English Light Novels

An Introduction to Light Novels

This page is meant to show what light novels are in general. Nothing too in-depth–I’ll try to keep it simple and have lots of pictures. (For a more in-depth guide, I strongly recommend this article.)

Light novels are books–or more specifically, popular fiction from Japan. Why don’t we visit a Japanese bookstore?

There are many light novels in Japan, and their stories cover many genres of fiction. Most light novels are quite small in size.

Recent popular series include Sunday Without God, The Devil is a Part-Timer, Chaika the Coffin Princess, and Heaven’s Memo Pad.

Many light novel publishers have a specific color for their spines to make their series easy to find.

There are many light novels aimed for girls and women (shoujo and josei), though it’s less common for them to be adapted into anime.

In the children’s section of the bookstore, you will find hundreds more books that are designed in the recognizable light novel format.

The light novels on most prominent display are typically those which have recently been promoted by anime tie-ins.

Here are a few Japanese light novels I own:

Pictured: Sunday Without God, Pandora Hearts, Yume Nikki, Nichijou, Tsukumodo Antique Shop, Kino’s Journey, Durarara, Here Comes the Black Witch, and Humanity Has Declined.

Let me show you the first volume of the Tsukumodo Antique Shop series.

Light novel covers typically have manga-style artwork.

Most books in Japan have a slip cover like this.

Many light novels include a few color illustrations. This volume has one that folds out.

Most pages of a light novel will look like this. Note that Japanese reads right to left, top to bottom.

In your typical light novel, you will find at least a few black and white illustrations such as this. Art styles vary from one series to the next.

It’s rare for Japanese books to have a blurb on the back, it seems. This volume was 590 yen — most light novels have a very low price in Japan.

Now let’s move on to light novels that have been translated into English. Here are a few of my favorites:

Pictured: Gosick, Kino’s Journey, Book Girl, Calling You, Kieli, Ballad of a Shinigami, and Zaregoto.

I will show you the first volume of Kieli, which was localized by Yen Press.

Some light novel covers (such as this one) are redesigned to appeal to a wider audience of readers.

But once you open the book up, you’ll often discover lovely color illustrations like the ones found here.

As you can see, the text is in English. The quality of translation varies, but in this case I found the Kieli story a pleasant read.

The black and white illustrations are all included as well. I consider them a fun bonus to look forward to while reading.

After the story you can find the author’s acknowledgements (which is often interesting for some fun facts), as well as advertisements for other publications. This book includes a few pages of the Kieli manga adaptation, also localized by Yen Press.

The back of the book includes a blurb to tell the story’s premise. The retail price for this one was 11 US dollars, but light novels are sometimes found for cheaper online.

This website will focus on light novels which have been officially translated and published in English.

For a roundup of light novel basics, I’ll include a few bullet points:

Light novels are often shorter than the average novel. (But not always.)
They typically feature at least a few black and white drawings interspersed with the text. These illustrations are usually drawn in the manga styles that are popular in Japan. (Note: Manga are Japanese comic books. Light novels are not manga; they are stories in prose.)
Many popular light novels are serialized, meaning there can be dozens of volumes in a series featuring the same characters and setting. (There are many standalone light novels as well.)
Some light novel series are adapted into anime and manga. In turn, some anime and manga have light novel spin-offs, prequels, sequels, or direct adaptations.
Most light novels are considered targeted for younger audiences, as they are generally written in a simpler, more approachable fashion. As such, there is often overlap between light novels and many novels classified as young adult, middle grade, and children’s literature. This is perhaps most evident when you find foreign novels translated into Japanese and redesigned to look much like light novels.

Pictured: Uglies, Magic Tree House, and The Hunger Games

As you can see, classifying novels is no simple matter, or at least it isn’t always obvious what should or shouldn’t be counted as a light novel. (For example, in some instances a regular novel in Japan will receive an anime adaptation [Red Data Girl, Another, etc], at which point a light novel version of the book will be created.) I will try to make the database of light novel entries for this site as useful as possible, however, and in time I may delve further into other corners of the world of Japanese pop fiction.

To learn more about the various publishers of light novels in Japan, check out this guide.

And if you are interested in getting some recommendations for where to start, check out this guide.

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