Book Review: ‘Skeleton Knight in Another World’ #1
Skeleton Knight in Another World Vol. 1 by Enki Hakari
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Life would be so much easier if one were a top-class Holy Knight with ridiculous weaponry, magical abilities and archival knowledge—unless, of course, one is a top-class Holy Knight with no freaking idea where the hell one is or how is one goes about getting back home. SKELETON KNIGHT IN ANOTHER WORLD is a mid-range fantasy isekai light novel that gleefully merges consequential violence with the brittle humor wrought by a guy who, again, has no real clue what he's doing.
Arc is over-powered. Readers know this from the start. He's a hulking mass of shiny armor, possesses an enormous sword of untold strength and has a knack for skill-recall that enables him to cast or call forth spells and strategies for almost every conflict or occasion. Arc, simply put, is a flawless character. Well, technically, he's a flawless character type, and that's where the storytelling of SKELETON KNIGHT IN ANOTHER WORLD is truly at its best.
No cultured consumer of literature enjoys a character who is perfect in every way. Fortunately, Arc isn't perfect; he's naïve, more than a bit ignorant and his tendency to go with whatever works for any given scenario regularly shortchanges him in the long run. If Arc was smart, then he'd be making inquiries of the royalty he saved and he would interrogate the ninja cat girl he nearly scared half to death. And while Arc is kind and sincere, his wait-and-see approach with this strange new fantasy world leaves him empty handed: that princess's kingdom is under siege, in secret, from neighboring lands; that ninja girl is cruising the shadows in an effort to free her kin from slavery.
To admire such an archetype is not uncommon. Arc inspires awe wherever he goes and through whatever actions he takes. He is perfect. Ideal.
This novel is one massive self-insert; it's a book that hinges on the eternal what-if regarding gamer life and the mid-range fantasies so many indulge on a daily basis. On this point, it is not at all surprising to find the novel oddly overwritten and dry. A buff knight? With untold magical knowledge? Who is equally charismatic and violent? To admire such an archetype is not uncommon. Arc inspires awe wherever he goes and through whatever actions he takes. He is perfect. Ideal.
It is most appropriate, then, that beneath the veneer of armor and swordplay and magic, the man is nothing but idle bones. . .
SKELETON KNIGHT IN ANOTHER WORLD has a good deal of physical violence, multiple scenes framing sexual assault and a fair amount of greed and depravity. The book also contains an enchanting undercurrent of social apathy that manages to rise to dickish hilarity from time to time. Why, after all, should a super-powered Holy Knight care about being charged with murder when he's so strong he decapitates bodies by accident?
The book's linear storytelling make such random adventures fairly enjoyable. Arc meets all sorts of people as he travels the Kingdom of Rohden—farmers, bandits, elves, nobility, metalsmiths—it is to the novel's considerable advantage that he doesn't settle down and conjure a path forward out of artifice. Arc's ignorance fuels his curiosity, and it is his curiosity that propels the story forward. And for the most part, it works. This is a great novel for those whose desire for dangerously naïve characters has yet to reach its fever pitch.
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