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インフィニット・デンドログラム [Infinite Dendrogram] Light Novel #3
Infinite Dendrogram: Volume 3
The day after Ray and Hugo faced off against the vile Gouz-Maise Gang, the city of Gideon was far livelier than usual, brimming with excitement and anticipation for a certain event. As one would expect from a metropolis bearing the title of "city of duels," the event was a match between two highly notable duelists: Figaro — the local hero — and Xunyu — one of the most powerful individuals from the far-east empire of Huang He. Both were Masters wielding the powers of Superior Embryos, and both would give their all to fight, make merry and emerge victorious. But a malicious plan unfurls itself in the shadows, who is it that seeks to strike the Kingdom of Altar at its most vulnerable? More importantly, who will survive the Clash of the Superiors?
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 31, 2017
60 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 6, 2021
This volume was as good as the last ones. In this volume, we continue to follow Ray and Nemesis, who have now arrived properly into the City of Gideon for a supremely hyped duel between two Masters with Superior Embryos - the Clash of the Superiors.
Beyond this, there is also a section of the novel based around other characters perspectives that took place during the last novel, which are still important to the story line and character knowledge. I will be moving on swiftly to book 4, as the cliffhanger from the main storyline left me wanting more. I also received book 5 to 7 over the last few days so I can’t continue on with no problems. Volume 3 receives another 5 stars for the Infinite Dendrogram series.
Beyond this, there is also a section of the novel based around other characters perspectives that took place during the last novel, which are still important to the story line and character knowledge. I will be moving on swiftly to book 4, as the cliffhanger from the main storyline left me wanting more. I also received book 5 to 7 over the last few days so I can’t continue on with no problems. Volume 3 receives another 5 stars for the Infinite Dendrogram series.
February 24, 2023
Volume 3 has made me realise how much I adore this series. Not much happened with our main character Ray this time, but that left room for some amazing world building and side stories with perspectives from some of the other characters. It is truly starting to seem like it's own little universe and I couldn't be happier.
June 15, 2021
Dans ce tome on part à la découverte de nouveaux personnages, le tout se faisant dans le cadre d'un championnat dans lequel des duels sont organisés. C'est un peu la partie diplomatique de l'histoire qui se met en place. Ces nouveaux venus sont particulièrement intrigants pour le lecteur, on veut en apprendre plus et surtout découvrir les forces et les faiblesses de chacun.
Figaro va notamment prendre le cœur de nombreuses interrogations, on a envie d'essayer de comprendre par nous même qu'elle est son Embryo mais aussi qu'elles relations il entretient avec les différents protagonistes notamment avec le frère du héros. C'est un personnage que l'on apprend étrangement à apprécier au fil des pages. C'est une énigme à lui seul que l'on a envie de démêler.
D'ailleurs on apprend également à découvrir plus en profondeur le frère du héros. J'ai été particulièrement surprise par les révélations faites sur ce personnage, mais je ne peux pas en dévoiler plus par peur du spoil. Dans tous les cas la surprise est appréciable et bienvenue, même si le lecteur attentif aura peut être réussi à deviner qui il est réellement.
L'arène permet d'apporter des réponses sur les Embryos des personnages principaux de ce tome, mais aussi apporter un peu de piquant à l'histoire. Le but principal est sportif, mais politiquement parlant cela permet de venir motiver les citoyens des différents pays. C'est un événement avec assez peu de conséquences, si ce n'est la représentation du royaume par les personnages. D'ailleurs, si l'on se focalise plus en profondeur sur les Embryos, on peut affirmer que l'auteur sait exactement où il veut emmener le lecteur, ce qu'il veut lui faire ressentir et comment il souhaite lui faire découvrir. C'est bien amené et fait avec beaucoup de justesse, ce qui pour le lecteur permet une compréhension aisée.
Les combats sont toujours expliqués avec beaucoup de logique, en se basant sur des statistiques claires et précises. Des astuces se mettent en place pour permettre au public de réussir à suivre les actions des personnages. La logique est donc au cœur de ce roman, et cela permet aux lecteurs d'analyser avec facilité ce qu'il découvre.
Le rythme du roman est bien pensé, on maintient le lecteur en haleine tout du long mais surtout cela colle parfaitement avec la personnalité des personnages, et avec le thème abordé.
C'est un tome plus léger que les précédents, on y décerne beaucoup moins d'enjeux, et on ressent qu'il y a moins de danger. L'ambiance est plus légère, presque à la fête pourtant on ressent comme un malaise sous-jacent. Comme si quelque chose de plus sombre se préparait en coulisse.
Si c'est un tome qui répond à de nombreuses interrogations, il en pose tout autant. Et le lecteur est de plus en plus avide de réponses.
On a envie de connaître la suite, mais on c’est tellement attaché aux personnages que l'on a une certaine appréhension face à ce qui les attend : on ne veut pas les voir dans une situation délicate.
Le seul petit point négatif dans la narration pour moi est que malgré le grand nombre d'explications on a encore du mal à cerner comment les personnages réussissent à suivre la vitesse de leur propre mouvement. C'est donc la perception du temps et de l'espace qui n'est pas suffisamment expliquée pour que le lecteur puisse réellement comprendre. On se demande donc comment les joueurs humains réussissent à s'adapter à de telles capacités.
Petite particularité à la fin du roman, quelques pages sont consacrées à des histoires annexes qui permettent d'amener le prochain volume avec plus de facilité.
C'est un tome intéressant qui nous apprend beaucoup de choses sur l'univers et qui sert de charnière pour la suite de l'histoire. C'est un très bon tome intermédiaire.
Figaro va notamment prendre le cœur de nombreuses interrogations, on a envie d'essayer de comprendre par nous même qu'elle est son Embryo mais aussi qu'elles relations il entretient avec les différents protagonistes notamment avec le frère du héros. C'est un personnage que l'on apprend étrangement à apprécier au fil des pages. C'est une énigme à lui seul que l'on a envie de démêler.
D'ailleurs on apprend également à découvrir plus en profondeur le frère du héros. J'ai été particulièrement surprise par les révélations faites sur ce personnage, mais je ne peux pas en dévoiler plus par peur du spoil. Dans tous les cas la surprise est appréciable et bienvenue, même si le lecteur attentif aura peut être réussi à deviner qui il est réellement.
L'arène permet d'apporter des réponses sur les Embryos des personnages principaux de ce tome, mais aussi apporter un peu de piquant à l'histoire. Le but principal est sportif, mais politiquement parlant cela permet de venir motiver les citoyens des différents pays. C'est un événement avec assez peu de conséquences, si ce n'est la représentation du royaume par les personnages. D'ailleurs, si l'on se focalise plus en profondeur sur les Embryos, on peut affirmer que l'auteur sait exactement où il veut emmener le lecteur, ce qu'il veut lui faire ressentir et comment il souhaite lui faire découvrir. C'est bien amené et fait avec beaucoup de justesse, ce qui pour le lecteur permet une compréhension aisée.
Les combats sont toujours expliqués avec beaucoup de logique, en se basant sur des statistiques claires et précises. Des astuces se mettent en place pour permettre au public de réussir à suivre les actions des personnages. La logique est donc au cœur de ce roman, et cela permet aux lecteurs d'analyser avec facilité ce qu'il découvre.
Le rythme du roman est bien pensé, on maintient le lecteur en haleine tout du long mais surtout cela colle parfaitement avec la personnalité des personnages, et avec le thème abordé.
C'est un tome plus léger que les précédents, on y décerne beaucoup moins d'enjeux, et on ressent qu'il y a moins de danger. L'ambiance est plus légère, presque à la fête pourtant on ressent comme un malaise sous-jacent. Comme si quelque chose de plus sombre se préparait en coulisse.
Si c'est un tome qui répond à de nombreuses interrogations, il en pose tout autant. Et le lecteur est de plus en plus avide de réponses.
On a envie de connaître la suite, mais on c’est tellement attaché aux personnages que l'on a une certaine appréhension face à ce qui les attend : on ne veut pas les voir dans une situation délicate.
Le seul petit point négatif dans la narration pour moi est que malgré le grand nombre d'explications on a encore du mal à cerner comment les personnages réussissent à suivre la vitesse de leur propre mouvement. C'est donc la perception du temps et de l'espace qui n'est pas suffisamment expliquée pour que le lecteur puisse réellement comprendre. On se demande donc comment les joueurs humains réussissent à s'adapter à de telles capacités.
Petite particularité à la fin du roman, quelques pages sont consacrées à des histoires annexes qui permettent d'amener le prochain volume avec plus de facilité.
C'est un tome intéressant qui nous apprend beaucoup de choses sur l'univers et qui sert de charnière pour la suite de l'histoire. C'est un très bon tome intermédiaire.
September 19, 2021
Reseña en español.
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Review in english.
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Review in english.
March 28, 2018
This volume wasn't my favorite so far. Whereas the last volume focused on a central incident / problem that had significant impact on the world (dead NPCs at the hands of barbarians), this is focused on a tournament where the loser doesn't actually get the death penalty, essentially a game. The combatants are the chain weilding user (Figaro) who dealt with the PKers in volume one but hadn't been heard from much since then and a new character from the East Asian type territory of Dendrogram.
The battle in the arena was essentially Dragon Ball Z style Shounen fights. This volume introduced AGI as a key stat for top level Masters, and unfortunately this means we're going to be getting a lot of super, ultra, amazing skills that take multiple pages to explain but take place in actuality over the course of seconds / miliseconds. Can't say I'm enthused about that as it makes for even quick fights being drawn out over many, many pages. Volume 2 already introduced the idea of a multiform enemy that I thought dragged things out too much, and this seems to be another tactic to accomplish the same (and there are other delay tactics introduced in this chapter too).
Outside of the tourney section, we get a lot of "Oh you are...." type cut off lines. I liked the mystery of politics and such in Dendro, but using these kind of unfinished sentence scenes too frequently becomes cheap too. It doesn't help that they try to make Ray into an idiot at reading these either, him taking excuses hook line and sinker or coming up with his own incorrect explanations.
There are some bonus stories at the end. I haven't read these yet, but the Midword says they are important for volume 4. For now I'm going to move to volume 4 since the catch up month on J-Novel Club ends Saturday afaik.
The battle in the arena was essentially Dragon Ball Z style Shounen fights. This volume introduced AGI as a key stat for top level Masters, and unfortunately this means we're going to be getting a lot of super, ultra, amazing skills that take multiple pages to explain but take place in actuality over the course of seconds / miliseconds. Can't say I'm enthused about that as it makes for even quick fights being drawn out over many, many pages. Volume 2 already introduced the idea of a multiform enemy that I thought dragged things out too much, and this seems to be another tactic to accomplish the same (and there are other delay tactics introduced in this chapter too).
Outside of the tourney section, we get a lot of "Oh you are...." type cut off lines. I liked the mystery of politics and such in Dendro, but using these kind of unfinished sentence scenes too frequently becomes cheap too. It doesn't help that they try to make Ray into an idiot at reading these either, him taking excuses hook line and sinker or coming up with his own incorrect explanations.
There are some bonus stories at the end. I haven't read these yet, but the Midword says they are important for volume 4. For now I'm going to move to volume 4 since the catch up month on J-Novel Club ends Saturday afaik.
March 4, 2022
So I enjoyed this book. There were some pretty cool things in it, like showing what two Superiors dueling would look like. And as per the previous books, the world building and keeping it in the realm of a online rpg is handled really, really well. Abilities are explained, why some people move super fast is explained (which works well with the fact that time within the game is moving at 3x the rate that time outside the game is working). Everything just feels thought out and it makes the suspension of disbelief easy.
Now, this novel did something I admit I am not a fan of. It ends early. About 2/3 of the book is the main story, and then the remaining is made up of short stories following various side characters. While the short stories actually add to the character development, and don't take away anything from the story, the fact that the overall story arch is cut short was a bit jarring and I admit, kind of annoyed me.
But in the end, I can see why the author did what they did, as it is a natural place to stop the story for the next novel. Plus, the short stories set up some of the things that happen in the next novel, so I can't complain too hard about it. (it helps to raise the stakes in the case of a couple of the characters)
All in all, I enjoyed this book and will continue to recommend this series to people.
Now, this novel did something I admit I am not a fan of. It ends early. About 2/3 of the book is the main story, and then the remaining is made up of short stories following various side characters. While the short stories actually add to the character development, and don't take away anything from the story, the fact that the overall story arch is cut short was a bit jarring and I admit, kind of annoyed me.
But in the end, I can see why the author did what they did, as it is a natural place to stop the story for the next novel. Plus, the short stories set up some of the things that happen in the next novel, so I can't complain too hard about it. (it helps to raise the stakes in the case of a couple of the characters)
All in all, I enjoyed this book and will continue to recommend this series to people.
January 1, 2023
For Book 3 to be a "filler" volume, with a duel with Superiors and then a series of side stories, it seems that the author is out of stories for this VRMMORPG game that apparently doesn't have any more ideas and was in the beginning...Main character Ray is playing this VRMMORPG a month before he starts College in "real life". So, not even a month has passed in the game and the author is totally "filling" Book 3 with irrelevant stories that do not push the main plot arcs and purpose of the story forward...
what little information the author wrote was so much filled with plot holes and lack of explanations that this story has lost all credibility and "game balance"...
In book 2, the author was thanking the 50 illustrators of this series, the thing is the illustrations are sub-par and lackluster. They need to be improved. The illustrations need to have a map of the game world, they need character summaries with their abilities, and summaries of the kingdoms and territories in this world. This series needs more work and polish, deep editing than its worth.
I do not recommend this Book 3, I do not recommend this light novel series.
what little information the author wrote was so much filled with plot holes and lack of explanations that this story has lost all credibility and "game balance"...
In book 2, the author was thanking the 50 illustrators of this series, the thing is the illustrations are sub-par and lackluster. They need to be improved. The illustrations need to have a map of the game world, they need character summaries with their abilities, and summaries of the kingdoms and territories in this world. This series needs more work and polish, deep editing than its worth.
I do not recommend this Book 3, I do not recommend this light novel series.
August 9, 2019
Easily the weakest volume of the series, but its to be expected when the volume ends at about 3 quarters of the book.
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It’s rare for me to read a light novel where it’s basically a build up book for later events, but it finally happened, it’s eerily similar to the “second book syndrome” in Trilogies. That aside however, the book is not exactly bad, it just didn’t have many things happening compared to the previous books. Hence the build up part of it, I do get that it will most likely have a very exciting follow up volumes, but on its own it feels lacking compared to the prequels.
That aside however, this book focused more on the characters than not. For example, we get even more dropped hints about the King of Beasts, yet we don’t really know why he’s hiding his identity. And more importantly, Marie gets a close up as well. She’s an interesting character, and this volume shows that she’s got things to hide and is most likely not as innocent as she would’ve liked us to think.
We also got to see a badass fight between superiors and know even more mechanisms when it comes to how the battles can go in this world. I really liked the Arena concept and how it’s not just for Superiors or masters, Tians or what you would call NPCs in any game are also allowed to participate against each other or against masters. I would really like to see more applications of the arena later on, it’s badass and I really hope the anime does it justice.
The story or rather the plot of this volume ends right after the battle ends, with a twist that was heavily eluded to from the very beginning of this volume and in volume 2. I definitely look forward to see how this plays out and it’s primarily because of the effect masters have in this world. It’s a game, that’s a given, but I have yet to see another example where the players can affect in-game politics with their actions and be as involved in the makings of the world like this game. So fascinating and this volume just teasing me with the concept made me a little salty to be very honest.
The volume is thankfully still romance and sexual fan service free so I take that as a good sign that the author has something hopefully awesome in store for me. Until then, I’ll be waiting :)
Final rating: 2.5/5
June 7, 2020
Sadly, I had to take off a star. While I really enjoyed the main portion of the book even though it does not focus on Ray at all really... the stories comprising the rest of the book (over 1/3rd of the volume) just didn't really keep me going. I finally got a bit invested in the final one, but getting there took me a lot longer because I always found something else to be doing than reading the things that came before.
The duel between Figaro and Xunyu is pretty cool and there is some things to be learned about many of the characters from what happens in the duel and from those watching it, so you shouldn't skip this volume. But it wasn't wholly as captivating as the first two which I really liked.
Verdict: Still worth a read, but a bit of a stumble for an otherwise really enjoyable series.
The duel between Figaro and Xunyu is pretty cool and there is some things to be learned about many of the characters from what happens in the duel and from those watching it, so you shouldn't skip this volume. But it wasn't wholly as captivating as the first two which I really liked.
Verdict: Still worth a read, but a bit of a stumble for an otherwise really enjoyable series.
June 9, 2020
The “prologue” was highly frustrating in this one—not that a prologue even makes since in the third volume of a series. Lots of grammatical errors to open this volume, and again, we get a peculiar editing decision to suggest unusual diction from one character who has far too many names. The meat of this volume’s story is very lean too. There’s no development in Ray’s character. We do get some background for Marie’s in one of the “side” stories. It is quite a reveal, but I would have almost rather see it unfold organically in the larger narrative. As for the big battle (and events at the conclusion in particular), I can only imagine the volume of support tickets that would flood a game company’s customer support services if such an exploit occurred in a real MMO.
November 22, 2018
Keep it up
I give 4 stars for quality of writing. I don't really like books made up of short stories. Over half of this book is made of short stories. Now each story is good but it always feels like a stoping points. Now a question was answered. Also at the beginning of one story I started thinking something I never thought before and it turned out right.
I give 4 stars for quality of writing. I don't really like books made up of short stories. Over half of this book is made of short stories. Now each story is good but it always feels like a stoping points. Now a question was answered. Also at the beginning of one story I started thinking something I never thought before and it turned out right.
April 6, 2020
From every volume that I have read until now, this volume is the most boring. Quoting the author himself, "Ray is only chat, eat, chat, eat, and watch people fight....".
Although fortunately, the battle at the end is amazing, not to mention the author is slipping a little side story from the perspective of the other characters ( and both of them is interesting, if not important )
Although fortunately, the battle at the end is amazing, not to mention the author is slipping a little side story from the perspective of the other characters ( and both of them is interesting, if not important )
July 15, 2018
It feels like the focus of this series is shifting from what could maybe best be described as a jrpg in bookform in to more of a superpower battle series, we'll see if this trend continues in volume 4.
December 13, 2019
I really enjoyed the read, but the author seems to change how smart the MC is depending on plot needs... and it ends on a cliffhanger.
I’m liking the side characters more and more. Pretty interesting series
I’m liking the side characters more and more. Pretty interesting series
January 16, 2020
The story and setting is still interesting, but this volume commits the cardinal sin of being "to be continued". The battle doesn't actually end until Volume 5. I would much rather have a given story arc being confined to a single novel.
March 18, 2020
Two halves of a book
Dumping all of the side stories at the end kindof killed my desire to read for a little while, but it eventually came back. I would've preferred to have the stories all intertwined instead.
Dumping all of the side stories at the end kindof killed my desire to read for a little while, but it eventually came back. I would've preferred to have the stories all intertwined instead.
September 2, 2018
Continuation journey of Reiji Mukudori A.K.A Ray Starling on VRMMO Infinite Dendogram.
To summarize about the 3rd volume of Infinte Dendogram is calm before storm or peace before big war. This volume also different from two previous volume, because you will have two stories. The first half is continuation of the main story and the second half is side story which related and have big spoiler to the main story. Thus, I recommend you to avoid the second half of this volume if you only care with the main story.
The main story now focus on the big event at Gideon, known as duel city because is famous entertainment is dueling. Well, the clash of Superior between Figaro, one of Altar Superior and XunYu, Superior from Huang He, in my opinion written well. Good job to the Translator and the Author of course because the battle scenes is easy to follow and is not done in an instant. I still can imagine how the battle goes, which I hope it goes the same for you too :)
Now, let's talk about the second half of this volume, which is the side story. Actually, is pretty bold move because how frustrate I'm when know the ending on first half story. I mean, could we have the continuation instead of this side story? However, the Author said itself on the Afterwords that this Side story is necessary. Well, beside the journey of Rook, we also have glimpse, well not really, about Marie in the side story. I already warned you, hence read the side story only if you could take the spoiler in there.
Definitely can't wait for Infinite Dendogram 4th volume, because you can expect bad ass action in there.
To summarize about the 3rd volume of Infinte Dendogram is calm before storm or peace before big war. This volume also different from two previous volume, because you will have two stories. The first half is continuation of the main story and the second half is side story which related and have big spoiler to the main story. Thus, I recommend you to avoid the second half of this volume if you only care with the main story.
The main story now focus on the big event at Gideon, known as duel city because is famous entertainment is dueling. Well, the clash of Superior between Figaro, one of Altar Superior and XunYu, Superior from Huang He, in my opinion written well. Good job to the Translator and the Author of course because the battle scenes is easy to follow and is not done in an instant. I still can imagine how the battle goes, which I hope it goes the same for you too :)
Now, let's talk about the second half of this volume, which is the side story. Actually, is pretty bold move because how frustrate I'm when know the ending on first half story. I mean, could we have the continuation instead of this side story? However, the Author said itself on the Afterwords that this Side story is necessary. Well, beside the journey of Rook, we also have glimpse, well not really, about Marie in the side story. I already warned you, hence read the side story only if you could take the spoiler in there.
Definitely can't wait for Infinite Dendogram 4th volume, because you can expect bad ass action in there.
January 19, 2020
vol 3 ini menarik dengan adanya cerita player yg membunuh ray. lalu cerita pertarungan figaro & xunyu
January 22, 2020
Good ending to the first story arc. It left me wanting to go onto the second story arc which is also good.
September 19, 2023
This continues to be a good, solid story.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews