The Sorcerer of Atlas

For fans of the anime expecting the novels to continue the general storyline that the TV series took, the second Slayers novel can be kind of a shock. This novel chronicles the general events that take place early in the Slayers Next TV series, but things are so different from the TV series interpretation that you'd hardly recognise them. But different doesn't necessarily mean bad and the differences are a refreshing change from what might be expected. In some ways this second novel feels like a rather darker novel than the first, though the trademark Slayers humour remains in abundance. Nevertheless, I felt that the novel was darker and more violent and it was an interesting way of viewing the Slayers universe.

In this 2nd "Slayers" novel in the series, we have the story that made up episodes 3-5 of the "Slayers Next" anime. This may come as a surprise to fans of the anime series who may have been expecting to see Amelia's arrival as seen in the "Slayers" anime. But that's not how Hajime-sensei wrote it. So the story doesn't have Amelia nor Zelgadis in it, which were used in the anime version. For those who haven't seen the anime, the story tells of Lina and Gourry's arrival in the city of Atlas. Two mages are in conflict to lead the local Sorcerer's Guild after the previous leader disappeared. Tarim, one of the mages looking to take over the guild, looks to hire Lina and Gourry as body guards. The appearance of the two Mazoku (Seigram and Gio Gaia) ensures that Lina takes the job. However, as events progress, the disappearance of the former leader of the guild needs investigation and the results could have dire consequences for Lina and Gourry, especially with Mazoku around. There was gore in the novel which obviously didn't show up in the anime. I was surprised by this for some reason and by the darker feel to this novel. There were some humor moments, but this is no where nearly as light as the anime put it. This is not a problem, but I note it to the anime fans. Also, while the principle characters were the same (save the 2nd Mazoku) and the overall elements were the same, the story in the novel plays out much differently to get to a very similar end to the anime. As such, the novel has more interest in that we don't know how things will get to their ultimate end. That is a good thing. However, Lina's great power doesn't come through the novel's pages as well as they do in the anime. And I found it interesting that Hajime-sensei makes Lina more human in that she experiences fear, something she rarely did in the anime. Bottom line: quite a bit different from the "Slayers Next" episodes, but a good read nevertheless. "Slayers" fans will want to read the novel that was the basis of the "Slayers Next" episodes.