What do you think?
Rate this book
女王陛下の異世界戦略 [Joou Heika no Isekai Senryaku] (Novel) #1
Her Majesty's Swarm: Volume 1
Our protagonist is a college student who enjoys playing as the evil-aligned faction Arachnea in her favorite real-time strategy game. One day, she finds herself in a world similar to the one in the game; additionally, her body is now that of a fourteen-year-old girl. While things are a bit different from how they were in the game, one element has remained the same: she is the leader of the Arachnea. The insects under her control, collectively known as the Swarm, praise her and implore her to lead them to victory.
In order to survive, she raises her Swarm and forms friendly relations with the elves of the neighboring forest. But after a slaver traveling through the forest murders one of her Swarm and the nearby kingdom's knights burn down the elven village and massacre its people, she prepares to launch her counterattacks in the name of revenge.
However, revenge is merely a pretense for attacking the countries of this world. Her command is masterful and severe, as one who has played the game in real life...
In order to survive, she raises her Swarm and forms friendly relations with the elves of the neighboring forest. But after a slaver traveling through the forest murders one of her Swarm and the nearby kingdom's knights burn down the elven village and massacre its people, she prepares to launch her counterattacks in the name of revenge.
However, revenge is merely a pretense for attacking the countries of this world. Her command is masterful and severe, as one who has played the game in real life...
207 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 7, 2018
185 people are currently reading
333 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 - 30 of 71 reviews
January 7, 2022
first of all, the premise is interesting because it's an isekai that's NOT based on a typical RPG game, and isekai is my favourite genre but it is a genre with the most overused similar plotlines ever.
it starts off interesting-with the idea of a hive mind (wherein she'll lose her mind but technically she chose to do so in a way but gain so much more understanding of the world), the hero is a villain in a different sense, the queen of low-lifes. the hive-mind consumes her extremely quickly and she quickly loses her identity and becomes a power hungry maniac.
it's all very typical but i can see how this might be popular, there's a power-hungry, brutal woman who is consumed utterly by a hive mind and she kills, but she doesn't kill innocents. i suspect that she might go down a different route soon though, depending on how the hive mind changes.
thank you netgalley for a copy of this manga
it starts off interesting-with the idea of a hive mind (wherein she'll lose her mind but technically she chose to do so in a way but gain so much more understanding of the world), the hero is a villain in a different sense, the queen of low-lifes. the hive-mind consumes her extremely quickly and she quickly loses her identity and becomes a power hungry maniac.
it's all very typical but i can see how this might be popular, there's a power-hungry, brutal woman who is consumed utterly by a hive mind and she kills, but she doesn't kill innocents. i suspect that she might go down a different route soon though, depending on how the hive mind changes.
thank you netgalley for a copy of this manga
December 30, 2023
This was a fun isekai light novel that will probably be great for anyone craving a gamelit inspired by the strategy genre, as well as anyone looking for a villain main character.
Plot - 7/10, Character - 7/10, Setting/Game Mechanics - 7/10, Writing - 7/10, Enjoyment - 10/10
The story revolves around a high school girl from Japan who wakes up in a strange world with an army of bug monsters who call her their queen. Luckily for her, these bugs are the Arachnea, the bug faction of a strategy game that probably resembles StarCraft and the Arachnea were her favorite faction to play. The only caveat is that they are an evil faction bent on dominating the world. While this may be fine in a game, the MC will have to navigate these muddy moral waters if she's to survive in this new world.
The characters are okay. They are typical for light novel characters in that they are just archetypes with various quirks rather than deep thinkers. The main character meets a handful of supporting characters, most of them bugs that belong to a collective hive mind she controls. I was here for the plot on this one. The various scenes of the MC contemplating her humanity while ordering swarms of bugs to massacre and devour humans were more lip service than any genuine introspection.
The setting was a pretty basic medieval fantasy world. There are elves in the forest, and tons of humans everywhere else. Most of the humans are "good-aligned" in game terms, but in reality are just xenophobic religious zealots. The game mechanics weren't very crunchy or stat-heavy and were often only mentioned in passing. So it's a little unfortunate that a story inspired by strategy games doesn't delve into strategy, but it still had enough nostalgia from the days of Zerg rushes for me to enjoy.
The writing was functional and clear, with minimal issues. There was a tendency for background characters to just disappear from scenes with no mention which was offputting. Now and then it felt like the translation was leaning toward the literal and maybe leaving behind some subtext, but it's hard to tell without hunting down the original.
I enjoyed this story, though. Mostly because fun and decently written stories based on strategy games don't exist. For me, this story falls short of Overlord by a noticeable margin, but completely overshadows Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra. This book gave me the experience I expected but didn't get from Mynoghra.
Some yellow flags have me cautious regarding the direction of future volumes. Still, overall this was one of the better strategy gamelits out there despite technically being light on the strategy. It was still enough to bring up fond memories of various RTS games I used to play.
Plot - 7/10, Character - 7/10, Setting/Game Mechanics - 7/10, Writing - 7/10, Enjoyment - 10/10
The story revolves around a high school girl from Japan who wakes up in a strange world with an army of bug monsters who call her their queen. Luckily for her, these bugs are the Arachnea, the bug faction of a strategy game that probably resembles StarCraft and the Arachnea were her favorite faction to play. The only caveat is that they are an evil faction bent on dominating the world. While this may be fine in a game, the MC will have to navigate these muddy moral waters if she's to survive in this new world.
The characters are okay. They are typical for light novel characters in that they are just archetypes with various quirks rather than deep thinkers. The main character meets a handful of supporting characters, most of them bugs that belong to a collective hive mind she controls. I was here for the plot on this one. The various scenes of the MC contemplating her humanity while ordering swarms of bugs to massacre and devour humans were more lip service than any genuine introspection.
The setting was a pretty basic medieval fantasy world. There are elves in the forest, and tons of humans everywhere else. Most of the humans are "good-aligned" in game terms, but in reality are just xenophobic religious zealots. The game mechanics weren't very crunchy or stat-heavy and were often only mentioned in passing. So it's a little unfortunate that a story inspired by strategy games doesn't delve into strategy, but it still had enough nostalgia from the days of Zerg rushes for me to enjoy.
The writing was functional and clear, with minimal issues. There was a tendency for background characters to just disappear from scenes with no mention which was offputting. Now and then it felt like the translation was leaning toward the literal and maybe leaving behind some subtext, but it's hard to tell without hunting down the original.
I enjoyed this story, though. Mostly because fun and decently written stories based on strategy games don't exist. For me, this story falls short of Overlord by a noticeable margin, but completely overshadows Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra. This book gave me the experience I expected but didn't get from Mynoghra.
Some yellow flags have me cautious regarding the direction of future volumes. Still, overall this was one of the better strategy gamelits out there despite technically being light on the strategy. It was still enough to bring up fond memories of various RTS games I used to play.
February 26, 2020
This reads like a female-led version of Overlord, but with a major difference: Ainz from Overlord takes this slow, testing the waters bit by bit. The protagonist of Her Majesty's Swarm, on the other hand, goes absolutely off the wall the second someone gets hurt in her name. Plus, the Arachnea are honestly scarier than the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
May 4, 2020
A Gritty and Pleasant read
A quick read, it’s certainly gore-filled. The MC is a villain and acts and thinks like a true villain. It’s good for whenever you just want to read a nice horror story.
A quick read, it’s certainly gore-filled. The MC is a villain and acts and thinks like a true villain. It’s good for whenever you just want to read a nice horror story.
January 20, 2022
Her Majesty’s Swarm Volume 1 by 616th Special Information Battalion, Eiri Iwamoto, and Akita Minamoto.
Our protagonist wakes up in a foreign land surrounded by a swarm of giant spiders!!!
As far as she can remember,, she is an eighteen-year-old college student living in Japan. Now, she is finds herself in a land that is similar to the video game she played for years and is being recognized as the Queen of the Arachnae faction she played as. Now, she must find a way to return to Japan while trying to maintain her sanity, and avoid getting eaten by her so-called subjects by leading them to victory. What victory exactly are they looking for?
I am usually not a fan of the isekai genre mostly because it is EVERYWHERE and a lot of the times, I find that the main protagonist is overpowered. Her Majesty’s Swarm is much the same, at first glance. However, as the story progressed, clearly there is a good plot, conflict, and I am hoping a good character development to look forward to. I also find this manga to be unique as the main character is a female versus the more popular gender counterpart. I liked that even though she is female, the authors did not portray her to be overly feminine or weaker than male protagonist. She is also not shown as meek or quiet but instead very driven, focused, and logical. This is definitely on the darker genre and i am hoping it remains that way. It adds more uniqueness to the story.
I can’t wait to read more and learn more of her journey. There’s definitely a lot unanswered and it could go so many ways.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, the authors, and Kodansha publishing for the opportunity to read this manga for free in exchange for an honest review!
Our protagonist wakes up in a foreign land surrounded by a swarm of giant spiders!!!
As far as she can remember,, she is an eighteen-year-old college student living in Japan. Now, she is finds herself in a land that is similar to the video game she played for years and is being recognized as the Queen of the Arachnae faction she played as. Now, she must find a way to return to Japan while trying to maintain her sanity, and avoid getting eaten by her so-called subjects by leading them to victory. What victory exactly are they looking for?
I am usually not a fan of the isekai genre mostly because it is EVERYWHERE and a lot of the times, I find that the main protagonist is overpowered. Her Majesty’s Swarm is much the same, at first glance. However, as the story progressed, clearly there is a good plot, conflict, and I am hoping a good character development to look forward to. I also find this manga to be unique as the main character is a female versus the more popular gender counterpart. I liked that even though she is female, the authors did not portray her to be overly feminine or weaker than male protagonist. She is also not shown as meek or quiet but instead very driven, focused, and logical. This is definitely on the darker genre and i am hoping it remains that way. It adds more uniqueness to the story.
I can’t wait to read more and learn more of her journey. There’s definitely a lot unanswered and it could go so many ways.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, the authors, and Kodansha publishing for the opportunity to read this manga for free in exchange for an honest review!
February 6, 2022
This book was a tad graphic with the violence, but I absolutely loved the storyline and the MC and I really love spiders, so this is a win for me! Definitely one I recommend and I am looking forward to continuing with this series!
4, if not for the graphic violence (I have a weak stomach) it would be the full amount, stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
4, if not for the graphic violence (I have a weak stomach) it would be the full amount, stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2020
Most isekai novels tend to be based off of RPGs, so it's nice to come across one that is based on another kind of game. In this case a RTS game, which is a awesome as not only does it have RPG elements, but also presents a different set of tactics and situations from your standard RPG.
There are a lot of things in this novel that I found interesting and kept me glued to the pages. The creatures under the protagonist's control felt very much like the Zerg from Starcraft, which was both a good and bad thing. Good in that they were relatable to anyone who has ever played Starcraft, but also bad as it made it hard to accept the creatures as unique creatures. I kept having Zerglings appear in my mind rather than the spider/scorpion creatures that they were.
I really enjoyed how the novel felt like a RTS game in the later chapters, and it makes me curious as to how things will progress in the following novels. There are some elements you don't see in a RPG that only really come to play in an RTS, like the sheer mass of troops and various strategies. The interactions with the Elves and the war with the one kingdom was extremely satisfying, if ultimately far too short in the end. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the war itself, though in the end it makes sense that the element of surprise would have worked in the protagonist's favor.
And as much as I would hate to nitpick, some of the units in the protagonist's army felt very out of place for the type of army they were. When one thinks of unending army of killer spider/scorpions, the warmachines felt VERY out of place and seemed like they belonged in an undead army instead. Instead, they should have had living warmachines or giant bugs that fulfilled the same roll.
Yet in the end, I really enjoyed this book. There were some amazingly done OP moments within the story and I was quite satisfied with a few of the revenge elements. Overall, if you are a fan of isekai books, but want something different, this is one for you!
There are a lot of things in this novel that I found interesting and kept me glued to the pages. The creatures under the protagonist's control felt very much like the Zerg from Starcraft, which was both a good and bad thing. Good in that they were relatable to anyone who has ever played Starcraft, but also bad as it made it hard to accept the creatures as unique creatures. I kept having Zerglings appear in my mind rather than the spider/scorpion creatures that they were.
I really enjoyed how the novel felt like a RTS game in the later chapters, and it makes me curious as to how things will progress in the following novels. There are some elements you don't see in a RPG that only really come to play in an RTS, like the sheer mass of troops and various strategies. The interactions with the Elves and the war with the one kingdom was extremely satisfying, if ultimately far too short in the end. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the war itself, though in the end it makes sense that the element of surprise would have worked in the protagonist's favor.
And as much as I would hate to nitpick, some of the units in the protagonist's army felt very out of place for the type of army they were. When one thinks of unending army of killer spider/scorpions, the warmachines felt VERY out of place and seemed like they belonged in an undead army instead. Instead, they should have had living warmachines or giant bugs that fulfilled the same roll.
Yet in the end, I really enjoyed this book. There were some amazingly done OP moments within the story and I was quite satisfied with a few of the revenge elements. Overall, if you are a fan of isekai books, but want something different, this is one for you!
September 22, 2020
I would honestly give this book a 2.3 if I could but, since I can’t, I’ll round down to a 2.
I finished it, it’s enjoyable but lackluster, and even then, the enjoyability goes up to about 80% of the book as then, after, we have pages and pages of text saying, and saying and saying, while trying to set things up for the next volume.
And that goes for the entire story.
(1) Characters do not exist. Aside from the main character, everyone else is introduced and developed through backstories that are just pages of text. They have little distinct reality to them.
(2) The plot is facilitated more through saying than showing. This book is an extreme, opposite, example of “Show don’t tell” as it throws that out of the window.
(3) If it isn’t the main character speaking, dialogues are atrocious. My god these people do not sound very real. Dialogue is also only ever used to spit out facts about the plot and world, nothing else save for one or two specific scenes.
(4) The entire world is built through pages and pages of text of saying and talking that are neither enjoyable nor engaging.
Should you read this book? Honestly, it’s so lackluster that I can’t bring myself to recommend it. It feels like a kid that managed to halfway finish one creative writing class wrote this.
I had hopes for this story, and it had sat on my phone for awhile, shame I won’t be continuing the series, however.
I finished it, it’s enjoyable but lackluster, and even then, the enjoyability goes up to about 80% of the book as then, after, we have pages and pages of text saying, and saying and saying, while trying to set things up for the next volume.
And that goes for the entire story.
(1) Characters do not exist. Aside from the main character, everyone else is introduced and developed through backstories that are just pages of text. They have little distinct reality to them.
(2) The plot is facilitated more through saying than showing. This book is an extreme, opposite, example of “Show don’t tell” as it throws that out of the window.
(3) If it isn’t the main character speaking, dialogues are atrocious. My god these people do not sound very real. Dialogue is also only ever used to spit out facts about the plot and world, nothing else save for one or two specific scenes.
(4) The entire world is built through pages and pages of text of saying and talking that are neither enjoyable nor engaging.
Should you read this book? Honestly, it’s so lackluster that I can’t bring myself to recommend it. It feels like a kid that managed to halfway finish one creative writing class wrote this.
I had hopes for this story, and it had sat on my phone for awhile, shame I won’t be continuing the series, however.
December 24, 2022
Thank you to netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the e-arc!
So this girl, mushi-nee, who was a college student finds herself transported into her favorite game, and she’s the arachnea queen with a swarm of spiders to do her bidding.
So I’m not super fond of isekai or of spiders but if I overlook those parts it wasn’t bad. The Mushi-nee was giving me yumeko vibes and I was kinda here for it. The mushi-nee started off with the idea of being this huge mass murdered but slowly changed into a vigilante and I kinda liked that aspect. I also enjoyed her character arc of hating the spiders to caring about them. I also really liked where the plot was generally going and it wasn’t different than I expected. Overall it was bad but it just wasn’t for me personally.
So this girl, mushi-nee, who was a college student finds herself transported into her favorite game, and she’s the arachnea queen with a swarm of spiders to do her bidding.
So I’m not super fond of isekai or of spiders but if I overlook those parts it wasn’t bad. The Mushi-nee was giving me yumeko vibes and I was kinda here for it. The mushi-nee started off with the idea of being this huge mass murdered but slowly changed into a vigilante and I kinda liked that aspect. I also enjoyed her character arc of hating the spiders to caring about them. I also really liked where the plot was generally going and it wasn’t different than I expected. Overall it was bad but it just wasn’t for me personally.
June 29, 2021
Girl wakes up in another world as the queen of an insectoid faction of a strategy computer game she loves. After settling down, neighbouring human soldiers anger her and the conquest/destruction starts.
The concept is intriguing, the story decent. Still, there is very little true character interaction, mostly internal monologuing, and the battles straightforward and boring. Sometimes the point of view switches to the opposing humans, but by a lack of focus that fails to garner sympathy. There is a hint of more going on near the end, but that is for me too little, too late.
All in all, I found the story a bit lacking. I need a bit more character interaction and story development.
The concept is intriguing, the story decent. Still, there is very little true character interaction, mostly internal monologuing, and the battles straightforward and boring. Sometimes the point of view switches to the opposing humans, but by a lack of focus that fails to garner sympathy. There is a hint of more going on near the end, but that is for me too little, too late.
All in all, I found the story a bit lacking. I need a bit more character interaction and story development.
February 3, 2020
This was a horrible book. It feels more like a rough draft that you'd find on a WN site than anything else. I mean it has one thing going for it. It's very straight forward. That's about it. You know EXACTLY what's going to happen once you start reading, and once you get to the end of the book, the "surprise" is very lackluster. If you value your time, skip this book.
January 30, 2020
Her Majesty's Swarm is an Isekai that sees a strategy gamer and her party (a mass of insects) transfer into a new world that has eerie similarities to her game world but of course feels more real. Here, the NPCs are embroiled in actual political machinations and racism, and our queen is smack in the middle of it all, finding herself initially allied to the lowest race / empire in the land, a small village of elves that worship tree spirits (everyone else worships the "God of Light" and thinks them heathens; when things go wrong, they get blamed).
A morally gray story, our hero pretty swiftly takes command of her troops and decides to live out the fantasy of being a military authority and queen like in the game. Initially a protector, she soon becomes the predator that her swarm so craves. When this change happens, she says it's likely a product of the "collective consciousness", her losing her personality and humanity to the bloodthirsty intentions of beasts. Feels like an excuse to me, and especially so when you see other human like units keep a will and personality of their own.
The enemies in the story are initially purely evil men in slavers and such, so as the reader you're definitely rooting for the swarm. Soon though, the slavers get local government and military involved by lodging complaints about the resistance in the woods, and so a force is sent out to wipe out the elves and whoever else is attacking them in the woods. After this point, the story shifts to be less "survival" based and more military based, our girl deciding to attack the 4 cornerstones of the world, starting with Maluk, the country that attacked her elf friends. All of the countries involved have their hangups that are surely to paint them in the negative (Maluk's aggression + racism towards elves, the Popedom of Franz's corrupt priests and Cardinals, Kingdom of Schraught's manipulation of territory through cashflow, the Empire's desire for domination of all land), but there are innocents living in these kingdoms too like women and children that the swarm does not stop to contemplate what to do with them, and just wipes them out. Again, very morally gray territory, but the author isn't doing this willy-nilly, he knows it's messed up.
If you aren't comfortable with creepy crawlies, stay away. These guys have scythe like appendages on their 8 lanky legs and use them to do all manner of violent things to the humans they attack. There are digger swarms that come up through the floorboards to attack like a horror movie monster. "Meatballs", the product of rolling up carcasses into a neat ball for transportation, is also a thing... Yeah. The swarm actually needs to consume humans to level up. In addition, a small paristic unit can burrow its way into the brain of a human Target and assume use of their body (all the while, the target is fully conscious). Yeah, these aren't the helpful, fly killing spiders, these are bloodthirsty beasts whose only will is that of their queen through the collective consciousness and their insatiable appetite for destruction (which may not be sated until they take over the entire continent).
Ultimately enjoyed it. I did read it in two halves, pausing to work on some other expiring books I had, so my experience with it was a little uneven. Next novel, I'll try to read straight through. There's a lot of names thrown at you in the final chapter as they do a zoom through of the different nation states and their leaders. Most of the book before that point was either active (swarm attacks) or contemplative (the queen thinking of her role and consumption by the consciousness), besides the few visits to the city of Maluk for trade / barter of food and clothing. I'll be very curious to see what happens going forward as there is an element introduced towards the end that hints at manipulation of our hero, and a secret about what's going on with this world. I hope the author is able to see the story through to that moment.
A morally gray story, our hero pretty swiftly takes command of her troops and decides to live out the fantasy of being a military authority and queen like in the game. Initially a protector, she soon becomes the predator that her swarm so craves. When this change happens, she says it's likely a product of the "collective consciousness", her losing her personality and humanity to the bloodthirsty intentions of beasts. Feels like an excuse to me, and especially so when you see other human like units keep a will and personality of their own.
The enemies in the story are initially purely evil men in slavers and such, so as the reader you're definitely rooting for the swarm. Soon though, the slavers get local government and military involved by lodging complaints about the resistance in the woods, and so a force is sent out to wipe out the elves and whoever else is attacking them in the woods. After this point, the story shifts to be less "survival" based and more military based, our girl deciding to attack the 4 cornerstones of the world, starting with Maluk, the country that attacked her elf friends. All of the countries involved have their hangups that are surely to paint them in the negative (Maluk's aggression + racism towards elves, the Popedom of Franz's corrupt priests and Cardinals, Kingdom of Schraught's manipulation of territory through cashflow, the Empire's desire for domination of all land), but there are innocents living in these kingdoms too like women and children that the swarm does not stop to contemplate what to do with them, and just wipes them out. Again, very morally gray territory, but the author isn't doing this willy-nilly, he knows it's messed up.
If you aren't comfortable with creepy crawlies, stay away. These guys have scythe like appendages on their 8 lanky legs and use them to do all manner of violent things to the humans they attack. There are digger swarms that come up through the floorboards to attack like a horror movie monster. "Meatballs", the product of rolling up carcasses into a neat ball for transportation, is also a thing... Yeah. The swarm actually needs to consume humans to level up. In addition, a small paristic unit can burrow its way into the brain of a human Target and assume use of their body (all the while, the target is fully conscious). Yeah, these aren't the helpful, fly killing spiders, these are bloodthirsty beasts whose only will is that of their queen through the collective consciousness and their insatiable appetite for destruction (which may not be sated until they take over the entire continent).
Ultimately enjoyed it. I did read it in two halves, pausing to work on some other expiring books I had, so my experience with it was a little uneven. Next novel, I'll try to read straight through. There's a lot of names thrown at you in the final chapter as they do a zoom through of the different nation states and their leaders. Most of the book before that point was either active (swarm attacks) or contemplative (the queen thinking of her role and consumption by the consciousness), besides the few visits to the city of Maluk for trade / barter of food and clothing. I'll be very curious to see what happens going forward as there is an element introduced towards the end that hints at manipulation of our hero, and a secret about what's going on with this world. I hope the author is able to see the story through to that moment.
February 3, 2021
When a college student finds herself now playing her favorite realtime strategy game in real life, she doesn't take long to adapt. Even though her current situation is as Queen of the evil Arachnea swarm. For a while, things are almost peaceful . . . but the Swarm hungers for victory, and soon enough they get an excuse to fight.
This was interesting, though it felt a bit off in a few places. I think it would have worked better to have the Queen stop pretending she's afraid the insects she commands will turn on her, because it would make more sense that she's afraid of letting them down. Otherwise it seems contradictory to have her lose her human morality so easily but still behave like she's not part of her own faction.
Anyone familiar with the phrase "zerg rush" can probably predict how this volume will go, though seeing how the strategies actually played out was nice. Despite pitting giant insects against regular humans, the humans didn't come out too badly. At least they managed to kill a few . . .
There are the usual hints of gods and grander schemes. The politics lends a nice perspective on the whole world, as a game of nations would feel a bit lopsided if we only saw her point of view, and it's clear that this initial campaign has made EVERY nation take notice of the Swarm. The bits with regular humans didn't work as well for me, because it's obvious how their stories will end.
Overall this is a different take on an isekai, though whether you'll like this particular protagonist will depend on how much her evil bothers you. The battles seem like they'll get more interesting in future volumes, when more unit types will come into play. I rate this book Recommended.
See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....
This was interesting, though it felt a bit off in a few places. I think it would have worked better to have the Queen stop pretending she's afraid the insects she commands will turn on her, because it would make more sense that she's afraid of letting them down. Otherwise it seems contradictory to have her lose her human morality so easily but still behave like she's not part of her own faction.
Anyone familiar with the phrase "zerg rush" can probably predict how this volume will go, though seeing how the strategies actually played out was nice. Despite pitting giant insects against regular humans, the humans didn't come out too badly. At least they managed to kill a few . . .
There are the usual hints of gods and grander schemes. The politics lends a nice perspective on the whole world, as a game of nations would feel a bit lopsided if we only saw her point of view, and it's clear that this initial campaign has made EVERY nation take notice of the Swarm. The bits with regular humans didn't work as well for me, because it's obvious how their stories will end.
Overall this is a different take on an isekai, though whether you'll like this particular protagonist will depend on how much her evil bothers you. The battles seem like they'll get more interesting in future volumes, when more unit types will come into play. I rate this book Recommended.
See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....
December 24, 2023
I purchased off Amazon and this review is found there.
Completed after months since a purchase as busy with my own fiction.
My reading was delayed months whilst I penned Tensura fanfiction.
A writer I have perspective unlike non writers.
Like she said, worse slaughterer.
Youtube recommended a vid about female manga MC's. Of the list this be my favorite no matter the youtuber put this last.
Impartial, absolute death.
Read the manga and I was hooked, pleasant to know LN's the basis of the comic. Could not wait for the next chapter release. Made my purchase before the comic ended its run.
Testimonial of desolation.
Onto the review. Terse writing this book. The amazon description gives the gist and I found a decent ride. The terseness style greater than the Vampire Hunter D books I own and lesser than Samurai Jack.
Breaker of souls.
Harm the ones queen cares for and join the ranks of the ravaged. No limit to their cruelty. Comparing to the manga, which u can read free and not pay, the comic flows better, like a mysterious girl who gets more screen time and I got to thinking absent from the LN, then she appeared.
Terror of death.
Adapting a work can end in desecration. Exception with the comic here. Only way to continue her blood soaked march is my path. Brought all FOUR books. My first in years and bought a bunch more later on, plus full on novels. Dark action fantasy is my tonic. Volume 1 did what a series should - grab the reader. I began part 2 today.
Now this for Goodreads. Finished part 2 yesterday and felt wanted more action. My review should be up on Amazon soon. Am reading volume 3 from this morning.
Completed after months since a purchase as busy with my own fiction.
My reading was delayed months whilst I penned Tensura fanfiction.
A writer I have perspective unlike non writers.
Like she said, worse slaughterer.
Youtube recommended a vid about female manga MC's. Of the list this be my favorite no matter the youtuber put this last.
Impartial, absolute death.
Read the manga and I was hooked, pleasant to know LN's the basis of the comic. Could not wait for the next chapter release. Made my purchase before the comic ended its run.
Testimonial of desolation.
Onto the review. Terse writing this book. The amazon description gives the gist and I found a decent ride. The terseness style greater than the Vampire Hunter D books I own and lesser than Samurai Jack.
Breaker of souls.
Harm the ones queen cares for and join the ranks of the ravaged. No limit to their cruelty. Comparing to the manga, which u can read free and not pay, the comic flows better, like a mysterious girl who gets more screen time and I got to thinking absent from the LN, then she appeared.
Terror of death.
Adapting a work can end in desecration. Exception with the comic here. Only way to continue her blood soaked march is my path. Brought all FOUR books. My first in years and bought a bunch more later on, plus full on novels. Dark action fantasy is my tonic. Volume 1 did what a series should - grab the reader. I began part 2 today.
Now this for Goodreads. Finished part 2 yesterday and felt wanted more action. My review should be up on Amazon soon. Am reading volume 3 from this morning.
February 2, 2023
Like, one and a half stars I guess. It really is just a ham fisted attempt to rewrite Overlord but this time with the Zerg from Starcraft.
It tries to be edgy and dark so often it feels like a 14 year old boy trying to seem cool by making dead baby jokes. The main character will say again and again and again how she is killing elderly, pregnant women and infants and doesn't care. She really wants you to know she doesn't care. But the fact the protag is evil doesn't seem to bring anything to the actual table. The same problem that Overlord has where the protag is just surrounded by yes men, ends up with just a cast of boring 2D characters. No one has depth and any actual character depth is actively pushed against.
Even if you do think a character totally-not bragging about how they feel nothing killing babies, is cool. You'll still be let down by how badly the actual book is written. Sometimes a paragraph will literally just repeat the previous paragraph but with a few words in different order. That's to say nothing of how often points are repeated by the protag, like watching the YuGiOH anime where every step needs to be rexplained.
The actual video game part of this isekai is the worst I've seen implemented as well. It will just say they haven't collected enough of a resource to unlock a building, so they can't build it. What does that even mean when you're in a living breathing world. It's so ham-fisted.
It's so bad I will probably even read Vol 2 because I hate myself and have no respect for my own time.
It tries to be edgy and dark so often it feels like a 14 year old boy trying to seem cool by making dead baby jokes. The main character will say again and again and again how she is killing elderly, pregnant women and infants and doesn't care. She really wants you to know she doesn't care. But the fact the protag is evil doesn't seem to bring anything to the actual table. The same problem that Overlord has where the protag is just surrounded by yes men, ends up with just a cast of boring 2D characters. No one has depth and any actual character depth is actively pushed against.
Even if you do think a character totally-not bragging about how they feel nothing killing babies, is cool. You'll still be let down by how badly the actual book is written. Sometimes a paragraph will literally just repeat the previous paragraph but with a few words in different order. That's to say nothing of how often points are repeated by the protag, like watching the YuGiOH anime where every step needs to be rexplained.
The actual video game part of this isekai is the worst I've seen implemented as well. It will just say they haven't collected enough of a resource to unlock a building, so they can't build it. What does that even mean when you're in a living breathing world. It's so ham-fisted.
It's so bad I will probably even read Vol 2 because I hate myself and have no respect for my own time.
March 6, 2024
Our protagonist is an eighteen-year-old Japanese recluse who spends her days playing a strategy game set in a fantasy world. She’s particularly fond of the evil faction, one focused on “zerg rushing” with a horde of spiderlike monsters. Anyway, one random day, she either dies or just arbitrarily gets transported to a fantasy world (all these isekai stories are blending together).
She finds herself as the real-life queen of a horde of spiderlike monsters, the same kind that she commanded to victory in the game. They operate as a hive mind, and she quickly realizes that with herself set at the middle of that web of consciousnesses, she may end up dissolving into the collective.
After an encounter with some local elves, she discovers that this world has never seen monsters like the ones she commands: she hasn’t only been transported to a fantasy world, but to one where her own game faction doesn’t belong.
What should be her goal in this fantasy world, where she has no business existing? She figures that she may as well focus on the same goal she pursued in the game: absolute victory. But is such a victory palatable when she’s going to look into the eyes of the people she’s supposed to slaughter?
[Check out the rest of this review on my personal page, where it looks better]
She finds herself as the real-life queen of a horde of spiderlike monsters, the same kind that she commanded to victory in the game. They operate as a hive mind, and she quickly realizes that with herself set at the middle of that web of consciousnesses, she may end up dissolving into the collective.
After an encounter with some local elves, she discovers that this world has never seen monsters like the ones she commands: she hasn’t only been transported to a fantasy world, but to one where her own game faction doesn’t belong.
What should be her goal in this fantasy world, where she has no business existing? She figures that she may as well focus on the same goal she pursued in the game: absolute victory. But is such a victory palatable when she’s going to look into the eyes of the people she’s supposed to slaughter?
[Check out the rest of this review on my personal page, where it looks better]
January 19, 2022
Basically, this is what would happen if you woke up as Kerrigan in a world that had never heard of The Zerg.
I'm going to call the main character Mushi-Oneesan because I don't think they ever actually give her a name beyond that. Sorry, if I'm wrong and just missed it.
Mushi-Oneesan wakes up in a world similar to but not quite that of a popular MMO she plays. At first, she is terrified but quickly decides to take on the role offered to her by her new minions, the Archnea, as Queen of the Swarm, the monarch who will lead them hive to victory.
The expected beats the story hits are: how will Mushi-Oneesan return to the real world, is the collective mind of the hive changing her as a person, and where/how did she get here. Honestly, those beats don't interest me as much as how Mushi attempts to take a species designed by the game developers to be antagonistic and hated, and use them ethically in this new world. She is basically switching their alignment from Chaotic Evil to Chaotic Neutral, and that is delightful and fascinating. Will the swarm blindly follow her or will they push back? How will the other races react to this change? How will this affect whatever residual metanarrative from the game transferred over to this new world? These are the questions that kept me interested and are what will keep me buying the series.
I'm going to call the main character Mushi-Oneesan because I don't think they ever actually give her a name beyond that. Sorry, if I'm wrong and just missed it.
Mushi-Oneesan wakes up in a world similar to but not quite that of a popular MMO she plays. At first, she is terrified but quickly decides to take on the role offered to her by her new minions, the Archnea, as Queen of the Swarm, the monarch who will lead them hive to victory.
The expected beats the story hits are: how will Mushi-Oneesan return to the real world, is the collective mind of the hive changing her as a person, and where/how did she get here. Honestly, those beats don't interest me as much as how Mushi attempts to take a species designed by the game developers to be antagonistic and hated, and use them ethically in this new world. She is basically switching their alignment from Chaotic Evil to Chaotic Neutral, and that is delightful and fascinating. Will the swarm blindly follow her or will they push back? How will the other races react to this change? How will this affect whatever residual metanarrative from the game transferred over to this new world? These are the questions that kept me interested and are what will keep me buying the series.
March 12, 2022
4.2/5
🌱Overview:
~ Isekai story where transported human girl is now Queen of the Arachneas (so psycho spider/scorpions yay)
~ A balancing act where she must protect her swarm and her individuality
~ Great art (spiders and other creatures are distinctive and well done)
~ I appreciate how quick this girl is, very little time wasting in realising what NEEDS to be done
~ Cute girls 💁
We don’t know her name, but Mushi (game handle) has been transported into what appears to be the world of the game she has played for years. She is disoriented and faced with a mega swarm of insects she has only seen on her screen. As she learns about the new world she is trapped in, she must fight the hive mind to preserve her individuality, while protecting and providing her swarm with the blood and slaughter they desire before they turn on her and feast on her body (They seem nice though).
I can’t wait to read the other volumes! 😍 I think it will only get better.
✨Give it a read.
🌱The Meh
~ The beginning is a bit jerky and happens very quickly (semi-fast forwarded almost)
~ Humans being humans 🙄
~ Limited explanation on how this magical transfer happened (should be clear in other volumes)
♡🌱 But that’s just me ;)
—
🎁 Thank you @netgalley and @kodanshamanga for the gift. (Such a cute round-up at the end)
🌱Overview:
~ Isekai story where transported human girl is now Queen of the Arachneas (so psycho spider/scorpions yay)
~ A balancing act where she must protect her swarm and her individuality
~ Great art (spiders and other creatures are distinctive and well done)
~ I appreciate how quick this girl is, very little time wasting in realising what NEEDS to be done
~ Cute girls 💁
We don’t know her name, but Mushi (game handle) has been transported into what appears to be the world of the game she has played for years. She is disoriented and faced with a mega swarm of insects she has only seen on her screen. As she learns about the new world she is trapped in, she must fight the hive mind to preserve her individuality, while protecting and providing her swarm with the blood and slaughter they desire before they turn on her and feast on her body (They seem nice though).
I can’t wait to read the other volumes! 😍 I think it will only get better.
✨Give it a read.
🌱The Meh
~ The beginning is a bit jerky and happens very quickly (semi-fast forwarded almost)
~ Humans being humans 🙄
~ Limited explanation on how this magical transfer happened (should be clear in other volumes)
♡🌱 But that’s just me ;)
—
🎁 Thank you @netgalley and @kodanshamanga for the gift. (Such a cute round-up at the end)
April 8, 2023
4/10.
Beginning: Good start, interesting premise and MC. MC is shown as decently intelligent and cunning, as well as cruel: which are all good signs in 'villain mc' lightnovels.
Middle: MC's personality is completely lost. Constant reference to the "swarm affecting her mind and merging her thoughts with it." Not a bad premise, but makes the MC boring and daft. The constant reference to it is annoying, since it's something that shouldn't be directly stated more than once, but rather subtly referred to. Extremely unnecessary gore too. Not in the "ew blood and guts gross!" sense. but rather the "why did I learn about this mother and her two children for 4 pages, just to have them be torn to bits and gruesomely devoured by the MC's swarm." It was heartbreaking, and left a sour feeling in my gut.
Ending: Nothing too much of note. Helped recover the abysmal rating I was going to give this story. Usually I'm hyped to read how the MC will conquer the world and show no mercy to their enemies, but this feels like pointless slaughter. If the human kingdom is bad, tell me how they are bad. I'm more-so rooting for whoever's going to fucking merc this MC.
I'll probably read volume 2 sometime, since villainous MC novels are hard to come by, but I'm in no rush.
Beginning: Good start, interesting premise and MC. MC is shown as decently intelligent and cunning, as well as cruel: which are all good signs in 'villain mc' lightnovels.
Middle: MC's personality is completely lost. Constant reference to the "swarm affecting her mind and merging her thoughts with it." Not a bad premise, but makes the MC boring and daft. The constant reference to it is annoying, since it's something that shouldn't be directly stated more than once, but rather subtly referred to. Extremely unnecessary gore too. Not in the "ew blood and guts gross!" sense. but rather the "why did I learn about this mother and her two children for 4 pages, just to have them be torn to bits and gruesomely devoured by the MC's swarm." It was heartbreaking, and left a sour feeling in my gut.
Ending: Nothing too much of note. Helped recover the abysmal rating I was going to give this story. Usually I'm hyped to read how the MC will conquer the world and show no mercy to their enemies, but this feels like pointless slaughter. If the human kingdom is bad, tell me how they are bad. I'm more-so rooting for whoever's going to fucking merc this MC.
I'll probably read volume 2 sometime, since villainous MC novels are hard to come by, but I'm in no rush.
January 28, 2020
Kinda good. The book reads like a very good at starcraft 2 girl got put into star craft 2 under the swam race. The book in short is she is brought to the starcraft 2 like world then goes about to send out her scouts to find anyone. She thinks she is not the first one brought there due to what is already built. She forms a protection forming thing with the elves when she sees though their collective concessions that human slavers are trying to abduct a elf girl. She has the humans killed then uses one of their bodies to go into a town to get more meat later one she will over run that town with shear numbers in a "swam rush".
Knowing how starcraft 2 works and anything like that is not needed nor will it add anything to the enjoyment of the book. If anything you will be second guessing her choices to not advance quicker. As it is not Starcraft 2 they did take a few things and change their names but not their function as their function is almost universal through out all RTSes.
Most of the book is detailing battles. So if you are not into the set up of a battle or the quickness of the blood and gore this book is not for you.
Knowing how starcraft 2 works and anything like that is not needed nor will it add anything to the enjoyment of the book. If anything you will be second guessing her choices to not advance quicker. As it is not Starcraft 2 they did take a few things and change their names but not their function as their function is almost universal through out all RTSes.
Most of the book is detailing battles. So if you are not into the set up of a battle or the quickness of the blood and gore this book is not for you.
January 23, 2020
Starts out as one thing, ends as another
The story begins as a seeming deconstruction of an "always evil" fantasy species, with the protagonist engaging in trade and diplomacy. Then about a third of the way through that same protagonist decides to engage in widespread genocide, often described in graphic and bloody detail. As a result I found the story incredibly distasteful and would not recommend it.
From a technical standpoint, two things stand out. One, the primary protagonists are very clearly based on the Zerg from the Starcraft video games, but in a fantasy setting. Common Starcraft strategy terms like "early rush" are used frequently. Two, during the early part of the story the author falls back on the common trope of having slavers and organised crime come into conflict with the protagonist in order to give them an acceptable target. Whether either if those things bother you is up to you.
The story begins as a seeming deconstruction of an "always evil" fantasy species, with the protagonist engaging in trade and diplomacy. Then about a third of the way through that same protagonist decides to engage in widespread genocide, often described in graphic and bloody detail. As a result I found the story incredibly distasteful and would not recommend it.
From a technical standpoint, two things stand out. One, the primary protagonists are very clearly based on the Zerg from the Starcraft video games, but in a fantasy setting. Common Starcraft strategy terms like "early rush" are used frequently. Two, during the early part of the story the author falls back on the common trope of having slavers and organised crime come into conflict with the protagonist in order to give them an acceptable target. Whether either if those things bother you is up to you.
June 5, 2021
Crazy start
Let me start off by saying, I love me an antihero. They're prickly, sometimes selfish, but tends to end up doing the right thing. You know what I love more than an antihero? A villainous protagonist. And that's what we get here.
Our mc awakens in a world where her favorite units to use in a game she used to play are real and looking to her as their Queen. What follows is the story of this Queen embarking on a journey that is full of blood, gore and death. And above all, victory. That is, after all, what she promised she would bring to her followers: Victory.
I'd definitely recommend this one to those who like an mc who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, but be warned, this is a pretty dark story with a lot of violence. But hey, that's right up my alley. I'll be picking up books 2 & 3 soon.
Let me start off by saying, I love me an antihero. They're prickly, sometimes selfish, but tends to end up doing the right thing. You know what I love more than an antihero? A villainous protagonist. And that's what we get here.
Our mc awakens in a world where her favorite units to use in a game she used to play are real and looking to her as their Queen. What follows is the story of this Queen embarking on a journey that is full of blood, gore and death. And above all, victory. That is, after all, what she promised she would bring to her followers: Victory.
I'd definitely recommend this one to those who like an mc who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, but be warned, this is a pretty dark story with a lot of violence. But hey, that's right up my alley. I'll be picking up books 2 & 3 soon.
January 20, 2022
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
4/5 stars
This manga follows a girl who is transported into the world of the game she was playing and now has to deal with the responsibilities and trials of being the queen of the spiders/other creepy crawlies faction. However, this world that she's in is not the same as the one in the game so that brings a whole new set of issues.
Her Majesty's Swarm was way more gory and grotesque than I expected it to me. I thought that it would fall a bit more on the lines of So What I'm A Spider, but I think this has more of a Goblin Slayer kind of vibe. The art is very detailed and definitely is not one to shy away from showing decapitated forms. I would say to proceed with caution, but so far it's a good story and has presented a lot of questions for the protagonist to deal with.
4/5 stars
This manga follows a girl who is transported into the world of the game she was playing and now has to deal with the responsibilities and trials of being the queen of the spiders/other creepy crawlies faction. However, this world that she's in is not the same as the one in the game so that brings a whole new set of issues.
Her Majesty's Swarm was way more gory and grotesque than I expected it to me. I thought that it would fall a bit more on the lines of So What I'm A Spider, but I think this has more of a Goblin Slayer kind of vibe. The art is very detailed and definitely is not one to shy away from showing decapitated forms. I would say to proceed with caution, but so far it's a good story and has presented a lot of questions for the protagonist to deal with.
February 3, 2022
Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of this manga.
5 STAR READ.
I loved this manga. As someone who has spent a LOT of time playing WoW, I have definitely wondered what it would be like to be transported into that world and "play" from the inside.
This story follows Grevillea, as she wakes up and finds herself queen of the Arachnea. A faction from the game she has spent hundreds of hours playing.
She has to learn about the world first hand, and discover if she is truly in the game, or another world, or has gone mad. I loved the concept throughout the book of the hive mind.
This book does have violence and gore. I think the way it was incorporated was integral to the story and our protagonist brings in talks of ethics with each fight.
Can't wait to read the next volumes!
5 STAR READ.
I loved this manga. As someone who has spent a LOT of time playing WoW, I have definitely wondered what it would be like to be transported into that world and "play" from the inside.
This story follows Grevillea, as she wakes up and finds herself queen of the Arachnea. A faction from the game she has spent hundreds of hours playing.
She has to learn about the world first hand, and discover if she is truly in the game, or another world, or has gone mad. I loved the concept throughout the book of the hive mind.
This book does have violence and gore. I think the way it was incorporated was integral to the story and our protagonist brings in talks of ethics with each fight.
Can't wait to read the next volumes!
January 11, 2022
Rating: 5 leaves out of 5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Genre: Fantasy/Military
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yes
Want to thank the publisher and Netgalley first for letting me read this manga. I haven't really read much war/military manga but I have read a good few of people going to their favorite books or games. So when I saw this I was really excited to request it. I wasn't disappointed. I was left wanted to read more. The only thing I had a slight problem with was the cover. It was very busy and all over the place.
Also I suggest a 16+ audience. It can be gore-ish at times.
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Genre: Fantasy/Military
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yes
Want to thank the publisher and Netgalley first for letting me read this manga. I haven't really read much war/military manga but I have read a good few of people going to their favorite books or games. So when I saw this I was really excited to request it. I wasn't disappointed. I was left wanted to read more. The only thing I had a slight problem with was the cover. It was very busy and all over the place.
Also I suggest a 16+ audience. It can be gore-ish at times.
January 20, 2022
I received an e-arc of this from netgalley for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I really liked the idea and plot behind this, the story starts by introducing the MC who was a gamer in the real world. She devoted all her time to building her swarm. Suddenly she wakes up and a spider is in her face! This is where the story starts off and by golly the story gets bloody and gore packed fast!
The plot flowed a little choppy but overall story was interesting. The graphics and aet were very nice and I enjoyed the style in which it was produced.
Will definitely have to pick up Volume 2!
I really liked the idea and plot behind this, the story starts by introducing the MC who was a gamer in the real world. She devoted all her time to building her swarm. Suddenly she wakes up and a spider is in her face! This is where the story starts off and by golly the story gets bloody and gore packed fast!
The plot flowed a little choppy but overall story was interesting. The graphics and aet were very nice and I enjoyed the style in which it was produced.
Will definitely have to pick up Volume 2!
March 25, 2022
This is basically for people who want to read a simpler, faster-paced Overlord. There's no need to remember names of important people from different factions/countries, since they'll all die. There's no need to remember the strength/weaknesses of the various countries/factions, since you know they won't stand a chance anyway. ...to be fair that last point might not always be valid, since this is only the first volume, but the only country that got subjugated in this volume was laughably easy.
It's an entertaining read, even if it lacks depth because the main character basically faced no challenge whatsoever.
It's an entertaining read, even if it lacks depth because the main character basically faced no challenge whatsoever.
January 16, 2021
I really like it.
I like how the MC gives no mercy to take action for what she believes in, and admits that it’s not going to be justice. I am excited to see the world building that the author has going, and I find it funny how most introduced characters don’t really matter s they will eventually be destroyed by the Arachnae one way or another. I also can’t wait to see if the MC will continue to become one with the Arachnae or stay as an individual like she hopes to.
I see a lot of potential in this series, and I hope for the best in volume 2.
I like how the MC gives no mercy to take action for what she believes in, and admits that it’s not going to be justice. I am excited to see the world building that the author has going, and I find it funny how most introduced characters don’t really matter s they will eventually be destroyed by the Arachnae one way or another. I also can’t wait to see if the MC will continue to become one with the Arachnae or stay as an individual like she hopes to.
I see a lot of potential in this series, and I hope for the best in volume 2.
February 6, 2021
This book has a ton of grotesque insect-like creatures, picturesque descriptions of people of all ages getting ripped apart in brutal ways, and one of the few main characters that doesn't cower in a corner for a month after killing someone. It is somewhat similar to overlord, but more brutal and indescriminate in every way, shape and form. All in all, it's a great read if one does not mind a villain main character. Oh, and the gore of course. As the first book contains a lot of world building, now that the world is built I am very much looking forward to the next books in the series.
January 18, 2022
A video game player nicknamed as Mushi-nee, finds herself into a world where she finds huge monster-size spiders which she used to lead even in the game. She gradually finds that she is sucked into a land named Arachnea. The huge monster like spiders call her as queen. She choose to become their queen and lead the troop to their goal.
The background build is quite interesting and dark as our protagonist's character development is focused in this volume and it's definitely a treat to read.
The background build is quite interesting and dark as our protagonist's character development is focused in this volume and it's definitely a treat to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews