Light novel. Yes, light novel

Reading is nice. Absorbing. Exciting. Makes me feel that I am using my time effectively.
After 2 weeks of intensive light novel reading, I completed 4 volumes of Utsuro no Hako, Zero no Maria, 3 volumes of Sword Art Online and the whole of Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou. Thank you Baka-Tsuki and all translator for having worked to provide these for the community. (being a translator for one month I realize how time consuming, tedious and commitment-required it is. Sadly I don't process the qualities to make the cut)

It starts from a recommendation on Facebook. Utsuro no Hako that is. It has a great start, which is basically slapping incomprehensible information in my face. Before that I guess there is a nice cover. The story is basically a mystery, supernatural one, with some degree of blood and gore. Now that I think about it, the story strongly reminds me of Sharin no Kuni and G Senjou no Maou's style where there's always an unexpected twist at the end.

Of course after reading the first novel I'd expect a twist at the end of the second one, but everything turns up and down and left and right and after a while, I decided to turn off my brain while reading. Not a very exciting way, but certainly an entertaining way, as I can skip some logical and inconsistencies in the various time loops (oops I'm not supposed to spoil). In the end the four volumes make a decent stop, however still leaving plenty of room for a (coming, hopefully soon) fifth one.

After going around the few reviews available on web, I decided to follow up with Sword Art Online, as one of the blog suggests to me. It is, as described on the blog, 'cliched story and characters', with typical romance/adventure/MMORPG situations. Since I am a fan of ./Hack (I wish I can get a better grasp of the canon), I don't mind any of that, and the novel really did not let me down. (no, even without chapter 16.5, it's plenty interesting). The story is predictable, but still absorbing enough to keep me reading till the end, especially Volume 3 and 4. I was practically shivering as I read the few last chapters of Volume 4. Haven't got so excited since G Senjou no Maou. Regetfully Volume 2 is not fully translated, so I'll have to wait for later.

Lastly, the just-finished Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou. It won the Dengeki Light Novel award in 2009 (the top prize, no less), and it's one volume, fully translated. The story, pretty depressing at the beginning but began to shine more and more as it progress. Honestly I don't have much of an emotional reaction after reading it, no, not a reaction at all. Sad, I think.

That's it for the translated one. I think I'll proceed to finish the Hanbun Tsuki novel that has been sitting on my shelf for more than 2 years now. It'd certainly take a long time. A long time indeed.

On a side note. Real life. I just got my US Visa. That means all procedure cleared and I'm heading to Colgate University this August. I hope the anime community there is bustling. Maybe I'll join a fansub group, who knows?