Jiang Chen Awakens: A Shadowy Rise

by Li Tian, Etvolare (Translator)

Jiang Chen, son of the Heavenly Emperor, unexpectedly reincarnated into the body of a despised young noble, thus embarking on the path of the underdog trouncing all comers. No one has the right to call himself a genius in front of Jiang Chen, as no one has a better understanding of the heavens than the son of the Heavenly Emperor. Genius? He who adheres to me shall ascend, those who oppose me can find solace in hell!

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novel

ebook

Reviews

[Wilhelm Eyrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m writing this review after finishing the ENTIRE series of some 2375 chapters.

What a ride. The first 70% was fantastic story telling but like most wuxia novels, the author seems to forget where the story is going or wants to finish it fast for some reason. This one sped up the pace by a ton and I really wish we could have seen more of places that weren’t the Divine Abyss. It also somehow ends up turning into a small harem even though he spends 98% of the series with one woman? It was worth it for the most part.

7/10

[Akshay Narayanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The review is for the series as a whole (Till chapter 960 which was available as I am writing this review) rather than for the first book. The premise of the story as well as the fantasy world in which it is set are both very interesting and contribute to the interest in the book. The fortuitous encounters, the battles, both pill and martial, the special moves, concept of bloodlines etc. make for an interesting world which is both complex enough to feel like a real world with its indescribable complexities and at the same time, the presence of levels in the book simplifies it to a great extent so as to compare between different existences and determine who are relevant and who are not. Overall the book gives you a feel of an online game (Presence of attributes that you can level up, known set of constraints etc. ). The story line is gripping and the characters and the imaginary worlds are interesting. It is an easy read and ideally suited for reading in small installments, for example, while traveling.

On the con side, the writing style is not that great. The author/translator has a tendency to keep on repeating things which kind of makes it irritating to read. Then, the book is full of stereotypes and its portrayal of women, fat people, race, bloodline etc. leave much to be desired. Also the story line and the pace of the the book waxes and wanes making for an inconsistent read. Another issue is that the book at places feels like it is written to glorify the Jiang Chen character.

Overall it is an interesting low investment (except for time) super long read

[Cor Markhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

It isn't the worst xianxia I ever read and despite featuring a lot of the common tropes of the genre I actually enjoyed the story at the start. The MC isn't all that interesting or deep but at least he isn't a total asshole like so many others and some of his rivals/enemies have at least some depth and motivation beyond being stupid evil - hell at the start there are even some attempts at keeping at least some of the cast relevant and with the main character instead of replaying them with the same cardboard characters ever so often like you typically see. The fights and challenges can be entertaining even if they lean to heavily into "look at what cool toy I have" for my tastes while the cultivation side doesn't play all that big of a role and at least in the 900+ chapters I read seemed to lack many of the more mystical and "revelation" elements that are normally common which is both and advantage and disadvantage.

Yet despite the somewhat interesting start I only managed to power through the first 900 or so chapters till the badly executed cliches, characters and overall boring and predicable storyline and bad worldbuilding got to much for me.

Still the translation isn't all that bad and if you have nothing else to do it can be a somewhat decent timewaster.

[Mayank Agarwal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre Xuanhuan/Cultivation Web Novel, there are plenty of better offerings out there.

This is the review for all the 31 volumes comprising of 2376 chapters.

One of the lengthiest and most boring novels I have picked up, it offers nothing new in the genre. There are no mind-blowing twists, great characterization, action sequences, or concepts. Having read so many series of a similar genre felt I wasted my time on this. Worse yet the author is repetitive and drags what can be conveyed in one paragraph over a chapter.

[Jan-petter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rating given is not a correct portrayal of the individual book's rating but as a general rating of the series as a whole.

[-Vuth-]

Jiang Chen is god.

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

So many words... so little content.

-Dropped Ch 10

[tester · Rating 2 out of 5]

First couple of arcs are ok, loosing the plot at some point and is a chore to read.

[Charles Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't remember if I started this at the beginning when it started getting translated, or midway through. Either way, it's been at least a couple years reading this on a daily basis - 2376 chapters. Two to three chapters a day release schedule. It was a good series, but the ending seemed rushed. That's fine though, and it ended as predicted.

[Leon Niemandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of the whole series. It starts out fine, typical xianxia reincarnation OP MC commences heroic journey to the top. Its translation is of a decent standard and the story-telling itself at least has a plot. But the overabundance of fillers wears away at the reader, the villains are cliches and the MC is so inconsistent that eventually the series degrades from mediocre to downright annoying.

Dropped halfway through the series at Chapter 1264.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fresh take on xianxia, with the same 'getting stronger' but much more focus on interpersonal relations and showing the power of the main character, making this much more satisfying than most xianxia.

Characters: 3/5 I liked them
World: 1.5/5 rather confusing
Story: 4/5 really liked it

Characters:
0 - 447
The characters are slightly above average. The main character has principles and reasons for everything he does, which already makes him better than most xianxia leads. The side characters are one dimensional, but that is par for the course. The side characters are still much more fleshed out than in something like I Shall Seal The Heavens, because the mc makes sure to interact with them all regularly, which is something that I like.

World:
The world is fine, but the way it is introduced is mildly frustrating. The author mentions the idea of many world and universes in passing, but doesn't make it clear where the mc fits in all that. Here is what I can gather: planet > continent > 8,16,32 areas > area > 16 kingdom alliance > kingdoms.

Story:
0 - 400
The story up till here is masterful. The main character gets stronger, and instead of only showing more and more powerful enemies, the story shows us the main character solving problems, giving stuff away, and generally being awesome. That makes powering up feel much more worthwhile, and it improves the overall experience greatly. I appreciate the effort that went into weaving all this strife and awesomeness into the story. Even the tournament arcs, which are boring in most xianxia, were interesting, since the strife between various people and the mc continued during the tournament.
400 - current(447)
This is where the book starts to lose me. They start to spend many chapters on grand political maneuverings that I don't care about. They start to spend whole chapters on fights between two side characters that were just introduced. This seems to be where the author's plans stopped, because the story changes the storytelling method drastically and suddenly.


Overall:
If I could travel back in time, I would tell myself to read it, at least for the first 400 chapters. However, there are better books out there such as ISSTH and Reverend Insanity, which you should read first.

[Alex P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was kinda slow, hopefully book 2 is more entertaining.