extremely investing in their own way, but I particularly loved the chapter that focused on Maybert fighting off an invasion without the help of Tanya and the rest of the Kampfgruppe. I wasn't expecting to like seeing inside his head so much, yet here I am, enjoying him more than many of the other characters.
I'm excited to see what's going to happen in the next volume. It seems everything is heading towards a violent boil, and the status quo of the series is going to be irreparably changed. I'm wondering if things are going to go in the direction I'm expecting them to, or if the series is going to go in a completely different direction. Either way, let's go baby!
February 10, 2022
This book feels like a shift from usual events, the almighty invincible Empire era is gone, it’s evident that the Empire is slowly crumbling to pieces as the resentment and anger towards the politicians by the military has grew stronger. The Eastern Front has practically fell after a lot of shortages and thin defenses. The Western Front is facing numerous problems against the marine mages.
The politicians in the Supreme Command is out of touch with the reality of the frontline itself.
General Rommel has hinted some form of military coup or takeover of political administration by the military to stop the bureaucratic nonsense.
How would the plot unfolds? Will Lieutenant Colonel Tanya remain to the principle and stay out of politics or will she join in the politics and intervene out of safety for self?
We shall see in next volume.
Those are all interesting questions.
The politicians in the Supreme Command is out of touch with the reality of the frontline itself.
General Rommel has hinted some form of military coup or takeover of political administration by the military to stop the bureaucratic nonsense.
How would the plot unfolds? Will Lieutenant Colonel Tanya remain to the principle and stay out of politics or will she join in the politics and intervene out of safety for self?
We shall see in next volume.
Those are all interesting questions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2025
In this novel we get not even a full month of story timeline. And you can feel it. The overarching storytelling is getting more and more narrowed down to individuals and their day to day meetings.
We get really well painted pictures of Lergen and Rudersdorf in this book. Their dispair and individual coping are of great importance to the story at this point. Especially in the ending chapter of this novel Lergens internal conflict and horror is very compelling and even quote-worthy.
We get really well painted pictures of Lergen and Rudersdorf in this book. Their dispair and individual coping are of great importance to the story at this point. Especially in the ending chapter of this novel Lergens internal conflict and horror is very compelling and even quote-worthy.
June 5, 2022
As the Empire's war in the East continues as a grinding Stalemate. Tanya's mag unit gets recalled from the Front for R&R. That gets sidetracks with orders to help the Afrika's corp withdrawl from North Africa. Then there's a trip through Italy. The War is not going well for the Empire there is talk of a coup in the empire. Interesting to see where the war is going to go.
January 25, 2022
Another great book!
The story looks like its on the cusp of a major shift. The empire is on the back foot, in a loosing situation. Fantastic story telling as always.
The story looks like its on the cusp of a major shift. The empire is on the back foot, in a loosing situation. Fantastic story telling as always.
May 21, 2023
One of the best volumes of the series. This is a great example of what happens when soldiers get used to their situation (and also realize that the "normal" they see is not considered normal).
December 23, 2024
Really good, one of the best in the series, all the build up from the previous books accumulates here and wow it’s really a good pay off.
Would re read. 5/5
Would re read. 5/5
December 23, 2024
Pretty decent
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews