Status
Collection
Publication
Description
"Somewhere between magic, art, and science exists a world of alchemy. And into this world travel Edward and Alphonse Elric--two brothers in search of the Philosopher's Stone, the ultimate alchemical treasure! You've read the manga and seen the anime. Complete the Fullmetal experience with these best-selling novels featuring original stories. It's only been a year since the Elric brothers set out on their journey to find the elusive Philosopher's Stone. But a lot has happened in that short time. For one thing, Edward has become an official state alchemist. And as such, he often finds himself embroiled in one dangerous situation after another. Now, sidelined with a fever in a remote village, Edward comes face-to-face with a childhood friend. Even though he's become a valuable member of his country's military organization, Edward can't help feeling a pang of jealousy during this unexpected reunion. While he and his brother are bound to their cruel fate, his friend is busy making his dreams come true. Once again Edward must wrestle with the consequences of his alchemically altered past. Also included in this volume is a heartwarming story featuring Roy Mustang, Maes Hughes, and Alex Louis Armstrong. The trio of alchemists takes a holiday in the woods and discover a mysterious village populated only with children."--Provided by publisher.… (more)
User reviews
This book is really two novellas under a single title. The first was cute, though it used the standard convention of a 'childhood friend' original character to compare Ed
"Under the Faraway Sky"
Edward and Alphonse Elric have now been traveling on their own for a year. Edward ends up with a cold, forcing them to stop at a nearby town for a while. The local
These light novels are of course all filler, but this story felt particularly filler-like, with its introduction of Edward's childhood best friend, who was somehow inseparable from him and yet never previously mentioned in any incarnation of the series and who would never be mentioned again. It made it really hard to care any time they talked about their fun days back at Resembool.
I spent the whole story thinking that there would be a big revelation about Pitt's reason for apprenticing himself to a doctor in a town he hadn't previously had any connection to, something more than "his dad researched medicinal herbs so he was sort of continuing the family business." However, this was more about Pitt and Edward accepting the choices they'd made and not comparing themselves to people who'd chosen other paths. For Edward, it was also about realizing that he didn't have to completely leave his past behind - that it wouldn't hurt to occasionally stop by Resembool and see people like Winry, even if his automail didn't need repairing.
This story was just a big pile of "meh" for me, combined with slight annoyance at Pitt's very existence.
"Roy's Holiday"
Roy is given orders to temporarily change places with a commanding officer at a tiny post practically in the middle of nowhere. He grumbles about it, but in reality he views it like a vacation...until he actually gets there and realizes how undisciplined and badly trained his new subordinates are. Then his vacation morphs into a mountain of work, until Hughes and Armstrong make a detour to see him after a nearby investigation of theirs fails to pan out. Hughes and Armstrong drag Roy away, swearing that they have a great view to show him, which results in a semi-terrifying hike that forces them to stop at a village that wasn't on their map. Oddly enough, the village is populated only by children.
The table of contents called this "Roy's Holiday," while the title is listed just before the story as "Roy's Vacation." It's one of several examples that illustrate this story's need for better editing and attention to detail, which is a shame, considering that this was the better of the two stories in the volume.
It was fairly obvious what was going on with this little village, and the length of time it took Roy to figure it out made him look a bit stupid. Still, it was nice to see him try to help out with chores, and I was amused at how proud he was of the one task he was actually able to do well. Meanwhile, Hughes and Armstrong had no trouble at all fitting in and being useful.
Another so-so story, but at least better than the first one. This could have made a decent filler episode in the original anime series.
Extras:
One full-color illustration of Hughes, Armstrong, and Roy (the image of Hughes holding both a knife and pictures of his daughter makes my heart squeeze, ugh), a few black and white illustrations throughout, an afterword by Makoto Inoue (who apparently has a pet chipmunk), and an afterword by Hiromu Arakawa that includes a four-panel comic and a sketch of what appears to be Winry, Edward, and Alphonse as adults.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)