Lloyd Belladonna ist als echtes Landei in dem kleinen und friedlichen Dorf Konron aufgewachsen, träumt aber schon immer davon, ein großer Held zu werden, der aufregende Abenteuer besteht. In seinem Dorf wohnt eine mächtige Hexe, die sich Llyods Traum annimmt und ihn zur Zauberin des Ostens in die Stadt schickt, die ihm dabei helfen soll, ein Held zu werden.
Bald stellt sich heraus, dass Lloyd längst nicht so schwach ist, wie er bislang dachte. Er stammt nämlich von den alten Helden ab, die einst die Welt vor dem Bösen retteten und sich danach in Konron zur Ruhe setzten …
Lloyd Belladonna was raised in a village filled with super strong God-like heroes. By the standards of the villagers, he is weak. Lloyd Belladonna is an idiot who doesn't know that he is comparing himself to super strong people and genuinely believes himself to be weak. He decides to go into the outside world and join the army.
The key to the story is to somehow have Lloyd continue to think he is weak while accomplishing miracles. Sorry, the story just doesn't hold together. The only way to sell this plot line is to have Lloyd be the dumbest, most clueless person ever. If he is that stupid, it undermines that whole ultra-powerful thing...
2.5 /5 stars The first half was okay the second half got weird. Left off on a cliffhanger. That was the only reason I even picked up the second book in this series.
Lloyd Belladonna is finally achieving his dream of leaving his small village and going to the city to be a soldier. He wants to be something other than the weakest person around. But this meek and gentle boy has no idea his standards of "strong" are nonsense to the average citizen . . .
I first found out about this through the manga, and unfortunately I think that's the better presentation of this story. The prose in the prologue is particularly choppy, with the narrator interjecting parenthetical comments every few lines, and although it does get better in the first chapter, it's still only serviceable at best.
The story is entertaining, though. Lloyd has grown up in a village of former heroes, at the very edge of the world where the strongest monsters lurk. He can't even do basic chores because even something like cutting wood or catching fish involves a fight with your life on the line (the bit where he insists he'll be fine because fish in the capital have no horns or fangs says it all, really). So when Lloyd sees a twelve-foot locust, his reaction is "oh, there's a bug" and squashes it, when everyone around him is screaming in terror.
In terms of characters, only Lloyd, Marie, and Chrome get much development. Marie is running from who she used to be, and trying to untangle the plots that might destroy the country. Lloyd drops into her life, and slowly everything she thought was impossible works out. And it's her determination to protect him and keep her promise to his village chief that forces her into a hard choice.
The others are more comic relief at this point. Selen's tendency to write her own romance with Lloyd can be amusing, but also feels a bit overplayed. Riho is more there to give reactions to the insanity surrounding her. And so on.
Overall I like the story, although it may come off better in the manga (or potentially the upcoming anime next year), where the bits of awkward prose won't get in the way. I rate this book Recommended.
Favorite quote: “He’s a former royal guard. Now he runs a cafeteria for the cadets: The kind of place where the portions are huge, the price is right, and the flavor is questionable at best.” “He had one job! He’s failing at the single most important part.” “See, he insists if it tastes too good, it’ll ruin them for field rations."
Maybe it’s because all the locust slapping reminds me of One-Punch Man, but I can’t deny there’s a kernel of good story in this. Shame it’s buried under characters that could have been interesting (a cursed noblewoman that worked herself to the bone trying to free herself, only to become a fawning yandere) or are just creepy and annoying from the start (village chief that wants you to know both she’s over a century old while perving on a teenage AND looks like a middle schooler). Cherry on top is getting reminded of Iron Fist. If you want a fantasy light-novel where the character is OP but overly cautious watch Cautious hero (can’t speak on the quality of the actual novels) or watch/read Overlord.
Pretty funny parody ish light novel overall. I laughed a lot at the misunderstandings and particularly enjoyed Selen and Riho and their interactions with Lloyd. Alka was humorous too, and I liked Allan's character development to someone a bit more noble, choosing to help Lloyd over helping himself. I think it was a good first volume, but I also am not sure I'll continue. The whole premise of a village near the end of the world and a weak kid from there being overpowered is funny, but I'm not sure if the humor will be maintained if I kept reading since it won't be as fresh and might get old.
Still I liked it and was a fun series. I plan to check out the anime adaptation and possibly continue after that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is a classic, lighthearted story meant to make you laugh and enjoy the ride more so then it is to have you reeling over the plot or characters. I don’t like the weird “loli grandma” thing, but it does play on tropes so I guess it’s okay.
I give it 3 stars because it’s a good, average quick read. If you want a more critical approach, 2 stars would be more fair - the lack of plot and believable characters is the main deduction, even though that’s kind of the point of a story like this.
I recommend this book if you’re familiar with anime/isekai tropes and want an awkward laugh and a decently good time. Took me around 4 hours from start to finish, so I think it’s a solid day/weekend read if you have time to kill and want a lighthearted vibe.
Having recently discovered light novels, I have always enjoyed delving deeper into the stories of the mangas I so thoroughly enjoy. Usually the light novels ad increased context, and deeper character developement... Not here though. I feel like the manga captured all of what the LN author was trying to convey, which really speaks volumes about the manga adaptation, but also leaves me a little disappointed in the lack of world, and character development here.
The story is fun, and engaging, but seems shallow. Hopefully future installments do a better job of developing the world, and the characters in it.
The author presents a rather convoluted, confusing fantasy novel series. It plays on the premise that people from the country (country bumpkin/yokel) do not have street smarts/ common sense because they have lived a slow life in the countryside (moves like molasses, 'til the cows come home, etc.) Main character, Lloyd is slow, so much so, maybe the author gave him a type of autism, apparently, Lloyd is not aware of his surroundings, the people and what they say around him, etc. The author is trying to make everything funny, a kind of parody and in my opinion failing miserably. Maybe the author thinks that the target audience to this light novel series is in elementary school? Maybe it would be funny for people that have very low emotional intelligence and are incredibly shy and introverted? So Lloyd is incredibly Over-Powered and lucky. Finds princesses that are lost, removes curses without even trying, etc. This fantasy novel series has been made into an anime. In the illustrations and the anime versions Lloyd uses hair clips that are used more by little girls. The thing is the author doesn't really explain that. It is weird.
It's also interesting to me how in female-oriented harem, the guys are all super respectful, but in male-oriented harem, the women are all sexually aggressive. (If we take the base stereotype, that is. Not true of all harem and reverse harem stories, obviously.)
This was a fun read. There are certainly things about this book that I did not enjoy, but there were more elements that I did enjoy. The humor is very well done. Lloyd is so wholesome! The plot is simplistic and the author's style doesn't always hit the mark for me. That being said, the world they are weaving slowly comes together over the course of the book with the climax supplanting my expectations. If you are looking for a fantasy novel with good humor, then I highly recommend giving this a chance.
If you watched the anime that is sourced by this book, it's like you literally get an anime episode or 2 in a book. It's simplistic and direct, as if it's made to be adapted. If you watched the anime and were told to write a book of what you just watched, you'll get this light novel
It's 3 stars because I question if it's worth reading this series if you've watched the anime. There is very little added context or lore
Maybe that'll change with future entries in the series once it leaves the realm of what the anime covered
I had blast reading this, it was so funny to me, I laughed a couple of times throughout my read.
I love how sweet Lloyd and just how unbelievably naive he is about his strength and that those "bugs" were monsters xD
Alka isn't exactly a fave of mine and she tends to boarder on creepy at times for me, but that's the point, ig, she's my least favorite from this series.
Marie is my current favorite next to Riho with Selen coming in third (though just like Alka Selen needs to chill tfd.)
The 2 exetremes in my mind did not mesh well in my mind. The 2 exetrmes of someone thinking how strong stuff is around the "last dungeon" and at a normal town that is like the hub for tradingg would be the same when they aren't at all. So even though this book is in the genre that is to my tastes this one just isn't.
A fun, slapstick kind of story. I wasn’t expecting such a focus on comedic shticks, but it wasn’t a bad thing. Just surprising. There’s such a focus on the characters around Lloyd instead of Lloyd himself, which I was a bit disappointed by. I wanted to see more of him in the middle of things and all of the weird misunderstandings.
The author or translator adds their own comments in to the book (LOL), the names of the people are terrible, Rhivoflavon for example. It had a great idea and totally failed at it
Nicely written book, lot of fun and hilarious moments. With a silly story but quite enjoyable moments and scenes. The characters have cool personalities and their dialogues are great. Eager to see what the author will bring next.
Enjoyable to read and understand that things are not as they seem. The enjoyable fact of the misadventure of Loyd is enjoyable by itself, but add in some love sick female characters and then things get worrisome quickly.
Warum sind die Charaktere manchmal so unfassbar dumm??? Hat aber gegen Ende noch richtig an Fahrt aufgenommen, und ich freue mich auf den nächsten Band.