Every time I go into a bookstore it’s the same. I chant “I just bought books; I will not buy more.” I’m not sure why I bother. It never works. This last trip to the bookstore was my best attempt yet. The last set of books I’d ordered had just arrived at my door that morning and I swore I wasn’t buying more. Then I saw Overlord, Vol. 2: The Dark Warrior sitting on a shelf with some recent manga releases, squee’d, and immediately bought it. Because I’m weak.

When I saw Overlord, Vol 1: The Undead King by Kugane Maruyama sitting on the shelf at the book store I just had to have it. I couldn’t help myself. It isn’t every day you find a translated light novel with breathtaking artwork (and hardcover no less!) just sitting around in the wild like that. Not unless you’re at a specialty book store. Sure, they have manga most of the time, but they’re usually usually way in the back and resigned to only one shelf, two if you’re lucky. And even they usually only have the old standards.

Okay, so, first. For those who don’t know, light novel is a term for a Japanese novel which is more or less the length of a long novella or a short novel, and is almost always part of a series. Overlord is one of these. This is the first volume, and, as of the time of writing this review, the only one currently available in English.