.Hack // AI Buster: v. 1 (.Hack Novels)

Albireo is a solo adventurer in The World -- he is proud to have gotten his character to a high level playing on his own. One day while playing the game, he encounters a silent little girl in red, Lycoris, who is a NPC (non-player character, or AI). Meeting her activates an event that he is determined to finish. Shortly after, he runs into an annoying newbie player, Hokuto, who knows nothing about the right way to play the game. Alibreo is desperate to get rid of Hokuto, but she blackmails him into playing with her. So Albireo is forced to try to complete the Lycoris event with annoying Hokuto following him around. Along the way he uncovers some surprising truths about how The World really works.

As a fan of the other .hack stories (the games, animes, and manga), I was very glad to see this novel translated into English. It gives a more detailed backstory for the creation of The World and helps set the scene for the events that take place in the later stories. I'd highly recommend this novel to all .hack fans, and if you're new to The World, this is a great book to start with.

A.I. Buster Takes place before the events of the Anime .hack//sign and follows a character called Alberio as he becomes entangled in an in game event involving a young girl called Lycoris.

The book is a fairly light read but gives you some interesting insight into the .hack world including how Orca and Balmung got to be called "The Descendants Of Fianna". Its well written although very short. It doesnt require you to have seen the Series of played the games either.