Sword Art Online 23: Unital Ring II

Sword Art Online #23

by Reki Kawahara, abec (Illustrator)

The moment Kirito, Asuno, and Alice were dragged into the mysterious VRMMO “Unital Ring,” Shinon was also thrust into the online world. After numerous setbacks, she finds herself without friends or equipment, and only a few “Thirst Points” left to her name. Backed against a wall, she’ll need to defeat a terrifying boss monster to survive. Meanwhile, Kirito’s group splits in order to both search for Shinon and defend their home, unaware that a mysterious assailant lies in wait... 

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Manga, Novels, Romance

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 10, 2019

About the author

Kawahara Reki (川原礫) is the writer of Sword Art Online and Accel World. He also uses the pen name Kunori Fumio. His hobby is cycling.

Reviews

[kerrycat · Rating 5 out of 5]

we only get the tiniest bit more on Kamura - who AW obsessives like me must all have realized is KYH's mother (OMG this is actually happening) and I'm DYING to get my hands on AW 25, which was supposed to arrive the same day as SAO 23 . . . but the USPS hates me so

Kirito thinking of our perfect angel boy - his actual name only once in his thoughts (closes book and comes back a few hours later because I can only take so much): "when he died in battle, a part of me died with him."

The long awaited reunion between Asuna and Argo - if this didn't bring tears to your eyes you have no soul: "I knew I would see you again one day."

Alice glaring at Kirito at the very mention of the pontifex. Can't blame her, even if he is joking.

Kawahara-sensei leaving us with another meeting of Ki-boy, who is not alone, with the man in glasses who needs a good slap. I'm at the head of that line.

abec does our kids proud with glorious illustrations, as always

I never want this to end

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m glad we’re coming back to Unital Ring after that weird break between books, I’m very keen to see where this story will go, and this was a good continuation. We see the group finally getting together, since the first time we dived into this world they’re all spread about and only Liz and Silica made it with the others. Now we finally have them all (I missed Klein so much, he’s great fun). There’s a good amount of battle, a few problems and tons of moments in the real world with Argo, I like having someone new.
But other than that, this felt like a build up, it’s laying the grounds for the new world and also letting us know how people are behaving. This is very good and I have great hopes for the following volumes.

[Tuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unital Ring so far is just as exciting as Alicization was for me because the discovery and exploration aspect of being plunged into a new world and discovering how it works on multiple levels is much more interesting than say diving into wholly established worlds like Aincrad, ALfheim Online, and Gun Gale Online, where larger characters knew what the game was inside and out. In the Underworld and in Unital Ring, our characters generally dont know anything about the world and are discovering it for themselves. I like this aspect as it makes the story feel crisp, fresh, and new.

Along those lines, Unital Ring has an interesting wealth of experiences for both survival focused gamers who just want to thrive and survive, as well as those who want to pursue more elaborate goals like pursuing world question. Kirito and friends find themselves trying to accomplish both, first with reaching and getting to Sinon and bringing her back, and second with developing their location or home into an actual settlement.

The journey to Sinon was incredibly fun with Yui, Lisbest, and Leafa showing off their abilities and Sinon practically being the Kirito equivalent for the girls side having a lot of his same tendencies and leanings. I do also like how characters have found their niche throughout the two volumes we have so far with Sinon as the language expert and gunner, Lisbest as the tank and the crafter, Kirito seemingly asn all around , and Yui going into the sagacious mage route. It will be interesting to see how everyone further differentiates their specialties in the future.

Plot wise having battles against world bosses with allies from the world joining our allies was just as fun as anti-Kirito forces being sent to get Kirito's party out of the way of the main goal. The joke of Kirito being the enemy everyone knew and was after was funny.

I really like Unital Ring and hope it lasts a while. All of the developments are great.

[Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5/5

Though not nearly as good as Unital Ring I, this book was still a great read, and I’m happy that SAO continues to make that huge price tag worth it.
I don’t have any big thoughts about this book, so I’ll do some point form notes
- The series is doing a great job of building up the UR mystery and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
- All the stuff with Sinon was awesome. I missed her so much in the last book.
- My only issue was that Patter kinda came out of no where, and I wish we got to see Sinon meet them.
- If UR keeps going how it is, this might become a close second favourite right behind Phantom Bullet in the number one spot.
- That cliffhanger was insanely mean! I was so excited to hear what Kikuoka knew about this whole incident.

[Donny Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought That this book Did a lot towards the story it mentions characters from progressive vol.1 such as Nezha and Kibaou. It’s really cool that Yui actually plays a bigger role in this book than she has in other books I won’t spoil that part of the book but it was Pretty Badass… it’s also easy to get involved into what’s happening in the book even without the illustrations I can’t wait until the rest of Unital ring is translated into English and I am really looking forward to what Reki Kawahara has in store for the rest of the series Both Anime and light novels… which saying a lot due to the fact I only just hopped onto the SAO bandwagon over the summer via the anime.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to make of this unital ring part of the series. It's kinda boring so far. It's not even really an Isekai anymore. What with them logging in and out! Anyway, I'll keep going, since I invested in the series already!

I must admit I did start playing Ark Evolved, in kinda sympathy with them! Since they are in a survival mmo with taming!

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good and slow story

This new video game is a slow crafting and building game. So less action and slower story. I did enjoy the return of a character from the progressive series. The story is good just not great.

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this installment. The battle scenes were good, making this a quick read. Thought he did a good job with all the characters that were involved. Looking forward to vol. 24 to learn more.

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good, The mystery element still huge here. With the same start with the other players and their inherited abilities locked, it's quite fair to begin.

[Pennin · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was so much funnnn

[Joses L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

UR is really awful, 5/10

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 23 in the series, and we get a further look at the new world of Unital Ring.

This time, we see Sinon's story, which is interlaced with everyone else, as the gang eventually all meet up and are reunited in the virtual world.

Very excited to see where their adventure takes them in this new world