"This game cannot be cleared. No matter where or how you die, the only difference is… sooner or later…"
One month has passed since Kayaba Akihiko launched his death game. In this brutally difficult VRMMO, two thousand players have already lost their lives.
The day of the First Floor Boss Strategy Meeting. Kirito, who has resolved to fight as a solo player and focus solely on strengthening himself, is on his way to the meeting hall when he encounters a female player — a rare sight at the front ...
As Kirito often intones, Floor 3 is really where the story of Aincrad starts. Starting with the twist early on, The Elf War Campaign really fleshes out Aincrad a lot, while introducing some of SAO's main themes (the dividing line between humans and AI, preset story vs character choices, etc), and adds a ton of fun to the story. The tritagonist is both an interesting character in her own right, and gives some plausible development as to how Kirito and Asuna became as super-powered as we know them in the main story.
As with the previous book the party dynamics with the front-runners is a key force of tension in this book, ethically, logistically, and interpersonally. Kirito and Asuna's relationship continues to develop believably and enjoyably. We also see the official establishment of two guilds, as well as more of the early developments/precursors that will eventually be ラフコフ. In contrast to the previous book, Floor 3 takes up the entirety of this volume, and the boss fight is almost a footnote - which I think works to the story's favor here.
This was a great follow-up to book 1, and the next book is also quite enjoyable!