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Slayers Collector's Edition
Slayers Volumes 4-6 Collector's Edition (Light Novel) (Volume 2)
So Gourry and I agreed to escort Sylphiel to her family in Saillune City, but she didn’t tell me her uncle was hiding the most wanted man in town―P-P-Prince Phil. (Ugh! Blech!) We thus get drawn in to some noble family drama that, you guessed it, blows up royally. Good thing Princess Amelia is every bit as plucky as she is powerful!
Wait, she’s traveling with us now? Turns out we might need the help! We’re just minding our own merry business one minute, and the next, some lady shows up and seals my magic! You’ll never guess this one, because we’ll be dealing with a cult, some possessed armor, a magical beast, and one mysterious priest before we get to the bottom of things ourselves.
Then we receive an invitation from our old pal Zuma the assassin, who wants me to come to Vezendi. I’m guessing he’s not interested in catching up over tea, huh? As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also skullduggery afoot between Xellos and some other shadowy figures. What gives? I mean, I know I’m good, but I swear! These demons just can’t get enough of me!
Wait, she’s traveling with us now? Turns out we might need the help! We’re just minding our own merry business one minute, and the next, some lady shows up and seals my magic! You’ll never guess this one, because we’ll be dealing with a cult, some possessed armor, a magical beast, and one mysterious priest before we get to the bottom of things ourselves.
Then we receive an invitation from our old pal Zuma the assassin, who wants me to come to Vezendi. I’m guessing he’s not interested in catching up over tea, huh? As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also skullduggery afoot between Xellos and some other shadowy figures. What gives? I mean, I know I’m good, but I swear! These demons just can’t get enough of me!
- GenresLight NovelFantasyManga
350 pages, Hardcover
Published April 19, 2022
2 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Hajime Kanzaka
183 books66 followersHajime Kanzaka (神坂一) is a Japanese novelist and manga writer.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 16, 2023
Trouble. Trouble. Trouble.
The self-proclaimed "warrior-slash-sorcerer extraordinaire" has somehow managed to get on the bad side of several temperamental demons, a cult seeking to resurrect a certain city-destroying beast, renowned professional assassins, and a small horde of chimera warriors. Such are the travails of Lina Inverse. SLAYERS Omnibus v2 reaps the rewards from well-structured and interrelated storytelling as well as progressively complicated monster fighting.
Not every book in this collection has everything for every reader: dynamic and innovative spellcasting, exquisite swordplay, overlapping geopolitics, worldbuilding lore. The more of this novel series one reads, the more one understands the long-view taken to balance the story mechanics that frame all of Lina's raucous adventures. To summarize, what readers don't get in one book they will likely encounter in the next. The author has hit his stride.
In book four, The Battle of Saillune, one finds an eagerly awaited introduction to Amelia. The young woman is frequently touted as a "shrine maiden," living under heavy guard in Saillune City. Indeed, the capital of the Holy Kingdom of Saillune, the greatest resource of white magic in the land, is also home to a nasty squabble for the throne. Sir Philionel El Di Saillune, Phil, needs a bit of help from some swords-for-hire to smooth out said political mess. Interestingly, the novel-version of Phil is less obnoxiously gregarious than he is a simple fool with varying bouts of over- or underconfidence. Thankfully, Amelia is a character who arrives on the scene fully formed and ready to engage almost from the start. Her routine speechifying from high places, for example, never grows old.
This book's story merges a handful of intriguing dilemmas, not the least of which is the tangled family drama. Phil and Amelia enter into open conflict with Phil's brother (Christopher) and nephew (Alfred), forcing Amelia to step into her own to save her kingdom from usurpers of all types (Amelia: "I really hate not being able to trust my own family," p. 58).
But this book's most pressing issue is Lina's conflict with Kanzel, a sorcerer whose skills are frightfully impressive. Nobody really knows where Kanzel came from or where his interests lay. The only thing they know for sure is his ridiculous summoning skill. Pocket dimensions? Giant beetles that slumber beneath the Kravale Volcano? Kanzel doesn't play around. Lina and Gourry's tag team effort to turn Kanzel into dust is one of the cleverer final moves in all of Slayers lore. The attack strategy also hints at other spellcasting tricks to come: Lina deliberately combines innately disparate spells. Gourry is not amused ("You can't cutesy-pie your way out of this!" p. 124). And in the heat of battle, this book initiates what most light novels (or their anime counterparts) rarely do: The story exposes the lead protagonist to grave injury.
The Silver Beast, is fun to read but tough to enjoy. Book five of SLAYERS Omnibus v2 has so many moving parts it's difficult to keep track. In terms of character development, the book introduces Xellos the malevolent and meddlesome magician as a friend/foe, establishes Amelia as part of the main cast, and brings back Zelgadis for some righteous action, to say nothing of the title's numerous villain and assassin characters. In terms of narrative elements, the book discusses the challenge of ritualistic demon cults, reifies the dilemma of demons having a grudge against Lina, introduces the concept of the legendary Claire Bible (tome said to hold the secrets of magic and demons), and does a rush job of articulating the immensity of Zanaffar, the Beast of Sairaag.
If, in another universe, the author wielded the latitude to redraft book five at twice the length, to allow for stronger characterization and more efficacious worldbuilding, The Silver Beast might just carry the dramatic weight it seeks. For example, Xellos deliberately disengages from most conversations and only rarely exhibits his true skills. Part of this is a power play, sure, but it establishes unnecessary narrative distance between a critical character and his capacity to propel the story forward.
Lina is on Xellos's case from the very start, noting his "very out-of-place smile on his otherwise unremarkable face" (p. 162); and yet, because the book has so many moving parts (and because they're all moving so fast), readers never truly glimpse a fuller picture of the character. A great deal of Xellos's charm is his aloofness, but too much aloofness breeds obliviousness (and therefore, uselessness). To be fair, the author shows readers Lina is chilled but undaunted by the mysterious priest. In one of the book's most subtle yet compelling moments, Xellos brushes off the oddness (that is, the humanity) of his new compatriots, denigrating them by saying, "You're proverbial birds of a feather"; to which Lina, dispassionately, points at the man and says one word to his face: "Bird" (p. 202).
Book six, The Darkness in Vezendi is where it's at. Incredible sword fighting and perilous spellcasting duels run through this book from start to finish; The Darkness in Vezendi is all action. An encounter with a vicious assassin named Zuma, and not for the first time, pushes Lina and the gang in the direction of a trading hotspot called Vezendi City. Once there, petty merchants, mid-rank demons, and bad luck converge.
Kanzaka really put in the work for this book and it shows. The deeper one wades into the story, the more dangerous the river of action. For example, on multiple occasions, the author is writing a scene with five or more spellcasters in action (and at the same time): Zelgadis is up against Duguld (demon, who wields spheres of darkness), Amelia braces herself against Guduza (demon, whose hair writhes like slender snakes), Gourry fights off the assassin Zuma (skilled with the sword and with spells), and so forth. It's maddening, but since the author handles it so deftly, it's also incredibly exciting. Who doesn't want to see Lina cast ragna blast, in which a pillar of darkness arises from an inverted pentagram, set beneath her target, and erupts with scorching black plasma?
The Darkness in Vezendi is a showcase, exhibiting every main character at their best. Amelia, for example, has the wind knocked out of her and breaks one of her hands, but she muscles through impressively. The young woman summons several memorable spells, like vis farank ("channeling magic power directly into her hands," p. 36), which she uses to physically pummel Guduza in the face with brutal efficiency, as well as the spell elemekia lance (break) (spear of white magic), which is a modification of the trademark attack, which now splinters into 10 difference lances when the weilder snaps her fingers.
Zelgadis steps up, too. Most notably, the golem-daemon-guy debuts his spell astral vine, which infuses his broadsword with magic, turning the blade faintly red. He also casts a tenacious attack called elemekia flame, which is apparently an enhanced elemekia lance, "but was powerful enough to flay a human's spirit in one blast" (p. 322).
SLAYERS Omnibus v2 is excellent and sincerely builds its world and its characters, bit by bit, if a little too awkwardly in some books. Viewing these three books more broadly, the gradual integration of Amelia, then Xellos, then Zelgadis (again) is smart and systematic. The only downside is that some of the team's adventures are a bit too convoluted for their own good. Some mid-level demons show up once, only to be conveniently dismissed off-page. Some secondary characters, who serve as the impetus for the entire leg of certain journeys, are laid up in bed and never heard from again. When the balance is off, readers will readily discern something's not quite right (e.g., a villain dying a quick death feels anticlimactic). But when the balance is on, Slayers is fantasy-adventure literature at its most fun.
The novel series is at its best when readers glimpse these characters as intelligent, fragile heroes who demand the best of their comrades. For example, on two separate occasions, Zelgadis discusses his quest to regain his humanity. The allegory he offers up is a dark one: a chimera creation is like a person draining some juice into a tankard of ale, mixing the two; "but to separate them again... It might not be impossible, but it certainly wouldn't be easy" (p. 196), for "even a recipe for the most delicious juice cocktail won't tell you how to extract only the orange juice from the final product" (p. 259). When Lina informs readers that Zelgadis rooms in the slums and is charged double the cost of a regular inn ("for a room twice as nice"), it really hits home how much the man has lost.
Similarly, readers may not fully appreciate how much energy the author put into ensuring Lina's skills and knowledge base remain as finely tuned as they are. When the young woman isn't out and about, blowing up bandits, she's sneaking out drawing up new spells. She experiments daily. Whenever she hears a new spell, she memorizes it instantly, as with the humorous case of her filching Xellos's four talismans and recalling their "amplification chant" after listening to it only once. Lina talks about altering summoning spells to obtain different types of beasts or creatures; she clarifies the importance of studying, repeatedly, magical artifacts and weapons to familiarize oneself with their magical wavelength; and she openly admits to having invented some of her most deadly spells by pure chance. It's no surprise Lina is all ears when Xellos accidentally starts an absolutely brilliant lecture on the power scales of "black" magic and "white" magic, when discussing Zanaffar. Whenever Slayers gets deeply nerdy with its spellcasting, Lina isn't far behind.
SLAYERS Omnibus v2 is more of the good stuff. The novel series' limitations largely stem from the barriers native to the books' original format. One can only hope the author eventually learned to moderate and balance his narrative expectations, depending on the size and level of engagement expected of the primary cast. But given the quality of the stories through six short books, such complaints are small and middling.
The self-proclaimed "warrior-slash-sorcerer extraordinaire" has somehow managed to get on the bad side of several temperamental demons, a cult seeking to resurrect a certain city-destroying beast, renowned professional assassins, and a small horde of chimera warriors. Such are the travails of Lina Inverse. SLAYERS Omnibus v2 reaps the rewards from well-structured and interrelated storytelling as well as progressively complicated monster fighting.
Not every book in this collection has everything for every reader: dynamic and innovative spellcasting, exquisite swordplay, overlapping geopolitics, worldbuilding lore. The more of this novel series one reads, the more one understands the long-view taken to balance the story mechanics that frame all of Lina's raucous adventures. To summarize, what readers don't get in one book they will likely encounter in the next. The author has hit his stride.
In book four, The Battle of Saillune, one finds an eagerly awaited introduction to Amelia. The young woman is frequently touted as a "shrine maiden," living under heavy guard in Saillune City. Indeed, the capital of the Holy Kingdom of Saillune, the greatest resource of white magic in the land, is also home to a nasty squabble for the throne. Sir Philionel El Di Saillune, Phil, needs a bit of help from some swords-for-hire to smooth out said political mess. Interestingly, the novel-version of Phil is less obnoxiously gregarious than he is a simple fool with varying bouts of over- or underconfidence. Thankfully, Amelia is a character who arrives on the scene fully formed and ready to engage almost from the start. Her routine speechifying from high places, for example, never grows old.
This book's story merges a handful of intriguing dilemmas, not the least of which is the tangled family drama. Phil and Amelia enter into open conflict with Phil's brother (Christopher) and nephew (Alfred), forcing Amelia to step into her own to save her kingdom from usurpers of all types (Amelia: "I really hate not being able to trust my own family," p. 58).
But this book's most pressing issue is Lina's conflict with Kanzel, a sorcerer whose skills are frightfully impressive. Nobody really knows where Kanzel came from or where his interests lay. The only thing they know for sure is his ridiculous summoning skill. Pocket dimensions? Giant beetles that slumber beneath the Kravale Volcano? Kanzel doesn't play around. Lina and Gourry's tag team effort to turn Kanzel into dust is one of the cleverer final moves in all of Slayers lore. The attack strategy also hints at other spellcasting tricks to come: Lina deliberately combines innately disparate spells. Gourry is not amused ("You can't cutesy-pie your way out of this!" p. 124). And in the heat of battle, this book initiates what most light novels (or their anime counterparts) rarely do: The story exposes the lead protagonist to grave injury.
The Silver Beast, is fun to read but tough to enjoy. Book five of SLAYERS Omnibus v2 has so many moving parts it's difficult to keep track. In terms of character development, the book introduces Xellos the malevolent and meddlesome magician as a friend/foe, establishes Amelia as part of the main cast, and brings back Zelgadis for some righteous action, to say nothing of the title's numerous villain and assassin characters. In terms of narrative elements, the book discusses the challenge of ritualistic demon cults, reifies the dilemma of demons having a grudge against Lina, introduces the concept of the legendary Claire Bible (tome said to hold the secrets of magic and demons), and does a rush job of articulating the immensity of Zanaffar, the Beast of Sairaag.
If, in another universe, the author wielded the latitude to redraft book five at twice the length, to allow for stronger characterization and more efficacious worldbuilding, The Silver Beast might just carry the dramatic weight it seeks. For example, Xellos deliberately disengages from most conversations and only rarely exhibits his true skills. Part of this is a power play, sure, but it establishes unnecessary narrative distance between a critical character and his capacity to propel the story forward.
Lina is on Xellos's case from the very start, noting his "very out-of-place smile on his otherwise unremarkable face" (p. 162); and yet, because the book has so many moving parts (and because they're all moving so fast), readers never truly glimpse a fuller picture of the character. A great deal of Xellos's charm is his aloofness, but too much aloofness breeds obliviousness (and therefore, uselessness). To be fair, the author shows readers Lina is chilled but undaunted by the mysterious priest. In one of the book's most subtle yet compelling moments, Xellos brushes off the oddness (that is, the humanity) of his new compatriots, denigrating them by saying, "You're proverbial birds of a feather"; to which Lina, dispassionately, points at the man and says one word to his face: "Bird" (p. 202).
Book six, The Darkness in Vezendi is where it's at. Incredible sword fighting and perilous spellcasting duels run through this book from start to finish; The Darkness in Vezendi is all action. An encounter with a vicious assassin named Zuma, and not for the first time, pushes Lina and the gang in the direction of a trading hotspot called Vezendi City. Once there, petty merchants, mid-rank demons, and bad luck converge.
Kanzaka really put in the work for this book and it shows. The deeper one wades into the story, the more dangerous the river of action. For example, on multiple occasions, the author is writing a scene with five or more spellcasters in action (and at the same time): Zelgadis is up against Duguld (demon, who wields spheres of darkness), Amelia braces herself against Guduza (demon, whose hair writhes like slender snakes), Gourry fights off the assassin Zuma (skilled with the sword and with spells), and so forth. It's maddening, but since the author handles it so deftly, it's also incredibly exciting. Who doesn't want to see Lina cast ragna blast, in which a pillar of darkness arises from an inverted pentagram, set beneath her target, and erupts with scorching black plasma?
The Darkness in Vezendi is a showcase, exhibiting every main character at their best. Amelia, for example, has the wind knocked out of her and breaks one of her hands, but she muscles through impressively. The young woman summons several memorable spells, like vis farank ("channeling magic power directly into her hands," p. 36), which she uses to physically pummel Guduza in the face with brutal efficiency, as well as the spell elemekia lance (break) (spear of white magic), which is a modification of the trademark attack, which now splinters into 10 difference lances when the weilder snaps her fingers.
Zelgadis steps up, too. Most notably, the golem-daemon-guy debuts his spell astral vine, which infuses his broadsword with magic, turning the blade faintly red. He also casts a tenacious attack called elemekia flame, which is apparently an enhanced elemekia lance, "but was powerful enough to flay a human's spirit in one blast" (p. 322).
SLAYERS Omnibus v2 is excellent and sincerely builds its world and its characters, bit by bit, if a little too awkwardly in some books. Viewing these three books more broadly, the gradual integration of Amelia, then Xellos, then Zelgadis (again) is smart and systematic. The only downside is that some of the team's adventures are a bit too convoluted for their own good. Some mid-level demons show up once, only to be conveniently dismissed off-page. Some secondary characters, who serve as the impetus for the entire leg of certain journeys, are laid up in bed and never heard from again. When the balance is off, readers will readily discern something's not quite right (e.g., a villain dying a quick death feels anticlimactic). But when the balance is on, Slayers is fantasy-adventure literature at its most fun.
The novel series is at its best when readers glimpse these characters as intelligent, fragile heroes who demand the best of their comrades. For example, on two separate occasions, Zelgadis discusses his quest to regain his humanity. The allegory he offers up is a dark one: a chimera creation is like a person draining some juice into a tankard of ale, mixing the two; "but to separate them again... It might not be impossible, but it certainly wouldn't be easy" (p. 196), for "even a recipe for the most delicious juice cocktail won't tell you how to extract only the orange juice from the final product" (p. 259). When Lina informs readers that Zelgadis rooms in the slums and is charged double the cost of a regular inn ("for a room twice as nice"), it really hits home how much the man has lost.
Similarly, readers may not fully appreciate how much energy the author put into ensuring Lina's skills and knowledge base remain as finely tuned as they are. When the young woman isn't out and about, blowing up bandits, she's sneaking out drawing up new spells. She experiments daily. Whenever she hears a new spell, she memorizes it instantly, as with the humorous case of her filching Xellos's four talismans and recalling their "amplification chant" after listening to it only once. Lina talks about altering summoning spells to obtain different types of beasts or creatures; she clarifies the importance of studying, repeatedly, magical artifacts and weapons to familiarize oneself with their magical wavelength; and she openly admits to having invented some of her most deadly spells by pure chance. It's no surprise Lina is all ears when Xellos accidentally starts an absolutely brilliant lecture on the power scales of "black" magic and "white" magic, when discussing Zanaffar. Whenever Slayers gets deeply nerdy with its spellcasting, Lina isn't far behind.
SLAYERS Omnibus v2 is more of the good stuff. The novel series' limitations largely stem from the barriers native to the books' original format. One can only hope the author eventually learned to moderate and balance his narrative expectations, depending on the size and level of engagement expected of the primary cast. But given the quality of the stories through six short books, such complaints are small and middling.
February 21, 2024
Listened to the audiobook, which I believe does not cover the entirety of this novel. I think they only release the audiobook per acr whereas the collector's editions cover several arcs. However, they don't appear to be separated on goodreads. I believe the arc I listened to is in volume 1, but here we are lol.
With that out of the way, this particular arc was much darker than the last one, though just as entertaining. I could listen to this all day. Gourry is absolutely hysterical and so much fun, and Lina is just so classic early anime lol! I love seeing more of what Gourry can do. Perhaps I'm just really into him as a character, but I love seeing him fight, but also where his weaknesses lie as he gets hurt or confused (which is often enough lol). I'm left waiting for the next one and I cannot wait!
With that out of the way, this particular arc was much darker than the last one, though just as entertaining. I could listen to this all day. Gourry is absolutely hysterical and so much fun, and Lina is just so classic early anime lol! I love seeing more of what Gourry can do. Perhaps I'm just really into him as a character, but I love seeing him fight, but also where his weaknesses lie as he gets hurt or confused (which is often enough lol). I'm left waiting for the next one and I cannot wait!
April 4, 2024
Character 4| Setting 5| Plot 3.5| Writing 2| Enjoyability 4.5
Overall Rating: 3.8
This set of novels follows Lina as she ends up solving a Saillune political battle, to a Shabrinigdu cult to protecting a Merchant from an Assassin we all know.
What Slayers has going for it, is it's an easy read and it's funny and can get serious at times. I just am not digging all the mediocre fight scenes. I wish Kanzaka described the spells a little bit more it's just BAM BAM BAM. I think i'll just have to live with it.
My favorite character finally appeared. I love Xellos so much and he is so funny with his calm blase way of saying things. It cracks me up to no end.
As I said in my previous review I watched the anime so I'm pretty familair with the material. There are major changes as entire characters that were never introduced. So I find it entertaining spotting these differences.
Overall Rating: 3.8
This set of novels follows Lina as she ends up solving a Saillune political battle, to a Shabrinigdu cult to protecting a Merchant from an Assassin we all know.
What Slayers has going for it, is it's an easy read and it's funny and can get serious at times. I just am not digging all the mediocre fight scenes. I wish Kanzaka described the spells a little bit more it's just BAM BAM BAM. I think i'll just have to live with it.
My favorite character finally appeared. I love Xellos so much and he is so funny with his calm blase way of saying things. It cracks me up to no end.
As I said in my previous review I watched the anime so I'm pretty familair with the material. There are major changes as entire characters that were never introduced. So I find it entertaining spotting these differences.
May 15, 2022
The second volume of the Slayers collector's edition continues to deliver! The translation is very accurate and the book is good quality and worth every penny. The fourth novel is the strongest in this edition but the other two are definitely worth a read as well. Looking forward to getting the entire series translated and re-released!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews