By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

Due to a translation schedule that can only be described as bananas, we are slowly catching up with the series in Japan. Slowly being the word – this is the 16th book in the series, and it came out in Japan in 2018. The latest book is the 28th, which came out in December. But if we continue to do 6 a year, while Japan does 4, we will eventually get there. It’s enough to make a reader feel confident about looking at fanart. But, as anyone who’s ever looked up Japanese Bookworm fanart knows, this can be very dangerous. Look, I don’t know who Rozemyne will end up married to in the future. Indeed, this particular book makes it very clear that Wilfried is a very good choice – and that Ferdinand would be a politically bad one. That said, anyone looking at pixiv will see that one pairing is overwhelmingly the favorite, to the point where it’s 95% of all the art. And it ain’t Rosemyne/Wilfried. We shall see.

As with all Bookworm volumes, there’s a lot going on here. Rozemyne’s desire to avoid a lot of hard embroidery work causes her to not only revolutionize the ink industry, but also invent invisible ink, which will no doubt prove very useful in future books. The spring prayer happens in the middle of the book, and a discrepancy between the bible that everyone else knows and the one that Rozemyne has read in the High Bishop’s office leads to a literal miracle. The archduke learns that, in terms of the “commoner” parts of the city, his territory is at the very, very bottom, which leads to a need for sewers – and a mass cleansing. Most importantly, Rozemyne is engaged to Wilfried, and while some readers may still be grumpy with him due to past events, it’s shown to be a political necessity, as Rosemyne is a Hot New Item.

As I have said many times before, these books are long. This one is 343 pages, which is actually 30 pages shorter than the previous one. And yet I always find myself wishing that the books went into more depth. Worldbuilding can be tedious when it’s another boilerplate isekai talking about casting from hit points, but this series really is entirely about the worldbuilding – it’s a major reason why it’s a huge hit (though I will admit our smol book gremlin is the main reason). Even the side stories told from other perspectives are excellent – we get Wilfried’s thoughts on his engagement, and show off how much he’s matured. We also get to see Gunther and Myne’s family once more. And, most importantly, we get the politics. It’s not entirely Rozemyne not caring about anything but books – the politics in this world is genuinely hard, and you need a lifetime of training.

This volume ends with the implication that the next one will be even more focused on infighting and intrigue. Which is great, I love that. But I do hope it also shows Rozemyne casually inventing more stuff, and playing more magical rugby, and causing Sylvester, Ferdinand and Benno to hold their heads in pain at her antics. The books are long, and yet all too short.

By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

Ominous-looking cover, isn’t it? I feel like being the grandfather in The Princess Bride, reassuring the son that no one is eaten by any aquatic creatures. That said, each arc of Ascendance of a Bookworm is practically its own separate series, and Rozemyne has been moving farther and farther away from the childhood she had long ago. She’s a noble now, and her main concerns have to be a noble’s concerns – even though she also has to be the champion of the commoners, because really if you leave that to the other nobles bad things will happen. She has a lot on her plate, basically. And so the instance in this book where she’s told point-blank that her old coping strategies are going to be unavailable going forward is somewhat devastating to her, and to the reader. Let’s face it, I think a lot of readers would be quite happy if Myne had stayed in the commoner town making books. But that’s not what this series is anymore.

Despite doing her absolute best to try to talk and think like a noble, it’s rapidly becoming clear that Rozemyne in social settings like like a ticking timebomb. As such, certain precautions have to be taken in this volume. Justus is made her main attendant (even if this will involve him cross-dressing), and gets a first-hand look at how Rozemyne is 90% correct and 10% HIDEOUSLY WRONG. More importantly, she is of an age where arranged marriages need to be set up, if only for political reasons. Even Angelica is now engaged, though she seems to regard romance as something that’s about 7th on her list after swords, swords, and more swords. And so it’s fine to engage Rozemyne to another noble… even if this means that some meetings that she had in the temple previously will now have to be ended.

The narrative is quick to point out that Rozemyne will keep seeing Benno, Lutz and Tulli on occasion. But going into the hidden room, hugging Lutz, and acting as a commoner girl like Myne did… that’s dead and gone. It’s brought home in a beautifully tragic nightmare she has about all her old family and friends getting farther and farther away while she can’t keep up. The rest of the book consists of fun Academy scenes, though it has a very serious ending as one of Rosemyne’s attendants is being abused and she has to figure out what to do about it without overstepping her bounds. She’s also engaged. The engagement partner makes sense and works politically and socially, and I (and most readers) have no doubt whatsoever it’s never gonna happen. But given she still looks about 8 years old, I’m fine with kicking this can down the road.

Life is only getting harder for Rozemyne from now on, and not even endless furniture metaphors can protect her. Fortunately, we can read about her tribulations, and this is another excellent volume.

By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

If the plot of all nine of the books in this arc is 75% “Rozemyne goes to the magical academy and fun things happen” and the other 25% is “Sylvester and Ferdinand stare in horror, mouths agape as Rozemyne tells them what she did”, I will be a happy clam. Yes, once again she’s breaking rules she didn’t know existed, or breaking rules simply because she’s too deep inside a book to really pay attention to anything around her. Everyone in this book is constantly talking to her about sociability lessons and etiquette, etc. That said, they really should remember what she used to be like, as should the reader… we have come a LONG, LONG way from the Myne of the first three books. There are a grand total of zero temper tantrums here, even when you’d expect her to have them. – Benno doesn’t even noogie her! That said, one sad note for older readers, as her path back to Lutz and her old family is getting fainter and fainter.

The cover art shows Rozemyne and her attendants engaged in what seems to be a sporting match… indeed, I was a kid once, so I’ll buy the author’s explanation that she based the game played here on her daughter’s invented dodgeball variation. That said, the author is also correct that anyone who is reading the description of the match will be thinking of some other fantasy series. The match itself comes about because it turns out that the two rabbit familiars Rozemyne powered up last time are not only highly intelligent and powerful but also wanted by most of the other student cliques, and just getting them to her dorm so they can be measured for new clothes is an adventure. Getting them back is even more of one, and leads to the game of “ditter” we see on the cover, which our heroes only win because they have Rozemyne’s bag of tricks – they’re clearly outclassed in every other way.

In other news, much as she would like to try to stay out of everyone’s way and read books, that’s not going to happen, and much of it is Rozemyne’s own fault. Sure, she cannot turn down a prince when he arrives at a tea party she’s going to, but at the same time, she did not have to bluntly play matchmaker for him and tell him how far he has to go to be prime boyfriend material. She is fortunate that the advice works really well, or else disaster might have occurred. Then there’s the issue of her attendant Traugott, Rihyarda’s grandson. He’s a hothead who thinks you can get what you want through charging ahead, but unlike the other rock-stupid attendant we know and love (and Angelica is wonderful throughout, she’s my favorite after Rozemyne), he does not actually listen to or care about Rozemyne. As such… bye-bye. Mama don’t allow no mana-compression leeches in here.

I’m not sure what else to say, except that everyone should be reading this. Despite its length (each book is easily the size of two normal light novels), you’ll want to plow through it the moment you pick it up.