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King of the Labyrinth Light Novel #1
King of the Labyrinth, Vol. 1 (light novel): Cry of the Minotaur
Within the tenth-floor boss room of the Sazardon Labyrinth, the mighty minotaur awakens once more. Unlike its predecessors, slain at the hands of treasure-seeking adventurers, this monster’s primal urges push it further than ever before. Kill. Consume. Grow stronger. The more powerful its opponent, the more powerful it becomes. Even the very rules of the labyrinth seem to bend to its indomitable will. Can none triumph against this bovine behemoth? Will the minotaur ever meet its match…?
- GenresFantasyLight Novel
192 pages, Hardcover
Published January 19, 2021
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62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 10, 2025
I came across this first as a manga, but decided to check the light novel instead since I recognize the red flags for a series that will go on hiatus and remain unfinished. This was a bit of a mixed bag in that when it was good, it was great, but it also reminded me of buying a big bag of chips and then realizing it's only half-full.
Characters - 8/10, Plot - 7/10, Setting and Magic - 8/10, Writing - 6.5/10, Enjoyment - 5/10 or 10/10
Characters
There are a variety of characters and points of view in this book, but the main one is our beloved Minotaur. He is the 10th-floor boss of a 100-floor labyrinth, and he spawned fully grown to replace the previous minotaur slain by adventurers. He knows of nothing but an insatiable hunger and an irresistible drive to defeat humans who enter his room...until something happens to break the labyrinth constraints. With his newfound freedom and growing abilities, the Minotaur begins to explore the labyrinth.
There are a variety of adventurer characters that do a fine job as decoration or plot devices, but I was here for the Minotaur. As the book progressed, we spent more time with all the additional characters, which was unfortunate since I found them less interesting. There were a couple of exceptions, namely the Heavenly Sword character who I think was handled extremely well.
Plot
The premise of this story was fantastic. The idea of a floor boss becoming a wandering monster with a sense of self was a great hook and the minotaur's perspective as it encountered new creatures and adventurers was the highlight of this story.
I think the author made a mistake with the power curve and accelerated things too quickly. I felt like there was lost potential by rushing the "early game" experiences. The first 30% of this book was 10/10 for me and every scene was great. It reminded me of what made Goblin Slayer good before it also forgot what its strengths were.
Setting and Magic
The setting was pretty typical for a medieval fantasy that has adventurers exploring dungeons. I thought a lot of the magic mechanics really stood out. In this world, a person's profession (knight, priest, adventurer, merchant) is received as a blessing from one of the gods, and each profession has particular skills and abilities. I was impressed with the depth the author went with some of this, namely with how the dimensional storage differed by class. Classes associated with nobility had what was called a Treasury, which wasn't that convenient for storing or retrieving items in the heat of battle, but that would allow sharing and even inheritance of stored items to designated beneficiaries. This was in contrast to an Adventurer's Bag storage skill, which would disgorge all of the adventurer's belongings onto the floor when they died.
Most importantly, these game mechanics weren't just for decoration, they were essential ingredients that influenced the plot. There were defined rules for how dropped items are treated in-universe, and a subplot kicks off solely on the basis of the Bag vs Treasury mechanic.
It was also interesting to me how all of a profession's skills, as well as potions and magic items, only worked at their full effectiveness when inside of a Labyrinth, with a very select few functioning in the outside world.
Writing
There's not much to say here as the writing was functional and clear with minimal errors. If you compare the narrative lens of this story with the cameraman filming a movie, I would say this story is told in a fairly overhead and zoomed out perspective. It provides an almost clinical experience where the reader is merely an observer rather than a participant. While this does allow for certain narrative foreshadowing, I don't know if it's worth sacrificing the powerful effect that sharing a characters experiences with a tight pov produces.
Enjoyment
I loved the first 30-50% of this story. It delivered everything I expected based on the blurb. Unfortunately, that only lasted for the first half of the story and then it felt like the narrative zoomed out too much to capture the lives of the side characters and the random goings-on of the kingdom.
Honestly, I didn't care about any of these other characters outside of their interactions with the Minotaur. There is a second volume to this series that focuses on the descendant of one of these side characters, and I couldn't care less. I think the story ran out of juice by the 80% mark, so I have no motivation to pick up a second volume where the Minotaur is just a footnote in the world's history.
If you can snag this book when it's on sale, then I'd recommend it just for the experiences in the first half, but beyond that, maybe it will make for a good 12-episode anime a year or two from now.
Characters - 8/10, Plot - 7/10, Setting and Magic - 8/10, Writing - 6.5/10, Enjoyment - 5/10 or 10/10
Characters
There are a variety of characters and points of view in this book, but the main one is our beloved Minotaur. He is the 10th-floor boss of a 100-floor labyrinth, and he spawned fully grown to replace the previous minotaur slain by adventurers. He knows of nothing but an insatiable hunger and an irresistible drive to defeat humans who enter his room...until something happens to break the labyrinth constraints. With his newfound freedom and growing abilities, the Minotaur begins to explore the labyrinth.
There are a variety of adventurer characters that do a fine job as decoration or plot devices, but I was here for the Minotaur. As the book progressed, we spent more time with all the additional characters, which was unfortunate since I found them less interesting. There were a couple of exceptions, namely the Heavenly Sword character who I think was handled extremely well.
Plot
The premise of this story was fantastic. The idea of a floor boss becoming a wandering monster with a sense of self was a great hook and the minotaur's perspective as it encountered new creatures and adventurers was the highlight of this story.
I think the author made a mistake with the power curve and accelerated things too quickly. I felt like there was lost potential by rushing the "early game" experiences. The first 30% of this book was 10/10 for me and every scene was great. It reminded me of what made Goblin Slayer good before it also forgot what its strengths were.
Setting and Magic
The setting was pretty typical for a medieval fantasy that has adventurers exploring dungeons. I thought a lot of the magic mechanics really stood out. In this world, a person's profession (knight, priest, adventurer, merchant) is received as a blessing from one of the gods, and each profession has particular skills and abilities. I was impressed with the depth the author went with some of this, namely with how the dimensional storage differed by class. Classes associated with nobility had what was called a Treasury, which wasn't that convenient for storing or retrieving items in the heat of battle, but that would allow sharing and even inheritance of stored items to designated beneficiaries. This was in contrast to an Adventurer's Bag storage skill, which would disgorge all of the adventurer's belongings onto the floor when they died.
Most importantly, these game mechanics weren't just for decoration, they were essential ingredients that influenced the plot. There were defined rules for how dropped items are treated in-universe, and a subplot kicks off solely on the basis of the Bag vs Treasury mechanic.
It was also interesting to me how all of a profession's skills, as well as potions and magic items, only worked at their full effectiveness when inside of a Labyrinth, with a very select few functioning in the outside world.
Writing
There's not much to say here as the writing was functional and clear with minimal errors. If you compare the narrative lens of this story with the cameraman filming a movie, I would say this story is told in a fairly overhead and zoomed out perspective. It provides an almost clinical experience where the reader is merely an observer rather than a participant. While this does allow for certain narrative foreshadowing, I don't know if it's worth sacrificing the powerful effect that sharing a characters experiences with a tight pov produces.
Enjoyment
I loved the first 30-50% of this story. It delivered everything I expected based on the blurb. Unfortunately, that only lasted for the first half of the story and then it felt like the narrative zoomed out too much to capture the lives of the side characters and the random goings-on of the kingdom.
Honestly, I didn't care about any of these other characters outside of their interactions with the Minotaur. There is a second volume to this series that focuses on the descendant of one of these side characters, and I couldn't care less. I think the story ran out of juice by the 80% mark, so I have no motivation to pick up a second volume where the Minotaur is just a footnote in the world's history.
If you can snag this book when it's on sale, then I'd recommend it just for the experiences in the first half, but beyond that, maybe it will make for a good 12-episode anime a year or two from now.
February 28, 2021
The minotaur, boss of the tenth level, has broken its stay and proceeded to wreak havoc throughout the dungeon. Yes, beheading troublesome orcs, gutting massive gray wolves, and crushing ignorant human adventurers in search of glory, the minotaur is a monster that has made the labyrinth its chief domain.
The Micaene Adventurers Guild has a problem on its hands.
KING OF THE LABYRINTH sets its sights on a regional dungeon, within whose depths reside 100 consecutive levels of monstrous doom. In the belly of this labyrinth roams a denizen that is breaking all of the rules. Why is the minotaur roaming other levels? Why is it killing other monsters? Why is it equipped with fantastic weaponry? And how come nobody can kill the darn thing?
This is an interesting novel. There aren't many books in the swords-and-sorcery vein that privilege the life and experiences of "the bad guy." It's unfortunate. So many fantasy narratives rely so strongly on carving from the ether an otherworldly antagonist capable of rending the world asunder. And yet so few narratives spend the energy required to give readers a glimpse of the world through the eyes of said antagonists. KING OF THE LABYRINTH fixes this. The minotaur is not a particularly brilliant beast, but he is capable of knowledge. The minotaur is not a particularly patient beast, but he is capable of study. This novel explores the yearnings of a creature eternally and infinitely disregarded by all. The minotaur's will to survive -- its thirst for water, its hunger for flesh, its lust for combat -- compels the beast forward.
At first, the creature is dumb; it doesn't understand the dynamics of combat and knows not what to do with the pain of starvation. But slowly, the creature gains experience and clarity of purpose; the more it fights, the better resources and sustenance it obtains, and the stronger the opponents it fights, the better the fighter it will become. The narrative thereafter witnesses the minotaur establish its need to fight the strongest opponents possible to sate its ever-widening desires.
KING OF THE LABYRINTH wields two narrative styles: the hardy, slow-wit of the beast and the impatient gravitas of humans. Interestingly, the balance leans in favor of one or the other depending on how stable or chaotic the situation is at the labyrinth. The book's short chapters and brisk pace enable a quick and dutiful comparison of common events that gives readers multiple perspectives of the labyrinth's ongoing descent into disorder. The adventurer's guild is thrown into confusion. Local nobility is filled with anxiety. But the minotaur roams and kills as he pleases. That the beast is rarely defeated is a glorious, though not always inevitable antecedent to a genre all too full of misrepresented villainy.
Readers will surely bemoan the author's pursuit of an anticlimactic ending and varied flirtation with renowned heroes, jocular sorcerers, and discriminating hunting parties. However, the minotaur is the main character, and readers should never forget this point. And while the novel retains a few technical faults (e.g., poor dialogue, despite there being so little of it) and organizational failures (e.g., the pull of characters destined to do certain things feels contrived), KING OF THE LABYRINTH, broadly, sticks to its core mission of doing the minotaur justice.
The Micaene Adventurers Guild has a problem on its hands.
KING OF THE LABYRINTH sets its sights on a regional dungeon, within whose depths reside 100 consecutive levels of monstrous doom. In the belly of this labyrinth roams a denizen that is breaking all of the rules. Why is the minotaur roaming other levels? Why is it killing other monsters? Why is it equipped with fantastic weaponry? And how come nobody can kill the darn thing?
This is an interesting novel. There aren't many books in the swords-and-sorcery vein that privilege the life and experiences of "the bad guy." It's unfortunate. So many fantasy narratives rely so strongly on carving from the ether an otherworldly antagonist capable of rending the world asunder. And yet so few narratives spend the energy required to give readers a glimpse of the world through the eyes of said antagonists. KING OF THE LABYRINTH fixes this. The minotaur is not a particularly brilliant beast, but he is capable of knowledge. The minotaur is not a particularly patient beast, but he is capable of study. This novel explores the yearnings of a creature eternally and infinitely disregarded by all. The minotaur's will to survive -- its thirst for water, its hunger for flesh, its lust for combat -- compels the beast forward.
At first, the creature is dumb; it doesn't understand the dynamics of combat and knows not what to do with the pain of starvation. But slowly, the creature gains experience and clarity of purpose; the more it fights, the better resources and sustenance it obtains, and the stronger the opponents it fights, the better the fighter it will become. The narrative thereafter witnesses the minotaur establish its need to fight the strongest opponents possible to sate its ever-widening desires.
KING OF THE LABYRINTH wields two narrative styles: the hardy, slow-wit of the beast and the impatient gravitas of humans. Interestingly, the balance leans in favor of one or the other depending on how stable or chaotic the situation is at the labyrinth. The book's short chapters and brisk pace enable a quick and dutiful comparison of common events that gives readers multiple perspectives of the labyrinth's ongoing descent into disorder. The adventurer's guild is thrown into confusion. Local nobility is filled with anxiety. But the minotaur roams and kills as he pleases. That the beast is rarely defeated is a glorious, though not always inevitable antecedent to a genre all too full of misrepresented villainy.
Readers will surely bemoan the author's pursuit of an anticlimactic ending and varied flirtation with renowned heroes, jocular sorcerers, and discriminating hunting parties. However, the minotaur is the main character, and readers should never forget this point. And while the novel retains a few technical faults (e.g., poor dialogue, despite there being so little of it) and organizational failures (e.g., the pull of characters destined to do certain things feels contrived), KING OF THE LABYRINTH, broadly, sticks to its core mission of doing the minotaur justice.
March 22, 2022
This author uses the antagonist (Monster-Minotaur) as the main character of his Light novel series. The only problem is that he writes the back and forth stories of everyone the Minotaur defeats over and over again. So it is quite repetitive. Is it interesting to read the back stories of defeated and dead adventurers (after one has already read their fight/death)? Not really.
Light novels like Overlord and Re:Monster use the Monster or antagonist as the main character of their series, so this Light novel is not really unique.
The size of this light novel is short, about 140 pages, 10 pages of illustrations and title, table of contents, copyrights, etc.
The words said by the characters are not quoted, so sometimes it is hard to figure out who is speaking, if they are just thinking something or if it really is something those characters spoke out.
Author makes main character the Minotaur boss monster of Floor 10, but really does not make this monster "sentient" and does not really explain why this boss monster is freed from his infinite floor monster duel role.
Another thing I didn't understand is why did the author choose to make the Minotaur rise to lower levels, instead of seeking "improvement" by searching for stronger opponents by going down the labyrinth instead. The title of the light novel is King of the Labyrinth, but the Minotaur goes up to the lower floors instead of going down to conquer the rest of this dungeon.
Light novels like Overlord and Re:Monster use the Monster or antagonist as the main character of their series, so this Light novel is not really unique.
The size of this light novel is short, about 140 pages, 10 pages of illustrations and title, table of contents, copyrights, etc.
The words said by the characters are not quoted, so sometimes it is hard to figure out who is speaking, if they are just thinking something or if it really is something those characters spoke out.
Author makes main character the Minotaur boss monster of Floor 10, but really does not make this monster "sentient" and does not really explain why this boss monster is freed from his infinite floor monster duel role.
Another thing I didn't understand is why did the author choose to make the Minotaur rise to lower levels, instead of seeking "improvement" by searching for stronger opponents by going down the labyrinth instead. The title of the light novel is King of the Labyrinth, but the Minotaur goes up to the lower floors instead of going down to conquer the rest of this dungeon.
February 17, 2021
There is not a lot of world building, and character building is breezed through—particularly for our minotaur whose growth and chronology is often jumped forward. It’s a very perfunctory read and often seems like the author simply grew bored with exploring the protagonist.
Neither her nor there, but I wonder, sometimes, how and why the folks at Yen Press decide to give some light novels the hardback treatment.
Neither her nor there, but I wonder, sometimes, how and why the folks at Yen Press decide to give some light novels the hardback treatment.
April 1, 2022
It was fun but not really the kind ofwriting that I enjoy most. The prose has a tendency to take a bit of 10,000 foot view of things before zooming in on random moments. The problem being that you don't have emotional context for those moments, so it feels flat and lacks punch. The whole thing causes it to read more like a history than a novel.
September 15, 2024
Great when it’s from the Minotaur’s point of view otherwise loses steam when away from him for too long long
February 3, 2021
An awesome fantasy romp
This is by far one of the best books I have read since I started reading light novels. I am not sure if this will turn out to be just a one shot story, but it was excellent. The premise was unique and well executed. There was a good mix of fights from the monster and political intrigue to keep me reading. Highly recommend you read this!
This is by far one of the best books I have read since I started reading light novels. I am not sure if this will turn out to be just a one shot story, but it was excellent. The premise was unique and well executed. There was a good mix of fights from the monster and political intrigue to keep me reading. Highly recommend you read this!
February 27, 2021
A very fun read.
I really enjoyed it once it got rolling, but I'm pretty curious on where the story is going. It felt like a pretty self-contained book.
I really enjoyed it once it got rolling, but I'm pretty curious on where the story is going. It felt like a pretty self-contained book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews