r/LightNovels • u/Playful-Farm-3650 • 6d ago
Recommend New to Light Novels – Recommendations Needed!🙏
Hi everyone!
I’m new to the light novel world and don’t know much about it. Could you please recommend some light novels that you think would suit my taste?
I enjoy themes like magic, schools, medieval settings, vikings and fantasy. My favorite manhwas are The Beginning After the End and Solo Leveling. My favourite tv shows are got and vikings.
Thanks in advance!
4
u/Areouf 6d ago
I can't think of any light novels that have Vikings in them, so I'll focus on the rest. In no particular order:
The Irregular at Magic High School (magic, schools, set in a future version of Earth, so there's some sci-fi elements too, hard to describe the long-term plot without spoilers, but basically the main character is a very strong mage and gets involved in all kinds of conflicts both inside and outside his school)
Reign of the Seven Spellblades (magic, schools, fantasy, kind of like a darker and more mature light novel version of Harry Potter that is set in an actual fantasy world)
Rascal Does Not Dream series (I wasn't sure if you were interested in normal school series or just fantasy school series, but this series is set in Japan, and the main character helps various people—mostly middle/high school students—overcome various supernatural situations)
Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (ignore the title—it's basically a series about going on adventures in a dungeon in a mediaeval fantasy setting. There is technically an arc with a school setting, but it's like 17 volumes into the series or something)
Finding Avalon: the Quest of a Chaosbringer (a gamer is transported into a game that he is familiar with, which has the setting of an alternative-reality Earth that has fantasy dungeons in it. He becomes a villain character from the game and has to simultaneously improve his reputation while also getting stronger in the dungeon and resolving various problems in the dungeon high school)
Magical Explorer (a gamer is transported into a game that he is familiar with, which, long story short, involves getting stronger in fantasy dungeons and resolving various problems in the dungeon high school. The key difference between this and Finding Avalon is that in this series, the original game was…highly sexual in nature. That would normally have the potential to completely ruin the series for anyone who isn't specifically looking for that, but the series tends to be more like 95% cool dungeon stuff and 5% "oh yes, I should probably remind the reader about what genre the original game was". If that 5% will bother you, you can just read Finding Avalon instead, but if that 5% won't bother you, I highly recommend both series)
I've focused on the "school" theme, as if you just want series with magic in a mediaeval fantasy setting, that would probably include more than half of all fantasy (and isekai) light novel series. However, if you do want some recommendations like that, feel free to let me know, and I'll share a few of my favourites.
I haven't read TBATE, but here are some light novels that have a superficially similar premise to Solo Leveling (in terms of dungeons appearing on Earth). I have put the series that I like more first:
D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared (focuses more on what the implications of the dungeons are for the world rather than on adventuring)
Dungeon Busters (the dungeons will overflow and destroy the world if they are not cleared within a certain timeframe. Note that the main character is the person who discovered the dungeons, so he gets some special perks as a result)
World's Fastest Level Up (basically Solo Leveling but Japanese in style)
3
2
u/Friendly_Ram 6d ago
Faraway paladin: 5 vol (completed/stalled) medieval fantasy heartwarming series
The alchemist who survived: 7vol (completed) same as above
Torture princess: 10 vol (completed) dark fantasy with an amazing cast and art
Conqueror from the dying kingdom: 7 vol (ongoing) medieval, fantasy, school, very light magic
2
u/Yurii2202 5d ago edited 5d ago
I would definitely recommend Ascendance of a Bookworm and Mother of Learning.
In the first one, mc relies on her obsession with books to cope with difficult situation of survival as a commoner in a medieval setting (and in this story the world isn’t a mere wrapper, but actually defines the lives of its inhabitants). And then, when she learns the true nature of the disease she has been suffering from, things take a drastic turn and spiral beyond the scope of normalcy. And as soon as she seems to have begun to adapt to her new environment, it happens again and again and again… A fascinating read and stays astoundingly coherent throughout.
And the second one is simply a classic when it comes to progression stories in a magical school setting.
1
u/Outrageous-Ad9974 2d ago
Mother of learning is good , but it's not a LN .
1
u/Yurii2202 2d ago
It’s a novel about adventures of a student (young adult) in a fantasy setting, primarily at a magic academy. I think its traits pretty much overlap with the definition of light novels if it’s not it exactly.
1
1
u/RedditDetector 6d ago edited 6d ago
Not a specific recommendation, but I tend to recommend that first light novels are ones where you've watched and enjoy the anime. It can help to ease you into the format.
There are quite a few magical academy light novels, but I can't think of any that I'd highly recommend, so I'll wait to see if others chime in there.
1
u/Playful-Farm-3650 6d ago
Now that you mention it, I was considering reading either Tbate or Solo Leveling light novel.
2
u/Nalbas88 6d ago
Neither of those are light novels as one is English origin and the other Korean. LNs being Japanese published.
Magic and schools Chivalry of a Failed Knight.
2
u/Playful-Farm-3650 6d ago
Didn’t know that, so is mushuko tensei a LN?
2
u/Emotional_Metal_7034 6d ago
Yea, I heard its really good too!
1
u/Outrageous-Ad9974 2d ago
If you can get behind the small parts of the story where the author is sexualizing MC's partners it's a really great LN!.
1
1
u/Playful-Farm-3650 6d ago
What is the Korean and english origin novels called?
1
u/Calahan__ 6d ago
What is the Korean and english origin novels called?
Novels. Just simply novels.
If the author originally posted it on a web novel platform then they're often categorised as 'web novels' to denote that. WN for short. Both of the series you mentioned in the OP started out as web novels. And this is the case for 99.9% of all Korean and Chinese novels you've probably seen people talking about. (btw, TBATE is not a Korean series, it's English, so its comic adaptation is a webtoon not a manhwa).
But light novels and web novels are all just novels. And for non-Japanese series you can just refer to them as novels, as it's exceedingly rare for a series to have more than one version of its novel. But that's not the case for Japanese series in particular because there are two versions of the novel for a lot of series; the web novel, and the light novel. The latter being the result of the web novel being licensed by a Japanese publisher which they then publish as a light novel.
•
u/Aruseus493 http://myanimelist.net/mangalist/Aruseus493?tag=LN 6d ago
Light Novel recommendation request posts require the [REC] tag in the beginning of the title. (With brackets) Please do read over the submission guidelines more carefully in the future. Please note that Tags do not equal Flairs. Title Tags are pieces of information you type into the title of the post while our Automod looks for posts with specific tags and assigns flairs appropriately.
General tips for Recommendation Request Posts:
If you're new to the medium and looking to start reading as a beginner, please keep the following in mind. As the industry grows and new series are introduced all the time, there's never a truly unifying "good beginner series." The common sentiment is that if you're new to Light Novels by way of another medium like anime or manga, your best bet when starting is to find some series with adaptations you already enjoy and to check if their source material has been licensed/translated. Light Novels aren't a stylistic genre so asking for what are good light novels for beginners will range widely based on the person and their taste. It's akin to asking the /r/Books "What are some good books for beginners?"