Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 1: Heed My Call, Beast!

魔術士オーフェンはぐれ旅 [Majutsu-shi Orphen Hagure Tabi] #1

by Yoshinobu Akita, Yuuya Kusaka (Illustrator), Andrew Hodgson (Translator)

Orphen is a Sorcerer drop-out from the prestigious Tower of Fangs. His journey to save Azalie, a girl he looked up to like a sister, has brought him to the bustling city of Totokanta. Here they are reunited for the first time in five years. But what is the truth behind her monstrous transformation, and just what secrets lurk behind the Sword of Baldanders...?

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Adventure, Magic

181 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 1994

About the author

Yoshinobu Akita (秋田禎信) is a Japanese novelist who mainly writes light novels. He is a former typesetter.

Reviews

[Sean O'Hara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really clarified for me what's wrong with so many fantasy light novels. Even the good ones like Grimgar are cribbing ideas out of SAO that SAO cribbed from JRPGs that cribbed them from D&D, which stole them wholesale from Tolkien, Howard and Lieber. The bad ones -- Isekai Smartphone, let's say, or Deathmarch -- are several generations further removed, to the point that they're like a xerox of a xerox, more noise than signal.

Orphen isn't original by any stretch, but it's closer to the source. It reads like Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser done up with anime tropes, not whereas modern fantasy LNs are so diluted from the source that they're downright homeopathic. The worlds they're set in are the Disneyland version of fantasy worlds, with all character and color bleached out into a generic medievalness. The world of Orphen isn't original, but you at least feel that the streets get muddy sometimes.

[Terrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one.

Some of the biggest pros:

The artwork: It has a very classic feel to it. Detailed characters that look like they were pulled out of classic anime, like Akira or a Clamp production.

Characters: Just like the artwork, the characters feel very time and place. It was the generation of Sonic The Hedgehog, Akira, these heroes who are a bit snarky, a bit delinquent like in nature, and hang around with big groups of friends on grand adventures.

Story: The story is a meat + potatoes one-novel tale. It's got some fun twists towards the end, and some stuff that it leaves to the imagination / leaves you to discover in volume 2, but the main story is an open and shut book. I appreciate that.

Cons?

Some of the lines and conclusions were a bit strange in the prepublication. I couldn't really figure out what the twist with the quiet woman at the manor was. I thought maybe she was an illusion, or her and Claiohm were one and the same, but nope. Was it just that she liked the main character? Not much of a twist. I don't know if I missed some context there (or even a direct line I missed) or if there is more to be revealed. I kind of don't think we'll see much of those Everlasting family members throughout this story besides Claiohm.

[Sekina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be the first to admit that this isn't the kind of book since it's not in the genre I enjoy reading. The reason why I'm giving this book a try is simply because I had this book on my Bookwalker app for a long time. And the fact that the new version of the anime came out not too long ago made me wanted to give the light novel version a try.

For the most part, I decided to read the light novel because I wanted to compare it with the anime version. Strangely enough, the story started to grow on me the more I read the book.

Will I continue to read the next book in the series? Maybe. But if you're someone who is looking for a fantasy light novel that isn't isekai, this light novel is a great book to read.

[Fuu]

Orphen é de uma época em que a internet só permitia vislumbres, e a ideia que se tinha de muitas séries era formada por impressões baseadas em aberturas de anime, ilustrações de revistas e informações sortidas em sites obscuros. Muitas vezes a imagem que eu criava na minha cabeça era bem melhor que o conteúdo em si, mas, nesse caso, o livro preencheu minhas expectativas. Esse primeiro volume é divertido e possui um bom clima de aventura que me entreteve do início ao fim. Os personagens são grande parte do charme da obra, e o enredo apresenta detalhes interessantes conforme o seu desenrolar.

[Sieg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A spoiler:
The end of the story in order to face the end of the world from the threat of the Goddess, finally Cilylancelo or Orphen is forced to become a demon king to open the borders of the small god world of Elmanka who wants to survive alone, while the sacred animals fight the Goddess and close the space. The revelation of the lies of the Gods made the continent of Chiesarcima faced with great chaos, Orphen was hunted because he was a demon king or you could say he wandered.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story pretty much follows the anime. Or vice-versa. At any rate, entertaining enough, that I'll read the next one. Though I don't know if I'm going to stick out for as many volumes as there are.

[Acacia Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay. A neat story, but kind of outdated since it was written in the 90s. The characters are a bit bland stereotypes.