User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
It's like I died and went to heaven and this was the first thing on the book shelf.
I am all ABOUT the underdog working hard to become an OP MC and just sticking it to everyone who deserves a good sticking. I am sleep deprived and on a sugar low but best believe I'm still reading this.
I proposed to the person who suggested it to me.
There's so much to look forward to and turning the pages just gets easier. The twists, the characters, even the humor occasionally tossed in... it's beautiful.
This is a fun ride. With some very K-drama plot twists and add-ins (which, LOL wow)... Kinda hoping it never ends.
Rating: really liked it
It starts off strong, one of the best light novels with the "game theme" I got hooked right away. The characters are good, the world is immersive, with an intriguing plot to keep you entertained for quite some time. However, it gets really boring and unimaginative by the final arc, when there's little to no struggle to the main character. Also, the nationalism is sometimes too blatant for just a light novel.
Rating: really liked it
I like progression fantasy, and this alright. I would say nothing really felt original, but there was an interesting combination of unoriginal things. The protagonist was deeply unlikable, the author continually has characters say what a great guy he is, but there is no substance to support it, he has "friends" that he treats horribly but who still love him, and he has one character trait - he's strong - and there is a revenge porn vibe in the way that he goes from the weakest to the strongest - he constantly says that the strongest people are the richest, most famous, and most lusted after. In the real world, just because someone is powerful does not mean they will be loved. At best this guy is a benevolent robot, and would be loved at most about as much as the A-10 Warthog is. There is no character development, at the beginning he wishes he was stronger and at the end he wishes he was stronger. His primary motivation is supposedly paying medical bills for his mother, but I don't think we ever get a flashback for the entire series, and there's no hospital visit until volume 3, and the mother is a generic prop that we never know anything about. The main character never suffers, and that means the book is lacking the suffering of a boy with a sick mom.
This book suffers from the Superman conundrum: How do you make Superman interesting when you know he can never be hurt and certainly never die? The plot follows the exact arc of the nearly universally praised One Punch Man - this is not a coincidence, it's a borderline rip off. The One Punch Man take on the Superman conundrum worked, so this book does too.
I don't think later volumes of this series are on Goodreads (I believe there are 5), but I got most of the way through the series before giving up. I felt like we just kept going around on the merry-go-round, and I got off on what I assume was the end of the second to last round. I didn't want to go through another 6 hours to see the same thing again, but this time with a stronger boss monster after what little mystery there was had been solved, but unsatisfactorily with hand waving away the parts of the system that didn't fit the resolution.
It's a mess, but it's fine. With a decent editor and a year of revisions it could make a fine series. I thought I might give it one star, but that would be too harsh. It was actually surprisingly good fiction to read for 20 minutes to put me to sleep during the 6ish weeks I read it consistently for. I could shut my brain off while I was reading it, but it was imaginative enough that it transitioned me into sleep. There were even a couple of parts that I read during the day because I cared about the plot; however, Judging the series as a whole finds so many problems, only some of them mentioned here.
If you want great progression fantasy I would suggest the Cradle series by Will Wight.
Rating: really liked it
I'm coming after reading the manhwa.
Not reincarnation, not transported.
MC who at first was the weakest hunter but obtain cheat gamer ability, like a game continues level up & growing stronger ends up becoming overpowered. basically discrimination because they only focus on MC growth alone, and another S Hunter becomes weak in front of MC.
After becomes the powerfull hunter, cool character, not really arrogant and still keeping his beloved family. (THE GENTLEMEN FOR YOU)
Fighting scene in here well explained, if you already read the manhwa, you can easily imagine it.
I think the MC think only power and fighting, I don't think the last ending he will change the world only for "Her". The author gives you action, mystery; a plot that made us want to know more, and romance (sightly comedy and sooo lovely)
I keep coming back to re-read it and I wish there is a sequel. The ending half satisfied for me; happy family with cool wife and son. But, for him to back the time and make another (paralel) world, I'm like "what? Why?" hehe.
Rating: really liked it
This was a really gripping and compelling light novel. It asks the question of what happens when a quest-driven MMO rule system becomes available to one person in our reality (or in our reality if random mystical dungeons popped up regularly in downtown Seoul and some humans got mystical powers to deal with them). The low-powered protagonist is cagey and uses his unique circumstances to power up and find a way to make a life for his sister without giving away his secret. The story sets up some good allies and some very interesting conflicts and antagonists, and while it was more violent and morally grey than I was expecting I really had a hard time putting it down. Lookin forward to more!
**Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Light novel authors take note - Chugong's style proves that you don't have to infodump or over-explain your story's world or magic/combat systems. The plot may be fairly familiar - a young Hunter nearly dies and reawakens with improved powers that function like he's a player in an RPG - but the execution is really what makes this book stand out from the crowd. Chugong barely explains to us what "Hunters" are, how they function, or why they exist, only briefly mentions that Gates appeared roughly ten years before the story takes place, and doesn't expend unneeded energy on labored descriptions of how everything looks and works. Instead they let the story do all of the talking, letting us know through the action of the plot why Jinwoo is different and how dungeons have reshaped the power structures of South Korea. The resulting novel is one in which light novel fans will find what they like but is substantially better written than the average similar book. Chugong trusts their readers to understand the story. That pays off.
Rating: really liked it
Power fantasy/wish fulfillment LN of a low rank/level character that progressively turns into an OP MC in a non isekai but kind of isekai (ie gamified) world and I honestly really REALLY enjoyed it. I had just come off of finishing the manhwa and couldn't get enough so went straight into the light novel.
I remember staying up until like 4am to read the manhwa when I had really originally wanted to read maybe the first 5 of 179 (beautifully drawn) chapters but I digress. Is this original? Nope. Does it do anything new that hasn't been done in isekai type anime/LNs? Nope. But it does it extremely well. I liked that this delved more into the world and covers more stuff compared to the manhwa.
I do recommend reading it over listening to the audiobook though. I know some people enjoyed it, but the added sound effects of the narrator took me out of the story, so much so I ended up buying the ebook to read instead, I know some people liked the audiobook version but it wasn't for me, personally. I also do recommend reading the manhwa first as well.
**light 4**
Rating: really liked it
Loved loved loved it.
I followed the webtoon (Manhwa) until it ended and I absolutely loved it.
I cannot wait to hear more of the following volumes.
Rating: really liked it
3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4)
I received an ARC of this light novel in exchange for an honest review.
Jinwoo is pretty much the worst hunter ever. He's the lowest rank and he has no money. His future has always seemed rather bleak, but it gets even bleaker after he enters a dangerous dungeon. The dungeon ends up being deadly, and he's abandoned by the other hunters. As he's facing death, something happens...
[Congrats on becoming a player!]
This light novel was pretty interesting! Jinwoo, the main character, is like a cross of Deku and Lelouch in my opinion. I liked the video game aspects of this book, like dungeons, raids, abilities, etc. The stats and other features were cool!
The story felt a little long at times, and the writing sometimes made it hard to tell whose perspective I was reading. Other than that, I think this series has a lot of potential in the future! Personally, I would love an anime of this as the fight scenes seem like they'd be awesome if animated!
Content: violence, mention of rape, language (f-bombs)
Rating: really liked it
Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Solo Leveling in exchange for an honest review.
From what I've gathered, this is a novelization of a manga and since I want to get into different styles of storytelling like manga, I figured this would be a good transition but it just didn't work for me. I don't think you need to have read the manga beforehand since this appears to be a novelized version of the first volume, but I don't think this transferred well. The core plot was really interesting which I'm assuming is what lead the manga to popularity, but the narration somehow manages to make it seem really boring. Everything is blunt and generic and I wish I'd given the physical manga a try instead.
Rating: really liked it
Possible Triggers:Death | Gore | Talk of Rape
Summary:This is the first book of the ‘Solo Leveling” light novel series.
Characters:Jinhoo is my favorite character in this book. I can absolutely picture his happy go lucky, chirpy (and sometimes fearful) self. Such an odd devoted little lemming.
Negatives:- So I dunno if this is a normal thing in light novels or not, but there were a lot of times in the story that the sound effects (?) were written out in “” and it irritated the crap out of me. This is absolutely not a big complaint, it’s just a small thing because I'd be in the middle of reading dialogue and then all the sudden some weird noise would be there and it was SO disorienting for a moment.
- Switching between character views is sudden and not always clear. A lot of times this happens when there is a quick PoV change between a character that is grouped up with the main one for a short time.
Final Thoughts:I want to preface this review with the fact that this is my very first light novel. This was SUCH A FUN READ. It was like I was playing an rpg and reading a more fleshed out quest journal. I can’t even really express the true extent of my delight in words. I love the energy and the pacing of this book (more so after the first two chapters). While I've usually got my nose tucked in a chunky grim dark or high fantasy, this was a refreshing step away from my norm into something that was just delight after delight. Sure a lot of it was things i have experienced before watching Anime or playing a video game, but it FELT like i was experiencing the wonder of unlocking game mechanic understanding for the first time, while i was reading. I already have the next book ready and waiting to read.
Rating: really liked it
very enjoyable. wish fulfillment/fan fiction type computer game content.
in a world where gates into dungeons keep opening up and hunters have to battle through them before the monsters escape into the world, one low rank hunter finds himself in another kind of game no one else knows of, where he can level up and become extremely powerful.
Rating: really liked it
I liked everything about the book. From how it was written to what it's written about.
Love how the game system works and how it's described by the author. The book is fast pace and an easy read! There is a good mix between seriousness and silliness. I laughed pretty often reading the book and I love when a book makes me laugh š¤
At the same time it's important to underline that the book includes a lot of killing, so don't start reading it thinking it'll be a cozy game-driven book. Anyways, even if described, the deaths are not to "splattery" or revolting. So you can be pretty sure to not grimace while readingš¤£
I recommend the book to whomever would like to try something new.
Rating: really liked it
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.
A quick disclaimer: While I haven’t read the Solo Leveling webnovel or manhwa, I’m a long time reader of fan-translated Asian LitRPG/Isekai/SFF webnovels. I’m familiar with the tropes and the general pitfalls of these kinds of webnovels a reader new to this genre may not have. This review will be written from that perspective. As an aside, as a long-time reader, reading an officially translated audiobook version was a very weird experience. Not bad, per se, but like the feeling of two very different, separate worlds intersecting in a way that makes you think, huh. that shouldn’t happen.
I’ve seen the cover of the Solo Leveling manhwa for years, though I’ve never picked it up. Seeing the audiobook up on NetGalley really was the final push to pique my curiosity and I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
Sung Jinwoo is the world’s weakest hunter and man with a frequent flyers card to the ER room, but makes up for his weakness with clever thinking and a sheer willpower to not get murdered by interdimensional monsters in a pseudo-videogame. Naturally, after he’s given the power to “level up”, quite literally, his hunting abilities, it’s quick work for Jinwoo to drastically get stronger a la video game stat points (STR, WIS, AGI, etc).
Solo Leveling takes place in an alt-universe modern-day South Korea, where magical portals leading to “dungeons” filled with malicious monsters that threaten humanity. Simultaneously, certain humans have been awakened as Hunters, people with the magical abilities to kill these monsters. Hunters come in various classes, and of various power levels that cannot be changed (cue entrance of our protag). Built around this are various international Guilds and government-funded Hunter Associations to handle these portals. All in all, think the classic RPG video game elements and you’ll have a pretty solid idea of the worldbuilding.
Book 1 of Solo Leveling focuses primarily on Sung Jinwoo’s development – how he got these leveling skills and his initial explorations to figure out what the hell is going on. Naturally, there’s a lot of focus on the System (aka the RPG UI interface) he interacts with as he learns. We don’t go too heavy on the guilds or really into other supporting characters, which might read strangely to Western readers unfamiliar with webnovels, but keep in mind the full story has 240+ chapters and we’re only getting the first 12 or so!
Having read neither the fan translation nor the original Korean, I unfortunately cannot comment on the quality of the translation. The most I can say is that thankfully, the character’s names are still formatted and not localized (a personal massive pet peeve). The narrator, Ki Hong Lee, is Korean-American so there’s also no worry about having to suffer through badly pronounced Korean.
Perhaps my only complaints with the audiobook edition are that there Chugong really really likes their onomatopoeias. There’s a lot of “shkk” and “grrrr” and ‘skrrr” and the ever present “Ding!”, that all get read aloud. Which, when narrated, I surprisingly found annoying. The other part is that every time Jinwoo opens up his stats page or levels up a stat, the entire stats page gets read to you. Which happens about once a chapter. In-text, I think most readers would simply skim over this kind of information, but over audio… Man, I really don’t need to hear what this guy’s INT stat is every single time (SINCE HE DOESN’T CHANGE IT).
Overall, I rate this book a 4/5. This first volume is pretty standard material for an Asian LitRPG webnovel, but it’s laid the groundwork for some potentially really awesome stuff to come. The audiobook was an odd but enjoyable experience I’ll definitely be checking out the manhwa while I wait for book 2.
Rating: really liked it
(This is basically a rant)
I'd read this immediately after the ending of season 1 in the webtoon because it had ended in such a hype fashion I just *had* to continue the story in some way. At the beginning, it was a great read but as more chapters pass, the story got a little too nationalistic for my taste.
That's a pretty minor critique alongside everything else. There were literally no stakes whatsoever in this story because it was pretty obvious Sung Jin Woo was gonna win without any struggle, gaining awe and admiration from the fellow characters.
In fact, literally every character had no distinguishable trait or personality. They all seemed to exist to be in awe of the great Sung Jin Woo, especially the women. Oh my god. The women were atrocious in this story and had virtually no personality except to blush and look longingly at the MC. One of the more important female characters is literally only identifiable for three things, 1. She's pretty and high-ranked. 2. She has a sensitive nose. 3. She likes the MC. Why does she like the MC? Oh, because he saved her multiple times when she was a helpless damsel and because he doesn't smell bad.
Lastly, to end my tirade of how terrible the characters are, I have to bring up Sung Jin Woo himself. Boy, he has no personality, it's sad! It's sad because he *did* have a personality before it diminished as he got stronger! Yeah, I can understand the small plot point that mentioned how he is slowly losing his emotions as he grows stronger but THAT DOESN'T EXCUSE TERRIBLE CHARACTER WRITING. There's so many ways to explore his growing lack of emotions to actually make Sung Jin Woo interesting but it all just gets swept under the rug. He has literally no personality besides being strong, stoic and badass by the end of the story.
I'm not good at summizing my feelings in these reviews but basically, Solo Leveling has a pretty interesting and great premise for a power fantasy but ultimately falls flat with its terrible and bland characters that get more boring as the story progresses. There are no stakes because everything becomes a predictable cycle of 'how will Sung Jin Woo enter the battle fashionably late to save everyone this time?'
Honestly, the webtoon's better. I'm amazed at the extent beautiful art can cover up such a bland story.
