86 Eighty-Six (Novel) Vol. 01

86 Eighty-Six Novel Vol. 01, Winner of the 23rd annual Dengeki Novel Prize

A War Without Casualties

In 86 Eighty-Six Novel Vol. 01, The San Magnolia Republic has long been under attack by unmanned weapons from the neighboring Empire. Against this onslaught, the Republic has also deployed similar weapons, narrowly avoiding great loss of life and impending disaster-or at least that’s how it seemed.

The truth is that it has never been possible to have no casualties. Young men and women drawn from the Republic’s supposedly non-existent 86th district are organized into the “86 unit” and then ordered to pilot the “unmanned weapons” before heading to battle.

Biographical Notes:

One of the inspirations for the series was drone warfare, and the novel, 86 Eighty-Six Novel (86 Eighty-Six Novel Vol. 01), explores the logistics and ethics around this form of combat. Another major inspiration was the 2007 film, The Mist.

As she came up with the fictional ideas of the story, Asato started working on the light novel. Asato had been working on the novel since 2014 and it was only in 2017 that it was published.

The setting of the story took a while for the author to come up with. She wanted the story to take place within a fortressed city. However, she switched the idea and finalized the current setting for the series.

She usually spend about 6–8 hours a day writing.

Title Notes:

86 Eighty-Six Novel (Including 86 Eighty-Six Novel Vol. 01), Winner of the 23rd annual Dengeki Novel Prize, one of the most prestigious honors within the light novel sphere; Re:ZERO was similarly a winner in this category!

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