The first novel was originally published in 1982, while the tenth novel was published five years later. Three have been released so far under the following titles: Legend of Galactic Heroes: Dawn, Legend of Galactic Heroes: Ambition, and Legend of Galactic Heroes: Endurance, all translated by Daniel Huddleston. Viz Media has, at the time of this writing, licensed six of the ten novels (not including spinoffs) in the series. But these franchises started out as novels, and one such series that I’ve been looking forward to is Ginga Eiyu Densetsu or Legend of the Galactic Heroes by Yoshiki Tanaka. Media tie-ins to series like The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Record of the Lodoss War, and Slayers are par for the course, and Western fandom is probably more familiar with their manga and/or anime adaptations. While Western Science Fiction and Fantasy is currently experiencing mainstream appeal thanks to successful novel-to-TV adaptations like Game of Thrones, The Expanse, and The Magicians, the Japanese media industry has this formula pegged down as far back as the 1980s.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: 30 Years Ahead of Its Time

Legend of galactic heroes novel