Sunday, March 12, 2023

Book Review: Overlord, Vol 4 by Kugane Maruyama

 

Overlord, Vol 4      


Author: Kugane Maruyama

Publisher: Yen On

American release date:  May 23, 2017

Format/Genre/Length: Hardback/Fantasy Adventure /304 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

The day begins much like any other for the lizardmen. Until the ominous black cloud appears out of nowhere with a warning – The Great One is coming in eight days, with a great army, and you will be destroyed. Naturally, the members of the lizardman tribe are alarmed. Who wouldn’t be? Zaryusu is a member of the village, a traveler who happens to be in the village when the message arrives. He goes to see his brother Shasuryu, who is head of the village. A meeting is called to decide what to do. According to the messenger, they will be the second lizardman village to be destroyed. So there must be others who have survived. What to do?

After much discussion, they decide that Zaryusu will travel to the other villages and attempt to arrange an alliance with them. Surely, they will be stronger together than separately against this unknown menace. The first village he visits is the Red Eye village, where he seeks an audience with their leader, who turns out to be an albino female lizardman named Crusch Lulu… and Zaryusu finds himself instantly attracted to her. She seems amenable to his suggestions and determines that she will go with him to talk to the other villages. In the Dragon Tusk village, he encounters a big guy named Zembel, who challenges him to a fight.

But when the time comes for the promised army to return, the sheer numbers alone are daunting, and it will take everything the lizardmen have to defeat this unknown enemy… who is actually none other than Ainz Ooal Gown and his followers from the Tomb of Nazarick.

This volume of Overlord is a definite departure from the first three in that we are introduced to and get to know the intended targets, the lizardmen. And that makes a great deal of difference. I have supported and applauded Ainz in everything he did previously, but here I found myself hoping he didn’t really mean to attack them, and that he certainly wouldn’t hurt them, as I came to know and like these lizardmen. I know that Ainz’s guild was known as PK, which means they would fight other players. I tend to avoid those fights myself, whether in D2 or WoW. But until now, I’ve never really thought about what that means in these books, and I have to admit to finding myself a little disturbed at the attitude that is taken toward these lizardmen who have done nothing to warrant being attacked simply as a matter of subjugation. I hope Ainz reconsiders his strategy and chooses a path of peace and prosperity rather than war. I understand he doesn’t know exactly who or what he is up against. And I have to wonder if there are other actual players out there doing the same thing he is. Definitely opens up some moral issues, which I expect will be addressed in future volumes.

I have been getting each volume from the library until now, but I love these books so much that I have decided to purchase them. I already have volume 5 and look forward to reading it.

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