The Death Mage Volume 1: Light Novel

Yondome wa Iyana Shi Zokusei Majutsushi #1

by Densuke, ban! (Illustrator)

修学旅行中の事故で死亡した天宮博人は、輪廻転生を司る神ロドコルテの手違いにより、手に入れられるはずの特別な力や幸運を得る事無く第２の人生を迎えてしまう。能力も幸運も無い故に、転生先の世界『オリジン』で実験体としての人生を歩む事となった博人は、繰り返される実験の中で『オリジン』に存在しなかった【死】の属性魔術を獲得したが、十年以上の実験の末、悲劇的な最期を迎え第２の人生を終えた。次なる転生のために再びロドコルテの元に戻った博人。 だが復讐心にかられる博人を危険視したロドコルテに第３の人生においても何の力も与えられずに転生させられた博人は“４度目は嫌！”だと、莫大な魔力と前世で獲得した特殊な死霊魔術を駆使して、３度目の人生をダンピールのヴァンダルーとして生きていく。
WEB未掲載エピソード収録！

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Gods, Fiction, Animals, Japanese Literature, Action

400 pages, Paperback

Published September 27, 2022

Reviews

[Lanie Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the god Rodocolte screws up and gives Hiroto Amamiya's cheat skills to the wrong soul he is reincarnated onto the world Origin with less than nothing, except for a vast amount of magical power and a new form of magic: Death Magic. The scientists of Origin lock him up and spend twenty years of Hiroto's second life conducting inhumane experiments on him and when he finally dies a second time he vows revenge swearing to Rodocolte that if he sends the Heroes of Origin to his new world of Ramda he will kill them all. Rodocolte can't have that so the reincarnates Hiroto again with a host of curses attached to him. However, this time he reincarnates as Vandal, the beloved son of Dalshia a dark elf and a vampire, making him a Dhampir. While Dhampirs are hated by most humans in his new world Vandal seems to have his cheat codes, even if the womb he remembers his old lives and thanks to his massive magic power even as a baby Vandal and his Death Magic is nigh unstoppable, which is good for him because in fifty or so years the heroes of Origin will be coming for him.

This was so much fun! This was truly a unique take both for the Isekai genre and for Vandal's clever use of death magic.

Vandal is an interesting little character and it's difficult not to compare him to the perv MC from Mushoku Tensei because Vandal is a man who is stuck in a baby's body for all intents and purposes and while he is stuck in some situations that are very adult coded, Vandal stays respectful. To the point that he even points out to "adults" when characters are maybe crossing a line. Is this a direct response to the backlash of Mushoku Tensei? Probably not but does it seem like it? Absolutely.

Moving on, because that's absolutely not the only thing that makes Vandal amazing, actually it barely registers, it's how freaking wholesome and clever this kid is! Thanks to his previous lives and not really understanding how this new world works allows Vandal to use his Death Magic in clever new ways. He uses spirits to possess objects which as a baby allows him to do things he simply can't like cook. It goes far beyond that but I don't want to give much away here because how he uses his magic is one of the best parts of the book! The other thing that makes him just lovable is how he just really wants a family and his unwavering loyalty once he gets one. He had two just awful previous lives and all he really wants is to be happy, nothing more than that.

Side characters are great as well, Sam especially, who I am again not giving away is absolutely fantastic. His story is horrible but thanks to Vandal he and his daughters are given a second life and his dedication to his young master is about as wholesome as you can get. Even Vandal's undead army of animals is adorable, while most of his small army are animals and can't talk you still get a sense that these characters are grateful to Vandal and care about him and each other. The ghouls are the surprising side characters though, I love them! Especially Vigaro.

World building is great and we get a ton of much-needed history lessons that are absolutely essential to understand what Vandal as a Dhampir is up against. The way these lessons are imparted is in small chunks at a time though so it never feels overwhelming.


This is definitely my new favorite light novel series and I will be reading vol 2 as soon as possible! Highly recommend this for both fans of Isekai and necromancer-based stories!

[DJay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real talk, you want to talk about a guy who's had the worst luck of all time? This dude would be it, but I have to say that despite all the B.S. that's been throw his way (including being screwed over by a god......TWICE.), He still manages to come out swinging. I'm thoroughly enjoying this book about a guy who's been delt a shit hand in life, but is slowly but surely learning how to be human, which is REALLY funny considering that in his 3rd life, he's not even human. If you want a feel good story, I'd pick this up, but with that said, if you're the type that gets triggered reading about rough things, stay clear from this book. There is rape, murder, people set on fire, etc. It's not done maliciously (well, I mean to the people it is, but not to the story). I mean it's not done for shock, it fits the story. But with that said, I'm enjoying this story and after starting the second book just saw that they made a reference to sharknado. LOL.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel is a normal upbeat isekai, but the characters get tortured and are paradoxically still happy. Wouldn't recommend.

I read up to chapter 33 out of 247, which took 6 hours.

Characters: 3/5 I liked them
World: 4/5 I really liked it
Story: 1/5 I disliked it and was disappointed by it

Characters:
The characters here are the usual likable isekai characters. Everyone is upbeat and the side characters exist only to support the main character, which I am okay with. The main character has more depth than some others, with concerns for the future and care for others. Overall the characters are above average for litRPGs and xianxia, even though they are pretty bland compared to many better fantasy books.

World:
The world building here was handled very well. We are only told history and context when it will soon be relevant, which creates the unique experience of discovering the world with the main character. The world building is tight overall, and makes sense. It is high fantasy. The races and nations are interesting, and there is room for expansion since we have only heard of one continent out of possibly many.

Story:
All the good of the characters and the world is trashed by the story. The main character was tortured for 10 years. Many of the people surrounding him such as his mom, many ghouls, and others were all tortured and raped by baddies. Despite that, the mc and his entourage act like normal isekai characters, all happy and helpful to any random stranger. This inconsistence destroys the story. You can't read this as an upbeat isekai, because people are being tragically assaulted (off the pages, so this is still clean). You can't read this as a dark exploration of revenge and slaughter because every single abused character doesn't act with any hate, malice, or strangeness at all. From the setup this could have been an epic dark isekai story, with the main character being shafted by god and his 100 fellows and going on an epic quest for revenge, but it's not. He acts all happy go lucky and only mentions needing to kill his fellows in passing. This could have been an above average isekai litRPG but people get raped and murdered. You see the problem?

In conclusion, this is either a depressing happy-story, or an upbeat dark-story. Either way, it is not worth more than 6 hours.

[JestersRaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better Isekai I’ve read and while it has a lot of the tropes commonly found in Isekai (Harem, OP MC, etc) I find that it does enough to not blend into the overcrowded genre and stand on its own

Just know that this isn’t a super edgelord revenge story like redo of healer the beginning makes it like it is but it’s not this could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your preferences and what you wanted out of the story

If you want a new Isekai to read and haven’t tried this one I would suggest you give it a chance

[Rocío Vazquez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gusta que sea como un mundo de videojuego, pero como es el primer libro hay demasiada introducción que lo hace lento.
La historia en si es buena, pero me disgusta la forma de escritura (aunque puede deberse a la traducción). También siento que podrían haber explotado más algunos recursos.
También me disgustó que se usa demasiado el "un mago lo hizo" en cuanto a qué cada vez que Van necesitaba hacer algo, mágicamente aprendía la habilidad de hacer exactamente eso.

[Eldragora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, if moderately repetitive and depressing.

The main character is the epitome of a tragic character. This is explained several times with varying degrees of detail, always pertaining to the same series of events. However, aside from the first time all subsequent reminiscing of his tragic past are short and usually relevant to the events at hand or shortly to arise. Over all, it is a really good story so far with only one negligible annoyance.

[MyDoRyS · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 - Darkly funny?!? That will be my description. the only issue I had was all the parts with sex/pregnancy talk. SO weird to have a baby talking about that. The rest is pretty entertaining. Just a heads up, it is SUPER slow. So if you are looking for a lot of action, this is not the right novel for you. Oh and I also hate all the gods, I hate gods and nobles. But not too much of that other than mentioning them. Lets see what happens in the future. Onto my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!

[Astar Spades · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm starting to wonder if people are just allergic to writing isekai stories without a grown woman trying to marry or have children with a boy under 5, without the woman being treated as the creep they are. And yet another one that condones sexual assault too, by saying that the men must've enjoyed it even though they were threatened with death otherwise. It was actually a pretty good book until then, but that doesn't excuse anything.

[Cerys_Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

MCs anger was very understandable, boi was tortured for 10+ years, and he was understandably angry and revengeful.
Tho I do like that MC finally has a loving parent, and their scenes were very wholesome and sweet.
Overall, it was a good start to a series, and I like the general Idea, but the 2nd life was a dick move

[Chance · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series that’s become smash hit across the anime fandom since it first came making me read every ch of the WN and manga an now that I’ve gotten to read the light novel edition I can say it was truly great read has became setting for several new plot troupes used by later authour now to get back to read the secound book.

[Nikolai Escalona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the story, its just how it progresses that hooks me.

I love that the readers get to follow Vandalieus growth, the characters are very enjoyable (for me), and i love the fact that the magic has some science behind it.

[Yuaika Neko · Rating 4 out of 5]

podria tener una mejor redaccion

[Ahmed El-Sharawy · Rating 1 out of 5]

what a shit novel wow

[Jorge Matos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing work! I really like this story. Also i'm very surprised that the author decided to go risky with the topics how the story explore.

[Mohammad · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's got amazing world building and character. It's a must read.

[Karen Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

9.9 😭😭😭😭

[Susan Toussaint · Rating 5 out of 5]

💀💜💙💚💛💀

Wow I am in love with this book and I cannot wait to see what happens next!! What a great start to a series and I am so glad he has his undead and the ghouls.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 This was a fun isekai light novel. It still maintains all of the typical genre tropes. The OP protagonist, a varied and overly large cast, intricate magic, obligatory stats and progression system.

Vandal dies on Earth in a terrorist action. He along with everyone else killed is reincarnated into a new world. However the the gimmick this time is that the reincarnation god accidentally gives Vandal’s cheat powers and fortune to someone else leaving him with nothing. He is then reincarnated with terrible luck and fortune. Tortured and experimented on in his 2nd world “Origin” he manages to create a new type of magic. “Death” magic. His life is brief in his 2nd life as well and he’s reincarnated again. Starting his 3rd life with nothing again except his Death Magic. Vandal vows not to die again or live a shitty life.

The next gimmick to this isekai is that the majority of the novel takes place in Vandal’s third life and he’s a baby with all of his previous memories.

If you’re into isekai stories I think you’ll get a kick out of it. It’s definitely on the odd side with the MC starting as a baby. This conflicts with the occasionally scantily clad elf, ghoul, or monster girl. Rape is mentioned here but never described if that puts you off a book.

[Christopher Debono · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not unreadable but kinda clunky

I've heard a lot about this series so I was excited to read it. The artwork is great but the writing at times felt oddly clunky. I also noticed numerous typos.

I think it needed another pass by an editor and proofreader before release.

I also have concerns that no one who worked on this is credited. No translator, editor, etc.

[XZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow much more wholesome than expected 😂 Van is adorable~