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A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 1 (light novel) by [Kazuma Kamachi, Kiyotaka Haimura]

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Kazuma Kamachi

A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 1 (light novel) Kindle Edition

by Kazuma Kamachi (Author), Kiyotaka Haimura (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 380 ratings

Part of: A Certain Magical Index (light novel)

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A certain unlikely hero...
Touma Kamijou has the worst luck imaginable... Sure he's a citizen of Academy City, a scientific marvel of the modern world where superhuman abilities are artificially cultivated and commonplace, but when it comes to paranormal talent, Kamijou's been classified a Level Zero-a loser, basically. Oh, he does have one trick up his sleeve (literally), but even that's more trouble than it's worth.
When Kamijou encounters a delusional young girl convinced she's a nun and raving about being chased by evil sorcerers, he's eager to send her on her way and get back to failing his studies. Fate, it would seem though, has other ideas, and he suddenly finds himself caught up in a supernatural intrigue with a girl named "Index" at the center!
Science and magic collide in this first volume of one of the most popular light novel series ever penned!

Part of: A Certain Magical Index (light novel)

A Certain Magical Index (light novel)
Print length

215 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Yen On
Publication date

February 23, 2016
Reading age

13 years and up
Grade level

8 and up
File size

12628 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kazuma Kamachi is a Japanese light novel author and creator of the massively popular series, A Certain Magical Index, its sequel, A Certain Magical Index: New Testament, and a manga adaptation, as well as two spin-off manga series, A Certain Scientific Railgun and A Certain Scientific Accelerator. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01BKSLI4C
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yen On; Illustrated edition (February 23, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 23, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 12628 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 215 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #344,175 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #330 in Action & Adventure Literary Fiction
- #460 in Asian Myth & Legend eBooks
- #4,773 in Science Fiction Adventure

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4.6 380 ratings

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4.6 out of 5

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pachi

lalalala to lazy to think of a title~

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 4, 2015

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I bought:
Series: A Certain Magical Index (Book 1)
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Yen On (November 18, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316339121
ISBN-13: 978-0316339124

which is the light novel

NOT
Series: A Certain Magical Index (manga) (Book 1)
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Yen Press (May 19, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316302228
ISBN-13: 978-0316302227
which is the manga.
the ISBN numbers are different, and so are the publish dates--if you are ever confused with buying other yen press stuff; go to their website, find the book, and look at its ISBN or publish date--publish date doesn't always work, as some of the manga come out in the same month as the novels, so id double check.
Interestingly enough, the index novels and manga are very defined, and one normally wouldnt get them confusted; but other yen press manga and novels do have that problem. like spice and wolf.

Im not the biggest fan of this series, as i'm a mega railgun and accelerator fan, i'm just waiting for book 3 to come out; so i can read my favorite ark!
I watched the anime first--so i know what is going to happen; the only difference between the novel and the anime is that in the novel we get more technobabble and insight into what the characters are thinking, This is a science fiction/fantasy book; the only reason im not the biggest fan is that i find Index annoying--others disagree--and i'm not the biggest science fiction fan.
if you haven't watched the anime or read the manga, this is a great buy! i would also recommend to to those that DID watch the show, as the insight into the characters and more infor on the world was enlightening--While watching the show i didnt understand how esper abilitys came to be, or why espers couldn't use magic, and why kamijo came to his school teacher, and not anyone else. basically espers are people that academy experimented on; from level zero to level five, basically their brain pathways are different then normal human.
I would not recommend this book to people who do not enjoy anime or manga or other light novels; as all anime/manga/light novels present themselves similarly; as a mega otaku who has watched anime for as long as they can remember, i have watch quite a bit of anime, so i get all sorts of culture references that apparently other people don't understand.

One person found this helpful

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Emir Sagala

Wonderful story! But minor translation issues (?)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 20, 2015

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I actually started reading this series when it was still labeled as a legal translation in the website Baka-Tsuki. Using that as a comparison (though by no means am I denoting that one is better than the other), I have several opinions:

1. It might be an effect of reading Baka-Tsuki translations, but I find myself liking it more when the characters have their name kept in Japanese format (i.e Kamijou Touma or Misaka Mikoto). Reading 'Touma Kamijou' or 'Mikoto Misaka' still needs a bit of adaptation on my part, but thankfully, it doesn't affect the story-reading all that much.

2. The YenPress translators have done a wonderful job. In and of itself, nearly all of the terms are cleverly inserted just as how I've read in Baka-Tsuki. I may like the term 'magician' the Baka-Tsuki translators use more than 'sorcerer' the YenPress translators use, but it's really just a matter of preference. I do, however, get confused when I read about the church terminology. Apparently, they wrote 'Russian Catholic Church' and 'Roman Orthodox Church'. My first reaction was, "Eh? Isn't it the other way around?" because I'm pretty sure the correct terms are 'Russian Orthodox Church' and 'Roman Catholic Church'. Then again, I'm not that knowledgeable about that kind of stuff.

All in all, the translation's really the only thing I have minor (or rather, microscopic) issues with. The story's a great mesh between sci-fi and magic, and the author, Kamachi Kazuma, is really brilliant in his way to write the story in a detailed yet concise manner. I honestly thought I was reading a really interesting scientific paper the first time I started reading the series.

Great story! A must have in your collection!

11 people found this helpful

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Cody S.

Absolutely fantastic series about Magic and Religion versus Hard Science

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 3, 2017

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Absolutely fantastic series about Magic and Religion versus Hard Science. Enemies can become friends, and friends can become enemies. The characters are dynamic, their feelings fleshed out sufficiently in the shirt book. I've been a long time fan of the series and happy to see it translated to English.

The first light novel does a good job at telling a story, without revealing too much that is to come. It's slow at first, but picks up and shows the main character, Touma Kamijou, struggling to do what he determines to be right.

The characters has not been fleshed out fully, since its only the first light novel. Much more background is added to the characters in the later iterations of this series, making them truly feel unique.

The main heroine of the series, Index, can be frustrating at times. Her personality isn't the most likable at times when she's being childish, but at other times, she really shines. She's is a child with a huge burden on her shoulders, while still helping everyone she can.

Definitely a must read if you like science, magic, and religion. I hope to see the whole series translated.

2 people found this helpful

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Smitty Jones

I really enjoyed this book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 3, 2014

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I really enjoyed this book. I am really looking forward to volume two. I have watched the anime, I didn't care much for season one, but I really enjoyed season two.

This book has a fully realized setting, and it is very well described. The characters are also well described. Their really isn't any character development in the book, but that could happen in future volumes. The only thing that really develops was Touma and Index's relationship.

Something really cool about the story is the difference between magic and science. This volume sets up tension between magic and science for future volumes.

Most importantly this book entertained me. It was a quick read, I finished it in a couple of days. It is also an easy read. The writing flows smoothly, and in other translated novels that I have read their are times when their are passages that are awkwardly read, but I didn't come across any.

I recommend this to people who liked the anime, or are looking for a quick entertaining read.

10 people found this helpful

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Deludeddesktopalien

Dissapointed

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 6, 2016

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I was expecting this novel to be great but it just seems like a japanese version of twilight not plot wise but writing wise, not very good but the plot is interesting i just think japan has lousey writers and though since it was popular it'd be worth buying but was i wrong this isnt for the people who like a challenge more as this is for elementary and middle school aged kids rather for adults but a light read if anyone wants to get back into reading like myself

Though the book came in excellent condition dont think ill buy more though i can write better haha (dunno if its the translation or not is another note)

Edit: started to read it it isn't bad at all however the translation is confusing at times and you don't exactly know who's talking......well you do but they don't tell you if the person is muttering to another....etc
It is a bit different then what i am used to reading as i read american novels before like stephen king etc

I was interested in the light novel genre and decided to pick this one up to start reading again

Pros
Very easy read
Interesting story

Cons-
Bad translation in some parts

NoremaC

it works because it's magic? no, because it's kamachi

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 9, 2015

Verified Purchase

originally written as a one shot which then subsequently grew into one of Dengeki's strongest long running series; spanned over 24 books in it's original run, sold over 4 million copies, won several awards for best characters and has been voted as one of the best light novels for several years. i originally read the comic adaption of the series and believed the series had potential to be something bigger and as such i gave the books a try and found that i was not disappointed and greatly enjoyed the style of writing that focused on the characters insight to the abstract elements Kazuma wrote with to show his dexterity and great understanding of his own seemingly believable world due to how well realised a magical world is.

Kazuma Kamachi's a certain magical index is a story of two individuals of whom both live in completely different worlds, while concurrently living in the same dorm (as a freeloader of the sort), one from the magical side of the world and another from the science side.
our hero goes by the name Touma; a righteous boy who has the power to negate any supernatural elements that comes into contact with his right hand, the other is called Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a girl who has been at the short end of the magic sides dark intentions for longer than she is allowed to remember.

These two valuable assets of their respective sides end up going through multiple adventures as they deal with both the friction between the two worlds and from individuals similarly trying to find their place between the two sides. The first book in the series is tasked with selling allot of abstract yet interesting story elements by exploring all the magic and superpower stuff very slowly, as such all the magic and science isn't very prominent in this volume making the series more approachable than you'd initially think, with subsequent releases building upon the extremely well realised world using story relevant exposition.

Magic is just science that we don't understand yet; Well that's nothing a good writer can't fix as Kamachi does a good job treating magic like it's a science(no one does that) and science like it's a magic (most sci-fi novels) which leaves a very fluid narrative where the abstract and down to earth elements mix together to create a rather digestible premise. My only gripe with Kamachi's writing is that sometimes it isn't very subtle (as with most light-novel literature) but after reading his work for a while i eventually came to the realisation that his writing style is pretty layered with the entire 24 volumes cleverly holding a secret under tone.

3 people found this helpful

T. Alexander

Science vs. Magic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 27, 2015

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Academy City is a city sized school that is years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of technology, and where the superhuman abilities are developed and studied. One of the cities students is Touma Kamijou, a student with terrible luck whose unusual ability, to negate the abilities of others, defies classification and therefore is considered powerless in a city of people with superpowers. On the first day of summer vacation Touma finds a young Nun on the balcony of his dorm room whose unfortunate situation draws Touma into a world of magic that defies science.

'A Certain Magical Index' is the first Light Novel in a massively popular ongoing series that currently consists of more than twenty Light Novels, a couple of short story collections, manga and anime adaptions, and two spinoff/side story series ('A Certain Scientific Railgun' and 'A Certain Scientific Accelerator'). This first instalment of the series is quite rough in places with the setting not entirely fully formed as of yet but it is still very entertaining with some nice action and some good humour here and there throughout the novel.

The writing of the novel is also somewhat rough with a habit of repeating the same phrases over and over again that I found slightly annoying. The characters on the other hand are generally quite well written and we do get a reasonably good handle on their personalities and motivations, even if a couple of them were probably a little underused. The illustrations in the novel a very good (the one of Kanzaki being my favourite) and the translation of the novel seems relatively decent, although it doesn't retain the original Japanese honorifics.

The novel also includes a short afterword by the author.

After reading this original Light Novel, the manga version and watched the anime adaption, I would have to say that I prefer the anime version as it feels a little more complete but as this Light Novel was still very entertaining and worth a good five stars in all.

One person found this helpful

Chris

Es wurde auch Zeit... nach 10 Jahren

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on February 3, 2015

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Zum Inhalt der Serie werde ich nun nichts schreiben.
Einfach weil man sich den Inhalt auf erdenklich vielen Internetseiten (inkl. Amazon!) durchlesen kann.

YenPress ist der Verleger der Serie und ich bin sehr positiv überrascht über die gute (englische) Übersetzung.
Selber spreche ich kein Japanisch, aber es gibt eine Internetseite die die Bücher schon seit Jahren von Japanisch auf Englisch übersetzt.
Ob der Wortlaut 1:1 übereinstimmt kann ich nicht sagen, soviel Zeit wollte ich dann doch nicht investieren.

Das Taschenbuch ist gut verarbeitet und etwa DIN-A5 Format.
Also bedeutend großformatiger, als ein regulärer Manga.
Das Papier ist griffig, dennoch dünn (etwas über 200 Seiten!).
Für Unterwegs sollte man deshalb einen Schutzumschlag benutzen!
Die Schriftgröße entspricht dem was ungefähr "Arial 10-12" entspricht.
Angenehm zu lesen und auch die Bilder der Originalbücher (in den jeweiligen Kapiteln gibt es die ein oder andere illustrierte Szene) sind passend zu den Kapiteln übernommen worden.
Gelesen wird diesmal aber nicht von hinten nach vorne, sondern westlich, also von links nach rechts.
Sonst kennt man es mittlerweile von vielen Mangas (zum Glück!), dass diese entsprechend "von Hinten" zu gelesen werden.

Ich freue mich sehr die Bücher endlich in Papierform lesen zu dürfen.
Da ich sowieso noch einmal vor hatte alle Bände zu lesen, ist es umso schöner diese nun als richtiges Buch lesen zu dürfen.

Der Preis ist fraglich, aber die Lizenzen für diese "Lightnovels" sind, als Nischenprodukte außerhalb Japans, anscheinend teurer gegenüber Manga Lizenzen.
Klare Kaufempfehlung für die Fans der Serie.

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