A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 1 - light novel (A Certain Magical Index (light novel), 1) (Volume 1) Paperback – Illustrated, November 18, 2014

If you've seen the anime, you may ask some questions or certain parts may not make sense. This Light Novel explores much deeper into the world of Academy City and it's characters.

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!

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.

I bought:Series: A Certain Magical Index (Book 1)Paperback: 224 pagesPublisher: Yen On (November 18, 2014)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0316339121ISBN-13: 978-0316339124which is the light novelNOTSeries: A Certain Magical Index (manga) (Book 1)Paperback: 176 pagesPublisher: Yen Press (May 19, 2015)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0316302228ISBN-13: 978-0316302227which 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.

Excelente