Customer Reviews

Slayers Text, Vol. 4: The Battle of Saillune

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In this fourth novel of the popular "Slayers" franchise, the story picks up immediately from where it left off in the third novel. The "Slayers Next" anime took material from this novel to make episodes 8 through 13. There are lots of differences. For starters, there's no Xellos. Also, the Mazoko Mazenda is not in this novel. Martina and Zelgediss are not here either. A new villian, the powerful assassin Zuuma, does have a role to play though.

As to the story, after escorting Sylphiel to her grandfather's house, it is obvious that things aren't right in Saillune. Crown Prince Phil drops by for a vist and quickly hires Lina and Gourry. He knows Lina from a previous encounter (which gets a couple of mentions in this novel, but was used to make the "Slayers" anime episode 11).

Now involved in this plot to kill Phil, Lina and Gourry must find out who's behind the assassination plots. However, Lina soon finds herself the target of a powerful assassin, not to mention she's also the target of a powerful mage, one that may be more powerful than she is. She must learn the truth before Phil and she are killed.

Amelia doesn't come off as over the top as she does in the anime, but it is clear that she's supposed to be a champion of justice, powerful yet a bit clumsy, & cheerful as well as clever. I'm glad she'll be in the next novel.

Another plus this novel pulls over the anime is the mystery of the attacks on Lina. With no Xellos around, there's no one to secretly protect Lina, thus when demons are summoned in various forms (including one incident where Lina and Gourry's diner comes alive and attacks them), Lina is on her own with Gourry. From time to time Amelia does assist, but not often. Thus Lina's dispatching of the villian in the novel is more impressive to me than was her dispatch of the villian in the anime.

I like how the novel goes in to a little more detail on the segments of the Mazoku Dark Lord, Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, including the segment which came alive 1000 years ago and is sealed in the north lands. The exploration of the Mazoku is very interesting to me.

As to the novel, my standard complaints of a lack of Japanese honorifics remains. It is interesting that they appeared in the afterward. It was also interesting when I read this line from the novel, "(The Mazoku) never refered to Shabranigdu by an official title or with any honorific. Mazoku are very strict about their code, so (the Mazoku's) slip-of-the-tongue had been a clue to something else, or rather someone else." The Mazoku and the priest/miko use Japanese honorifics and I'd like to seem them left in. The above quote is a main reason why.

Bottom line: Of the novels released to date, this is the best one yet. Fans of the "Slayers" series really will want to score this and get the greater details of the novel.