This is the first light novel I've read, and it was more entertaining than I was expecting. The translation was, I suspect, a little loose, but good overall. The hefty amount of nostalgia I have for the show helped, of course. ( )

Review originally found on Looking Glass Reads.

Slayers: The Ruby Eye is the first book in the Slayers series by Hajime Kanzaka. Originally published in Japan in 1996, the translation was published eight years later in 2004 by Tokyopop. The story is centered on fifteen year old sorceress Lina Inverse and her newfound traveling companion Gourry Gabriev, a swordsman. A simple plundering of a bandit’s hideout for some loot has unforeseen and far reaching consequences for Lina, including a whole lot of people that would really rather see her dead.

Lina’s a heroine I can admire. She’s clever, a skilled sorceress, and has knowledge of swordsmanship, but she isn’t infallible. While she can use a sword, Lina knows that she is by no means as good as many of her opponents and needs to rely on her other skills or her companions in a physical fight. While strong and spirited, she’s not infallible with a healthy dose of greed and a bit of a body image problem. Lina feels her age, which I like. She has her clever moments, she has raw firepower behind her, but she’s not infallible.

The book is written in first person point of view from Lina’s perspective. Very often Lina’s narration smashes through the fourth wall, giving asides to the reader and answering our internal questions in real time. This works in the books favor, giving us the sort of very personable narration we don’t often see within in high fantasy.

There are some familiar tropes that slip into the story, but all are included rather purposefully. There are dumb, ugly bandits. Gourry is a less than smart swordsman, which, to be honest, can get a bit old as his lack of knowledge seems to be used as an excuse for several info-dumps. However, all of these and others are called out by Lina who laments the facts, pokes fun at them, or else comments on the oddity of the situation.

The story did feel a bit slow in places. A few conversations dragged on a bit too long. Explanations on how magic works and pertinent world history are stuffed in the context of teaching Gourry things he should already know. While the story has its comic moments and Lina has a fair dose of wit and snark, there are places where the jokes fall a little flat – sometimes on purpose, sometimes not.

As for the translation itself, I have some mixed feelings. Overall, it’s fairly well done. There are some places where a bit more finesse could probably have been used. Some onomatopoeias are kept in their original form, which leads to some odd text. On its own this wouldn’t really be much of a problem. As its used during fight scenes between magic users, however, there can be some confusion as to what’s simply an exclamation such as ‘oomph’ or an invented word used to cast magic. There are also a handful of places where a final proofread would have done a world of wonders. A few quotation marks are missing, making for some confusion and rereading of passages to make sure nothing was missed.

Slayers: The Ruby Eye is a fun read that any fantasy fan should pick up. It’s quick, it’s easy to read, and it has some memorable characters. While the exposition could have been handled with a little more finesse in some places, we are provided with a solid magic system and enough history of the world to make it feel thought out without interesting yet unnecessary information. If you like fantasy or books written in a strong first person voice, give this one a read. ( )

How can one describe the awesomeness of Lina Inverse to a bunch of book snobs?? (let’s face it, if you reading this you are in my GR friend’s list… if you in my friend list you are a book snob… don’t be lying to yourself! You are!) how can one explain to this snobs that a book don’t need to be a literary master piece to be highly entertaining? That a writer don’t need a deep, complicated plot to be great. That sometimes one need to entertain stupid things like “what would happen if I cast a healing spell on a zombie? Would it make it deteriorate even more? Or would it bring it back to life?” that sometimes I’m in no need of an amazing fantasy world. That some times all one need is a story where one can tell the difference between a good guy and a bad guy by looking at the clothes a character is wearing…


Seriously! Ho can one achieve all that???? Cuz my friend list is full with snobs!!!!!* and sometimes I get review shy cuz I don’t wanna sound stupid to em! Or be “that guy” on their friend list who don’t read deep shit, and don’t know how to properly review deep shit when he reads it!!!


But you know what! Fuck it! I will no longer be intimated by y’all and y’all fancy English! And y’all complicated words! I will review it how I feel it!!! Like when I’m dancing and singing in the shower! If you don’t like it, if its not deep enough for you, if you think it don’t make sense! I’ma tell you the same thing I told my cousin that time she found me masturbating in the shower!!! “its my dick and I can wash it any way I want!!!!!” just substitute “dick” with book and “wash” with review! And suck it!


Lina Inverse is the shit! Best female character ever!!!! A narcissist sorcerers with a superiority complex so big that can only be rival by her megalomania! But worry not! She also has inferiority complex about her undeveloped body to give some contrast to all of that.


I can’t get enough of her cheap jokes! Hell! I may be stealing a few of them! Like “a girl gotta eat, and this girl gotta eat a lot!” (she eats like a pig!) . There is also her badassness…. (I know that’s not a word!!! Remember…. My review!!!) Lina can kick some serious ass! When she is not too distracted by shiny things that may be treasure… did I mention how greedy she is? Well, she is! But in her defense she only steals from bandits…


Damn! This is getting to long!!!! Lets abridge what I wanna say!

Lina rocks! This book is fun, it ain’t no deep shit… but is entertaining as fuck! I 5! Suck it!
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