Feb 28, 2023
Prior to starting reading this light novel I heard a lot of negative opinions about it, complaining about most of elements that one might complain about while talking about a book. I usually follow my own judgement, so I decided to pick up "Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight" first, to see with my own eyes what was the deal with this book. After all, what got me interested in this title in the first place was the fact that it belongs to the Berserk franchise and tells the story about Grunbeld, one of the most charismatic Apostles appearing in the original manga.
I pretty much got ... what I expected to get. IT is a decent tale about Grunbeld's past, showing his childhood times and how he became the person we know from "Berserk" by Kentarō Miura. Tale about friendship, affection, betrayal, and jealously. A story set in a violent, ruthless world. Moments of tranquility or happiness are almost non-existent. In other words, traditional dark fantasy genre's spirit in its finest form. Yes, there are brutally realistic descriptions of atrocities happening during medieval warfare, whether we are talking about soldiers fighting on the battlefield, or common folk living in a village raided by the enemy forces. Same goes with quite a few descriptions of various sexual activities, in most of the cases presented in a hardcore manner. However, they did not feel forced, at least not to me. I felt there were perhaps only a little bit more of that kind of elements than we could see in the original manga. If we put into consideration the length of this light novel, then surely the percentage of said scenes might be quite high, but again - we are talking about a dark fantasy story. Picking up anything labelled as such should be understood per se in what kind of content might be included in a certain piece of media.
The composition of "Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight" is pretty much as in every other light novel. In short, it fits the definition of this medium. As for this light novel itself, it's worth commending how many illustrations it has, making the whole read even more pleasant. These pictures were drawn by the master, Kentarō Miura himself, so it enhances the experience even more.
Many people complained about the language, or to be more specific - official English release. Of course, it's worth mentioning that you might find some mistakes here or there. In my opinion they don't make one's read less entertaining or harder to understand, but they are rather easy to detect for both people for whom English is their first language, and for people for whom it is not. But should certain official translation affect the general score given to the book originally written in a different language? I don't think so.
In conclusion, I think this light novel is worth of picking up, especially if you are a fan of Kentarō Miura's "Berserk". It's mandatory if you are a fan of Grunbeld, that's for sure. I feel that a lot of criticism towards this book came from people who were not familiar with how light novels are made and how they differentiate from novels. If you combine it with unrealistically high expectations, you might get perhaps too harsh opinion on anything, not only on a book. I can say that I enjoyed this light novel, even if it was not the best book I've ever read. I can't guarantee that you will enjoy it as well, but surely I can recommend to at least check it out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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