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The Amber Sword
Type
Web Novel (CN)
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Rating(4.3 / 5.0, 856 votes)
5    68% (585 votes)
4    11% (90 votes)
3    11% (96 votes)
2    5% (43 votes)
1    5% (42 votes)
Language
Author(s)
One entry per line
Artist(s)
One entry per line
Year
Example: 2012
2010
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
6 Volumes / 1467 Chapters (Completed)
Licensed
No
Completely Translated
No
Original Publisher
One entry per line
English Publisher
One entry per line
N/A
Release Frequency
Every 9.7 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #428
Monthly Rank: #583
All Time Rank: #115
Reading List
[Graph]
On 11902 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #530
All Time Rank: #65

Description

Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.

An RPG gamer who played the realistic VRMMORPG ‘The Amber Sword’ for years, finds himself teleported to a parallel world that resembled the game greatly. He takes on the body of an NPC who was fated to die, and with the feelings of the dying NPC and his own heartrending events in the game, he sets out to change the fate of a kingdom that was doomed to tragedy.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Heros of Amber
TAS
琥珀之剑
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
I am the Monarch (12)
Release that Witch (11)
Night Ranger (10)
The Second Coming of Gluttony (9)
My Death Flags Show No Sign of Ending (7)
Sevens (7)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Isekai among isekais
  2. Awesome “Protaganist” <3
  3. Let's Become a Summoning Master!
  4. Good characters and power balance
  5. Best novel I found

Latest Release

Date Group Release
05/31/19 WolfieTranslation v3c238
05/31/19 WolfieTranslation v3c237
05/31/19 WolfieTranslation v3c236
05/31/19 WolfieTranslation v3c235
05/31/19 WolfieTranslation v3c234
05/30/19 WolfieTranslation v3c233
05/29/19 WolfieTranslation v3c232
05/29/19 WolfieTranslation v3c231
05/29/19 WolfieTranslation v3c230
05/29/19 WolfieTranslation v3c229
04/27/19 WolfieTranslation v3c228
04/05/19 WolfieTranslation v3c227
04/05/19 WolfieTranslation v3c226
04/03/19 WolfieTranslation v3c225
04/02/19 WolfieTranslation v3c224
123…32
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97 Reviews sorted by


berdanka
New berdanka rated it
August 7, 2019
Status: v3
The first problem of this novel is how the author tells some random bullsh*t expecting that you should believe him without any actual proof or explanation.

For example, he tells how the MC loves this country, how he supports the princess and adores the warrior girl. But it feels like some random trivia and not something that should drive the plot. It's by no means a reason to risk your life.

Also, this "reincarnation into the game" setting is a totally unrequired trope because the author never tells you about the protagonist's... more>> real life. He could just say that the protagonist is not the otherworlder but some random overpowered guy that time-traveled and reincarnated. Nothing will change.

Further, the main character's ingame past is very obscure. His motives are weak, and the author tries his best to avoid speaking about it.

The last major problem, terrible translation. Translator can't stop blabbering. His comments destroy any immersion you managed to get. Not to mention the fact that he took some liberties with translation.

Present four problems ruined this novel for me. Don't know about what potential people are talking about. <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Gen3
Gen3 rated it
March 22, 2016
Status: --
This novel is quite good. I dont even want to understand how could people rate it a 1 star.

I especially enjoy how the pov changes from 1 to another to get the view regarding their opinions of the MC. One thing that differentiate this from the other general transported to another world is the usage of cards system and mana pool similar to table top games. Overall the translator does a great job translating it that I'm tempted to read the raws
74 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
null
null rated it
June 21, 2016
Status: --
Good story but translator mess it with his/her "creative editing". Re-writing original story are crossing the line of what translator should do. Might read the English translation if another translator translate the original story.
70 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Dima1
Dima1 rated it
December 31, 2017
Status: --
Other World transmigraficarnation series where protagonist didn’t grow rice, create soy sauce, play simcity (yet) simcook simsweatshop or Pokémon, recreate airbus and a bathhouse in the Middle Ages, have an elf and goblin industrial revolution, become big man on campus in elementary school, **** slave harems, display cat ear/fox tail fetishism, become a foodie lamenting how every restaurant is inferior to his soy sauce and mayo culture, invent a toilet, get reborn as a super saiyin, internally praise child labor laws and modern education, or have chats with god.... more>> Great story. Not a cooking novel. <<less
57 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
makenai89
makenai89 rated it
January 16, 2016
Status: --
Reviewed at 44 and rated 4 *I swear the triple 4 was just coincidence*

The Amber Sword offers a unique take on the “transported to a game” genre. I was actually quite surprised to know that it comes from qidian, because the setting, plot, and characterization seems like a j-novel written by someone heavily influenced by western fantasy stories. Nevertheless, it is a very interesting novel, and if you are someone looking for novel with unusual plot or plot with game elements, then this one might be a perfect choice.

The MC... more>> feels mature, and has a good strategic thinking. He is not looking for harem or to be the strongest either; up to the latest chapter, he was just looking for the best way to survive in the new world that is on the brink of calamity while ensuring key people to stay alive. As well, supporting characters here are not just empty vessels to drive the plot, but actually experience some development. An interesting piece, indeed.

Review edit after v2 c9, upped the rating to 5.
The author narrative was getting better and better. The battle scenes too. It can be interpreted as I personally like the second book than the first, but well, that's how it is. The POV exchanges also provided a much needed break in between, and was well-done. I'm increasingly loving this. <<less
40 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Blisfulloblivion
Blisfulloblivion rated it
June 5, 2016
Status: --
I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed this. The translation quality is surprisingly good even if it is riddled with typos. Everything makes sense and reads smoothly without the clunkiness commonly found in fan-translations. The story progresses surprisingly quickly, skimming over minor details while still providing all necessary information. Which is a nice change from the normally repetitive verbosity that Chinese works seem to favor (Still like them though). It honestly reads more like a Korean/western work. Best of all is the story seems to have a strong plot and... more>> no filler. I think what really sells me is the MC. He is actually admirable and not just strong. He's skilled, intelligent, kind, and strong without going over the top. He is moderately weak at this point in the story. His success is due to his experience and knowledge of the world as a game and is carefully shown as such. So while there are moments of plot armor and conveniences they are minor as proper reasoning is given. I think one of the biggest complaints people might have is with the somewhat cliche personality type fm leads. Classic ditz and tsundere. They both develop and the cliche isn't as pronounced as you would normally see but for those who hate that stuff it may be annoying. (EDIT: The cliche females situation reduces significantly as the story progresses) <<less
35 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Doropyan
Doropyan rated it
May 2, 2016
Status: c39, Dropped
Actual Rating: 2.5
Reviewed at Chapter 39

First off, I just want to WolfieTranslation for translating this. From what I read in the translator notes there was a lot of editing the original story just so it would made sense.

I like novels where the main character is thrown into another world with knowledge of the future or some cheat ability. It’s fun to read it even if they might be ridiculously OP. I like reading the reactions when people find out just how good the MC is. But I just couldn’t... more>> keep going on with this novel. I tried, I really did try hard to push on. The premise of this novel was interesting, I liked the MC enough because he’s someone with skill who’s stuck in a somewhat useless body at the start.
Spoiler

Okay so we find out he’s not so useless after all. His abilities are just locked.

[collapse]

He struggles, he compromises. He doesn’t feel arrogant. I switched 50% of my brain off to ignore the ridiculous things of the gaming system. I don't think the author actually did much research into games. But the author makes effort in building the world where it’s identical to the game, but at the same time it’s not. Some parts really make you realise that although everything may seem the same, MC is still just a human living in this chaotic world and I liked that.

What annoyed me were the girls. I can understand that without experience of a real battle or in true danger there are things which don’t make sense. It’s normal to panic and do stupid things. What I couldn’t stand was the fact that the two girls seem to not learn from their mistakes and do another really stupid thing one second, then the next second they’re awesomely calm in battle the next. It probably wasn’t until in chapter 35-ish they started to learn (albeit a lot of the knowledge was from MC). The girls also felt like cardboard cutouts of certain tropes. Maybe I need to keep reading to see more development but it won’t be any time soon.

If you can accept these kinds of female characters I think The Amber Sword is a novel nice enough to pass some spare time. It can’t really compare to the more famous translated Chinese webnovels but decent enough for a light read. <<less
31 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
clowred
clowred rated it
April 23, 2017
Status: v1c23
This novel is a mess. A mess of MMORPG elements, light novel troupe with tsundere side girl and airhead main girl, fantasy elements, swords and magic and xianxia/xuanhuan development of proud enemies, extreme good luck, plot armor and reincarnation. After 23 chapters, I can say that the protagonist is acceptable with a decent mindset. If he became a solo warrior that later on met companions, then the story would have been a very entertaining one. However, it didn't take one chapter before the author decided to bring the main... more>> girl, with her mysterious personality and background and also with her predisposition for adventure which clearly attached her to the protagonist as an accessory until her own identity will surprise everyone. This is not even a spoiler, for one chapter to be so evident, the story already took an arrow to its figurative knee. The rival exists, as a decent swordsman that is both proud but at least somewhat capable. The stinky old man that has authority but has to bow in front of the awesomeness of the protagonist also appears. And the plot takes a quantum leap as the protagonist obtains something resembling the purple card from TMW. The problem comes from how fast this object became capable of giving the protagonist enough power to surpass tens of levels. What for players with no fear of death took three years, he managed to accomplish in about two weeks. If you enjoy Japanese light novels with tsundere girls that always falls in some sort of misunderstanding, before creating unnecessary trouble for the protagonist, then you are going to love this.
Spoiler

BTW, this chick is also some goddess of war that went through a lot, as the author reminds her from the days he was playing as an Otaku. Her eyes were filled with sadness as she remembered her adoptive parents being slaughtered by the necromancers's skeletons. In this world the protagonist wasn't capable of saving her adoptive parents and she cried her crocodile tears for about three paragraphs, and then she moved on. Shortly after she followed behind the protagonist that was as nimble as a cat because of his training with a shadow class player in his former world, while caring a few tens of kilograms through a dense forest in a dense night. I don't know, maybe she has some goddess skill, like pinpointing the protagonist **** smell and following like a beast in heat.

[collapse]

Another concerning matter comes from the translator. He translates this Chinese novel as he would translate a Japanese one. So you are going to see onii-san and anesan. In my opinion, it's trash. In your opinion, it may be gold. But if you think I've written anything wrong, then please, reread this novel until you find something that denies my point of view. <<less
30 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Dragon
Dragon rated it
October 23, 2016
Status: v1c40
Terrific novel. If you told me that it was a Japanese light novel, I would not be surprised. It has definitely the feel of something like Tsuyokute New Saga, but I think that it is better written and translated.

It has very detailed and enjoyable fighting scenes. The MC is not completely overpowered and relies on his wits, but he does have some treasures and knowledge that makes him stronger than opponents that should be stronger than him.

The other characters that the MC encounters are pretty well thought out as well.... more>> Even characters that oppose the MC are usually level-minded and not like some of the most generic "arrogant young master" antagonist type that you would usually see sprinkled across Chinese novels.

As of v1c40, I am hooked, and I think that it should at least get a high 4 or a 5 from what I've read so far. And it looks like from other reviews that it increases in quality as well: I can't wait. <<less
22 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Darkzeta
Darkzeta rated it
July 1, 2017
Status: v2c166
Very excellent translator / editor / rewritor.

Some things to keep in mind before you start reading this.

  1. It is really a LitRpg mixed with some Card Games. Avoid if you don't like litrpg or card games.
  2. MC is not TOO OP. Maybe say 8 / 10, and 10 being Goku/Superman/Saitama level. And 1 being Yamchaa and Krillin. He does use his knowledge of the story to take on the main arcs and twist it to his advantage, but doesn't go overboard and if he fails, he actually is smart enough to recover. There are few 'plot armor' moments as well. The MC is portrayed very realistically as possible without going all Saitama OPM on us.
  3. Very good details dealing with strategy and tactics in defeating his enemies. So if you like that kind of stuff, this may be for you.
  4. The translator blatantly states they re write the original. WAIT! Don't run yet. He does it to make the story telling smoother and western style of writing instead of that weird direct translation you get if you keep it eastern. I found that made the story is WAY more easier to read. I really hate all the weird noise sounds and stuff that other translators keep in, you know the "wahh! Ouuh! Hupp! Clang! Bang! Whoosh! Pa! Pa! Puah!" His rewrites actually make the story flow better.
Overall if you are ok with those points, give this a read.
20 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Juanen
Juanen rated it
March 30, 2016
Status: --
The novel has a good start, but the problem is how the author mixes a medieval word with game based mechanics. You have a levels system with drops, skills etc with a system of cards and elemental points (like magic card’s game). So after reading until V2Ch17 I couldn’t continue with this nosense and dropped it.
20 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Poor_Hero
Poor_Hero rated it
February 16, 2016
Status: --
the MC is.... simply hilarious (≧▽≦) /~┴┴ so he possessed a body of npc in the game he played before. knowing that he's going to die by the event that happens soon, he decided to act fast and protect people he cares. this guy is pretty funny, knowledgeable about the game even if he isn't one of the strongest players in the game before and dense about others' feelings. the misunderstanding between him and other characters are pretty hilarious. the plot is in normal pace, I think and the comedy... more>> and the action part are good here. looking forward to the future.
ps: sometimes, I forgot that this is Chinese novel, lol, that's because of how the story goes, you might feel the same way to me. <<less
18 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ScotlandForsythe
ScotlandForsythe rated it
February 1, 2016
Status: c104
I love this story because the MC actually struggles. The mixture of gaming and western fantasy is extremely interesting. The female’s in the story have weird personalities and the males aren’t as two-dimensional as you might think at first.

Overall a four but a five because I really like the concept. l’m going to refute melfar’s words on the fact that there is nothing wrong with MC crying out to mother marsha, it’s part of the story and the author’s religion does not matter. Just reading five chapters then completely thrashing... more>> the novel isn’t exactly going to help anybody. The novel only has a few gaming elements as he’s the only one aware, and the author isn’t re****ed for giving girl’s guy names and guy’s girl names. It’s his style. (If you feel offended by this sorry.. But I really would prefer you right a review based on the story and not on how stupid you think the author is. He worked hard.

EDIT: I still believe this story is unique, and it pains me to read all those low ratings just because they believe the story is horribly written or they don't like the game system.

I personally don't mind it, but for all of you guys who do, just ignore it and you'll realize how incredibly thought out the storyline is. The game system may be trash to some people, but the story itself is amazing.

EDIT:
I still hold onto my earlier words. There are a few characters I want to slap in the face though. This story has so many ideas built up that I'm pretty sure it won't run out or begin repeating stuff anytime soon. <<less
18 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Raphael
Raphael rated it
December 20, 2015
Status: --
Just read the TL’s long message at the start of chapter 39 and I got to wonder how was it that the series had such a low rating here. Not really saying this is amazing work or ground breaking but I would rate this a 4.5/5 nine times out of ten so I figured I would hop here and leave a bit of a review on my thoughts of it and give it a rating to help it along.

So where to start, the series is not exactly new work. MC... more>> wakes up in a world that resembles a game he was a beast in previously and proceeds to use his mastery over the game and advance knowledge to climb to the top and become badass, all the while having one or two pretty girls falling in love and correcting all the evils of the world or something to that effect. Now while this is nothing new the series does stand out on its own right, having a half descent plot and I personally feel something like “hook, line and sinker” when I read a series in which monsters grant XP, characters level up have skills and get drops from killed enemies, so from the get go I was partial to the story based on just that, however since then I have come to enjoy it for others reasons main among them is that the MC I not totally thinking with his **** (like JImmy Valmer was when he released the Add, hehe good reference) also the story does a good job of explaining what is going on most of the time. All in all I personally feel that this story gets a 4.5 out of 5 but since there is no halfway here I’ll just give it a five and hope it earns it later on, as for readers coming in and asking if it’s any good I recommend you try out the first 2~3 chapters the story kicks into action pretty quickly so you will get a feel for what it will be like early on here. Anyways hope that helps, peace out. <<less
15 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Takumi168
Takumi168 rated it
June 4, 2016
Status: v2c43
I have steadily lost interest in this novel. The idea behind the story is fine but the execution was terrible. The story is about a boy with knowledge of this world 's events. This world is just a video game he plays but 50 years prior. So he uses the timeline to save the npc's and prevent disaster from happening. Heres the bad part, theres too many politics where the MC isnt in control. Also it seems like he's ignoring the gamer route and playing the hero route. (Gamer ignore... more>> everything around you and focus on stats and drops, hero - tries to save everyone by himself). The main antagonist are undeads however the kingdoms in control of the world refuses to acknowledge the problem and are only worried about their prestige. One noble sure I can understand but when the whole kingdom refuse to acknowledge civilian merits it rubs me the wrong way. <<less
14 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Okabe_rintarou
Okabe_rintarou rated it
July 6, 2017
Status: c774
I have read the first half of the novel. I think it's good. It would've been great but the author ruined it.

An otaku guy Su Fei got his soul transferred into the body of an NPC called Brendel at an earlier time frame than the game represents. He's incredibly weak compared to his original character. From then on he's Brendel who tries to save the country from it's terrible end.

Well that's how it was supposed to be. But we later understand that Su Fei or Sophie (lol) inside of Brendel... more>> is a man with a mob character mindset and the only thing in his mind is to help his idol the princess. This is made even more apparent when he forcefully kisses her. Of course it was after he was brutally attacked by the mentally unstable princess. When she said "I trusted you" he couldn't even respond you attacked me first.

This all happens when he already had the most adorable dedicated girlfriend who treats him like a treasure. So the guy inside Brendel is basically a scum. But Brendel himself is a true heroic soul.

Su Fei lacks any sort of ambition. Hid only wish is to save the princess. This slave mentality will annoy the hell out of you.

The endless praises showered on the MC by the other characters is generally undeserved. So you'll feel annoyed after sometime.

But the most annoying thing is his infatuation for the princess. Even after he realizes that the princess' younger brother - the Crown Prince is more talented and humble than the princess, he favors her. This slave mentality, and the actions provoking a feeling of betrayal towards his girlfriend makes you hate the MC and the author.

These parts resemble 3rd rate Japanese web novels. Especially the MC's mob character mentality.

Even though the plot is great and the concept is ingenious I can only rate it 3/5 because of the hateful Su Fei who is all set out on ruining Brendel's honour! <<less
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chucke
chucke rated it
June 3, 2017
Status: c1467
I am giving that novel a 5 due to the sole reason that it was one of those chinese novel that I was able to complete and not drop around 1x** chapters. There are multiple reasons for that.

First of all, the author is consistent with the powers of characters. Since the very beginning we have the top powerhouses around MC and by the end of the novel, MC is not greatly surpass them (of course he gets a lot of powers and so on). Moreover even entities stronger than him... more>> still remain. It makes the story pleasant to read because you don't look at the previous encounters like playing with ants. We have politics to the very end, we have people scheming something behind the backs, we have strong main enemy.

Spoiler

And MC did not defeat him like in typical xianxias where MC surpasses the god's level and becomes ultimate being with no rivals, but because main enemy did not know everything as he thought

[collapse]

Till the very end we are not leaving behind the characters, MC met in the beginning. And they are not growing only with help of MC. And not forgotten till the end

Spoiler

Well, there is couple of characters that author introduced but never developed but they are minority and more like 3 or 4 characters

[collapse]

Main character is not developed by "lucky findings", but with the help of his knowledge that he gained in the game. It is not like - oh, I went and suddenly ran into the god who granted me with super secret god-killing power.

As a typical chinese novel we get a huge world with a lot of secrets. And that is actually its huge drawback. Author introduces a lot of really interesting stuff but he is unable to develop it fully till the end. I give it a 5, but to be honest it is more 4.7 - 4.8.

It is worth reading. Though it might be better to drop it before the last chapter due to not that great ending (it was not bad, regarding main enemies and so on, it was concluded just fine but author could make at least 3-4 chapter to wrap everything up and not only 1 chapter like he did) <<less
13 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
PoshMafia
PoshMafia rated it
May 11, 2017
Status: v2c146
Alright, I honestly do not know where to start with this novel.

The Amber Sword, The Translation, is beyond a doubt one of the best works I have ever read.

Now where the raws end and the translation begins I can not begin to tell, because I have never once read a novel out of China or Japan that has made me sit back and think damn this author has some serious guts.

The Amber Sword is a novel that is creating a sprawling massive world with lore back story and so much... more>> more depth than I ever expected there to be or imagined there being.

It reminds me of many first time authors published novels, filled with ambition and scope. The desire to write something that no one has thought or dared to do.

Set in the video game world of 'The Amber Sword' our protagonist finds a world similar but much more dangerous than he ever imagined. Things that he had only heard about or caught glimpses of are coming out of the woodwork in a desperate attempt to achieve their own goals.

The Amber Sword thus far, is not a novel in which the world revolves around our Main Characters every movement. He is merely one man trying to change the destiny of a Kingdom doomed to ruin. While to world around him continues to move towards the inevitable.

As each new arc introduces a new piece playing upon the board that is the Kingdom of Aouine. We see a tapestry that strays away from the norm and dares to walk into grounds we have yet to see in any fiction.

As with any great ambitious work, it is very easy to plunge off the side of a cliff and kill yourself, but until that happens I will wait eagerly for the next chapter. <<less
13 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Scaethys
Scaethys rated it
June 4, 2016
Status: v2c43
Beautiful story. It completely deviates from what Chinese novels are usually about.
... more>>
Spoiler

This story seems to be a mix of Chinese, Japanese, Western and even Korean elements. Although the equipment system is a little confusing, if you reread it a little bit it becomes much more understandable. I cant say that the characters are unique either, but the action in the story is very good.

[collapse]
Though I can't say its completely unique, but the writing style is completely refreshing. After reading so many Chinese novels with the same crap occurring over and over again, this novel is like rain after a long drought. (Like california's situation xD)

I also really want to thank the translator wolfie for doing such an excellent job. Completely out of my expectations. I read the raws a bit and found it to be of a much lower quality than the translated work. You could even say wolfie literally reworded the story so that it flowed smoother. Good job wolfie!

All in all, this is definitely a novel that is worth reading and following. Give it a shot. <<less
13 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ththth12
ththth12 rated it
January 23, 2016
Status: --
This story has very unique feel to it. It's kind of mixture of western fantasy, time travel with knowledge of future events, and some RPG game elements.

Story is solid and characters have personality. Smart MC who start out weak. There is real sense of danger in fights. Only MC is aware of game part, so it's bit different from usual game systems. 5/5
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keklel
keklel rated it
January 8, 2017
Status: v2c100
UPDATE (v2c100) :

I'm downgrading my rating to 4.5/5 because of some further problems I have noticed with the story. The MC frequently does not discuss or rehearse battles with his team before going into fights. For example in the fight vs the spectral knight he did not tell Nightsong Tiger about the tactic he was going to use, leading Nightsong Tiger to almost mess up the fight and cost them their lives. This could have been easily avoided had the MC simply just told his subordinates what he was going... more>> to do. Old review:

I almost missed this gem because of just how bad the title, cover image, and summary were. Firstly ignore the cover image. It is ugly and in no way representative of how good the story is. Don't judge a book by its cover applies well here. The image makes the characters look like some generic cardboard cutouts (in addition to making the MC look re****ed which he is not) and does not depict the exciting battles between the MC and numerous magical and undead beings in the story. Secondly ignore the title. The title is uncool and boring, whilst this story is not. This story (so far) has not been about some "amber sword" at all. The title makes this story sound like some generic fantasy garbage about some magical sword when it's nothing of the sort. Thirdly ignore the summary. It tells you literally nothing about the story whatsoever. Makes it sound like some generic VRMMO garbage which it is not. I wish whoever wrote the summary can make it more detailed, like the TL summary for Abyss Domination. Alright, now that I've gotten that out of my chest, I'm going to (try to) give an objective review of what I've read so far, with comparison to Tsukuyote New Saga, which I think is the most similar novel to this that I've read so far. 1. Attention to detail. I think TNS has more attention to detail than this novel. For example, when MC was transported to the past in TNS, he quickly wrote down everything he remembered from memory so he wouldn't forget. Whereas this MC just keeps everything in his head, which feels unrealistic imo. Secondly, in TNS how the MC was transported to the past was well explained, whereas in this story how the MC was transported to his VRMMO world was completely unexplained (in fact he could still be in game, although the level of intelligence displayed by the NPCs would suggest otherwise). Similarly why is it that only the MC here can gain XP and learn skills whereas his companions don't know anything about that? Where does the game menu even come from? Unexplained. Similarly a lot of scenes are described simply as "they are climbing". Climbing what? A steep hill? A vertical cliff? Not described. "Come over here" is used a lot, with no indication of how far away they are or what obstacles are in the way or even what kind of terrain they are on. The descriptions here leave a lot to be desired. Additionally the MC goes on internal monologues a lot and this physically manifests in him spacing out during battle or other important moments, to the extent that his companion have to snap him out of it. This is weird. Can't you have an internal monologue WHILE doing other things at the same time? Strange. 2. Characterization. As The Amber Sword (TAS) and TNS are both action-adventure type novels and not psychological in nature they are weaker in characterization compared to heavily psychological novels like Dungeon Defense. In terms of likeability, I would say the characters in TAS are also not written that well compared to say the characters in Reincarnator, and the MC is not funny or quirky like the MCs in novels like Path To Heaven or Long Live Summons. In fact the MC feels kind of bland (although mature) and his companions are overly cliched and feel like shonen anime characters e.g Freya gets mad for trivial reasons like MC staring at her or touching her breasts by accident and so on. This is also true in TNS, where the MC and his friend Seran go to stare at girls bathing and they get mad for trivial reasons as well. So neither TNS nor TAS are perfect in the characterization department and inferior in terms of realism to Korean novels such as Dungeon Defense, Reincarnator or M E M O R I Z E, and inferior in terms of likeability to Chinese novels such as Path To Heaven and Long Live Summons. I might even go a step further and say that even a side character in TNS like Seran is more quirky and interesting than any of the characters encountered so far in this novel. 3. Imaginativeness (worldbuilding). The setting of TAS feels like a generic Western fantasy setting with knights, undead, magic and so on (somewhat similar to Warlock Magus World) and is quite similar to TNS in this regard. Whereas TNS employs a lot of classic Japanese fantasy tropes like elves demons and girl-inhabiting-sword TAS has undead necromancers and magical items that make it feel a lot more similar to XuanHuan Daoist type fantasy. The stat system in TAS also makes it feel a lot more game-like than TNS. This makes it share a similar feeling to Breakers, God And Devil World, Warlock Magus World and so on where stats are displayed numerically. It also shares a similar feeling to early Reincarnator where the MC was grinding for stats and knowing all the hidden quests. TNS on the other hand does not have stats and so it is hard to know how strong the characters are in relation to one another. Similarly the ability cooldowns and item effects are noted explicitly which also makes it easier to understand the MC's actions. As a fan of Chinese Western necromancer magic and Daoist-like magical items over the classic Japanese Western elf/demon dichotomy I would say TAS is better in terms of imaginativeness especially since the MC is quite creative with the game elements like abusing his militia passive to hide from undead skeletons and levelling up during battle for example. In this aspect I have to take my hat off to the author for coming up with these scenarios, actually on par with or even better than Reincarnator in terms of abusing game mechanics. The fight scenes are among the most imaginative that I've read, definitely on par with Reincarnator (it's not that I especially like fight scenes, it's just that I especially dislike badly written fight scenes). In conclusion this novel isn't perfect but the imaginativeness and creativity in terms of the MC overcoming adversity is definitely good enough to make up for its lacklustre characterization. I just hope that as the novel progresses the attention to detail does not become worse than it already is. I will update my review if I get to a point where I think I need to revise down my rating of 5 stars. Disclaimer: This review is only for the WolfieTranslation version and not for the raws so some parts may have been edited by the translator, although I did cross-check with the raws for a couple of chapters and found nothing significantly changed. I do not think it is significantly improved compared to the raws as I found the raws to be fairly easy reading myself, and in some parts the translation felt a bit iffy, but nothing to complain about. <<less
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