English Title: Sword Art Online
Japanese Title: ソードアート・オンライン — “Sword Art Online”
Author: Reki Kawahara — å·åŽŸ 礫
Illustrator: abec
Translator: Stephen Paul
Genre: Adventure, Sci-fi, VRMMO, Romance
Original Run: April 2009 – ongoing
English Run: April 2014 – ongoing
Japanese Publisher: Dengeki Bunko (ASCII Media Works)
English Publisher: Yen On (Yen Press)
Volumes in Japanese: 25 (In Progress)
Volumes in English: 21 (In Progress)
Average Price Per Volume: Paperback $10 — Kindle $8 — Nook $8
Synopsis: In the year 2022, gamers rejoice as Sword Art Online–a VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) like no other-opens its virtual doors, allowing players to take full advantage of the ultimate in gaming technology: NerveGear, a system that allows users to completely immerse themselves in the game world by manipulating their brain waves to create a wholly realistic gaming experience. But when the game goes live, the elation of the players quickly turns to horror as they discover that, for all its amazing features, SAO is missing one of the most basic functions of any MMORPG: a log-out button. Now trapped in the virtual world of Aincrad, their bodies held captive by NerveGear in the real world, users are issued a chilling ultimatum: conquer all one hundred floors of Aincrad to regain your freedom. But in the warped world of SAO, “game over†means certain death–both virtual and real…
Volume 1 – Aincrad (v1)
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Released April 22, 2014 — ISBN-13: 978-0316371247
Volume 2 – Aincrad (v2)
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Released August 26, 2014 — ISBN-13: 978-0316376815
Volume 3 – Fairy Dance (v1)
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Released December 16, 2014 — ISBN-13: 978-0316296427
Volume 4 – Fairy Dance (v2)
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Released April 21, 2015 — ISBN-13: 978-0316296434
Volume 5 – Phantom Bullet (v1)
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Released August 18, 2015 — ISBN-13: 978-0316296441
Volume 6 – Phantom Bullet (v2)
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Released December 15, 2015 — ISBN-13: 978-0316296458
Volume 7 – Mother’s Rosary
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Released April 19, 2016 — ISBN-13: 978-0316390408
Volume 8 — Early and Late
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Released August 30, 2016 — ISBN-13: 978-0316390415
Volume 9 — Alicization Beginning
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Released December 20, 2016 — ISBN-13: 978-0316390422
Volume 10 — Alicization Running
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Released April 18, 2017 — ISBN-13: 978-0316390439
Volume 11 — Alicization Turning
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Released April 18, 2017 — ISBN-13: 978-0316390446
Volume 12 — Alicization Rising
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Released December 19, 2017 — ISBN-13: 978-0316390453
Volume 13 — Alicization Dividing
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Released April 24, 2018 — ISBN-13: 978-0316390460
Volume 14 — Alicization Dividing
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Released August 21, 2018 — ISBN-13: 978-0316390484
Volume 15 — Alicization Invading
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Released December 18, 2018 — ISBN-13: 978-0316390491
Volume 16 — Alicization Exploding
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Released May 21, 2019 — ISBN-13: 978-1975304188
Volume 17 — Alicization Awakening
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Released October 29, 2019 -- ISBN-13: 978-1975356972
Volume 18 — Alicization Lasting
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Released January 07, 2020 -- ISBN-13: 978-1975356996
Volume 19 — Moon Cradle
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Releasing April 21, 2020 -- ISBN-13: 978-1975357016
Volume 20 — Moon Cradle Part 2
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Releasing August 18, 2020 -- ISBN-13: 978-1975357030
Volume 21 — Unital Ring 1
Amazon -- Barnes and Noble -- Book Depository -- Rightstuf — BAM! — Indigo
Releasing January 19, 2021 -- ISBN-13: 9781975315955
Reviews of Sword Art Online
- Anime News Network: Vol 1 — Vol 3 — Vol 5 — Vol 7 — Vol 9 — Vol 10
- Manga Bookshelf: Vol 1 — Vol 2 — Vol 3 — Vol 4 — Vol 5 — Vol 6 — Vol 7 — Vol 8 — Vol 9 — Vol 10 — Vol 11 — Vol 12 — Vol 13 — Vol 14 — Vol 15 — Vol 16 — Vol 17 — Vol 18 — Vol 19 — Vol 20 — Vol 20
- Justus R. Stone: Vol 1 — Vol 3 — Vol 4 — Vol 5 — Vol 6 — Vol 7 — Vol 9 — Vol 10 — Vol 11
- The August Hail: Vol 1 — Vol 2 — Vol 3 — Vol 4
- The Light Novel Podcast: Vol 1-4
Illustrations Sampler
Anime Adaptation
Season 1 — MAL Entry -- 24 episodes -- Aired July 2012 – December 2012
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Note: Adapted volumes 1 to 4 of the light novel series
Season 2 — MAL Entry -- 24 episodes -- Aired July 2014 – December 2014
Crunchyroll (streaming) -- Hulu (streaming) -- Amazon -- RightStuf
Note: Adapted volumes 2 to 8 of the light novel series
Film: Ordinal Scale — MAL Entry -- Premiered February 2017
Amazon -- RightStuf — Apple
Note: An original story not from the light novels
Season 3 (Alicization) — MAL Entry -- 24 episodes -- Aired October 2018 – March 2019
Crunchyroll (streaming) -- Hulu (streaming) -- RightStuf
Note: Adapted volumes 9 to 14 of the light novel series
Season 4 (Alicization – War of Underworld) — MAL Entry -- 12 episodes -- Aired October 2019 – December 2019
Crunchyroll (streaming) -- Hulu (streaming)
Note: Adapted volumes 15 to 16 of the light novel series
Season 4 (Alicization – War of Underworld II) — MAL Entry -- 11 episodes -- Aired April 2020 – TBD
Crunchyroll (streaming) -- Hulu (streaming)
Note: Adapted volumes 17 to 18 of the light novel series
Manga Adaptation
MAL Entry -- Published August 2010 – ongoing (English releases by Yen Press)
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Video Games
Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment
Sword Art Online: Lost Song — Amazon
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization — Amazon
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet — Amazon
Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris — Amazon
If you liked Sword Art Online, you might also want to try…
- Sword Art Online: Progressive -- companion series, also written by Reki Kawahara
- Accel World — also written by Rekki Kawahara, virtual reality setting
- The Isolator -- also written by Reki Kawahara
- Infinite Dendrogram — virtual reality setting
- Paying to Win in a VRMMO — virtual reality setting
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