Genso Suiko Gaiden Vol.1 - Harmonia no Kenshi [PSOne Books] Japan

Suikogaiden has you playing as Nash Latkje in a text based RPG. There are no random battles, no level ups, just pure story progression which all takes place during the same time period as that of Suikoden 2. During the game you will come across many characters from the series which you may or may not be familiar with already.