[UPDATED] Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 1 releasing in English on June 20, 2017; Kingdom Hearts: The Novel Volume 2 releasing in English on D...

[Aquaberry 759]

Yen Press will be releasing Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 1 in English on June 20, 2017 at an original retail price of $16.00 USD. Pre-orders are available now at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Book Depository, and RightStuf.

 

This is the first announcement regarding the publication of this volume outside of Japan, where it was published on April 22, 2006. The Kingdom Hearts II light novel series, written by Tomoco Kanemaki, with illustrations by Shiro Amano, and concept by Tetsuya Nomura, finished in Japan in 2007, and now it is finally being released in English as well. The Japanese Kingdom Hearts II light novel series had four volumes, but for the English series, they've decided to combine them all together to create two large volumes. Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 1 contains volumes 1 and 2 of the original Japanese series, while the upcoming Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 2 will contain volumes 3 and 4 of the original Japanese series.

 

You can view a potential cover for Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 2 below.

 

Yen Press has also previously localized Kingdom Hearts: The Novel and Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories: The Novel internationally in 2015 following high fan demand.

 

Do you own any of the previous Kingdom Hearts novel series? Will you be adding Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 1 to your collection? Let us know in the comments below!

 

UPDATE 1: The Yen Press webpage for Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 1 is now up.

 

UPDATE 2: The overview of the novel has been updated, and can be read below:

 

Based on the hit video game series!

 

Roxas is a boy who lives in sleepy Twilight Town with his friends Hayner, Pence, and Olette. As the last week of summer vacation comes to a close, the four spend their days together, making sure to leave no regrets. All the while, Roxas worries about the strange things that keep happening to him...

UPDATE 3: The cover for the English Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 1 has been shown off. Last year, Yen Press announced that they will be releasing the first volume to the Kingdom Hearts II light novel series by Tomoco Kanemaki, Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 1 on June 20, 2017. Thanks to Yen Press again, we now have a look at the front cover for this volume.

 

View the cover below:

 

UPDATE 4: A release date for Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 2 has been revealed. It will be releasing on December 12, 2017 for $16.00 USD. Pre-orders are now available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

 

Thanks to KHInsider for the tip!

 

UPDATE 5: The English Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 1 has released today on June 20, 2017. You can order it at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Book Depository, and RightStuf.

 

UPDATE [Nov. 20, 2017]: Kingdom Hearts II: The Novel Volume 2 seems to have been delayed to December 19th, 2017. Learn more about that in the full article here.

 

Click here to view the article

[MythrilMagician 6,963]

Nice, I've been planing to get the novels sooner or later. Hoping the localise the BBS novel as well, along with the DDD novel.

[TD Twilight 82]

I think i had one of them when i was a kid, but eventually i want to get the whole collection

[TheKingdomkid 1,194]

I should really get the other ones I would go look for them at Barns and Noble but I couldn't find them when they first got announced, oh well if I can't find them I can just get them from amazon.  Still I'm glad they are also locolizing the rest of the novels it seems

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

Ooh, this is interesting! Thanks for this news, human!

 

Well then, if I'm to obtain more knowledge about the humans and this "Kingdom Hearts" series, I must fill my eye and brain with the lore I require to have full access to this site's inner works! Therefore, this novel seems like it'll help me get one step closer to ruling this site! I should get the other two novels too, when I get the chance! But yes, it's good these books are coming out one by one...very good! B)

[Ultima Spark 753]

So I assume the split is JP 1&2 into EN 1, and JP 3&4 into EN 2. What are they going to do with the short story anthologies?

 

(This seems to be the only novel collection requiring a split; CoM, Days and BBS all came in threes, and CoM wasn't split for EN release.)

[twogoodius 49]

Anyone read the KH or CoM Novels? Are they worth my time?

[Kaweebo 3,617]

Anyone read the KH or CoM Novels? Are they worth my time?

KH1 is mostly just a retread of the original game. Not bad, but I'd rather just play the game.

 

I've been debating on whether or not to create a thread praising the CoM novel for its writing and ways it got out of some of the problems the game(s) had. Like, for example, the idea that S/D/G completely lose all of their memories of each world they visit in Castle Oblivion past Traverse Town. In the novel, they only gradually lose their memories, Sora more quickly than Donald or Goofy. Oftentimes, it's Donald or Goofy that will remind Sora of a certain thing that happened in the first game and he's like, 'Oh yeah! I completely forgot about that...'

 

The novel also takes the best dialogue out of both the GBA version and PS2 version of the game. Of course, it added in Axel's famous catchphrase, 'Got it memorized?', which wasn't written until Kingdom Hearts II, but it also added in other lines that were originally from the GBA, like Axel saying he wanted Sora to give him a 'hell of a show!' 

 

Another cool thing about the novel is the Riku perspective on the story. Not just the real Riku, but the Riku Replica. It adds so much to his character in ways the game never possibly could. 

 

And my favorite part, I can read the CoM novel in Sora's KH1 voice and it works. I can't tell you how relieved I am to have a version of the CoM storyline that doesn't have the inconsistencies of the original and I can create the way Sora should sound in my head instead of having to hear Haley Joel Osment's older voice in his younger body. (I can give a pass to DDD since it's all a dream, anyway. Not so much Coded, though, which is why it's one of the other games I want to read a novelization of)

 

The only downsides I can say about the book is that the dialogue tends to make excuses for itself. Sometimes, Goofy will just go 'Huh? What's wrong, Sora?" to indicate that Sora has just been standing around thinking to himself without any real indication that that's what he's been doing since that's better presented in a visual medium. This happens a couple times throughout the book and it's kind of silly in its execution.

 

TL;DR: Yes, read the CoM novel. Also, read the KH1 novel if you want, but read CoM definitely.  

Edited November 5, 2016 by Kaweebo

[twogoodius 49]

KH1 is mostly just a retread of the original game. Not bad, but I'd rather just play the game.

 

I've been debating on whether or not to create a thread praising the CoM novel for its writing and ways it got out of some of the problems the game(s) had. Like, for example, the idea that S/D/G completely lose all of their memories of each world they visit in Castle Oblivion past Traverse Town. In the novel, they only gradually lose their memories, Sora more quickly than Donald or Goofy. Oftentimes, it's Donald or Goofy that will remind Sora of a certain thing that happened in the first game and he's like, 'Oh yeah! I completely forgot about that...'

 

The novel also takes the best dialogue out of both the GBA version and PS2 version of the game. Of course, it added in Axel's famous catchphrase, 'Got it memorized?', which wasn't written until Kingdom Hearts II, but it also added in other lines that were originally from the GBA, like Axel saying he wanted Sora to give him a 'hell of a show!' 

 

Another cool thing about the novel is the Riku perspective on the story. Not just the real Riku, but the Riku Replica. It adds so much to his character in ways the game never possibly could. 

 

And my favorite part, I can read the CoM novel in Sora's KH1 voice and it works. I can't tell you how relieved I am to have a version of the CoM storyline that doesn't have the inconsistencies of the original and I can create the way Sora should sound in my head instead of having to hear Haley Joel Osment's older voice in his younger body. (I can give a pass to DDD since it's all a dream, anyway. Not so much Coded, though, which is why it's one of the other games I want to read a novelization of)

 

The only downsides I can say about the book is that the dialogue tends to make excuses for itself. Sometimes, Goofy will just go 'Huh? What's wrong, Sora?" to indicate that Sora has just been standing around thinking to himself without any real indication that that's what he's been doing since that's better presented in a visual medium. This happens a couple times throughout the book and it's kind of silly in its execution.

 

TL;DR: Yes, read the CoM novel. Also, read the KH1 novel if you want, but read CoM definitely.  

Consider me convinced. Thank you for the reply!

[Nina Gaitan 0]

When you were a kid? Are you sure you're not just talking about the manga? Because the English versions of the novels were released in 2015, unless you've read the Japanese versions.

[RikuFangirl2008 1,368]

Two volumes?! O.O

 

KH2's original story must be very long.