Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (Light Novel) Vol. 20 Paperback – January 31, 2023

Great, love rudeusLots of minor plot lines continued and established that contribute to a greater depth of immersion and worldbuilding

The story goes on

Another amazing, page turning entry into a masterful work. I’m really just rapidly writing these words so I can post the review and get on to the next volume.

I’ve been reading this series since the very beginning. Each book is always bringing something different to the story. This volume is no different as well. Rudeus must now deal with his problems alone with no help from his wives, Orsted, or even his friend Cliff. This is yet another part of his life where his choices will have consequences. Can’t wait for the next book to come out.

Not much happened to further the story in this novel but it set up for a nice setting in the next one.Also, I felt this novel had more spelling and grammar errors than previous books in this series. Did they hire a new translator or something?

Really sets the tone for the unpredictably in fighting the Man-God. I hate what happened and wish the prince had a happy turn out. Too many give up in this life and this really showed how it hurts.

If you have read this far in, you clearly are a fan of Mushoku Tensei. None of us would be at this point if we didn’t.So let’s talk about the story first. Half the book is the literary equivalent of filler arcs. The chapters neither move the central story arc forward at all or feature any meaningful character development. I am all for characters not named Rudeus getting a chance to be featured but the it’s just literally random scattered adventures. The entire first half had maybe a page worth reading. The second half picks up a bit and is more interesting and I do like that they left off on a cliffhanger. Having an “extra” chapter wouldn’t have felt right. I get a story the size of this one ebbs and flows but this was one of the weaker chunks of the story.My bigger issue has to do with the book itself. First there are a lot of typos, grammar errors, and missing words. If this was a paper for 10th grade English or an email to a work colleague, I’d not have an issue. But this is a commercially sold book by one of the biggest companies in the space. You can’t tell me Seven Seas cannot afford a copy editor (or contract it out to freelancers).The other issue is the chapter regarding the Blessed Child. I get that when translating a light novel that there cannot be a one-to-one translation. Whether it is references and puns that would not make sense to an English speaking reader or the translator adding a little artistic license, I get that it’s not 100% word for word faithful to the text. But the “word choice” the editor uses for the Blessed Child and her personal guard is pretty poor. It isn’t in character for Rudeus to think like that and the language really takes away from the overall tone of the chapter. I get that the target age demographic of the novels is not me, but it just comes off poorly.

Volume 20 is mostly an intermezzo between two arcs. It rushes through some aspects of Rudeus' family life while setting up things for the next arc near the end. The cliff hanger ending is a bit of a disservice as well, although we at least get the next volume soon. It was an okay read, but nothing special.