The Twelve Kingdoms Forum

It's being offered on www.Amazon.com and www.BarnesAndNoble.com, but the titles they are giving is "The Twelve Kingdoms 1". Volume 1 isn't very descriptive.


The release date: March 13, 2007 (Amazon)
February 27, 2007 (Barnes and Noble)
Hardcover: 240 pages
ISBN: 1598169467
List Price: 16.99

Anyone have word on which book it will be? If it is release date then it will be "Demon Child". But if they follow the chronological time in the series I think the first book would be about King En's fight with - oh I can't remember his name - it was the last story in the anime. Anyway we'll have to wait and see. But I'll read any boot they translate anyway so whatever it is I'm happy

As for which novel will be the first one published, that's going to be up for speculation, as there's no information about it there. Oh, at least on http://www.barnesandnoble.com, you have to search for "12 Kingdoms". I know I'm excited... and tempted to pre-order that book.

And I fixed your Barnes and Noble link. It was inserting the comma into the URL.

In slightly different news, the Kino no Tabi novel is currently available on http://www.barnesandnoble.com, and I'm sure on amazon too! I see myself making a trip to the bookstore this afternoon...

I tried the Barnes and Noble link and amazon.com. When typed in the Twelve Kingdoms, I got "Kingdom Come." I also tried typing in "12 Kingdoms" and got the same result.
Shanonn

Ah, at least at Barnes and Nobles, you have to search via title, not by keyword. In any case, here are the direct links:

Barnes and Noble
Amazon.com

Don't worry, there might still be delays...

Seriously, I do have a small amount of worry about them rushing it. I've read TOKYOPOP's release of Scrapped Princess, Crest of the Stars, and the first short story in Kino No Tabi. While I thought Scrapped Princess was ok (though, truthfully, the anime wasn't all that good either... IMO ) and what little I read of Kino No Tabi so far was very, very good, Crest of the Stars had some wierd word usage. Like the characters become surprisingly informal at inappropriate situations. And Crest of the Stars is *very* heavy on the use of Baronh (the language created by the author for this series), which may have caused some issues with the translation.

The Twelve Kingdoms is probably closer to CotS than KNT, especially since the latter is actually a series of loosely connected short stories, rather than long, multi-novel arcs. TTK also has the local word usage, though most of it is really adaptations from the Japanese/Chinese by the looks of it (I.E., Hourai and kirins are existing Japanese concepts).

Still, the first Crest of the Stars novel was a very good read. Even with the wierd word usage, the novel had what was at the heart of what drew me into the anime: the dialog. I can at least hope the same for The Twelve Kingdoms, that the heart of the novels is able to bridge across the language barrier.

There is a description of the book on Tokyopop -
http://www.tokyopop.com/S-1787/

It appears the first book will be about Youko. It's out of order from how the book are published in Japan, but, well, as long as we get the books, who cares?

Here is a press release about the book. Apparently it really is a hardcover - the first Tokypop has released.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-r ... e-kingdoms

Rife with civil and political upheaval, The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow, the first volume of this epic seven-volume novel series, is set in a world reminiscent of ancient Chinese mythology, taking fans on a wild ride that will leave readers questioning the boundaries of reality and fantasy. Sea of Shadow marks TOKYOPOP's first-ever hardcover novel and includes all-new, exclusive cover art created especially for this English edition by Akihiro Yamada, the series' original Japanese illustrator.

i wonder what that means in terms of mashou no ko, which wasn't part of the "seven-volume novel series" that was published by kodansha.

retrooo

Seven-volume novel... seven? I just counted them to be eight, are they going to omit of them?

I just reserved my Pre-order at Barnes and Nobles . This marks the first time in my life I have ever reserved any type of book but for twelve kingdoms its a given. Can't wait to get it.

wheeeeeee! I'm sooooo excited! Especially since I've never read any of the online translations, the screen gives me a headache...bleh..but horray for the books coming out!