Status Updates From ソードアート・オンライン9: アリシゼーション・ビギニ...

The adventure begins!

PS: Did Reki hint in Afterword that Eugeo is really Asuna? How can that be? But Eugeo certainly demonstrates the former Flash's sword skills.

Gets better and better and harder and harder to put down. Hope to finish the book today.

Too much wheelspinning and technobabble...

Back to 2026--when this novel's main action unfolds. Sinon sadly bears no resemblance to her GGO character, despite frequent references back to the Phantom Bullet arc. Long and drawn-out stage setting scene in the Dicey Cafe. Where was ramblin' Reki's editor to trim the fat off this bloated Boston-baked-beans chapter?

Prologue ends with Alice taken by the Integrity Knight of the Axiom Church. Still trying to figure out whether this is an MMORPG or some alternate universe. The Kirito of the story bears no resemblance to our Kirito. Compelling reading.

What's going on? Kirito is a 10-year-old kid sawing down a tree with another kid (Eugeo ie Yu-Gi-Oh). An eleven-year-old girl named Alice leads them to the ice cave of the End Mountains where they find a dragon's frosty skeleton... Getting good, but definitely NOT what I was expecting. Is this an VRMMORPG? Where's Asuna and Yui?

“Oh, really? Who was it who happily said she liked to check the monitor when she had a moment to spare?” he prodded. Asuna’s cheeks went just a bit red.
“I don’t know…it just calms me down, I guess. The thought that I’m seeing your heart beating just…sends me on a little trip, I guess…”