For those unfamiliar with it, Sword Art Online is an anime series, based upon a manga, based upon light novels (Japanese books catering to young adult demographics) written by Reki Kawahara for a writing competition. And this is a series written by Reki Kawahara that follows a more expanded time line of the base light novels. Still with me? Yeah, that is a convoluted path to this particular series. The basic premise is that in the near future (2022), a complete immersion VR game is released. While in game, the body is paralyzed and only the mind interacts with the world inside the game. Unbeknownst to players, the designer of the game has made alterations to the game, trapping all the players inside until they beat the game. In game death translates to real world death, so there is no way out except to beat the game by clearing all 100 floors of the game. The series follows the trials of Kirito and Asuna, the two protagonists as they attempt to beat the game. The original series and anime are told in parts, skipping large portions of the time spent in game to create a straight forward progress from game start to end. The Progressive novels take a much slower pace, going a level per novel. This is the fifth novel, and the first where Kawahara has broken from this mold of level per novel, only doing half a floor in this case. The novel is exactly what one would expect from it. It has action, risque moments, and a plot that is predictable but fun.
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