The Battle of Saillune

スレイヤーズ [Slayers] #4

by Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi (Illustrator), Elizabeth Ellis (Translator)

No good deed goes unpunished, huh? Me and Gourry help one little orphan find her new home in Saillune City, and the next thing I know, we’re breaking and entering for the local crown prince! I mean, he is getting the short end of the stick in this whole royal succession dispute and there are assassins trying to murder him and all, but... Wait, why are these interdimensional monsters coming after ME?! I thought this was YOUR family drama!

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novel, Manga, Fiction, Humor, Adventure, Comedy

123 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 17, 1991

About the author

Hajime Kanzaka (神坂一) is a Japanese novelist and manga writer.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wait, Amelia is supposed to be America? And here I always bought the fan theory that she was a Sailor Moon parody...the things we learn from authorial afterwords, right? (I can totally see it, in a Hetalia kind of way.) In any event, whether it's nostalgia or just that these books really are good, zany fun, I find myself enjoying each volume more than the last. Goofy sword-and-sorcery fantasy stands the test of time quite well, it turns out.

[Anthonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not an easy task in this new chapter in this manga series from Lina and gourry. Zel and ameila are with them. A must read manga.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not intend to read this in one sitting, LOL but I got woken up by the storm at around 5am this morning, and I figured since I'm up, I'd read something (as I didn't read anything in the weekend), and, there you go, I read this in one go.

More Lina hijinks. Fun while it lasted. I don't remember in the anime that Lina encountered such a tough opponent. A mid-level demon indeed. I'm not sure if I misunderstood the text (and hey, it was in English!), but did her legs get cut off? But Amelia managed to mend her? I probably should go back and read that.

I think in this one book Lina explained the mechanics of the Elmekia Lance twice. So in the 4 books so far, she's explained the same spell... maybe 4 times already. I don't mind it when they discuss a spell when it's newly introduced... but being informed that the Elmekia Lance is different and targets the astral plane and blah blah blah blah soon gets old when you read it a grand total of 4 times.... twice in the same book too!

I suppose this is where to book starts to diverge from the anime? Maybe? Anyway, I hadn't watched much of the anime after Slayers Next anyway. I suppose in the upcoming books Xelloss would make an appearance then.

Fun times. Gonna continue reading that :-)

[Rafael Yamano · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a nice book. Many of the characters of the anime appear here, like Amelia, Prince Phil and Kazeil. Also, Zuuma, who only appears in Slayers Revolution, also is introduced way earlier here. The way the author took out Sylpheel from the story is kind of lazy, she just faints and is never seen again. The story is kind of getting more complex, with Lina finally realizing there's a Mazoku conspiracy against her, and signs of getting less episodic. The more interesting thing in these books is how much the author hints that Gracia (Amelia's older sister) is kind of Naga the Serpent, something that's not as clear in the anime or manga.

[Francesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quarta avventura per Lina Inverse e Gourry Gabriev

Lina e Gourry arrivano a Saillune, accompagnando Sylphiel dai suoi parenti dopo la distruzione di Sairaag e, immediatamente, si troveranno coinvolti nella lotta per la successione al trono di Saillune...

Chi sarà dietro questa congiura contro il principe Philionel? E chi è in realtà Kanzel?

In questa avventura appare, per la prima volta, uno dei personaggi più divertenti della saga: Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, principessa che si sente una paladina della giustizia!

[Kanea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Palace life isn't what it used to be!😂

Wow, so having watched the anime, I definitely had specific expectations for where this book was going to go, but what I love most about reading these is that they stand alone on their own entertainment! Different then the anime, the story I thought I knew was and felt almost entirely new! I'm so excited to read the next and Lina is a great female protagonist! The whole cast is great!

[Jose Luis Meza Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual the Slayers series deserve all the praise they get. This is another fine addition to the series as well as introducing us to another fan favorite: Amelia.

What I love about these books is that all of them can be read without reading the previous one. Of course if you ave read them it's much better, but you can enjoy all of them all the same.

[Marc Tinent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siguen las aventuras de Lina y Gourry, en este caso con un cambio: no hay tanto viaje, sino que pasan la mayor parte del libro en Saillune, rodeados de intrigas palaciegas. El libro funciona, tiene ritmo y un buen crescendo, aunque el villano es un poco meh y se queda un poco en medio de ninguna parte. Pero vamos, recomendable y a ver los siguientes!

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 More fun with Lina Inverse and Goury in Slayers Volume 4: The Battle of Saillune. Shortly after the events of volume 3 The Slayers arrive in Saillune where they are drawn into a plot of assassination and ascendance. We are finally introduced the spunky "justice" freak Amelia. She fit's in so well with the rest of our ragtag batch of heroes. We also start getting hints at a bigger bad and what's going on with the endless amount of demon characters. The villains this time around aren't great but Zuma the Assassin and Kanzel the Sorcerer are worthy adversaries.

The fun banter and battles continue in this equally fast paced volume. I am really enjoying these and am really glad J-Novel Club started publishing these again. I am hoping they continue the pace of 1 volume a month and am really hoping that they start working on Slayers Special when they finish the 17 volumes of the original series. Once I finish volume 8 I'm going to dive back into the anime. The first 8 volumes are really the only arcs the anime covered the rest is all anime original material.

Good Fun Sword and Sorcery.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe more like 3.5, but it felt good to round up. It's been quite a few years since I read the first three novels, and many more since I last watched any of the anime. This book did a good job of having a mostly contained story while starting to really ramp up the overall continuing plot. It's interesting how much more violent these books can get compared to the anime that was adapted from it, yet the novels still have a sort of "zany cartoon adventure" feel to them sometimes as well. Overall, it was fun getting back into the Slayers novels. I think I only own one more, but I definitely want to seek out vols 6-8 so I can at least read the rest of the ones that were translated.

[Jane Lebak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this because I wanted something that wouldn't demand too much attention or heartstrings. The Slayers books are just getting better the further I get into the series, and it was entertaining without draining my emotional reserve. Have asked my father to bring me the other four books next time I see him.