Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, Volume 2

The second of this novel series is adapted much better than the first. There's the occasional mistake, but they're rarer than in the first novel. However, you can tell that a man has adapted it as opposed to a woman, because descriptions of the mobile suit weapons are much more detailed, sometimes even confusingly so. But the best part here is that the writing, while not having that WOW sentence every now and then, is collectively much better. They could've gone without artwork, though, because Tomofumi Ogasawara's drawings aren't that great. Other than that, a BIG improvement on the first book.

Don't be confused by the inclusion of "graphic novels" in the item description; this second book of a five-volume series from Tokyopop is a novelization with very few illustrations. However, I would definitely recommend this novelization of the Gundam Seed series over the manga published by Del Rey. Unlike the manga, the novelization allows a bit more insight into the events of the series and the thoughts and motivations of the characters. The lack of visuals is no loss, especially not considering the poor quality of the artwork in the manga series. The quality of the writing - or rather, of the translation - is what prevents me from giving the novelization five stars. Unfortunately, it's clear that the translator is not also a writer, and so the choices of word and phrasing seem somewhat amateurish. However, that's really my only complaint. If you enjoyed the Gundam Seed series enough that you'd like to revisit it in more depth, the novelization is definitely worth checking out. If nothing else, it will provide some extra insights on the characters that I personally find very entertaining.