Ascendance of a Bookworm (Light Novel), Part 4 Volume 4

本好きの下剋上 ～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～ [Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho Ni Naru Tame Ni Shudan wo Erande iraremasen] (Novel) #16

by Miya Kazuki, You Shiina (Illustrator), Quof (Translator)

Despite having recently been separated from her lower city friends, Rozemyne has no time to grieve. Her first year at the Royal Academy has ended, summer approaches, and there's much for her to do. She strives to continue making books as per her promise to Lutz, but the spring feast also sees the announcement of her engagement to Wilfried—one of many political maneuvers to resist influence from the higher-ranking duchies.

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult, Magic, Manga, Slice Of Life

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 10, 2018

About the author

Japanese author (香月美夜)

Kazuki started writing novels when she was in her second year of junior high school. After taking an entrance exam, she entered into a national university before graduating and becoming busy with work, stopping her from writing. Once she was married and her child entered kindergarten, Kazuki had more free time, which she used to start writing again. From 2013 onwards, she started publishing her novel Ascendance of a Bookworm on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō which saw success. In 2015, she officially debuted with said series under the T.O. Books imprint.

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, it was a great read. Pretty calm, sure, but I can’t help the feeling that something resembling the Besewant or the kidnap is about to happen. Will Georgine access the Foundation magic? Will Myne be at peril again? I really believe it is bound to happen but what effects this creates is so unsettling to me as many possible outcomes pop in my head (many, very disastrous). I also might’ve spoiled myself of a future event and I seriously don’t know how the current events will transpire into that. I seriously can’t get enough of this novel.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book that is largely setup for events to follow; it's still a good read, though. Although I do have questions that have yet to be answered, such as why is the country of Yurgenschmidt a perfect circle? Are there any oceans or large bodies of water? If nobles are married based on mana capacity, how do noblemen have multiple wives? Where are all these extra noble wives coming from?

[Velta Gūtmane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jauni izgudrojumi maģijas sfērā. Tomēr vairāk liekas šī grāmata ir pauze, atelpa. Iespējams kaut kas nozīmīgs notiks nākamajā grāmatā.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I surprisingly forgot a lot of the details that happened in this one. I remember reading this volume the night of 2022 New Year's day, and staying up all night reading it until the sun rose and the birds woke up. So, I remember it most fondly, you could call it a one-night stand lol.

this books promises
- New magic lore
- Ehrenfest history and world building
- Comical interactions between Rozemyne and her retainers
- 3 noble engagements!!!!
- Myne and Ferdinand worrying over each other and deepening their family bond

After this volume, I couldn't help reading fan translations of the WebNovel in Spanish while waiting for the official English translations. Although the quality wasn't the best, and the light novel changes were not implemented I got quite far into the story, mid-part 5 I think. But now I am ready to binge-read all the volumes that have been published since this book was first published, which is a delightful amount of 11 volumes (counting short story collections and fanbook)

[Yassine Idrissi · Rating 3 out of 5]

this volume was so slow ,you wouldn't miss much if you skip it ,

[Sol González · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este es otro de los libros en donde se van desarrollando las cosas poco a poco, regresamos para ver las consecuencias de las acciones del pasado y, tal vez lo más impresionante, que era la limpieza de la ciudad, no sentí que se le diera mucha importancia.

El ritual accidental también fue interesante. Las partes que tienen que ver con los dioses, el pasado y los rituales me gustan. Los círculos de invocación también me han gustado. Dentro de este mismo tema, la plantación de los trajes de la herramientas mágicas sigue su curso, pero me gustaría que dieran más detalles porque a veces no puedo imaginarlo.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back to the grind.

Travel for seasonal prayer offerings. Business meetings to organize and expand the printing industry. Arguments with the nobility over the importance of cleaning up the lower city ahead of the duchy's planned growth. ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM v16 slips into a more stable narrative pace that sees Lady Rozemyne returning to form as a businesswoman whose eccentricity yields surprises around every corner.

Nothing particularly dramatic or exciting happens in this volume, but as readers know well, sometimes, it's the little things that give Rozemyne's story the attention and flair it deserves.

For example, a journey up north to the province of Haldenzel proves enlightening. It's supposed to be a simple trip, during which Rozemyne and her Gutenbergs will check on the progress of Haldenzel's workshop. But a simple visit turns into a kind of festival, and an impromptu celebration turns into a miracle-inducing blessing for the history books. This blue-haired daughter of the aub may feign innocence ("I didn't want to get in trouble for blasting out blessings like some kind of party trick," page 214), but it's getting tougher to hide the fact that wherever this young woman goes, peculiar things follow (Angelica: "I think you're the most unusual of all, since you're the one who makes all these unusual things happen," page 229).

ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM v16 also introduces a few nifty bits of overdue character growth for Rozemyne, including her direct tutelage under Ferdinand. The High Priest teaches the High Bishop a dash of magecraft and potion-making (or, "Professor Ferdinand's Brewing Lessons," as a certain someone calls them). The result of this educational effort is a clever (and dangerous) application of a startlingly common tool of craft.

Another bit of character development involves Rozemyne stepping deeper into the role of advisor and instructor to her own retinue. When Judithe (apprentice medknight, second year) proclaims her admiration for Angelica's competitiveness and focus, Rozemyne immediately chides the girl for ignoring her own strengths in lieu of chasing the unattainable. Judithe excels in ranged combat, why waste time working on sword skills? Know what you're good at, work hard to excel in that craft, and prove your worth with the knowledge and experience you've gained. Upon hearing this advice, the room goes silent.

Sylvester's report from the Archduke Conference is perhaps the largest plot point of the book. Here, Rozemyne learns who to keep track of, who to watch out for, and who to cozy up to during her next term at the Royal Academy. Can the young woman navigate such nuance when it counts? It's anyone's guess. The same goes for all of those marriage proposals that are flying about, whether for Rozemyne or for her siblings. If the Duchy of Ahrensbach can angle its claws around the throat of Ehrenfest, how long until the rogue duchy tightens its grip? And will Rozemyne and her allies discern Ahrensbach's target before it's too late?

[joseph a weese jr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Politics

I disliked the main character getting an arranged marriage to a character that is not worthy and incompatible with mc. The MC asked if it was his choice and it was not but he said it was. It was built on a lie. And is forced it broke all good feelings I had about this novel. That character is not worth the salt in his body let alone the mc. Disgusting. The ark duke is a failure. The MC is the best fit for leader but everyone focuses on her apparent flaws instead of what ahe has acheived. All other nobles see MC achievements and just find her other personality traits as an odd point of view but not a bad thing. The ark duke is so biased that he can't or won't see MC greatness. The people around MC in government power seem blind. She spent two whole years in a coma and still outperformed the heirs of the ark duke and they never truly caught up to her.for two whole years. If your not blind deaf or mentally unwell its obvious who the next arch duke should be. Hand down no vote. The sheer incompatince needed to overlook that is staggering. Or nepotism. Either or and it paints a horrible future for mc. Wilfred is a puppet of his advisors / retainers. He doesn't pay any heed to anyone but those who will agree with him or he has.to impress. His retainers look out for themselves and are not truly competent just sub par barely passable. I have so many problems with this volume I can't even list them all. And MC is Japanese. they had royal harems documented in books MC loves books she should be able to.navigate better then she is. With education standard of Japan and there history she should know and show way more competence, even if she was a book worm often they are better at memory retention then others. Till this point the books were a bit silly but were emotionally engaging and left you with a smile. This book just left me angry. The epilogue cooled my anger to a simmer but I still did not have a smile. This is a failure when every book before this heavily engaged the readers emotional spectrum you get sucked in and attached to the mc. So this book was a HUGE emotional hit in negativity. Just disgusted I found myself hoping the king wouldn't agree but then the author made it worse by saying MC would have to be second wife of the current aub if not engaged to wilfred?!?!?! That's SICK!!! I spend the rest of the book just sick disturbed and not wanting to.read anymore. I recommend prior to this volume to everyone its a nice story. This volume is just were it ends and shouldn't be bought. Period.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly this book is a break from the Royal Academy, but there is much more going on in Rozemyne's life than that. Things continue to move forward in her life and in the printing industry. Plus, she's great as causing accidental problems, as always. So, another great volume.

The Prologue is from Wilifred's POV. It's great to see his perspective on his engagement to Rozemyne, and it's nice to just get a little further discussion on the topic. It wasn't necessarily needed, as I believe much of it was addressed in the prior book, but it's nice to see the responses/info when discussed with others outside of Rozemyne.

The developments with Schwartz' and Weiss' outfits is quite interesting, and I hope more information is learned there. It was also fun to see Rozemyne learning a new spell (and I love the accompanying illustration).

The most intriguing part of this book was the Spring Prayer. It raises some questions, and I can't wait to see this subplot continue in further volumes.

Then there's Entwicken. That whole subplot was interesting (and once again demonstrates how terrifying nobles can be). I don't know how to state my thoughts on it without writing (mild) spoilers, so I'll leave it at that.

The Epilogue is told in Gieselfried's POV, and it's nice to see his thoughts on things as well as get a hint as to what these new marriages could mean.

The first bonus story is told from Giebe Haldenzel's POV. Again, it's nice to get another perspective on an event and to see the thoughts of a character one hasn't seen much of. It really helps the world to feel all the more real by seeing his worries and the changes that have come upon his region.

The second bonus story is from Gunther's POV, and it goes into the efforts he and the other guards went to to prepare the lower city for what was to come. It's really nice to see this as it feels much too long since the lower city got some focus. Plus, it was cool to see their reactions to magic.

As for the bonus comics, the ones involving Rozemyne's attempts at creativity and Ferdinand's reactions to them were funny.

Overall, another fun book. This volume felt kind of like a bridge novel with a lot of setup for future events, but it was still fun to see everything unfolding, plus it still introduced some new plot points. Maybe it's just because I'm eager to be back in the academy. :P But this was another fun read, and the art was great, as always.

[Kyrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm used to not really getting into the story until at least a quarter of the way through it. This one, I never quite enjoyed, aside from the short blip at the end narrated by Gunther. I apparently enjoy the regular citizens more than the nobles.

Rozemyne does the Spring Blessings in this story. Strange things happen, of course. The poorer parts of Ehrenfest need to be cleaned if nobility and merchants are going to be passing through to buy the trendy new things Rozemyne has created. Be nice to have the nobility's cleaning spells. However, the nobles seem to think they can just get rid of anything that isn't magically created, which includes a huge proportion of the poor people's houses. Rosemyne fights to make sure her family is safe.

I'm amazed the nobility accomplishes anything since schooling apparently only occurs during autumn. The rest of the time they're off at Archduke conferences, or arranging marriages, or embroidering. I got more of a feeling for the day to day noble life and dang, it's kinda boring. Rozemyne has slightly more interesting experiencees being the High Bishop. It's funny. Most nobles look down on the Temple, yet they do all the worship rituals.

There's a lot of things that make sense because o the background in this book, but it was kinda draggy.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fico impressionado em quanto a RoseMyne é despreocupada com ter que se casar com alguém nesse mundo por obrigação da nobreza. Em outra história provavelmente teria algum drama pessoal de ter que se sujeitar a esse tipo de vida, aqui ela só quer que a pessoa que for seu marido tenha uma biblioteca acessível. No final os que cuidam dela querem que seja alguma perto devido a ela ser problemática e o único viável seria o wilfried, seu primo que é praticamente irmão por ela ter sido adotiva pelo tio que na verdade não é tio e na verdade ela não tem relação familiar.
No resto do volume temos as festas da primavera com uma grande descarga de magia que pouco consegue ficar de pé, exigindo novos cuidados para os próximos anos.

[s. · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was a nice read.

The short stories were both heartwarming, especially since the last one was Gunther's so it has left quite a heartwarming emotion to me as I write this review. It's always so nice to read about Rozemyne from other people's perspectives. So I quite like reading short stories like these.

For the most part, the book is relaxed and nice since they came back from the Royal Academy but the latter chapters promise unrest. I am looking forward to read more about it although, admittedly, I am quite nervous about Ahrensbach's tricky and evidently ill intentions. I thought I have disliked Ahrensbach already, but it seems it hasn't been enough lol

The illustrations in this book are so good! Also, i love the illustration cover so much too.

I can't wait to read the rest!

[Julie Ditton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rozemyne casts blessings, starts trends, and mixes with novels all causing headaches for her guardians.( Rinse, lather and repeat with Rymsham.). The only new interesting development is the disappointing but obvious plot point of her engagement to Willard for political reasons. The reader can foresee this happening, but the romantic in me was hoping for her to stay unattached until she is of age and then end up with Ferdinand. After all, don’t they both need someone of equivalent mana? Even with age and her mana compression method, I don’t see Willard eventually growing to her level.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining

Rozemyne’s antics with politics and trends were enjoyable to read. I’m still not a fan of her nonchalant engagement, it’s really weird even for a reincarnated girl to not care as much. Hopefully there’s some development in her relationship with others vs her constant view as everyone as NPC’s in her life.

[Jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

I'm just amazed how well the story is progressing. I liked how much Sylvester is growing alongside the city. I think Rozemyne is not only making books but making religion to be spread as well. It all makes sense as she went in to the temple. I can't wait for them to climb up the rankings in the future.

[Deanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to what I love. I love the worldbuilding and lore in this series. You learn more about thier province as she travels around and finds out about old forgotten rituals.

Last book Rosemyne felt like a bully in getting people to learn things and follow her plans. This nook she seems to be more like she's learning better ways to get people on your side.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant read. And we even get back to the lower city and Myne being able to interact with her family at least a little. The political story has gotten a bit more interesting. And Myne gets a chance to invent some more. It is kind of crazy how many characters are in this. But this was a fast read. And left me wanting to read the next way. 3.5 of 5.

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a decent, if not amazing volume. It falls more on the slice of life side, so while some religious/magical/political developments take place, they're all in the second half of the book. With that being said, I look forward to seeing the aftermath of the changes from the lords' meeting in the next book. 4 stars.

[R.B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so unimpressive I don't even remember what I read, I imagine it'll get more interesting when she'll start her second year of school.

Wilfried's retainers telling him siblings and married couples are the same was a little disturbing, I suppose they can pretend Rozemyne is too sickly to have children and not actually do anything but still.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not much advance

Good, but didn't advance the story much. Always interesting characters, and Myne is one of a kind. The end stories were well done and, especially the foreign nobles one added context.

[Mendhak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much socializing and politics. Not enough libraries and books (the title of the series, and the reason I enjoy reading this series).

This entry feels like a setup for a future entry but nothing much happens.

[Te-ge Bramhall · Rating 5 out of 5]

How oh how I wish that Goodreads had a "Select all that apply" option for adding books to your shelf, especially books in a series, especially when there are more than 20 books in that series and you binge-read all of them, not quite in one sitting, but close enough.

[Scarlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cada vez está mejor como va transcurriendo la historia, hay mucho drama como me gusta leer a veces.

Pero presiento que va a ver algo no me va a gustar mucho que digamos en el siguiente libro. 😣

Y espero estar equivocada, lo cual no es usual. 🙃

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fate of an entire dutchy rests on the overworked shoulders of a 10 year old who just wanted to read some books. It's amazing Rosemyne hasn't killed someone out of frustration in this series so far.

[Tyler & Tylar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know it's my fault that I read through these so quickly, but the sadness I feel when it ends is huge. I adore this series and it just gets better and better with each new volume. 🥺 I will patiently wait for the next issue that I definitely already have pre-ordered lol

[Coral Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so entertaining

I was already suspecting this the moment they came back from the Archduchal Conference but Oh no, are they going to marry off Ferdinand to Letizia? NOOOO!!!! MYNE, SAVE FERDINAND!!!

[Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

平淡的一集，感覺是轉銜和交代後續安排的過渡階段XD
(其實劇情並沒有說有甚麼不好，但感覺比較沒有起伏，最後決定給3星）

[Thai · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s nothing special but I enjoy the world Miya builds around. These chapters did nothing for me.

[Yudi Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still my most favorite Lightnovel. amazing story and development

[Jesse Deleon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost done with this series!

I have been trying to get caught up so I really enjoy my summer program with the new books coming out April 20. A fan!