Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden Volume 1

An entertaining twist on the “reincarnated hero” genre, where the muscleheaded, overpowered martial artist main character is a bit less oblivious to their own nature than the usual isekai, and thrown into a situation that’s way outside their normal approach to the world. The world background is also a more interesting take on the usual “quasi-European medieval monarchy, but with magic” so common to fantasy light novels. Perhaps the best point here is that the main character actually works hard to earn her power, and isn’t just totally gifted with it up front by the author. Yes, she’s been granted knowledge and skills (and impulses, but not memories) of her former life, but that doesn’t mean they’re entirely useable in the body of a bedridden four-year-old without a lot of work. The side characters aren’t just cardboard cutouts from central casting, either, even though they do fall into some common genre tropes. I’ve finished the first three volumes at this point, and while the central gimmick here is still the OP main character being infinitely and unexpectedly stronger than everyone, it doesn’t get old since so much of what’s going on has nothing to do with combat. It’s not quite a slice of life story, but has significant aspects of that.

To be honest I didn’t expect some of the plot points in the narrative like the tv stardom of the main character. I like how unconventional story is while being still having classic elements of overpowered main character light novels. Overall a good read, I am absolutely looking forward to book 2