By: Tatsuya Hamazaki Publisher: TokyoPop Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: TokyoPop Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 240 Publication Date: August 09, 2005 Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: August 09, 2005
Product Description: Log On to AI Buster, This Year's Most Exciting Novel! In the epic prequel to .hack, the avatar Albireo is a solo adventurer in The World, the most advanced online fantasy game ever created. When he comes across Lycoris, a strange little girl in a dungeon, Albireo wonders if she's simply nothing more than a bug in the system. As the two journey further into The World, Albireo watches Lycoris turn all of the rules of The World upside down. Slowly, he comes to realize that she may hold a very deadly secret--a secret that could unhinge everything in cyberspace...and beyond! The untold origin of the super popular anime and manga franchise begins right here!
The .Hack franchise absorbs the novel format, as well as Manga, anime and video games. The books are very short, but concise and interesting. The stories can be found elsewhere on Amazon, so I'll skip to the review:
The writing is fairly standard for young adult audiences, clear and fast-moving and not too complex. Those who play MMORPGs a lot might get fractionally frustrated with the constant explanation of gaming terms and phrases, but they don't get in the way or slow the story down too much - the flipside is it means those who have never played MMORPGs can enjoy the .Hack franchise thoroughly without getting lost.
I'd recommend the books to any fan of the anime series, or as a great starting point for young adults hoping to the wonderful .Hack universe and its absorbing, philosophical realms.
M. Coleman, Miller Place NY .Hack//AI Buster is the first of the two part novels in the large franchise .Hack. The book begins with Albireo, a solo adventurer in the Massively Multiplayer Online game "The World. Lycoris, a bug in the system, is being perused by the Cobalt Knights, a group of selected players sought out to fix bugs in the game what cannot be simply deleted.
Shortly after escaping the Cobalt Knights, Lycoris meets up with Albireo, in which Albireo helps her regain her sight, hearing, and ability to speak which have all been scattered throughout The World. He meets ups and befriends a few bunch, such as Balmung and Orca, a group of Swordmaster adventurers and Hokuto, a novice female Wavemaster.
This book contains epic battles and surprising plot twists, and will entertain any .Hack fan. Be sure to read .Hack//AI Buster 2, and thanks for reading.
younger audience I'm a big fan of the .hack franchise, and this book (along with the "Legend of the Twilight" series) were among my least favorite, perhaps because they targeted a much younger audience. Big fans will still want it because it includes a description of "The One Sin," an event frequently referred to elsewhere in the series; and if you're younger, it's not a bad starting point to get into the franchise.
Casual fans might want to skip this, though, and go straight for the second "AI Buster" book, which is a collection of short stories. (This is a single long story.)
Note that this is NOT manga, it is a text story.
Scion's Say Didn't provide to intensity and focus I came to expect from the anime, but it is alright for being what it is - an attempt to make more money off the fans of the .hack// franchise. I don't know if this book utterly lost it's charm after the translation or if it never had any at all, but like the .hack//Another Birth series is has a shoddy narrative - although I must admit it was better than any of the Another Birth series, so I am forced to give it a 4/5.
Worth my money I didn't know what to expect when I bought this book, i really thought it was a manga. But when it wasn't i still wanted to see what it was about. This book made me want to buy any other volume that comes out like this. Its very good and I would reread it anytime, this book gives a new meaning to adventure.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
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Trevor
