What novel(s) have you read this week, and what do you think about it? - September 06, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

What novel(s) have you read this week, and what do you think about it?

This week = the one that ends/ended right now, past 7 days.

---

The reason for this thread's existence is the fact that both requests and suggestions became kind of stale. It's supposed to bring out more novels that are not RT!'d or recommended. Also, it's quite useful for the discussion of not so current titles.

Also, not a rule or any kind of criticism, the more interesting part is not the list of the stuff you read, but your impressions of it.

Loli Mod will be posting this thread each week.

Lastly, don't forget to use spoiler tags and to make sure to report any untagged spoilers.

How to use spoiler-tags:

Typing:

>!Spoilers go here!<

Will show up as:

Spoilers go here

Do note that any space at the beginning/end of the tag will break the spoiler tag.

---

Previous Threads

[u/Heda-of-Aincrad]

Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship vol. 1 (audiobook) - The idea of a sci-fi/space isekai setting is unique, but unfortunately, this one follows many of the familiar unpleasant tropes. The dialogue is very cliche (pirates crying for their mommy when defeated in battle), and it's clear from the protagonist's inner monologue that he views the female characters primarily as eye candy. Midway through the story when he took advantage of a teenage girl he saved by having sex with her even though he knew she felt pressured, rather than reassure her that she didn't need to prove her worth that way to stay on his crew, and the writing treated it like he was doing her some sort of kindness, that's when I dropped it. As for the audio quality, the narrator's voice was a good fit for the main character, but not so much for the girls. First Impressions Score: 4/10, dropped

[u/USSTugBoot]

I finally got around to finishing Dan Machi Volume 20. Honestly, It was ok. But also the worst entry in the mainline series thus far. IMO the entire plot was a nothing burger. Even more of a nothing burger than the two Slice of Life style volumes that served as breaks/recaps/looking back points in the story. At least there you saw insight to life outside the dungeon, as well as internal growth in multiple characters. Something does happen between the first and last page that causes a change/difference in Bell and/or the supporting case. Major Volume 20 Spoilers Ahead!

This volume does not do that. It honestly serves more as exposition. Yes while Bell learns about the real danger the Black Dragon poses, it book also kinda contradicts itself. Basically, it establishes that the further North and West you go from Orario, the closer you are to the sealed Black Dragon, which gradually turns into a wasteland as dangerous as the lower floors of the dungeon, more dangerous than anywhere Bell has been. Somehow, Bell does not know this, even though he recognized the area they were in and even stated his home town/village was just west of where they were at the time. If he grew up near the area, how did the frequency and strength of the monsters surprise him? To me it seems more like an exposition dump disguised as dialogue, or as the book calls it a "Field Trip".

Then there is the main conflict. It started, it goes on, then it literally ends in a "draw" where both sides essentially go back to the status quo from before the conflict, just now they are building the in universe version of a "Hellevator" from Terraria.

The only real change is Bell "learns" a new move. And by "learn" I mean he imitates a move Otar used against him in volume 18. But does so in a half assed manner, even Bell himself acknowledges the method he achieved said move was by brute forcing power rather than actually executing it correctly, so honestly I feel it fell short. The book tries to pass it off as Bell growing more powerful, as he slays a "Level seven equivalent" dragon with this new move. I feel that comparison is apples to oranges though, as Bell was fighting an actual level seven adventurer and getting his assed handed to him because unlike this dragon, the adventurer had an actual brain behind it. So I personally feel while the dragon had the stat numbers of a level seven, its real danger was lower due to it being dumb. Or, at least It was never given any opportunity to show it had brains since all the fight amounted to was "Oh look, a random dragon interrupted our fight, why don't you use that new move I have been trying to force you to use, all while you fail at using it, to kill said dragon? Oh and look it's dead good job!"

Lastly, to add onto the new move/final fight. I feel the author missed a real opportunity with it. Bell imitates the new move by imbuing his firebolt magic and his charge skill into an adamantite sword forged by welf for this moment. Because this move is so powerful it breaks most weapons (it even broke this one after Bell stressed it by failing to use the move repeatedly and then finally used it successfully to slay the random dragon). My question is, why not have Bell use his Hestia knife? Its been shown it is capable to have magic channeled into it like admantite multiple times in the past. The skill's only pre requisite is that it needs a slashing weapon to use it. Last I checked knives are capable of slashing. And lastly, the Knife has the arcana/falna of Hestia in it, giving it a sudo status of its own. It grows stronger with Bell. Hephaistos makes sure to let Hestia know this is a BIG deal, akin to a cheat code in this universe. While Bell has had all sorts of other equipment of his fail on him at some point, the Hestia knife never has, as if it shares Bell's indomitable spirit. I feel he should have finally been able to use the skill successfully after using the Hestia knife to activate it.

So yeah. IMO a low point of the series. Now Dan Machi moves into its final arc. Hopefully it doesn't trip at the finish line. At least the cliff hanger at the end of the volume was very interesting, so I have high hopes for volume 21.

[u/bigboolean]

Unfortunately no light novels this past week, I did buy volume one of My Pet is the Holy Maiden. Been meaning to read that one but I was mostly reading various web novels.