By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch: Another – Kekkai no Majutsushi no Nariagari” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

It can be difficult to review books that are tension-filled, well-written, and give fans of the series exactly what they want but have one particular thing that is not to the reviewer’s taste. This is that sort of book for me. I mentioned online that I hate amnesia plotlines, but that’s not quite true. I don’t mind, say, the reincarnated person having no memories of their time in Japan, that sort of thing. But it’s amnesia designed to break a couple apart and make them both upset that I don’t like, and that’s what we get here in spades. It’s handled very well, especially because, thanks to the vagaries of the plot, the two of them hadn’t seen each other in forever, and events conspired to make things suspicious. Throw amnesia on top of it, and you have a really good book that STRESSES ME OUT. Just fix it and get married, dammit.

A few years after the events of the first spinoff book, and Louis Miller has it made. He’s commander of the Magic Corps, well-respected for his barriers saving lives, has fought several dragons, he now looks and talks like a respectable gentleman, and he even has a nice house of his own. All he needs to do is become one of the Seven Sages. This is because Rosalie’s father has demanded that he fulfill all these conditions before he’ll let Louis marry her, and has, in fact not allowed them to make contact with each other all this time (something, it later turns out, he forgot he did, because as a dad he’s kind of awful). Fortunately, Rosalie’s father has to retire soon as his magic power is weakening, meaning there is a Sage opening available. Now all he has to do is duke it out with the guy from school who hates him more than anything in the world. Oh, and the other candidate. Who is… wait, who is this twitching creature?

Yes, fans of Monica can relax, because though the book doesn’t focus on her, she is in it, and gets a scene where she completely shows off why she’s a sage and why it happened so quickly. In the main series, Louis gets questioned about bullying Monica all the time, and mentions that he only bullies the strong. He’s clearly thinking of this, as she destroys both the other candidates. That said, a lot of Louis’ problems in this book are Louis’ own fault. He’s so obsessed with his goal, but only a few people know why he’s doing it, so everyone just assumed that he’s a terrible person… even Rosalie doubts him, when they meet after so long and he looks and sounds like a different person. And then she tumbles off a roof. I will also note that, aside from the actual bad guy, Glenn Dudley reminds us once more why he’s such a giant pain in the ass. I respect Louis for not murdering him.

Not to spoil an obvious thing, but things do work out and they both live happily ever after. So next time we get back to Monica’s present-day adventures… whenever that is, as Book 8 isn’t scheduled yet. Fans of the series who don’t get very stressed about amnesia ruining true love should love this.

By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

This book’s pacing reminded me a bit of Tearmoon Empire. The first half is mostly action and big magic, as the Sages face off against one of their own. The second half, though, essentially starts a new arc, as Monica investigates Felix’s past and his upbringing. It should be overbalanced towards the former, which very much has a big action feel to it. But the latter half of the book makes the series feel like it’s actually gearing up towards an ending. Now, technically it isn’t, as the 11th volume is due out in Japan soon. But there are plotlines that you can’t drag on forever, and the biggest of these is who Felix really is, why Duke Clockford feels he can be used as a puppet, and what’s the story behind the execution of Monica’s father. As for romance? That’s thin on the ground here, as Monica spends most of the book annoyed that you cannot simply turn love into a mathematical formula, and if anything Lana is the one she’s closest to right now. (No, not like that.)

When we last left Monica, she, along with the other sages, was in the forest trying to find a way to get to the Gem Sage Emanuel Darwin, whose artifact is sending out clockwork soldiers and also can command spirits – such as Ryn, who is now attacking them. By splitting up and playing to their strengths, they’re able to save Cyril and Glenn, who are currently trapped in the thick of all this, as well as take care of the artifact and send the Gem Mage packing with his tail between his legs. Unfortunately, we also learn that Louis seems to be trusting Monica even less, and worries that she will in fact side with Duke Clockford because of her relationship with Felix. Also unfortunately, once Monica gets home, she finds that once again someone has infiltrated her attic bedroom – and this time it’s Bridget.

Now, readers of this series may be asking themselves, who is Bridget again? Since being introduced in the first book as part of the student council, Bridget has done somewhere between fuck and all, mostly serving as a signpost of “this jealous girl will be activated when a button is pressed, but no one is pressing it”. Fortunately, not only does she finally get things to do, but it turns out that she’s far more interesting than that, and that her backstory ties into Felix’s (which we expected) but is also fairly tragic (which we didn’t), and that she is absolutely not a rival for the affections of Felix now… if that is indeed Felix. More and more it’s looking like at some point around when he was eight years old, the gentle, sickly, cute but pathetic Felix was somehow turned into the handsome, capable, cool with ladies Felix we have now. Bridget may not have found an answer she wanted, but Monica did, and what she does next…

…will presumably come up in Book 8. Which we won’t get till after the next volume of the Louis spinoff. Still, this was a solid Silent Witch, and I am very happy to welcome Bridget to the cast.

By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch: Another – Kekkai no Majutsushi no Nariagari” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

Sometimes, when you’re writing a long-running series where the main character is a shy, retiring young woman who literally invented a new brand of magic just so that she wouldn’t have to speak up, and who regards interaction with others as anathema, you need a change of pace. Sure, we all love Monica, but come on, are you tired of being nice? Don’t you just want to go apeshit? Fortunately, we have a solution, we can do a prequel. A prequel about Louis Miller, Monica’s fellow sage and occasional tormentor. Here we learn about Louis, see how his school life went, and see how he met and fell in love with his future wife, Rosalie. And frankly, he’s an appalling little gremlin. If you ever wanted to see the guy who screams “they all laughed at me at the academy, but I’ll show them… I’LL SHOW THEM ALL!” as a hero, this is absolutely the book for you.

A young boy named Louis Miller is eking out a grim life working in a brothel when he comes across a book of elementary magic, which he inhales like it’s his first meal in weeks. The book turns out to belong to a professor at the famed magic university, who is impressed that in the minimal time he’s had it Louis has managed to figure out so much about magic. Sensing potential, he invites Louis to study at the university. There Louis meets mortal enemies, kind if somewhat stoic girls, and teachers who think that he’s just a violent thug. Because he is absolutely a violent thug. Louis does not believe in using magic in a fight if he can use physical attacks, and he loves to fight dirty. However, he’s also a brilliant prodigy, so he can get away with being hell on wheels. Mostly.

The webnovel version of Silent Witch also had a prequel, but it focused on Rosalie. This rewrites things so that it shows us Louis’ past and how he came to be who he is in the main series. It’s a lot of fun. Louis is, frankly, appalling, but in a fun shonen way. He’s said to have a heavy Northern accent (which the main series gets rid of, as he ditches it to get the approval to marry Rosalie), and I like to imagine him as a Geordie. His chief teacher, Gideon, decides that he’s the sort of person who gets stronger by getting the crap beaten out of him rather than by praising him, and much as I dislike corporal punishment in reality, he’s not wrong. If there’s any sweetness in this it’s Louis and Rosalie, who are a cute couple immediately, though it takes the entire book for them to confess. That said, I suspect in the next book we’ll see more of his nemesis than his lover.

The second and final volume of this is already out in Japan, so we should not be waiting too long for it. If you love Silent Witch but wish that it starred a sociopath with a heart of gold, this is for you.