Okay so as someone who had watched the anime but is more of a reader, I was excited that the original novels were being officially translated. And now that I've finished it, I'm glad that I did.

The opening wasn't what I expected. I thought that it would maybe start with them starting the game rather then starting it in the present then looking back early on. It worked though and it did help set the story.

Character wise, my opinions didn't change much. It made me so happy to read Klein's bits as he's amusing and a good character. There was one character that I didn't really like was Asuna. Now, I wasn't fond of her anyway but for a little bit of the novel, I was starting to warm to her. She was amusing and mostly strong and then you get her saying she'd commit suicide if Kirito died. She's 17 years old and she hasn't had much chance to meet anyone without fear of them dying for two years. Excuse me if she sounds whiny and dumb and that just made me hate her all over again.

Majorly excited for the second book and the side stories in it! I've already seen that Silicia is on the front cover and I want her story as well as Lisbeth's.