Trembling Into the Blue

Full Metal Panic! Light Novel #3

by Shouji Gatou, Shikidouji (Illustrator), Elizabeth Ellis (Translator)

Kaname is in the doldrums: There's just one week until the end of summer vacation, and she hasn't done anything interesting! Fortunately, Sousuke is here to provide a little adventure, by offering her a trip to Merida Island. But what starts for Kaname as a simple trip to learn more about the mystery surrounding her quickly snowballs into a firefight in a chemical weapons facility, a reunion with a mortal enemy, and a battle for control of a runaway submarine! However things turn out, at least she can't claim that her summer was uneventful...

Genres: Light Novel, Science Fiction, Manga, Romance, Japan, Fiction, Audiobook

243 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 31, 2000

About the author

Shoji Gatoh ( 賀東招二), born on July 11, 1971, is a Japanese author from Shiga Prefecture, Japan. He is best known for the creation of the Full Metal Panic! series that included light novels, manga and anime. He is not only an author but also an anime scenarist, for example "The Day of Sagittarius" of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and three episodes of Lucky Star.

Reviews

[hotsake (André Troesch)]

The book took a little while to get going and you can’t start the series here, but if you already know and like the characters than this is a solid, fun read.

[Cai]

4.8 stars.

I think the plot of this volume is what I clearly remember from watching the anime. I loved reading about it and how it captured the urgency of specific scenes. This volume also laid out more of the plot - answered some questions, raised others.

And although we still get snippets of the love story, the tone of this volume was more serious and there were a lot of thrilling sequences. Tessa was awesome here and I liked reading about Kaname's first venture into the world of the Whispered (well, maybe not the first if the Sunan incident counts but you know what I mean).

I know the first season of the anime covered until this volume so now I'm debating whether I should rewatch it or just finish all the light novels first and binge everything.

Still hoping for a season 5.

[Chee Sheng]

After the first 2 novels, this would be the third book that is based on the main storyline. As mentioned earlier, each novel actually introduces a bit more in-depth information of the key components that builds up the finale of this series. And this book would be covering the mercenaries and the submarine and also a bit more information about our female protagonist...

[Patrice]

A fast read, but the novel gave much greater insight into the psychology of the villains in this storyline, allowing me to appreciate it more fully. It also provides a more comprehensive explanation of the Whispered than the anime does, helping me to better understand the alternate version of reality in which these events take place.

[Lauren Priest]

3rd Times the Charm

Stayed up way too late reading this one. But really the 3rd time is the charm. Sousuke and Kaname are finally starting to understand one another. The story was so great I couldn't put my book (kindle) down. So worth it.

[Tyas]

Some odd translation choices, I think (keeping Japanese honorifics when the characters are supposed to speak in English, for instance...), but overall it is another enjoyable book in the series.

[Anthony Wendel]

This series entertains everytime you return to it. This installment is where things start to showcase where the plot shows a lot of growth for both Sousuke and Chidori. The comedy is top notch and the action leaves you on edge.

[Josh]

Another highly enjoyable read from Shouji Gatou. Into the Blue is likely the final translation of the Full Metal Panic series TokyoPop is going to release and it is a fine one.
This time the action takes place solely aboard the advanced submarine Tuatha de Danaan. The first two books contained an excellent balance of comedy and action. In the third installment we're presented with nonstop action/drama, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. There are many moments where Gatou tries to insert humor, but it all comes off flat and unrealistic in terms of dialogue. That is probably the downfall of this novel; dialogue. Everything was just a bit forced, but let's remember that this IS translated from Japanese. So it should be expected that something would be lost along the way.
Still, I loved this book, though not as much as the first two. And I do recommend it if you want to finish out the novels. But to complete the overall story, we'll have to start investing in manga and anime.

[Mark]

This is one of my favourite light novel series and this volume is pretty great. I love that they start off with some light antics between Sosuke and Chidori and then get incredibly tense.

Additionally, one thing I really appreciate in these books is that even though you know things won’t go TOO wrong, the author is terribly good at giving the illusion that they might, which is quite the feat in any ongoing series. There are some pretty bleak moments, none lasting terribly long, and a great villain, so the climax feels particularly satisfying.

They definitely have Tessa come across better in this one than the second volume too.

[Brian]

This entry in the FMP series was a little slower than books 1 and 2, but it was still highly enjoyable. This series is consistent in its ability to tell fun, fast paced, action packed stories. Volume 3 definitely focused more on intrigue and deception rather than out-and-out action. This book spends a lot of time on the Tuatha de Danann which had me looking up military tech jargon constantly. Such a cool ship! We also get a peek into the command structure of Mithril which is cool. And of course there is the obligatory mech fight at the end. A solid book in an overall solid series, FMP never disappoints!

[M.R. Bowers]

Astonishingly good. Like if you took a Tom Clancy novel and replaced the racism and misogyny with a romantic comedy. Much better, frankly, than the anime adaptation (tho the show the next novel was based on is EXCELLENT, so we'll see if that trend continues). The translation is smooth and readable and lively. I'm honestly surprised by how much I'm enjoying this series.

[[boredom.is.overrated]]

This one is even better than the last! Each book seems to be more intricate and more personal than the last. I wonder if the Japanese original is the same way? (..or maybe the translation is getting better?) It's unfortunate there's only one more book currently translated to English! :/

[WinterBat]

A return to amped up adventure form, but holy crap with the military techno-babble