Kind of agree. A lot of the books have neat visual effects, but the book itself is either too hokin' big (look up the Eureka final form book on a Lalafell sometime) or they have too much filigree (all the fine little gold bits that look like they'd snap like twigs if you ever brushed it against something), and somehow, even the books with the pages being small-ish have massive covers hanging out over them, that just look comically stupid.

That said, I like both the current Hilde Relic steps (the ones that just came out. The SMN and SCH ones look distinct from each other, don't have terribly massive amounts of filigree, and I like the orange/green visual effect. The only downside is doing the /bm (battle mode) /sit macro trick (to make your weapon activate the glow effect while sheathed) looks weird - as it did with the Bozja one - since the glow frames the book, so you have floating ghost pages and cover. This is a big problem with the books since most of the glows trace the outline of the book, and I think SCH/SMN have more issue with this for the glowing sit trick than any other Job. Given, not everyone knows that trick, but if you like to use it, it's noticeable.

Honestly, some of my favorite books are also the oldest. I still like the Ifrit Extreme SMN book. Definitely fitting for a SMN, and while the flaming horns DO have the shape of the book being opened, it's not too bad because of how ephemeral they are. Other good options are the first glowing stage of the SCH ARR Relic, since it has kind of a gentle cloudy glow that looks good sheathed or unsheathed. When it's replaced with the black version of the book, it still works but the glow is a bit more overpowering. And the SMN's final stage, the Apocalypse, is actually really cool. The horns (Bahamut?) are extensions from the spine, and so don't look funny with the book closed, and the purple circle is pretty small and centered on the gem, so it still looks good even when sheathed on your belt. Note that the Last Resort, SCH's counterpart...does not, since the glowing circle is massive. This is a recurring SCH problem, since they did the same thing with the HW Relic and that massive green circle with the spinning windmill wings.

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Still, overall, I really like books as a weapon, as I tend to think D&D Wizards with spellbooks and I like the way casts like Ruin come out of the book and Biolysis seems to be a quick spell conjured from its pages as well. Though it did occur to me, between the summoning cast animation and the /vpose...SCH and SMNs are left handed. Look which hand you're holding the book with and which you're writing with...