#Ascendence of a bookworm series

For example, the religion with its many gods of nature and seasons has a largely agricultural focus and as such largely irrelevant to the day to day lives of the city folk. The worldbuilding emphasises the many fissures within society, with each strata and subculture having their own distinctive norms and mores, shaped by their specific circumstances. Slowly, Myne’s world grows beyond the four walls of her tiny home and the finite knowledge of her parents and so the setting expands and deepens. Of all the things from her former life that she has lost through death, books are the only thing that she can recreate in this world. Books carry for Myne an emotional, even totemic significance. Her love of books extends beyond the desire for stories or entertainment she adores the tactile experience of reading and worships the written language itself for its ability to preserve and transmit knowledge.

As a sickly child, her reach is finite and her efforts frequently misunderstood and undone by her friends and family, but she perseveres. Ascendance engages with every detail of book production and even though I can absolutely nitpick details and even common misunderstandings, it is an utter delight to see Myne struggle her way through trying to singlehandedly bring about a print revolution.

They are objects of luxury and purpose, after all. Libraries are not built overnight and each book needs to be written and bound by someone.

#Ascendence of a bookworm series

The religion itself feels a fascinating mix of Greco-Roman paganism and Japanese Shinto.Īs someone who has always regarded vast libraries in medaissance fantasy novels with suspicion – who assembled these books and why? – there is a distinct pleasure in reading this series deconstruct them. Arguably less obvious an influence is Heian Japan’s myriad courtly rituals, where strict etiquette governed the behaviour of nobles and careful elegance was paramount. The setting of Ascendance is inspired by medieval Germany, from its lengthy names to its loose confederation of powerful and largely independent duchies strongly reminiscent of the Holy Roman Empire. After a lifetime of obsessive bibliophilia, Urano Motosu is crushed to death by a bookcase during an earthquake and awakens in the body of Myne, a feverish five year old girl in a medieval world devoid of books. So lebt sie nun in einer völlig neuen Welt – ihr Name ist jetzt Maine und sie stolze ist fünf Jahre alt! Als Tochter eines ärmlichen Soldaten hat sie es nicht immer leicht, doch an ihren Interessen hat sich nicht viel geändert, noch immer ist sie völlig vernarrt nach Büchern und will so viele davon lesen wie möglich.Quick Review of Miya Kazuki’s Ascendance of the Bookworm: I’ll Stop at Nothing to Become a LibrarianĪscendance of the Bookworm is a love letter to the book itself, not just its contents of word and stories, but the physical object. Dabei gibt es doch noch so viele Bücher zu lesen! – Mit einem Stoßgebet wendet sie sich an Gott und dieser erhört ihr Gesuch und schenkt ihr ein neues Leben …! Ein Leben voller Bücher steht ihr bevor – sowohl auf Arbeit als auch privat! Die junge Frau kann sich nichts Schöneres vorstellen, doch bis zur Rente schafft sie es leider nicht … Kaum hat sie mit der Arbeit begonnen, erschüttert ein Erdbeben ihren Heimatort und die Bücher, die sie so liebt, werden zur tödlichen Falle und begraben Motosu unter sich. Motosu Urano ist endlich fertig mit ihrem Studium und hält nun ihr Zertifikat als Bibliothekarin in den Händen.

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan o Erande Iraremasen adaptiert die gleichnamige Light Novel von Miyu Kazuki.