Baccano! (Light Novel)

Baccano! (バッカーノ! Bakkāno!, Italian for ruckus) is an ongoing light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Katsumi Enami. It takes place in the same universe as Narita's light novel series Durarara!!, Vamp!, and Etsusa Bridge, and is known for its non-linear presentation, heavy western influences, and the interconnected quality of its large ensemble cast.

History
While in college, Narita was inspired by Laurence Bergreen's Capone: The Man and the Era and western gangster films to write a story about the larger-than-life criminal underworld and its pursuers set against the one-time backdrop of the American Prohibition. This goal coincided with his noticing of an April 10th, 2002 deadline for submissions of full-length stories to the 9th Dengeki Game Novel Prize, which he rushed to meet by writing The Rolling Bootlegs in two weeks during the spring break between his junior and senior years of college.

The Rolling Bootlegs tied for the Gold Prize: 500,000 yen (the lump sum has since risen to 1 million yen), and a guarantee that the novel would be published by Dengeki Bunko with full illustrations from a hired artist. Those who selected The Rolling Bootlegs for an award commented on the novel's experimental composition, originality, sense of humor, characterization, and setting as standout qualities.

Narita had not written the first Baccano! novel with the firm expectation that it would become a series, and many of the characters and elements of later novels, such as the character Czeslaw Meyer, were not conceived until after the first novel was a published success. The Rolling Bootlegs itself was quite different from some of Narita's early drafts of his story, which featured Ennis as a succubus familiar of an evil sorcerer, whom the main characters and various gangs would fight until they could successfully steal Ennis away.undefined

Reception
To be added.

Trivia

 * The majority of the novels are named after western bands.

Gallery

 * Novel Covers (JP)
 * Novel Covers (NA)