What do you think?
Rate this book
ダンジョンに出会いを求めるのは間違っているだろうか外伝 ソード・オラトリア (Light Novels) #1
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria Light Novels, Vol. 1
Aiz Wallenstein, the Sword Princess, is known as one of the most powerful warriors from one of the most powerful groups in the city of Orario: Loki Familia.
With them, she ventures into the deepest parts of the labyrinthine Dungeon beneath the city, stalking the monstrous denizens that lurk there and vanquishing them with the blazing light of her sword. But when she meets a certain white-haired boy, the encounter will change both of them forever...
With them, she ventures into the deepest parts of the labyrinthine Dungeon beneath the city, stalking the monstrous denizens that lurk there and vanquishing them with the blazing light of her sword. But when she meets a certain white-haired boy, the encounter will change both of them forever...
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 2014
99 people are currently reading
519 people want to read
About the author
Fujino Omori
160 books230 followersOOMORI Fujino
Name (in native language): 大森藤ノ
Associated Names:
OHMORI Fujino
OMORI Fujino
ŌMORI Fujino
Name (in native language): 大森藤ノ
Associated Names:
OHMORI Fujino
OMORI Fujino
ŌMORI Fujino
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 18, 2017
There was a little bit too much action, especially at the beginning. However this book offers some interesting insights into Aiz's thoughts, which had me wondering after watching DanMachi. The writing itself is pretty poor, and not because it's a translation. There are misspellings, grammatical issues, and the overall narrative isn't very descriptive of the characters senses other than site. Of course, I have to remember that the sound effects are written out almost as dialogue.
The story itself isn't so bad though. It's Aiz's Wallenstein's point of view as paralleled with Bell Cranell's, which if you like that, you should like this.
The story itself isn't so bad though. It's Aiz's Wallenstein's point of view as paralleled with Bell Cranell's, which if you like that, you should like this.
April 4, 2018
By the time you get this deep in a series, you know if you like it or not. As it happens, I do. This spin-off of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon features the sword princess Eis Wallenstein front and center, which is fun and appreciated.
May 28, 2019
Watched the amine, read the manga and now got my hands on the light novel. Each has their merit. I feel there is a bit more depth into the characters in the light novel, as to be expected since you can't always show what their thoughts are on screen. Which is better is subjective. If you have seen the show or read the manga and want some more -- going the light novel route is certainly worth the effort. If you're starting out -- watch or read the original first Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Manga, Vol. 1 or Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Light Novels, Vol. 1. This really is a side story where you learn more about Aiz and the Loki familia, but being familiar with the world first is a good idea. If you're on the fence -- as much as I liked it (and will read more) if you've seen the show and/or read the manga you're probably okay.
Verdict: Start with the original series (Anime, manga or LN). Then do this one (anime, manga or LN). If you have read the manga or seen the anime -- this isn't a lot different so read it in addition if you're a big fan or just want to spend some more time with Aiz and friends.
Verdict: Start with the original series (Anime, manga or LN). Then do this one (anime, manga or LN). If you have read the manga or seen the anime -- this isn't a lot different so read it in addition if you're a big fan or just want to spend some more time with Aiz and friends.
July 5, 2018
After some hesitation I finally picked up this novel, and I don't regret one bit of it.
Side stories like this can go two ways: ruining the original by association, or making the original shine even brighter. This was definitely the later.
This series is mainly from the heroine Aiz's view, and gives a whole different dimension to the series. It's not like we haven't read from her perspective in the original. But what makes this series amazing is reading from her perspective during the key moments between her and Bell, plus some hidden jems that you never get from Bell's perspective. That's what truly made this book shine for me.
Filed with action, this book is a must for those who enjoy the original series. You won't be disappointed.
Side stories like this can go two ways: ruining the original by association, or making the original shine even brighter. This was definitely the later.
This series is mainly from the heroine Aiz's view, and gives a whole different dimension to the series. It's not like we haven't read from her perspective in the original. But what makes this series amazing is reading from her perspective during the key moments between her and Bell, plus some hidden jems that you never get from Bell's perspective. That's what truly made this book shine for me.
Filed with action, this book is a must for those who enjoy the original series. You won't be disappointed.
May 26, 2025
Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon – Sword Oratoria – volume 1 (i.e. Danmachi other side)
This is an interesting story because of its double perspective, and by that I don’t mean that it has two POV characters. No, it’s a more meta thing.
Sword Oratorial is a spin-off from the main series, covering similar events from the perspective of the Loki Familia instead of the Hestia Family. What makes this so interesting is that we can now get a completely different view of the same society, which is totally valid in its own right.
With some spin-offs, they can’t stand on their own. They need the appeal of their main series to pull readers, who can then compare the two. Not here. This story is a fully self-sustaining action-adventure narrative. Bell doesn’t even enter the narrative until more than halfway through the book, at the tail end of one of Loki Familia’s delves into the Dungeon. Even then, it is only briefly. What happens before then?
In-media res. The author immediately drops the reader into a conflict on the 49th floor. Yeah, 4-9, and that it not even their goal floor. For contrast, Bell is too green an adventurer to go to the /6th floor/. This is a serious delve carried out by the most powerful familia. We get to see mass combat against mobs, a mystery of the lower levels, and a solo boss fight by the Sword Princess herself. It really puts into perspective the difference between the two familias, and underscores how distant Aiz seems to Bell. At the same time, once could remove that perspective and still get hooked solely by Loki Famila.
By their quirks
By their skills
By their adventures.
And by the unusual story structure.
The adventure I just described concludes by the mid-point of the volume. In D&D terms, they have some downtime afterward, and spend some of it selling loot and going shopping. It is a narrative lull that works wonderfully for character development, world-building, and a little little-hearted fun before the next main event.
Trickster Eric Novels gives “Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon – Sword Oratoria – volume” an A+
This is an interesting story because of its double perspective, and by that I don’t mean that it has two POV characters. No, it’s a more meta thing.
Sword Oratorial is a spin-off from the main series, covering similar events from the perspective of the Loki Familia instead of the Hestia Family. What makes this so interesting is that we can now get a completely different view of the same society, which is totally valid in its own right.
With some spin-offs, they can’t stand on their own. They need the appeal of their main series to pull readers, who can then compare the two. Not here. This story is a fully self-sustaining action-adventure narrative. Bell doesn’t even enter the narrative until more than halfway through the book, at the tail end of one of Loki Familia’s delves into the Dungeon. Even then, it is only briefly. What happens before then?
In-media res. The author immediately drops the reader into a conflict on the 49th floor. Yeah, 4-9, and that it not even their goal floor. For contrast, Bell is too green an adventurer to go to the /6th floor/. This is a serious delve carried out by the most powerful familia. We get to see mass combat against mobs, a mystery of the lower levels, and a solo boss fight by the Sword Princess herself. It really puts into perspective the difference between the two familias, and underscores how distant Aiz seems to Bell. At the same time, once could remove that perspective and still get hooked solely by Loki Famila.
By their quirks
By their skills
By their adventures.
And by the unusual story structure.
The adventure I just described concludes by the mid-point of the volume. In D&D terms, they have some downtime afterward, and spend some of it selling loot and going shopping. It is a narrative lull that works wonderfully for character development, world-building, and a little little-hearted fun before the next main event.
Trickster Eric Novels gives “Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon – Sword Oratoria – volume” an A+
August 7, 2019
Boring as all fuck. 30% of the book was fighting caterpillars. That's it. Then of course there's the pornservice with the characters jiggling everywhere and thighs flashing even though right after it's stated that armor is having holes in it. Hrmm.. good enough for women, good enough for men.
Overall just fucking boring. Looking at the future covers, we can see that Aiz needs protecting by a maaaan (boy really) even though it stated multiple times that she's super uber powerful and is the only one that can save the day. Also monster that look like human women for no other reason that this book is for incels.
Overall just fucking boring. Looking at the future covers, we can see that Aiz needs protecting by a maaaan (boy really) even though it stated multiple times that she's super uber powerful and is the only one that can save the day. Also monster that look like human women for no other reason that this book is for incels.
September 17, 2017
I enjoyed the story, as it gave more of an insight into Aiz, however there were some areas where the story didn’t flow as well as the original series. I am not sure if this is because yen press cheaper out on the translator or because this is an early piece of writing compared to the other book 9 in the original series. Other-all the story was good, hoping the others flow better, but there is always a bit of difficulty with translated books.
December 3, 2016
Read to the current 29th chapter.
I have to say I actually like this more than the original series, as, like Zombie Powder, it starts off with a strong hero rather than what now feels like a cliched weak protagonist building his or her strength at a ridiculous rate. And I've always been interested in the inner workings of the Loki Familia.
I have to say I actually like this more than the original series, as, like Zombie Powder, it starts off with a strong hero rather than what now feels like a cliched weak protagonist building his or her strength at a ridiculous rate. And I've always been interested in the inner workings of the Loki Familia.
May 3, 2018
Not as good
I really hope that this branch in the series improves because the Bell side is a great read. Unfortunately, while the overall story is good, the main character falls flat and it feels like she is just drug along from scene to scene as a place holder and a reference point to Bell rather than someone who has her own stories to tell.
I really hope that this branch in the series improves because the Bell side is a great read. Unfortunately, while the overall story is good, the main character falls flat and it feels like she is just drug along from scene to scene as a place holder and a reference point to Bell rather than someone who has her own stories to tell.
April 22, 2017
I really enjoyed the new perspective that this book takes; giving you a familiar event and showing a new side to it. I'm looking forward to more volumes in this side story as hopefully we get to learn more and more about the past of not only Aiz but the series itself as well...
Highly Recommend
Highly Recommend
May 7, 2017
I couldn't finish this... A lot of spelling errors and over explanations makes the whole thing sound like a middle school student wrote it. I blame translation problems and hope a manga version comes out because I love the characters. Still has great pictures though.
October 13, 2018
Quite enjoyable; even moreso than the main series. Aiz and Loki Familia are more interesting to me and I like that it lines up well with the main series, running parallel. It had it's slow moments but was mostly entertaining.
April 5, 2019
Kenki Unleashed
While this volume retreads some familiar ground covered in the main series, it still serves purpose in fleshing those events out while simultaneously giving insight into the thoughts and motivations of the ever aloof Aiz.
While this volume retreads some familiar ground covered in the main series, it still serves purpose in fleshing those events out while simultaneously giving insight into the thoughts and motivations of the ever aloof Aiz.
October 16, 2023
I really like getting to see the other perspective of another familia. Tione and Tiona are my faves so I love how much time they are featured. Maybe not the most descriptive writing, but I’m already immersed in the world and the characters due to the anime, so it hasn’t been a problem for me.
September 14, 2017
Great sidestory.
The story is well narrated, the characters are captivating and as a sidestory is very interesting. Great work, and a must read if you like the original story.
The story is well narrated, the characters are captivating and as a sidestory is very interesting. Great work, and a must read if you like the original story.
March 13, 2018
Haven’t read it yet
September 4, 2018
Incredible. I watched the Danmachi anime and I loved the concept but hated the main familia. Sword Oratoria brings out that incredible concept, but with the better and stronger characters.
April 1, 2020
Nicely paced and a fun read.
January 22, 2024
Good action scenes; however, I’m more inclined to read the story from Bell’s point of view. A little too ‘girly’ at times.
March 16, 2017
Interesting, but doesn't develop Aiz's character much. An introduction to the Loki Familia
September 13, 2020
I picked this book up because I was doing some research on light novels, and read it intermittently over the past several months. Finally I decided that I'd had it out from the library long enough and it was time to plow through to the end.
The setup rather reminds me of the old Moria and Angband ASCII-graphics dungeon crawl games I used to play in the 1990's. A dungeon of multiple levels which your character descends, fighting monsters, finding treasures, gaining experience points and leveling up stats until they're ready to fight the Big Bad at the bottom. Those games were single-player and thus a solo adventure, while this novel involves teams known as familia, each sponsored by a god who has descended from the upper world to play in the lives of mortals.
Aiz Wallenstein is a female knight, who looks like a waif (although this may just be manga-style art conventions -- even male heroes are always portrayed as much slimmer and less bulked than they would be in Western art) but wields a sword of incredible power, presumably because of magic and the favor of the god of their familia, Loki (who is portrayed as female in this light novel, although Loki was definitely male in Norse mythology).
Everything changes when monsters from much lower levels suddenly start forcing their way to the higher levels, putting inexperienced adventurers at extraordinary risk. Aiz leads the charge to stop these monsters before they cause a slaughter, and in the process her sword is destroyed.
The rest of this light novel, the first of a series, is all about Aiz and her familia as they try to find out what's going on, and of course have all kinds of interpersonal drama. It falls firmly into the gamelit subgenre, but in a way that reads more like a sendup of gaming, and particularly the dungeon-crawl adventure, rather than a serious fantasy game novelization.
The setup rather reminds me of the old Moria and Angband ASCII-graphics dungeon crawl games I used to play in the 1990's. A dungeon of multiple levels which your character descends, fighting monsters, finding treasures, gaining experience points and leveling up stats until they're ready to fight the Big Bad at the bottom. Those games were single-player and thus a solo adventure, while this novel involves teams known as familia, each sponsored by a god who has descended from the upper world to play in the lives of mortals.
Aiz Wallenstein is a female knight, who looks like a waif (although this may just be manga-style art conventions -- even male heroes are always portrayed as much slimmer and less bulked than they would be in Western art) but wields a sword of incredible power, presumably because of magic and the favor of the god of their familia, Loki (who is portrayed as female in this light novel, although Loki was definitely male in Norse mythology).
Everything changes when monsters from much lower levels suddenly start forcing their way to the higher levels, putting inexperienced adventurers at extraordinary risk. Aiz leads the charge to stop these monsters before they cause a slaughter, and in the process her sword is destroyed.
The rest of this light novel, the first of a series, is all about Aiz and her familia as they try to find out what's going on, and of course have all kinds of interpersonal drama. It falls firmly into the gamelit subgenre, but in a way that reads more like a sendup of gaming, and particularly the dungeon-crawl adventure, rather than a serious fantasy game novelization.
June 28, 2021
I like Sword Oratoria so much more than the main series. There are immediately a bunch of great characters that grab you from the very start. The stakes look way higher. There's the beginning of an actual overarching mystery. There is history in the interactions at play that we want to uncover.
And absolutely no first person POV. The main character is charming (airheaded ais, yes) and the audience surrogate character a personal favorite of mine.
Everything is more colorful and diverse, full of other fantastical cultures, and, of course, there's way less unjustified op characters. If characters are op, it's clearly stated so, explained why and, if it's unfair... it's very well acknowledged that it is so and not just laughed off!!
And absolutely no first person POV. The main character is charming (airheaded ais, yes) and the audience surrogate character a personal favorite of mine.
Everything is more colorful and diverse, full of other fantastical cultures, and, of course, there's way less unjustified op characters. If characters are op, it's clearly stated so, explained why and, if it's unfair... it's very well acknowledged that it is so and not just laughed off!!
January 17, 2017
This book fills a strange role.
We've seen hardly anything of Aiz in the main series. Maybe because she's so overly powerful? This series opens up her head to the reader to understand her a bit more.
It definitely fits the feeling of the rest of the series, and it's a great addition. It also answers a lot of questions from the main series, and adds a tremendous amount of context to things that happen early on.
Good read, worth the time if you enjoyed the main series.
We've seen hardly anything of Aiz in the main series. Maybe because she's so overly powerful? This series opens up her head to the reader to understand her a bit more.
It definitely fits the feeling of the rest of the series, and it's a great addition. It also answers a lot of questions from the main series, and adds a tremendous amount of context to things that happen early on.
Good read, worth the time if you enjoyed the main series.
May 30, 2025
I like how this is so easy to read and it's still so entertaining
Currently reading
November 4, 2016Wonderful Light Novel
Smoothly meshes with Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon.
This is an excellent story.
Smoothly meshes with Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon.
This is an excellent story.
Want to read
May 13, 2019awesome
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews