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魔道祖师 [Mó Dào Zǔ Shī] #1
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Light Novel 01: Wiedergeburt
"Wei Wuxian, einer der mächtigsten Männer seiner Generation, wird aufgrund seiner dämonischen Fähigkeiten gefürchtet und für den Verrat an seinem eigenen Clan gehasst. Daher hallen nach der Verkündung seines Todes Jubelschreie durch das ganze Land.
Jahre vergehen bis Wei Wuxian durch ein Opferritual zurück in die Welt der Lebenden – in den Körper eines Fremden – beschworen wird! Er versucht, seine wahre Identität geheim zu halten, trifft jedoch auf einen alten Bekannten: den attraktiven und rechtschaffenen Lan Wangji. Dieser ist mittlerweile immun gegen Wei Wuxians Neckereien, was diesen natürlich nicht von den Versuchen abhält, die ruhige Haltung Lan Wangjis ins Wanken zu bringen. Als die beiden erneut in dunkle Machenschaften hineingezogen werden, müssen sie sich nicht nur ihren Gefühlen füreinander, sondern auch bösartigen Geistern und feindseligen Clan-Mitgliedern stellen, um die in dichten Nebel gehüllten Wahrheiten ans Licht zu bringen!
Jahre vergehen bis Wei Wuxian durch ein Opferritual zurück in die Welt der Lebenden – in den Körper eines Fremden – beschworen wird! Er versucht, seine wahre Identität geheim zu halten, trifft jedoch auf einen alten Bekannten: den attraktiven und rechtschaffenen Lan Wangji. Dieser ist mittlerweile immun gegen Wei Wuxians Neckereien, was diesen natürlich nicht von den Versuchen abhält, die ruhige Haltung Lan Wangjis ins Wanken zu bringen. Als die beiden erneut in dunkle Machenschaften hineingezogen werden, müssen sie sich nicht nur ihren Gefühlen füreinander, sondern auch bösartigen Geistern und feindseligen Clan-Mitgliedern stellen, um die in dichten Nebel gehüllten Wahrheiten ans Licht zu bringen!
450 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 2016
3495 people are currently reading
25637 people want to read
About the author
Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù
172 books6,787 followersAssociated Names:
* 墨香铜臭 (Chinese)
* Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù
* โม่เซียงถงซิ่ว (Thai)
* 묵향동후 (Korean)
* Мосян Тунсю (Russian)
* 墨香铜臭 (Chinese)
* Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù
* โม่เซียงถงซิ่ว (Thai)
* 묵향동후 (Korean)
* Мосян Тунсю (Russian)
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August 29, 2021not to be Dramatic but i love wangxian more than i love myself
November 23, 2022
** 23/11/22: Added yet another elementary school level mistranslation **
I'm a CN/ENG native bilingual speaker and I've personally read the chinese version 3 times. This is a stand alone review of the official English translation. Unfortunately, this is such a badly written book.
Firstly, the pronunciation guide. They should have used Pinyin, or Wades Giles, not a strange phonetic guide that they coined up on their own. (gee ay gee ay ffs). And secondly, the guide only works if anyone wants to speak with a Beijing accent. There are a lot “sh” and “r” in the guide that are not really used by most Chinese accents. For example, Xian is pronounced as "ci(city)-an" by most Mandarin speakers, as opposed to "sheean". There is no "Sh" (Shanghai, Shang Chi) sound in 'Xian'. Unfortunately, the pronunciation guide leaves a bad taste as it brings to mind the way chinese names are constantly mispronounced and made fun of by non speakers. The least the guide could do would be to point non speakers in the correct direction but clearly, that was too much to hope for.
Secondly, the translator uses slang that are inappropriate and almost reeks of classicism. For example, what's with the 'ain't?'. In Chapter 1 (by the peasants)"ain't this shidi, the little sect (another translational error! this should have been clan leader) Jiang. Chapter 7 (the waiter) "ain't that a funny joke." It almost sounds like an appropriation of AAVE. I can almost picture it being said with a USA southern drawl. Or Chapter 4 (peasant lady) "Li'l Laddie, no need for ya to pay" - lol why does the lady with a Wu dialect (modern day Suzhou) speak with a Scottish accent? Then again, this isn't surprising because in the translator's previous TGCF fan translation there was "(peasant ghost); Blimey yer lord ship!". Not particularly sure why the peasant ghost was speaking with a British slang too. Judging from the trend, it seems that peasants in this translation speak with either a UK or AAVE accent. Classist much?
Thirdly, there are blatant translation mistakes. The translation keeps switching between "Jiang Clan/Jiang Sect", which is shocking because a) Sect and Clans are not interchangeable, as defined the English translation's OWN glossary and b) these are age old basic concepts in the wuxia/xianxia translational scene. 氏 translates to Clans (familial family lines), 门派 always translates to sect for all wuxia/xianxia mediums, be it books or subtitles. Shocking that this mistake actually occurs in Chapter 1 in the first page in the book and on more than one occasion too. I've seen argument on socmed that Clans/Sects are interchangeable in MDZS but this is actually a very common misconception in the English fandom. In fact, this is the crux of the Xiao Xingchen and Songlan friendship; they avoided joining a Clan and wanted to establish their own SECT. (Chapter 29: "晓星尘却全部婉言谢绝，明言不愿依附于任何世家，却和一位至交好友一起，一心要建立一个全新的不重视血缘联结的门派。" Xiao Xingchen politely declined all of them, saying clearly that he did not want to join any noble family/clan. With a close friend, he was determined to build a brand new SECT (门派) that was not based on familial ties." Chapter 30: 两人都想自建门派，轻血缘传承，重志同道合". Both men (xxc and sl) wanted to establish their own SECT (门派), forego bloodlines and focus on light minded companions."). Prior to the events in the story, MXTX has also said that clans have flourished, and sects had declined then. (Chapter 29: 当年以温卯为首，兴家族而衰门派 / Back then, with the Wen Clan in the lead, the familial clans rose and there was a declined in sects (门派).) From these few examples, it's clear that sects and clans are not interchangeable terms; they are different organisations all together. Given the way 7S interchanges the two terms, I'm not sure if new readers actually understood what xxc and sl were trying to do.
These translation mistakes also possibly alter the readers understanding of the story. In Chapter 6, Jiang Cheng argues with Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian shouts a name, Jiang Cheng shouts "你叫谁 (who did you call?), but this translation translates as "what's your name?" LOL. It's an appalling mistranslation because - a) these words are part of the standard vocabulary of a native 7-8 year old, b) 你叫谁 is NEVER translated to 'what's your name?' though that is the translation google translate would give you. Unfortunately, this calls me, and many others, to question if the translation team had the proper language proficiency credentials to translate this text. I fully understand if ancient poetry was translated wrongly, but not this. A 7 year old child could get this right too.
A third translation mistake. In Chapter 3: Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji was trying to catch Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian wanted to get them both off his back. In an attempt to disgust the both of them, Wei Wuxian tells Jiang Cheng that "I'm not interested in your type", to which Jiang Cheng asks "What is your type." In this translation, Wei Wuxian then says "What's my type? I quite like Hanguang Jun's type". In the chinese version, this means "含光君这样的，我很喜欢", which is "Someone like Hanguang Jun, is what I like". The meaning is warped in the english translation as it implies that Wei Wuxian and Hanguang Jun likes the same type as opposed to Hanguang Jun being Wei Wuxian's type. (I think all pre existing translations aside from this version have translated this correctly.). If someone was reading it for the first time, they might not fully understand what the whole sequence means.
And a fourth rookie mistranslation. In Chapter 7 it goes “Wei Wuxian had only used that tiger tally ONCE after it was forged. He had instantly realised it was bad news.” followed by 2 paragraphs describing the history of the tiger tally. Then third paragraph reads “he had only ever used it TWICE, and each time, blood flowed like rivers.” If readers were paying attention, one would instantly pick this up because both lines are contradictory. So, did wei wuxian use it once or twice? LOL
The original sentence goes "可虎符铸成之后，只使用了一次、魏无羡发现,大事不妙。” A direct translation would be “But once the tiger tally had been forged, wei wuxian used it once and discovered the situation wasn’t good.” However, the the eng translates it as .”可虎符铸成之后，只使用了一次 (fullstop) 魏无羡发现,大事不妙” (but once the tiger tally had been forged, it had only been used once. (fullstop). Wei Wuxian discovered things didn’t look good.” This rookie error occured because the translator team failed to appreciate the way basic punctuation (a comma vs fullstop ffs) changed the meaning of the a sentence. Novice mistake much? 🤦🏻♀️. It was an important plot point that he used it twice and had already messed up after the first time attempt. The editor was clearly sleeping at work lol.
Fourthly, readers have noticed that an entire paragraph was missed/omitted by 7S. In Chapter 6, there is a paragraph that reads "Although he harboured animosity toward Wei Wuxian...who leapt up to the top of the trees to avoid them." The next paragraph is missing. It's the iconic line “他一直以为江澄会站在他这边，而蓝湛则会站在他的对立面。没想到，事实却是完全颠倒过来的." (He had always thought Jiang Cheng would always be on his side, and Lan Wangji would oppose him from the other end. Who would have thought that things would completely reversed in reality). This line is included in the chinese pinsin version, all fan translations, including the most recent German translation. It's a very important line as it shows that wwx starts to realise where jc and lwj stand in his life.
EDIT 23/11: I’ve realised that 7S continuously mistranslation Wei Wuxian’s cultivation. It’s known in the book that Wei Wuxian cultivates the “ghost path 鬼道”. The term “demonic cultivation 魔道” only appears once in the novel, and the book explicitly lists 12 times at least that Wei Wuxian cultivates the “GHOST path 鬼道”. This is further substantiated by the book’s own definition in Chapter 13 “魔者生人所化；鬼者死者所化 ‘demons are from living humans, ghosts are from dead humans.” And giving that Wei Wuxian animated dead corpses and not living humans, it’s obvious via simple reading comprehension, which path is Wei Wuxian using. (Did they think MXTX included this line for the shits and giggles?) This is yet another elementary school mistake. (Ghosts and Demons are two very simple and distinct words even in English lmao) Perhaps the greatest irony is that MTL/google translate might translate this correctly. So for those whom think that Wei Wuxian was using demonic cultivation, well, I’m sorry to say that you got it wrong thanks to this translation.
Other readers have also pointed out that 7S has omitted parts of the dialogue. There are two sentences that are omitted in Chapter 13. When wwx was bragging to jc and nhs, "And then I drank every last drop in front of him." "And then?" Theres should be an extra dialogue here,"然后就打起来/And we fought. " In the second instance, when jc was fuming about what time wwx gets up, "...picking lotus pods and hunting pheasants", the next line should be "魏无羡道：“山鸡打得再多，我还是第一。 Wei Wuxian said, "Despite the number of pheasants I hunt, I'm still the first.”
IMHO, I think they should fire their editorial team for this miss. A simple, elementary level, line by line comparison to pre existing English fan translations (3 of them!) would have revealed this. You don’t need Chinese for this step of the process.
7S' version has also changed the dynamics between the characters. At the end of chapter 12, "What happened to Lan Wangji (Courtesy Name) after all these years? Why is he like this now? Is this still the same Lan Wangji from the past?" By using his courtesy name, the translation removes the sense of familiarity between wwx and lwj. (The book is written in the style whereby wwx's refers to lwj as "Lan Zhan" in his internal thoughts to convey their closeness.)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtes...)
Fifthly (for fuck’s sake, this is never ending), the publishing doesn’t seem to identify important concepts in the xianxia genre (MDZS falls under this category). Simply put, xianxia is a genre of Chinese fantasy that is heavily influenced by chinese cultural elements including religious aspects such as Buddhism and Taoism. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xianx...) MDZS is not an exception. For example, the title of Chapter 1 “重生” refers to the Buddhism concept of Rebirth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B..., NOT reincarnation. Reincarnation is usually translated to 转世 or 投胎. FYI, this is an extremely basic 101 term that’s even found in Chinese idioms. Even MTLs do not translate 重生as reincarnation.
In addition, Sandu (Jiang Cheng’s sword) is universally known in Buddhism doctrine as the Three Poisons. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_p...), NOT the three sufferings. Three sufferings, as revealed by google on fucking BBC’s GCSE’s religious study quick notes, is an entirely, different concept that makes no utter sense in the context of the novel. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides...). Hilariously, 7S tries to explain the meaning of Sandu in the book’s glossary. What a joke.
Also “Hanguang Jun” isn’t a sorbriquet. It’s a “号” (hao) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_name), which was a common concept in Ancient China. These mistranslations are blatantly disrespectful towards Chinese, both on a cultural and a religious level. 7S needs to stop reinventing chinese culture.
Let’s not even get to how bad the prose is. That has already been pointed out by other reviewers on goodreads. There is an entire thread on r/MoDaoZuShi "Original Translation"(https://www.reddit.com/r/MoDaoZuShi/c...) pointing out the same issue with the prose. The problem seems to be more apparent to native English speakers as well. From a native CN reader’s perspective, the original text is written in a more “formal” manner as compared to any pre existing fan/official translation. It is a novel set in ancient China and the writing is appropriate to that time period. It’s more formal than that of a YA fiction equivalent. There are some CN novels that written in a YA style, but this is not one of them.
The punctuation is strange as well. What's with the caps, the !!! and the ?!!!!!, and the tildes (Lan Er gege, I'm sorry~)? None of these were overly used like this by MXTX (the ~ does not make a single appearance at all.) I'm sorry for letting anyone down if they thought those were present in MXTX's original writing.
I know there was emphasis that the translation would keep chinese terms such as "jiujiu", but while they did that, they also translated names like "Yiling Patriarch" or "Tranquility Room." So that was grossly overplayed by the publishing team. It's a pity that "Qingtan" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingtan) was translated to symposium. Readers of the english translation wouldn't be able to put a historical time period to MDZS, but Chinese readers would instantly know that MDZS took place in the Wei-Jin period (200-400AD) based on this bit of information alone. So much for claims that "localisations would be kept!!" ANYWAY.
Perhaps all these errors stem from the fact that the translator to be unfamiliar with the story. A few months ago, the translator was asked a questioned with regards to Wei Weixian’s background. They answered, “wwx was an exception because he was an enrolled student who got adopted into the family, so he was part of the clan.” This is a gross misunderstanding as it was clearly stated in Chapter 13 that Wei Wuxian is the lead disciple and he wasn’t adopted to the family. “ 人人皆知魏无羡虽然不是江姓，却是云梦江氏家主江枫眠的故人之子和首席大弟子，被视如己出” ("Everyone knew that although Wei Wuxian did not bear the surname Jiang, he is the son of an old friend of JFM (故人之子) and the chief disciple. (首席大弟子)). (Original post: https://twitter.com/yummysuika/status...). There are many whom have tried to highlight this to the team but the translator has blocked all of them on social media (https://twitter.com/evilsqq/status/15...). Does this reflect a lack of sincerity and professionalism on 7S part? I’m not sure if this practice is commonly seen in NA companies.
(For the record, the 7S version does translate this line correctly so I don’t know what prompted the translator to make such a comment.)
The character guide at the end of the book is a joke as well. Jiang Yanli’s weapon being soup? Really? Am I reading an adult novel or a novel targetted at tweens? Do you see jokes like this being made in adult novels?
I don't even know how this novel’s supposed to be regarded as an "adult romance fictional novel". I'm happy that this is a NYT Bestseller, but has anyone ever compared the writing in this novel with the other novels on that ranking board? Please don't. 我没眼看，太丢脸人 :(
My two cents? It's not worth a 150USD series imho. My personal opinion is that all pre existing fan translations are at least more accurate to the original text (though granted they could be polished up). It’s embarrassing that we’re even considering this because the sole complete translation was written by a 16 year old during her free time. Surely an experienced publisher with a full fledged team could do better than this.
If you want to donate monetary to MXTX, I'd suggest donating through JJWXC via donating bombs. (https://www.jjwxc.net/oneauthor.php?a...). She earns 50% of the amount earned if you do it this way. She probably only earns 5-15% per book through 7S.
I sincerely hope this doesn't give new readers a screwed up idea of what danmei is. It really is a poor reflection of MXTX’s writing. I hope the next few volumes would be better. 7S, if you're listening, for fucks sake, please get in a fucking professional writer/translator instead of publishing a glorified fan translation. And get a better team to work on it too. Please do MXTX proud.
I'm a CN/ENG native bilingual speaker and I've personally read the chinese version 3 times. This is a stand alone review of the official English translation. Unfortunately, this is such a badly written book.
Firstly, the pronunciation guide. They should have used Pinyin, or Wades Giles, not a strange phonetic guide that they coined up on their own. (gee ay gee ay ffs). And secondly, the guide only works if anyone wants to speak with a Beijing accent. There are a lot “sh” and “r” in the guide that are not really used by most Chinese accents. For example, Xian is pronounced as "ci(city)-an" by most Mandarin speakers, as opposed to "sheean". There is no "Sh" (Shanghai, Shang Chi) sound in 'Xian'. Unfortunately, the pronunciation guide leaves a bad taste as it brings to mind the way chinese names are constantly mispronounced and made fun of by non speakers. The least the guide could do would be to point non speakers in the correct direction but clearly, that was too much to hope for.
Secondly, the translator uses slang that are inappropriate and almost reeks of classicism. For example, what's with the 'ain't?'. In Chapter 1 (by the peasants)"ain't this shidi, the little sect (another translational error! this should have been clan leader) Jiang. Chapter 7 (the waiter) "ain't that a funny joke." It almost sounds like an appropriation of AAVE. I can almost picture it being said with a USA southern drawl. Or Chapter 4 (peasant lady) "Li'l Laddie, no need for ya to pay" - lol why does the lady with a Wu dialect (modern day Suzhou) speak with a Scottish accent? Then again, this isn't surprising because in the translator's previous TGCF fan translation there was "(peasant ghost); Blimey yer lord ship!". Not particularly sure why the peasant ghost was speaking with a British slang too. Judging from the trend, it seems that peasants in this translation speak with either a UK or AAVE accent. Classist much?
Thirdly, there are blatant translation mistakes. The translation keeps switching between "Jiang Clan/Jiang Sect", which is shocking because a) Sect and Clans are not interchangeable, as defined the English translation's OWN glossary and b) these are age old basic concepts in the wuxia/xianxia translational scene. 氏 translates to Clans (familial family lines), 门派 always translates to sect for all wuxia/xianxia mediums, be it books or subtitles. Shocking that this mistake actually occurs in Chapter 1 in the first page in the book and on more than one occasion too. I've seen argument on socmed that Clans/Sects are interchangeable in MDZS but this is actually a very common misconception in the English fandom. In fact, this is the crux of the Xiao Xingchen and Songlan friendship; they avoided joining a Clan and wanted to establish their own SECT. (Chapter 29: "晓星尘却全部婉言谢绝，明言不愿依附于任何世家，却和一位至交好友一起，一心要建立一个全新的不重视血缘联结的门派。" Xiao Xingchen politely declined all of them, saying clearly that he did not want to join any noble family/clan. With a close friend, he was determined to build a brand new SECT (门派) that was not based on familial ties." Chapter 30: 两人都想自建门派，轻血缘传承，重志同道合". Both men (xxc and sl) wanted to establish their own SECT (门派), forego bloodlines and focus on light minded companions."). Prior to the events in the story, MXTX has also said that clans have flourished, and sects had declined then. (Chapter 29: 当年以温卯为首，兴家族而衰门派 / Back then, with the Wen Clan in the lead, the familial clans rose and there was a declined in sects (门派).) From these few examples, it's clear that sects and clans are not interchangeable terms; they are different organisations all together. Given the way 7S interchanges the two terms, I'm not sure if new readers actually understood what xxc and sl were trying to do.
These translation mistakes also possibly alter the readers understanding of the story. In Chapter 6, Jiang Cheng argues with Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian shouts a name, Jiang Cheng shouts "你叫谁 (who did you call?), but this translation translates as "what's your name?" LOL. It's an appalling mistranslation because - a) these words are part of the standard vocabulary of a native 7-8 year old, b) 你叫谁 is NEVER translated to 'what's your name?' though that is the translation google translate would give you. Unfortunately, this calls me, and many others, to question if the translation team had the proper language proficiency credentials to translate this text. I fully understand if ancient poetry was translated wrongly, but not this. A 7 year old child could get this right too.
A third translation mistake. In Chapter 3: Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji was trying to catch Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian wanted to get them both off his back. In an attempt to disgust the both of them, Wei Wuxian tells Jiang Cheng that "I'm not interested in your type", to which Jiang Cheng asks "What is your type." In this translation, Wei Wuxian then says "What's my type? I quite like Hanguang Jun's type". In the chinese version, this means "含光君这样的，我很喜欢", which is "Someone like Hanguang Jun, is what I like". The meaning is warped in the english translation as it implies that Wei Wuxian and Hanguang Jun likes the same type as opposed to Hanguang Jun being Wei Wuxian's type. (I think all pre existing translations aside from this version have translated this correctly.). If someone was reading it for the first time, they might not fully understand what the whole sequence means.
And a fourth rookie mistranslation. In Chapter 7 it goes “Wei Wuxian had only used that tiger tally ONCE after it was forged. He had instantly realised it was bad news.” followed by 2 paragraphs describing the history of the tiger tally. Then third paragraph reads “he had only ever used it TWICE, and each time, blood flowed like rivers.” If readers were paying attention, one would instantly pick this up because both lines are contradictory. So, did wei wuxian use it once or twice? LOL
The original sentence goes "可虎符铸成之后，只使用了一次、魏无羡发现,大事不妙。” A direct translation would be “But once the tiger tally had been forged, wei wuxian used it once and discovered the situation wasn’t good.” However, the the eng translates it as .”可虎符铸成之后，只使用了一次 (fullstop) 魏无羡发现,大事不妙” (but once the tiger tally had been forged, it had only been used once. (fullstop). Wei Wuxian discovered things didn’t look good.” This rookie error occured because the translator team failed to appreciate the way basic punctuation (a comma vs fullstop ffs) changed the meaning of the a sentence. Novice mistake much? 🤦🏻♀️. It was an important plot point that he used it twice and had already messed up after the first time attempt. The editor was clearly sleeping at work lol.
Fourthly, readers have noticed that an entire paragraph was missed/omitted by 7S. In Chapter 6, there is a paragraph that reads "Although he harboured animosity toward Wei Wuxian...who leapt up to the top of the trees to avoid them." The next paragraph is missing. It's the iconic line “他一直以为江澄会站在他这边，而蓝湛则会站在他的对立面。没想到，事实却是完全颠倒过来的." (He had always thought Jiang Cheng would always be on his side, and Lan Wangji would oppose him from the other end. Who would have thought that things would completely reversed in reality). This line is included in the chinese pinsin version, all fan translations, including the most recent German translation. It's a very important line as it shows that wwx starts to realise where jc and lwj stand in his life.
EDIT 23/11: I’ve realised that 7S continuously mistranslation Wei Wuxian’s cultivation. It’s known in the book that Wei Wuxian cultivates the “ghost path 鬼道”. The term “demonic cultivation 魔道” only appears once in the novel, and the book explicitly lists 12 times at least that Wei Wuxian cultivates the “GHOST path 鬼道”. This is further substantiated by the book’s own definition in Chapter 13 “魔者生人所化；鬼者死者所化 ‘demons are from living humans, ghosts are from dead humans.” And giving that Wei Wuxian animated dead corpses and not living humans, it’s obvious via simple reading comprehension, which path is Wei Wuxian using. (Did they think MXTX included this line for the shits and giggles?) This is yet another elementary school mistake. (Ghosts and Demons are two very simple and distinct words even in English lmao) Perhaps the greatest irony is that MTL/google translate might translate this correctly. So for those whom think that Wei Wuxian was using demonic cultivation, well, I’m sorry to say that you got it wrong thanks to this translation.
Other readers have also pointed out that 7S has omitted parts of the dialogue. There are two sentences that are omitted in Chapter 13. When wwx was bragging to jc and nhs, "And then I drank every last drop in front of him." "And then?" Theres should be an extra dialogue here,"然后就打起来/And we fought. " In the second instance, when jc was fuming about what time wwx gets up, "...picking lotus pods and hunting pheasants", the next line should be "魏无羡道：“山鸡打得再多，我还是第一。 Wei Wuxian said, "Despite the number of pheasants I hunt, I'm still the first.”
IMHO, I think they should fire their editorial team for this miss. A simple, elementary level, line by line comparison to pre existing English fan translations (3 of them!) would have revealed this. You don’t need Chinese for this step of the process.
7S' version has also changed the dynamics between the characters. At the end of chapter 12, "What happened to Lan Wangji (Courtesy Name) after all these years? Why is he like this now? Is this still the same Lan Wangji from the past?" By using his courtesy name, the translation removes the sense of familiarity between wwx and lwj. (The book is written in the style whereby wwx's refers to lwj as "Lan Zhan" in his internal thoughts to convey their closeness.)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtes...)
Fifthly (for fuck’s sake, this is never ending), the publishing doesn’t seem to identify important concepts in the xianxia genre (MDZS falls under this category). Simply put, xianxia is a genre of Chinese fantasy that is heavily influenced by chinese cultural elements including religious aspects such as Buddhism and Taoism. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xianx...) MDZS is not an exception. For example, the title of Chapter 1 “重生” refers to the Buddhism concept of Rebirth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B..., NOT reincarnation. Reincarnation is usually translated to 转世 or 投胎. FYI, this is an extremely basic 101 term that’s even found in Chinese idioms. Even MTLs do not translate 重生as reincarnation.
In addition, Sandu (Jiang Cheng’s sword) is universally known in Buddhism doctrine as the Three Poisons. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_p...), NOT the three sufferings. Three sufferings, as revealed by google on fucking BBC’s GCSE’s religious study quick notes, is an entirely, different concept that makes no utter sense in the context of the novel. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides...). Hilariously, 7S tries to explain the meaning of Sandu in the book’s glossary. What a joke.
Also “Hanguang Jun” isn’t a sorbriquet. It’s a “号” (hao) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_name), which was a common concept in Ancient China. These mistranslations are blatantly disrespectful towards Chinese, both on a cultural and a religious level. 7S needs to stop reinventing chinese culture.
Let’s not even get to how bad the prose is. That has already been pointed out by other reviewers on goodreads. There is an entire thread on r/MoDaoZuShi "Original Translation"(https://www.reddit.com/r/MoDaoZuShi/c...) pointing out the same issue with the prose. The problem seems to be more apparent to native English speakers as well. From a native CN reader’s perspective, the original text is written in a more “formal” manner as compared to any pre existing fan/official translation. It is a novel set in ancient China and the writing is appropriate to that time period. It’s more formal than that of a YA fiction equivalent. There are some CN novels that written in a YA style, but this is not one of them.
The punctuation is strange as well. What's with the caps, the !!! and the ?!!!!!, and the tildes (Lan Er gege, I'm sorry~)? None of these were overly used like this by MXTX (the ~ does not make a single appearance at all.) I'm sorry for letting anyone down if they thought those were present in MXTX's original writing.
I know there was emphasis that the translation would keep chinese terms such as "jiujiu", but while they did that, they also translated names like "Yiling Patriarch" or "Tranquility Room." So that was grossly overplayed by the publishing team. It's a pity that "Qingtan" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingtan) was translated to symposium. Readers of the english translation wouldn't be able to put a historical time period to MDZS, but Chinese readers would instantly know that MDZS took place in the Wei-Jin period (200-400AD) based on this bit of information alone. So much for claims that "localisations would be kept!!" ANYWAY.
Perhaps all these errors stem from the fact that the translator to be unfamiliar with the story. A few months ago, the translator was asked a questioned with regards to Wei Weixian’s background. They answered, “wwx was an exception because he was an enrolled student who got adopted into the family, so he was part of the clan.” This is a gross misunderstanding as it was clearly stated in Chapter 13 that Wei Wuxian is the lead disciple and he wasn’t adopted to the family. “ 人人皆知魏无羡虽然不是江姓，却是云梦江氏家主江枫眠的故人之子和首席大弟子，被视如己出” ("Everyone knew that although Wei Wuxian did not bear the surname Jiang, he is the son of an old friend of JFM (故人之子) and the chief disciple. (首席大弟子)). (Original post: https://twitter.com/yummysuika/status...). There are many whom have tried to highlight this to the team but the translator has blocked all of them on social media (https://twitter.com/evilsqq/status/15...). Does this reflect a lack of sincerity and professionalism on 7S part? I’m not sure if this practice is commonly seen in NA companies.
(For the record, the 7S version does translate this line correctly so I don’t know what prompted the translator to make such a comment.)
The character guide at the end of the book is a joke as well. Jiang Yanli’s weapon being soup? Really? Am I reading an adult novel or a novel targetted at tweens? Do you see jokes like this being made in adult novels?
I don't even know how this novel’s supposed to be regarded as an "adult romance fictional novel". I'm happy that this is a NYT Bestseller, but has anyone ever compared the writing in this novel with the other novels on that ranking board? Please don't. 我没眼看，太丢脸人 :(
My two cents? It's not worth a 150USD series imho. My personal opinion is that all pre existing fan translations are at least more accurate to the original text (though granted they could be polished up). It’s embarrassing that we’re even considering this because the sole complete translation was written by a 16 year old during her free time. Surely an experienced publisher with a full fledged team could do better than this.
If you want to donate monetary to MXTX, I'd suggest donating through JJWXC via donating bombs. (https://www.jjwxc.net/oneauthor.php?a...). She earns 50% of the amount earned if you do it this way. She probably only earns 5-15% per book through 7S.
I sincerely hope this doesn't give new readers a screwed up idea of what danmei is. It really is a poor reflection of MXTX’s writing. I hope the next few volumes would be better. 7S, if you're listening, for fucks sake, please get in a fucking professional writer/translator instead of publishing a glorified fan translation. And get a better team to work on it too. Please do MXTX proud.
June 11, 2023
Wei Wuxian pointed at himself with a wide, happy grin. “What about this one?”
“Mine,” Lan Wangji answered.
i have 100 problems and wangxian can solve 1000 of them
_
“Well, ain’t that strange. How can such a dull person always make me so happy?”
WWX: i fought a very pretty man last night and i love to tease him why?? oh bcs hes so boring pfft not bcs i have a crush on him or anything. i literally pout when he ignores me but no im not gay. i cant stop talking about how beautiful this man is to everyone but im just admiring his beauty nothing else. i brought rabbits for him, painted his portrait, being near him makes me feel nervous and my limbs go weak, if i check him out when hes half-dressed thats only bcs thats unusual alright?? his sandalwood scent is so refreshing and did i mention how beautiful he is?? BUT WHAT ARE YOU SAYING I DONT HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM ARE YOU MAD-
LWJ: i think i just fell in love seeing this absolute disaster of a man drinking on the roof last night. but no way i am telling him that. ill just
I LOVE THESE DUMBASSES SO MUCH 😭🫶🏼
_
read this while listening to all three versions of wangxian on loop and suffice to say im a sobbing mess omfg im never getting over them
i literally went through all of these events for the fourth time maybe?? and it still. fucking. slapped.
also the illustrations???? stole my heart
jiang cheng is still the hottest man ever
i have never loved a kid more than i love jin ling
xue yang- u absolute abomination of a man im
July 8, 2024
Diciembre 2021: Primera lectura.
Julio 2024: Acabé este libro por segunda vez en 2024 porque voy a leerlos todos de corrido ahora sí (y ya no me acordaba de nada, jajaja).
Julio 2024: Acabé este libro por segunda vez en 2024 porque voy a leerlos todos de corrido ahora sí (y ya no me acordaba de nada, jajaja).
January 29, 2023
I got into this novel (technically, first third of a novel) backward, in terms of the story’s progression through, now, four different media. I first hit the live-action streaming TV version The Untamed, the fullest and longest at 50 one-hour episodes, then the animation, then the web comic as far as I’ve found it—it’s not available in my preferred Kindle mode—and, now that the authorized translation of the parent novel is coming out in English, this.
I had the great good luck to watch the live-action largely unspoiled to the end, first round, all the narrative surprises working just as they should, so in hopes of passing the experience forward this review will be largely spoiler-free.
The previous handful of light novels in translation I’ve read were none of them very good in terms of English prose style. This feels odd in a similar way, though better than average. I have no idea if this is because of translation from a different language structure, or if it’s the stylistic expectation of the subgenre at home. I’m given to understand light novels are commonly published in serial form by chapter, like manga chapters. If like manga they start to go up before the whole is finished, this might have some knock-on effects on things like continuity. From a writer’s point of view that sounds horrifying, but I reflect that anyone producing a series of novels has to deal with similar issues, so.
The novel so far doesn't have as much interiority as I'd hoped. It's written in a sort of breezy omniscient, fairy-tale voice crossed with internet, following mainly its principal hero Wei Wuxian, more told than shown and not very immersive. The use of "..." for a nonplussed pause seems to have wandered in over from manga practice, and may very well end up wedging itself into general fiction usage. It was a bit startling to encounter it outside of fanfiction. I actually wouldn’t mind, as it lets the writer off trying to come up with seventeen different ways to describe that kind of brief silence, though it does convey a comic tone not out of place here. The story does have a good deal of humor, both sly and overt.
The normal progression for encountering a tale across media is that the parent novel will be the most detailed, deepest, and fullest. Reading this in the hope that it would illuminate its other versions that way turned out to be somewhat frustrating. However, the translator's glossary, notes, and footnotes were a boon for me just getting into this genre-and-culture, with all the new-to-me vocabulary, and worth the price of admission all on their own. Though here, the "telling” style of the text actually paid off, as it did convey more blunt explanations than the pictures just thrown at one in the other media.
It feels the reverse to the usual progression, where a complex novel is boiled down for a movie, no doubt in part because a typical movie runs 2 hours and the TV series ran 50. It's more like a scaffold of a novel got fleshed out, at least in the live-action. Although the excellent animation version (very pretty!) does still give a lot of useful visuals only barely described in the book, with only a third of the screen time it felt abridged and truncated compared to the live-action. It's going to take the other two volumes of the novel to find out if it grows by accumulation, which it may well do. I'm certainly on for the rest of it, in due course.
Also, interior illustrations! Haven't seen those since I was a kid. I've been thinking for some time that ebooks should make them economically possible again, and here they are.
Meanwhile, may I strongly recommend The Untamed, to be found on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Rakuten Viki, and YouTube streaming:
Some heavy sledding at the beginning due to structure: it starts with a 16-year flashback/flashforward to the mid-story crisis, jumps to a few episodes in what will ultimately be story-present, then to a very long flashback, 30+ episodes, of How We Got To the opening, then back to story-present for about the last 17 episodes. It made the suspense work very interestingly; rather than, "What happens next?" the question was "How the hell does that all happen? And who are all these people, anyway?" All—eventually—answered in what I felt was a satisfactory way. Largely shown rather than told, so one must sometimes tread water till it all slots in, nothing new to genre readers. It's a very slow build, but it never stops.
Gorgeous costuming and sets (and actors), some wonderful acting—some of those actors really sold their often over-the-top characters. Sort of Chinese historical-ish fantasy crossed with Jacobean revenge drama, though that may be a redundancy. Magic flying swords. Ghosts. Curses. Magic flutes and harps. Talismans drawn in blood. Return from the dead. Chinese zombies. Strange monsters from the deep, and the air. Skullduggery at the crossroads. (Also skulls.) Family drama. Tragedy. Comedy. Love. Betrayal (lots also.) Revenge in both morphs, stupid and superb. Taoist/Confucian magic school... the list goes on. Probably best to watch, say, the first three episodes to get the mode of the thing, if you can find it, as it's kinda indescribable.
(The spin-off movie Fatal Journey should be watched after the drama, both for context and to avoid major spoilers.)
…I also realized, consuming all this, what very short shrift the histories of China I’ve read or watched so far gave to Taoism, mainly briefly dismissing it as folklore and haring off after the more overtly political Confucianism, Legalism, and Buddhism. This is a gap of mine that needs filled, obviously.
Ta, L.
I had the great good luck to watch the live-action largely unspoiled to the end, first round, all the narrative surprises working just as they should, so in hopes of passing the experience forward this review will be largely spoiler-free.
The previous handful of light novels in translation I’ve read were none of them very good in terms of English prose style. This feels odd in a similar way, though better than average. I have no idea if this is because of translation from a different language structure, or if it’s the stylistic expectation of the subgenre at home. I’m given to understand light novels are commonly published in serial form by chapter, like manga chapters. If like manga they start to go up before the whole is finished, this might have some knock-on effects on things like continuity. From a writer’s point of view that sounds horrifying, but I reflect that anyone producing a series of novels has to deal with similar issues, so.
The novel so far doesn't have as much interiority as I'd hoped. It's written in a sort of breezy omniscient, fairy-tale voice crossed with internet, following mainly its principal hero Wei Wuxian, more told than shown and not very immersive. The use of "..." for a nonplussed pause seems to have wandered in over from manga practice, and may very well end up wedging itself into general fiction usage. It was a bit startling to encounter it outside of fanfiction. I actually wouldn’t mind, as it lets the writer off trying to come up with seventeen different ways to describe that kind of brief silence, though it does convey a comic tone not out of place here. The story does have a good deal of humor, both sly and overt.
The normal progression for encountering a tale across media is that the parent novel will be the most detailed, deepest, and fullest. Reading this in the hope that it would illuminate its other versions that way turned out to be somewhat frustrating. However, the translator's glossary, notes, and footnotes were a boon for me just getting into this genre-and-culture, with all the new-to-me vocabulary, and worth the price of admission all on their own. Though here, the "telling” style of the text actually paid off, as it did convey more blunt explanations than the pictures just thrown at one in the other media.
It feels the reverse to the usual progression, where a complex novel is boiled down for a movie, no doubt in part because a typical movie runs 2 hours and the TV series ran 50. It's more like a scaffold of a novel got fleshed out, at least in the live-action. Although the excellent animation version (very pretty!) does still give a lot of useful visuals only barely described in the book, with only a third of the screen time it felt abridged and truncated compared to the live-action. It's going to take the other two volumes of the novel to find out if it grows by accumulation, which it may well do. I'm certainly on for the rest of it, in due course.
Also, interior illustrations! Haven't seen those since I was a kid. I've been thinking for some time that ebooks should make them economically possible again, and here they are.
Meanwhile, may I strongly recommend The Untamed, to be found on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Rakuten Viki, and YouTube streaming:
Some heavy sledding at the beginning due to structure: it starts with a 16-year flashback/flashforward to the mid-story crisis, jumps to a few episodes in what will ultimately be story-present, then to a very long flashback, 30+ episodes, of How We Got To the opening, then back to story-present for about the last 17 episodes. It made the suspense work very interestingly; rather than, "What happens next?" the question was "How the hell does that all happen? And who are all these people, anyway?" All—eventually—answered in what I felt was a satisfactory way. Largely shown rather than told, so one must sometimes tread water till it all slots in, nothing new to genre readers. It's a very slow build, but it never stops.
Gorgeous costuming and sets (and actors), some wonderful acting—some of those actors really sold their often over-the-top characters. Sort of Chinese historical-ish fantasy crossed with Jacobean revenge drama, though that may be a redundancy. Magic flying swords. Ghosts. Curses. Magic flutes and harps. Talismans drawn in blood. Return from the dead. Chinese zombies. Strange monsters from the deep, and the air. Skullduggery at the crossroads. (Also skulls.) Family drama. Tragedy. Comedy. Love. Betrayal (lots also.) Revenge in both morphs, stupid and superb. Taoist/Confucian magic school... the list goes on. Probably best to watch, say, the first three episodes to get the mode of the thing, if you can find it, as it's kinda indescribable.
(The spin-off movie Fatal Journey should be watched after the drama, both for context and to avoid major spoilers.)
…I also realized, consuming all this, what very short shrift the histories of China I’ve read or watched so far gave to Taoism, mainly briefly dismissing it as folklore and haring off after the more overtly political Confucianism, Legalism, and Buddhism. This is a gap of mine that needs filled, obviously.
Ta, L.
January 23, 2022
”No one could be worshiped on the divine altar forever. Legends were merely legends”.
(2.5)
Vamos a ver, me parece algo absurdo tener que aclarar esto, pero aquí lo digo: esta es una reseña del primer tomo de esta historia, ¿vale? Es decir, del contenido del primer libro publicado por Seven Seas. Sí, no soy idiota y desde el primer momento supe que la historia original de esta autora estaría dividida en cinco volúmenes. Dicho esto, vamos con mi opinión.
Aquí nos encontramos con la historia de Wei Wuxian, quien fue un hombre muy reconocido y poderoso en vida. Sin embargo, llegó un momento en el que se empezó a involucrar con la demonic cultivation, así que, cuando murió, la gente lo celebró. La cosa aquí es que, tras muchos años, Wei Wuxian se despierta en el cuerpo de un hombre que se sacrificó a sí mismo para que lo ayudara con una venganza. Ahora, a pesar de que Wei Wuxian tiene ahora una segunda vida, cosas turbias de su pasado seguirán persiguiéndolo e incluso se encontrará de nuevo con alguien a quien ya conocía: Lan Wangji.
A decir verdad, empecé a leer este libro con muchísimas ganas y pensando en todo el hype que le habían metido a la historia: que era espectacular, que la iba a amar, que me iba a morir de ternura con los protagonistas, que no iba a poder parar de leerla ni un momento. Y, para ser completamente honesta, no pasó ninguna de esas cosas. Este primer tomo de la historia de Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation es tremendamente introductorio, lento y, por momentos, confuso.
Aquí seguramente saltarán muchas personas a decirme que cómo se me ocurre decir eso si luego se pone mejor y, vaya, estoy hablando de esta primera parte, no tengo ni idea de qué sucede en los siguientes tomos todavía. Tengo clarísimo que la literatura oriental es muy diferente en una infinidad de sentidos a la occidental, pero eso no me impide decir que este primer tomo se sintió como un info dump de información constante, de flashbacks que interrumpían bastante la línea temporal y de momentos que no tenían mucha conexión unos con otros. Y me imagino que todo se irá conectando eventualmente, pero lo que me faltó en este primer tomo fue una línea clara de trama que pudiera seguir. Mientras iba leyendo sentía que me estaban contando episodios aislados.
Ahora, creo que, dejando de lado lo anterior, quienes quieran leer este libro y no estén familiarizados desde antes con algún idioma oriental o estén muy enterados de ese tipo de culturas, van a tener que concentrarse muchísimo en los nombres y toda la terminología china que hay en la historia si es que quieren seguirla sin perderse. En este libro es muy común que se refieran a un personaje casi que por tres nombres u honoríficos diferentes, así que les recomiendo leer el anexo que viene al final del tomo para que no se confundan con eso. Yo, personalmente, sí pude seguirlos bien tras unas cuantas páginas porque estoy muy acostumbrada a recordar nombres asiáticos.
Algo que me pareció bastante divertido, dentro de toda la lentitud del libro, fue la actitud de Wei Wuxian en esta nueva vida y cómo se contrastaba su personalidad alegre, desvergonzada y despreocupada con la de Lan Wangji, que es todo lo opuesto, pues es un hombre tremendamente serio, entregado al deber y que siempre busca ser todo lo correcto que pueda ser. Esta es una comparación un poco loca, pero, si quieren darse una idea de cómo eran las interacciones entre ellos, y si vieron Inuyasha, imagínense un mundo en el que el monje Miroku estuviera molestando todo el tiempo a Sesshoumaru. Así son Wei Wuxian y Lan Wangji. Y, a pesar de que sus interacciones son divertidas, siento que hubiera disfrutado muchísimo más sus discusiones y momentos juntos si la trama en general hubiera sido mucho más dinámica.
Ahora, por todo lo que he leído al respecto, la queja más constante de quienes leen este tomo traducido por Seven Seas es, precisamente, la que yo tengo: la lentitud. Y es que, justamente por esa lentitud, los lectores como yo, que no tenemos ni idea de la historia completa, nos vamos a desanimar y es probable que abandonemos la historia en este primer libro. Sean honestos, ¿quién continúa leyendo una saga si el primer tomo se le hace cuesta arriba? Y, a decir verdad, creo que, si lo que afirman quienes leyeron toda esta novela en su plataforma web es verdad, la solución a la lentitud de este primer tomo se arreglaba facilísimo: alargándolo. Es decir, ¿qué le costaba a esa editorial sacar un primer tomo de 600 páginas en lugar de 300? Siento que fue una mala decisión publicar un primer tomo tan corto y que no incluyera el que, según los fans de la historia completa, es el elemento que realmente engancha y que se encuentra más adelante en la novela.
En fin. En mi opinión, este primer tomo fue bastante decepcionante si lo comparo con todo lo que el hype me prometió. Y sí, las últimas treinta páginas repuntan un poco, sobre todo después de cierto episodio de borrachera (graciosísimo, por cierto), así que es probable que en el futuro siga leyendo esta historia. Eso sí, si la continúo, la leeré como un libro más y sin esperar nada de ella porque ya sabemos lo dañino que puede ser el hype (y otras cosas, if you know, you know) para la experiencia lectora.
(2.5)
Vamos a ver, me parece algo absurdo tener que aclarar esto, pero aquí lo digo: esta es una reseña del primer tomo de esta historia, ¿vale? Es decir, del contenido del primer libro publicado por Seven Seas. Sí, no soy idiota y desde el primer momento supe que la historia original de esta autora estaría dividida en cinco volúmenes. Dicho esto, vamos con mi opinión.
Aquí nos encontramos con la historia de Wei Wuxian, quien fue un hombre muy reconocido y poderoso en vida. Sin embargo, llegó un momento en el que se empezó a involucrar con la demonic cultivation, así que, cuando murió, la gente lo celebró. La cosa aquí es que, tras muchos años, Wei Wuxian se despierta en el cuerpo de un hombre que se sacrificó a sí mismo para que lo ayudara con una venganza. Ahora, a pesar de que Wei Wuxian tiene ahora una segunda vida, cosas turbias de su pasado seguirán persiguiéndolo e incluso se encontrará de nuevo con alguien a quien ya conocía: Lan Wangji.
A decir verdad, empecé a leer este libro con muchísimas ganas y pensando en todo el hype que le habían metido a la historia: que era espectacular, que la iba a amar, que me iba a morir de ternura con los protagonistas, que no iba a poder parar de leerla ni un momento. Y, para ser completamente honesta, no pasó ninguna de esas cosas. Este primer tomo de la historia de Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation es tremendamente introductorio, lento y, por momentos, confuso.
Aquí seguramente saltarán muchas personas a decirme que cómo se me ocurre decir eso si luego se pone mejor y, vaya, estoy hablando de esta primera parte, no tengo ni idea de qué sucede en los siguientes tomos todavía. Tengo clarísimo que la literatura oriental es muy diferente en una infinidad de sentidos a la occidental, pero eso no me impide decir que este primer tomo se sintió como un info dump de información constante, de flashbacks que interrumpían bastante la línea temporal y de momentos que no tenían mucha conexión unos con otros. Y me imagino que todo se irá conectando eventualmente, pero lo que me faltó en este primer tomo fue una línea clara de trama que pudiera seguir. Mientras iba leyendo sentía que me estaban contando episodios aislados.
Ahora, creo que, dejando de lado lo anterior, quienes quieran leer este libro y no estén familiarizados desde antes con algún idioma oriental o estén muy enterados de ese tipo de culturas, van a tener que concentrarse muchísimo en los nombres y toda la terminología china que hay en la historia si es que quieren seguirla sin perderse. En este libro es muy común que se refieran a un personaje casi que por tres nombres u honoríficos diferentes, así que les recomiendo leer el anexo que viene al final del tomo para que no se confundan con eso. Yo, personalmente, sí pude seguirlos bien tras unas cuantas páginas porque estoy muy acostumbrada a recordar nombres asiáticos.
Algo que me pareció bastante divertido, dentro de toda la lentitud del libro, fue la actitud de Wei Wuxian en esta nueva vida y cómo se contrastaba su personalidad alegre, desvergonzada y despreocupada con la de Lan Wangji, que es todo lo opuesto, pues es un hombre tremendamente serio, entregado al deber y que siempre busca ser todo lo correcto que pueda ser. Esta es una comparación un poco loca, pero, si quieren darse una idea de cómo eran las interacciones entre ellos, y si vieron Inuyasha, imagínense un mundo en el que el monje Miroku estuviera molestando todo el tiempo a Sesshoumaru. Así son Wei Wuxian y Lan Wangji. Y, a pesar de que sus interacciones son divertidas, siento que hubiera disfrutado muchísimo más sus discusiones y momentos juntos si la trama en general hubiera sido mucho más dinámica.
Ahora, por todo lo que he leído al respecto, la queja más constante de quienes leen este tomo traducido por Seven Seas es, precisamente, la que yo tengo: la lentitud. Y es que, justamente por esa lentitud, los lectores como yo, que no tenemos ni idea de la historia completa, nos vamos a desanimar y es probable que abandonemos la historia en este primer libro. Sean honestos, ¿quién continúa leyendo una saga si el primer tomo se le hace cuesta arriba? Y, a decir verdad, creo que, si lo que afirman quienes leyeron toda esta novela en su plataforma web es verdad, la solución a la lentitud de este primer tomo se arreglaba facilísimo: alargándolo. Es decir, ¿qué le costaba a esa editorial sacar un primer tomo de 600 páginas en lugar de 300? Siento que fue una mala decisión publicar un primer tomo tan corto y que no incluyera el que, según los fans de la historia completa, es el elemento que realmente engancha y que se encuentra más adelante en la novela.
En fin. En mi opinión, este primer tomo fue bastante decepcionante si lo comparo con todo lo que el hype me prometió. Y sí, las últimas treinta páginas repuntan un poco, sobre todo después de cierto episodio de borrachera (graciosísimo, por cierto), así que es probable que en el futuro siga leyendo esta historia. Eso sí, si la continúo, la leeré como un libro más y sin esperar nada de ella porque ya sabemos lo dañino que puede ser el hype (y otras cosas, if you know, you know) para la experiencia lectora.
May 13, 2023
Note: I watched the donghua, cried my heart out, consumed an improper amount of fanfics and read this -twice-, before attempting to do this very objective review.
Thirteen years have passed since the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian, founder of demonic cultivation was eradicated. People are starting to feel at ease and clans are flourishing in this time of peace. Only one person is still waiting for him.
Living once was painful enough, Wei Wuxian wasn’t looking for a repeat. But when a boy sacrifices his body so that Wei Wuxian can avenge him, he is brought back to the real world. Now he has to fulfill his duty and stay hidden from his little brother, who is still looking for him because dying once was not enough, and the honored Lan Wanji, who used to be obsessed with punishing him for using illegal cultivation.
Wei Wuxian must have run out of luck. In his first week on earth he insults a teen who ends up being his dear nephew, faces a very suspicious little brother and is saved from none other than Lan Wanji. And now Lan Wanji is bringing him to the most boring, hateful place, the Lan Clan, and keeps acting weird when Wei Wuxian tries to infuriate him. If he didn’t know better, he would say Lan Wanji is also possessed…
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS) is a fast-paced epic xianxia story that follows troublesome Wei Wuxian and ruler-lover Lan Wanji. Set in ancient China and rich in plotlines and character dynamics, MXTX was able to create one of the most engaging, mindblowing and unforgettable tales I’ve ever read. If you enjoy slow burn MM romance and complex fantasy, this series may be your new addiction.
I’m someone who tries to stay away from fantasy romance because experience has told me I’d rather read them separately. They usually have a duller, less original plot and magic system in exchange for having glimpses of a romance that tends to have too many unnecessary cliffhangers and one satisfying scene right before it finishes. MXTX broke all the stereotypes giving an extremely well-thought story that needs to be read twice to catch every single detail of this complex story. Even if you are reading it for the plot, you won’t be disappointed. But it also has romance, and it makes it a billion times better.
The book goes back and forth in present and past, dividing your heart into the need to see them interact in their current states and learn the history that brought them there. It’s full of mystery, action and promises of what is yet to come. It was addicting!
The writing was the only thing I didn’t love. Being a translation from Chinese, I feel we were losing half the meaning and sometimes it didn’t flow as I would have liked. Still, I’m extremely grateful we do have a translation.
WangXian
“Lan Zhan, I’m back! () did you miss me?”
Lan Wangji was like an old monk entering deep meditation, seeing all as nothing. He was even somewhat numb as he continued to sort his little pile of books scrolls. Wei Wuxian purposely twisted the meaning of his silence and continued on.
“You don’t even have to say anything. I know you must’ve missed me, or why would you have been watching me from the window earlier?”
Model students shouldn’t mix with troublemakers, but Lan Wanji decided to keep an eye on Wei Wuxian from the first night the boy put his feet on Gusu, hands full of Emperor’s Smile and trying to bribe him with alcohol to let him pass. Wei Wuxian loves breaking rules as much as Lan Wanji loves to follow them. Wei Wuxian talks about using forbidden techniques and creating new solutions that are not in the books, and gets punished again and again. There is an ever-present smile lingering in his lips while he tries to do the only thing nobody else dares to: talk with Lan Wanji, tease him until he loses all his composure. Everyone knows Wei Wuxian drives Lan Wanji crazy. Everyone knows Lan Wanji hates him. But does he, really?
You’ll only see a peek of their dynamics here, of how they progressed as characters, but it’s more enough to realize there is a lot Lan Wanji is not telling Wei Wuxian. I especially loved how the author was able to show the differences between Lan Wanji as a teenager and as an adult, how much he changed without losing his essence.
Lan Wanji/Lan Zhan
“Ain’t that strange. How can such a dull person always make me so happy?”
At first glance, Lan Wanji seems like the role model student who doesn’t care about anything more than following rules and routinebc everyday is everyday. Without more friends than his own brother and no will to change it, Lan Wanji spends his days improving his cultivation. But there is a temper hidden behind his glassy eyes saved for a certain troublemaker that could set the world on fire.
Lan Wanji was the whole reason I cried my heart out watching the donghua. He’s the kind of person who is more into actions than words, who will move mountains for those he loves and never take credit. I’ve never been into quiet boys, yet he has spoiled all other men for me.
Wei Wuxian/Wei Ying
“There are a few sappy things one must say.”
“What?”
“‘Thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’,” Wei Wuxian replied.
“Well, I refuse. What’re you gonna do about it?”
“There’ll come a day when you’ll say them through your tears.”
Everyone knows trouble and fun go hand by hand when you are meeting Wei Wuxian. He’s the kind of person that knows the rules only to see the loopholes in them, who can put everyone in place with his quick wit. But, above all, Wei Wuxian's biggest flaw is being too selfless for his own good. No matter who is in danger, he will be the first one running to help, never caring about what will happen to him. It broke my heart the way people hated him when he spent his whole life trying to help those he cared about, even if it wasn’t the right path. That’s another reason why I loved Lan Zhan with all my heart: Wei Wuxian deserved to be protected at all costs.
I’ll stop here so I don’t make an ode, spoil everyone and still not make it justice to the masterpiece this book/series is. And don’t get me started with how stunning the paperbacks are, I could spend hours admiring all the drawings and cloud details.
For those who read the book
If you discover MDZS by reading the book first, I’d highly recommend rereading it. There are so many things you’ll see with other eyes once you know everything that happened 💫
Let’s fangirl a bit…if you know, you know
→ Lan Xichen reading Lan Zhan’s thoughts by looking at him
→ adult Lan Zhan refusing to talk to Jiang Cheng
→ hidden Emperor’s jars
→ rabbits
→ drawing
→ Cold Spring
→ Library Pavilion
→ money pouch
→ ‘What about this one?’ ‘Mine’
→ ‘You said not to carry you on my back’
→ ‘Like this? Are you certain?’ () ‘Stay like this tonight then’
If Wei Wuxian hadn’t thought he knew a little bit about Lan Wangji’s character () he would almost have suspected there was some sort of romantic entanglement between Lan Wangji and Mo Xuanyu. 🤣🤣
“Is he looking this way? He shouldn’t be; we weren’t that loud. So what’s with that look in his eyes?”
“Probably thinking about how to find fault in us,” Wei Wuxian said.
“Wrong,” Jiang Cheng said. “Not ‘us’, it’s ‘you.’ The only one he’s watching is you.”
*screams*
↬ MDZS 魔道祖师
1. Book 1: 4.5/5
Thirteen years have passed since the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian, founder of demonic cultivation was eradicated. People are starting to feel at ease and clans are flourishing in this time of peace. Only one person is still waiting for him.
Living once was painful enough, Wei Wuxian wasn’t looking for a repeat. But when a boy sacrifices his body so that Wei Wuxian can avenge him, he is brought back to the real world. Now he has to fulfill his duty and stay hidden from his little brother, who is still looking for him because dying once was not enough, and the honored Lan Wanji, who used to be obsessed with punishing him for using illegal cultivation.
Wei Wuxian must have run out of luck. In his first week on earth he insults a teen who ends up being his dear nephew, faces a very suspicious little brother and is saved from none other than Lan Wanji. And now Lan Wanji is bringing him to the most boring, hateful place, the Lan Clan, and keeps acting weird when Wei Wuxian tries to infuriate him. If he didn’t know better, he would say Lan Wanji is also possessed…
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS) is a fast-paced epic xianxia story that follows troublesome Wei Wuxian and ruler-lover Lan Wanji. Set in ancient China and rich in plotlines and character dynamics, MXTX was able to create one of the most engaging, mindblowing and unforgettable tales I’ve ever read. If you enjoy slow burn MM romance and complex fantasy, this series may be your new addiction.
I’m someone who tries to stay away from fantasy romance because experience has told me I’d rather read them separately. They usually have a duller, less original plot and magic system in exchange for having glimpses of a romance that tends to have too many unnecessary cliffhangers and one satisfying scene right before it finishes. MXTX broke all the stereotypes giving an extremely well-thought story that needs to be read twice to catch every single detail of this complex story. Even if you are reading it for the plot, you won’t be disappointed. But it also has romance, and it makes it a billion times better.
The book goes back and forth in present and past, dividing your heart into the need to see them interact in their current states and learn the history that brought them there. It’s full of mystery, action and promises of what is yet to come. It was addicting!
The writing was the only thing I didn’t love. Being a translation from Chinese, I feel we were losing half the meaning and sometimes it didn’t flow as I would have liked. Still, I’m extremely grateful we do have a translation.
WangXian
“Lan Zhan, I’m back! () did you miss me?”
Lan Wangji was like an old monk entering deep meditation, seeing all as nothing. He was even somewhat numb as he continued to sort his little pile of books scrolls. Wei Wuxian purposely twisted the meaning of his silence and continued on.
“You don’t even have to say anything. I know you must’ve missed me, or why would you have been watching me from the window earlier?”
Model students shouldn’t mix with troublemakers, but Lan Wanji decided to keep an eye on Wei Wuxian from the first night the boy put his feet on Gusu, hands full of Emperor’s Smile and trying to bribe him with alcohol to let him pass. Wei Wuxian loves breaking rules as much as Lan Wanji loves to follow them. Wei Wuxian talks about using forbidden techniques and creating new solutions that are not in the books, and gets punished again and again. There is an ever-present smile lingering in his lips while he tries to do the only thing nobody else dares to: talk with Lan Wanji, tease him until he loses all his composure. Everyone knows Wei Wuxian drives Lan Wanji crazy. Everyone knows Lan Wanji hates him. But does he, really?
You’ll only see a peek of their dynamics here, of how they progressed as characters, but it’s more enough to realize there is a lot Lan Wanji is not telling Wei Wuxian. I especially loved how the author was able to show the differences between Lan Wanji as a teenager and as an adult, how much he changed without losing his essence.
Lan Wanji/Lan Zhan
“Ain’t that strange. How can such a dull person always make me so happy?”
At first glance, Lan Wanji seems like the role model student who doesn’t care about anything more than following rules and routine
Lan Wanji was the whole reason I cried my heart out watching the donghua. He’s the kind of person who is more into actions than words, who will move mountains for those he loves and never take credit. I’ve never been into quiet boys, yet he has spoiled all other men for me.
Wei Wuxian/Wei Ying
“There are a few sappy things one must say.”
“What?”
“‘Thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’,” Wei Wuxian replied.
“Well, I refuse. What’re you gonna do about it?”
“There’ll come a day when you’ll say them through your tears.”
Everyone knows trouble and fun go hand by hand when you are meeting Wei Wuxian. He’s the kind of person that knows the rules only to see the loopholes in them, who can put everyone in place with his quick wit. But, above all, Wei Wuxian's biggest flaw is being too selfless for his own good. No matter who is in danger, he will be the first one running to help, never caring about what will happen to him. It broke my heart the way people hated him when he spent his whole life trying to help those he cared about, even if it wasn’t the right path. That’s another reason why I loved Lan Zhan with all my heart: Wei Wuxian deserved to be protected at all costs.
I’ll stop here so I don’t make an ode, spoil everyone and still not make it justice to the masterpiece this book/series is. And don’t get me started with how stunning the paperbacks are, I could spend hours admiring all the drawings and cloud details.
For those who read the book
If you discover MDZS by reading the book first, I’d highly recommend rereading it. There are so many things you’ll see with other eyes once you know everything that happened 💫
Let’s fangirl a bit…if you know, you know
→ Lan Xichen reading Lan Zhan’s thoughts by looking at him
→ adult Lan Zhan refusing to talk to Jiang Cheng
→ hidden Emperor’s jars
→ rabbits
→ drawing
→ Cold Spring
→ Library Pavilion
→ money pouch
→ ‘What about this one?’ ‘Mine’
→ ‘You said not to carry you on my back’
→ ‘Like this? Are you certain?’ () ‘Stay like this tonight then’
If Wei Wuxian hadn’t thought he knew a little bit about Lan Wangji’s character () he would almost have suspected there was some sort of romantic entanglement between Lan Wangji and Mo Xuanyu. 🤣🤣
“Is he looking this way? He shouldn’t be; we weren’t that loud. So what’s with that look in his eyes?”
“Probably thinking about how to find fault in us,” Wei Wuxian said.
“Wrong,” Jiang Cheng said. “Not ‘us’, it’s ‘you.’ The only one he’s watching is you.”
*screams*
↬ MDZS 魔道祖师
1. Book 1: 4.5/5
December 18, 2021
I literally cannot bring myself to give this book less than 4 stars because I would actually give my life for WWX and LWJ but also I fully recognize that the writing/translation is....not great. I honestly would recommend starting with either the TV show or the donghua adaptation to get familiarized (and fall in love) with the characters and story before diving into the novel because I really think that the writing will be a barrier to getting some people to fall in love with this story. I think some of my issues with the writing probably stem from the original text itself, but others fall on the translation - most notably, the use of English/Western colloquialisms was honestly such a weird choice and actively took me out of the story at times. The pronounciation guide at the back is also kind of dubious in my opinion (though the character guide is super fun).
There are definitely things I like better than the show - the narrative choice to tell the story in a non-linear way, the more explicitly tender moments between LWJ and WWX, and WWX being painted in a more morally grey light are all things I loved about the novel. For that reason alone, I would definitely still highly recommend reading the book. However, I just find the translation and publishing choices to be a bit questionable - while the translation is better than the fan translated version I read before (ie. it's readable at least), it certainly doesn't read like a $125 translation (which is what the books will end up costing when the series is finished). I think if I'd read this translation online for free or a minimal cost, I'd be content with it, but I just think for the price tag on this book, the publishers should've done a better job with it.
All that to say though, read this (and watch the TV show) for a story and characters that will consume your mind and take over your entire life ✌️
There are definitely things I like better than the show - the narrative choice to tell the story in a non-linear way, the more explicitly tender moments between LWJ and WWX, and WWX being painted in a more morally grey light are all things I loved about the novel. For that reason alone, I would definitely still highly recommend reading the book. However, I just find the translation and publishing choices to be a bit questionable - while the translation is better than the fan translated version I read before (ie. it's readable at least), it certainly doesn't read like a $125 translation (which is what the books will end up costing when the series is finished). I think if I'd read this translation online for free or a minimal cost, I'd be content with it, but I just think for the price tag on this book, the publishers should've done a better job with it.
All that to say though, read this (and watch the TV show) for a story and characters that will consume your mind and take over your entire life ✌️
July 20, 2022
I read the original work two years ago, saw the anime and live adaptations, read the manhua, and am now reading these official translations.
By this point, I've practically memorized the entire story, including all plot twists. I wish I could do the same with my course materials.
I've already stated how much I enjoy the story in my original review, so there's nothing more I can say.
I'm just going to leave a few illustrations from the book.
Perfect.
By this point, I've practically memorized the entire story, including all plot twists. I wish I could do the same with my course materials.
I've already stated how much I enjoy the story in my original review, so there's nothing more I can say.
I'm just going to leave a few illustrations from the book.
Perfect.
March 8, 2026
“I used to think of you as my soulmate.”
“I still am.”
guys be honest do you hate me for posting reviews of the whole series under vol.1😹
grandmaster of demonic cultivation is a story about love as a forbidden pursuit featuring hidden glances, misunderstandings, and an extended internal monologue of “am i even worthy of him” that the narrative eventually resolves in the affirmative, though not before dragging everyone through approximately thirteen years of entirely self-inflicted emotional devastation that a single honest conversation could have prevented, which is a recurring theme in this genre and apparently a non-negotiable one.
what elevates it beyond the standard-issue pining romance, however, is how much is happening around that central relationship - this is simultaneously a detective story, a supernatural mystery, a political thriller, and an extended meditation on power and corruption, all set in a world where sorcerer clans run their territories with the organizational ethics of magical mob families, cultivating their abilities not for enlightenment or spiritual growth but for the considerably more practical purposes of staying politically relevant and making sure their particular bloodline keeps its foot on everyone else’s neck, because nepotism did not begin with corporate america and this novel would like you to know that.
the characters are deployed with a structural intelligence that lesser novels don’t bother with - the flashbacks arrive not as front-loaded exposition dumps but at precisely the moment when understanding someone’s history will change how you feel about what they’re currently doing, which sounds like a basic storytelling courtesy and is apparently quite difficult to execute given how rarely it happens correctly, and mxtx does it across a cast large enough that most authors would have left half of them as decorative background furniture. even the supposedly immaculate Gusu Lan sect, with their ninety-four thousand rules and their general air of having never once done anything questionable, turns out on closer inspection to contain people with extremely human problems - Xichen presenting as the personification of gentle competence while clearly functioning as the sect’s designated emotional support system, and Lan Zhan operating as a man whose external presentation is essentially one sustained note of absolute stillness while his interior life has all the calm of an active geological event, producing someone who registers a clinically negative amount of rizz and an absolutely unreasonable amount of everything else, which the novel correctly identifies as a feature rather than a flaw.
Wei Ying is the standard untouchable protagonist, naturally gifted, socially irresistible, seemingly held together by sheer force of personality, and turns out to be someone whose gifts arrived before the corresponding humility did, which the universe addressed in its characteristically heavy-handed fashion by framing him, destroying everything he built, and then dragging him back into existence to do it all again from a significantly worse starting position, all of which he meets with a resilience and a fundamental warmth toward the people he loves that is either very admirable or deeply exhausting depending on your perspective, and probably both.
Jiang Cheng is this reviewer’s personal favourite, and if you’d like to argue about it you are welcome to get in line. he is difficult and seemingly harsh and spends most of the novel communicating primarily through aggression, and yet the novel builds his context so carefully that by the time you understand why he is the way he is you have already emotionally adopted him against your will, because there is something specifically devastating about a person who has spent their entire life coming second, absorbing responsibility, and bending under the weight of obligations they never asked for but accepted anyway because someone had to, and that someone was always going to be him.
ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘
i could keep going forever, but there are already enough letters here to start a small novel😂🙏
Want to read
November 26, 2024Starting my very first danmei novel feels so exciting!!! But fr, I’ve gotta take a sec to appreciate how much courage it takes for danmei authors to create these stories. Writing LGBTQ+ romances in conservative spaces? That’s a LEVEL of bravery I can’t even imagine. The bans, the censorship, the pushback. They still manage to give us these stunning worlds and unforgettable characters.🫡
December 21, 2024
5★
Era mi primera toma de contacto con el género Danmei y la fantasía épica china y solo puedo decir QUE ME HA ENCANTADO.
Es muy diferente al resto de fantasía que he leído y eso me ha gustado mucho. Últimamente solo encontraba libros que resultaban ser un refrito de otros y nada originales asi que encontrar algo tan novedoso y que no se parece en nada a lo que haya leído antes ha sido un completo soplo de aire fresco. El mundo que ha creado la autora me tiene fascinada y maravillada, solo quiero saber mas, mas y mas.
También destacaré que el ritmo de la novela es bastante rápido y eso ha hecho que no pudiera parara de leer. Todo el rato estaban pasando cosas en la trama y a mi particularmente eso me ha encantado porque no me he aburrido en ningún momento.
Por último destacar a los protagonistas de la historia: Wei Wuixan y Lan Wanji, de los cuales estoy sumamente enamorada. Nunca me había reído tanto con las contestaciones y forma de ser de un personaje, Wei Wuixan te amo. También me gusta mucho lo serio y correcto que puede llegar a ser Lan Wanji. Los dos son mis bebes y les protegeré con mi vida. Deseando estoy de leer los siguientes tomos.
Era mi primera toma de contacto con el género Danmei y la fantasía épica china y solo puedo decir QUE ME HA ENCANTADO.
Es muy diferente al resto de fantasía que he leído y eso me ha gustado mucho. Últimamente solo encontraba libros que resultaban ser un refrito de otros y nada originales asi que encontrar algo tan novedoso y que no se parece en nada a lo que haya leído antes ha sido un completo soplo de aire fresco. El mundo que ha creado la autora me tiene fascinada y maravillada, solo quiero saber mas, mas y mas.
También destacaré que el ritmo de la novela es bastante rápido y eso ha hecho que no pudiera parara de leer. Todo el rato estaban pasando cosas en la trama y a mi particularmente eso me ha encantado porque no me he aburrido en ningún momento.
Por último destacar a los protagonistas de la historia: Wei Wuixan y Lan Wanji, de los cuales estoy sumamente enamorada. Nunca me había reído tanto con las contestaciones y forma de ser de un personaje, Wei Wuixan te amo. También me gusta mucho lo serio y correcto que puede llegar a ser Lan Wanji. Los dos son mis bebes y les protegeré con mi vida. Deseando estoy de leer los siguientes tomos.
November 27, 2023
3,5 ⭐️
J’ai eu beaucoup de mal à rentrer dans l’histoire. Je n’ai pas vu ni l’animé ni le drama. Je suis un peu dubitative.
D’un coté j’ai bien aimé l’intrigue et la relation entre les deux personnages principaux m’ont bien fait rire et j’ai adoré cette bromance j’espère qu’ils finiront ensemble d’un autre côté j’ai vraiment eu du mal à me concentrer et à me repérer qui était qui? Quels sont les différents pouvoirs ? Les différents clans?
Pour les fans du drama et de l’animé
J’ai eu beaucoup de mal à rentrer dans l’histoire. Je n’ai pas vu ni l’animé ni le drama. Je suis un peu dubitative.
D’un coté j’ai bien aimé l’intrigue et la relation entre les deux personnages principaux m’ont bien fait rire et j’ai adoré cette bromance j’espère qu’ils finiront ensemble d’un autre côté j’ai vraiment eu du mal à me concentrer et à me repérer qui était qui? Quels sont les différents pouvoirs ? Les différents clans?
Pour les fans du drama et de l’animé
July 25, 2025
1-word review: Fun!
2-word review: Compulsively readable!
More-words review: Fast-paced, intriguing and humorous. The 5 stars is a placeholder rating until I finish the series. (Fyi, it seems to be one story divided into parts, just like "volume 1" in the title would lead you to think, rather than an actual series.) But I enjoyed this installment so much that I'm happy to give it all the stars. Nothing about it was what I was expecting. It pulled me in swiftly and I never wanted to put it down. It was a decisive kick in the ass to the prolonged reading slump that was plaguing me, and I need to stop typing now so I can go read Volume 2.
Also: Thanks, Linda! For nudging me into it, and for creating this impromptu BR.
2-word review: Compulsively readable!
More-words review: Fast-paced, intriguing and humorous. The 5 stars is a placeholder rating until I finish the series. (Fyi, it seems to be one story divided into parts, just like "volume 1" in the title would lead you to think, rather than an actual series.) But I enjoyed this installment so much that I'm happy to give it all the stars. Nothing about it was what I was expecting. It pulled me in swiftly and I never wanted to put it down. It was a decisive kick in the ass to the prolonged reading slump that was plaguing me, and I need to stop typing now so I can go read Volume 2.
Also: Thanks, Linda! For nudging me into it, and for creating this impromptu BR.
tbr-fiction-326-to-450
August 4, 2021This is not a drill, y'all! All three of MXTX' novels are getting officially licensed English translations. (They're also being released in serial format, but you know, if it makes the publishers enough money that they keep doing this, then so be it.)
Preorder information is available here.
Preorder information is available here.
July 4, 2023
2nd Review:
This is my favorite story of all time. Of Everything I've read, this is the story, the best of the best. I love it more with each reading or each viewing.
I think with this review, I'll talk about a few of the differences between the book and show. Here, the order is different. MXTX does not stay on a linear timeline, but jumps around. This story starts out at Mo Manor and Wei Ying is hamming it up in front of a crowd after being beaten by his cousin and to try and shame him, he says something like, how shameless coming into my room at night. I still need to find a good husband, what will people think. Cracks me up.
When Lan Zhan drags Wei Ying back to cloud recesses, he has a conversation with Zewu jun and he is surprised Lan Zhan brought someone home, he never does that.
There is a whole lot more flirting in here than I remember. Wei Ying does his best to embarrass Lan Zhan and he can't get any reaction really.
I'm loving this re-read. I will have to read this yearly. I'm having the best time.
1st Review
I have found a new author I'm obsessed with and I'm totally obsessed with Cultivation Fantasies now. It looks like Manga, but it's a novel. There is a manga version and I haven't read that. I don't know if its in English yet.
I found 'the Untamed' on Netflix and its a great show. I was always a fan of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and this show is in that same vein. It's a cultivation/Progression Fantasy and Cradle got me into that sub-genre of fantasy. The season has 50 episodes in it. Yes, 50. I love the character of Wei Wuxian. He is almost like a Peter Pan like character: gleeful, care-free, smiling and loves to mess with people while being about justice. He is accused of being a hero because he will rush in to any situation to help if he can, even if he shouldn't.
He loves teasing people and his favorite target is the rigid and uptight and the person everyone admires, Lan Zhan. Wuxian pesters him relentlessly and gets him to break rules. I did get a screen crush on the actor who played Wuxian. His smile is so enthralling, I couldn't help myself. They found the perfect person to play Wuxian.
So, I loved the story so much, which is a world-wide hit show having been viewed over 4.5 billion times, mostly in Asia. It's based on the book with the same name written by Mo Xian Tong Xiu or MXTX. I got the first book. They are in process of creating the English translation of this story. In Chinese this is one volume about the size of the English Translation first edition. They can say so much more with fewer characters in Chinese. In school it was the same way. The students reading Chinese could read a 100 page book and it would be a 500 page book translated into English. Anyway.
The story the show tells mostly comes right off the pages of the book, but there are changes in places. This is a Danmei story which means a love story of two boys. You can't tell that story in China, so the show hides all that stuff and makes it a tale of 2 good friends and it's all coded in there and there are intense stares between the two characters.
Well, the first part of the story is the WuXian and Lan Zhan being at odds. Lan Zhan can't stand being pestered and Wuxian loves the reactions he gets out of Lan Zhan so he is merciless. There are some great moments.
The fantasy is good too. I love these cultivation worlds and the magic they use. I had to buy the 2nd book today so I can read it soon. The rest of the series won't be published until the end of the year and I don't know if I can wait that long.
I read reviews saying the translation isn't good, but I thought it read well and it explained some things in the show that I thought were confusing, so I loved it. I also asked a someone who speaks Chinese and he thought it was a good translation, so what do I know. The characters jump off the page.
I can't wait to finish this and as money permits, I'm going to try out the other 2 stories MXTX has written. This was so good. I couldn't put it down and the first day I read over 200 pages. I could have finished it yesterday and wanted it to last one more day.
I recommend the show to all and the book to those interested in this sort of thing. I had no clue what a world phenomenon this is and now I'm a total fan.
This is my favorite story of all time. Of Everything I've read, this is the story, the best of the best. I love it more with each reading or each viewing.
I think with this review, I'll talk about a few of the differences between the book and show. Here, the order is different. MXTX does not stay on a linear timeline, but jumps around. This story starts out at Mo Manor and Wei Ying is hamming it up in front of a crowd after being beaten by his cousin and to try and shame him, he says something like, how shameless coming into my room at night. I still need to find a good husband, what will people think. Cracks me up.
When Lan Zhan drags Wei Ying back to cloud recesses, he has a conversation with Zewu jun and he is surprised Lan Zhan brought someone home, he never does that.
There is a whole lot more flirting in here than I remember. Wei Ying does his best to embarrass Lan Zhan and he can't get any reaction really.
I'm loving this re-read. I will have to read this yearly. I'm having the best time.
1st Review
I have found a new author I'm obsessed with and I'm totally obsessed with Cultivation Fantasies now. It looks like Manga, but it's a novel. There is a manga version and I haven't read that. I don't know if its in English yet.
I found 'the Untamed' on Netflix and its a great show. I was always a fan of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and this show is in that same vein. It's a cultivation/Progression Fantasy and Cradle got me into that sub-genre of fantasy. The season has 50 episodes in it. Yes, 50. I love the character of Wei Wuxian. He is almost like a Peter Pan like character: gleeful, care-free, smiling and loves to mess with people while being about justice. He is accused of being a hero because he will rush in to any situation to help if he can, even if he shouldn't.
He loves teasing people and his favorite target is the rigid and uptight and the person everyone admires, Lan Zhan. Wuxian pesters him relentlessly and gets him to break rules. I did get a screen crush on the actor who played Wuxian. His smile is so enthralling, I couldn't help myself. They found the perfect person to play Wuxian.
So, I loved the story so much, which is a world-wide hit show having been viewed over 4.5 billion times, mostly in Asia. It's based on the book with the same name written by Mo Xian Tong Xiu or MXTX. I got the first book. They are in process of creating the English translation of this story. In Chinese this is one volume about the size of the English Translation first edition. They can say so much more with fewer characters in Chinese. In school it was the same way. The students reading Chinese could read a 100 page book and it would be a 500 page book translated into English. Anyway.
The story the show tells mostly comes right off the pages of the book, but there are changes in places. This is a Danmei story which means a love story of two boys. You can't tell that story in China, so the show hides all that stuff and makes it a tale of 2 good friends and it's all coded in there and there are intense stares between the two characters.
Well, the first part of the story is the WuXian and Lan Zhan being at odds. Lan Zhan can't stand being pestered and Wuxian loves the reactions he gets out of Lan Zhan so he is merciless. There are some great moments.
The fantasy is good too. I love these cultivation worlds and the magic they use. I had to buy the 2nd book today so I can read it soon. The rest of the series won't be published until the end of the year and I don't know if I can wait that long.
I read reviews saying the translation isn't good, but I thought it read well and it explained some things in the show that I thought were confusing, so I loved it. I also asked a someone who speaks Chinese and he thought it was a good translation, so what do I know. The characters jump off the page.
I can't wait to finish this and as money permits, I'm going to try out the other 2 stories MXTX has written. This was so good. I couldn't put it down and the first day I read over 200 pages. I could have finished it yesterday and wanted it to last one more day.
I recommend the show to all and the book to those interested in this sort of thing. I had no clue what a world phenomenon this is and now I'm a total fan.
Want to read
August 5, 2021pretending like i didnt already read it 598908350 times religiously as they're publishing it officially in english
January 25, 2022
if this translation isn’t absolutely perfect I’m going to get in a street brawl with China
EDIT: 5 stars. yes I'm sure
EDIT: 5 stars. yes I'm sure
October 18, 2023
Crazy how much foreshadowing you pick up when re-reading
February 14, 2022
The plot of this book is all well and good.
The writing is near unbearable at points and the info dumps made me want to bang my head against a wall.
If I wasn’t already a fan of the untamed, I would have dnf’d this book within two pages.
Won’t be buying the next volumes unless seven seas entertainment hires professional translators and better editors—I may not know jack about Chinese, but it’s pretty clear this is not a professional translation (I mean I know it’s not, it took five minutes to google that they let fan translators do this. I don’t blame the fan translators, btw, it’s not their fault. It’s the company’s fault for, I assume, being cheap gits. It’s a lot more money to hire a professional translator than just anyone who can speak some Chinese).
all you really have to do is look at the pronunciation guide in the back to know they didn’t really do their job well. Wangji’s name certainly is not phonetically pronounced as Wong-gee otherwise why would it be spelled in pinyin as WANGJI???—I don’t see why they didn’t just include a proper guide to pinyin pronunciation seeing as they said, and I quote, Mandarin “is a tonal language, so correct pronunciation is vital to it being understood.” It can’t have been that vital, seven seas, or you’d have done your job well.
Not to mention, the ink in the books I purchased smudges when they get damp. My finger sweated a bit one time and the ink used to print the words smudged.
I truly just don’t think this company is any good 😭at all.
I was charged £15.99 for each of the books I bought, which is around £7.00–£8.00 over the average price of a paperback. Like yeah, the pictures are pretty, but pictures are not enough to charge me so much for such poor quality products.
I wasn’t expecting an amazing translation because I am aware Chinese translations (at least the ones I’ve read in the past) don’t seem to sound the best in English. They often come off quite tell-y not showy. So I was prepared for that. And sure, this book was like that, but combined with that fact, the chinese authors tendency to info dump (which I’m going to assume, perhaps incorrectly, is still a bad thing in Chinese to begin with), and the constant unnecessary use of words like “immediately” “suddenly” “just then” “that moment” “seeing this”, it truly was downright unbearable. (Not knowing jack about Chinese doesn’t help here because Im not sure if they could have been cut from the English version or not during translation, but I, in all my glorious ignorance of how chinese works, personally thought they probably could have been taken out. In English, we get the exact same meaning with them in as we do with them out. And it flows better in English because we don’t need to be told people did things immediately and suddenly when it’s very obvious from context alone that they’re doing those things immediately and suddenly).
Not to mention the constant repetition of words in close proximity. They use the word sword about 7 times in two paragraphs (barely even half a page).
Cant remember if this is a real example from the book, but we had a lot of sentences that went like this: “he picked up the Apple and took a bite of the apple.” I’m sure things like this probably sounded fine in chinese (actually have no idea, but I do vaguely know some Asian languages have that repetition. They don’t always just call things “it” like we do, so I’m giving the author the benefit of the doubt and assuming it sounds fine in the OG language). However in English this is like the rookie writing mistake of all rookie writing mistakes, and I’m assuming it probably could have been translated to sound more natural in English—sure it would have taken a few liberties, but it gets the exact same meaning across, right?
All you had to do was be like “well they know the ‘it’ refers to the apple” and have it say “he picked up the apple and took a bite of it” or even just “took a bite”.
If I’ve made myself look like a white fool in this🧍♀️well I am a white fool, but sod this book. I found out there’s a Korean translation for it and I’m kind of sort of learning Korean right now so I’m buying those😭I refuse to buy anything else from seven seas Entertainment. When the other novels come out, someone hit me up with an illegal link.
This read like terrible FanFiction. In fact, I actually found After by Ana Todd more bearable to read than this, and I hated those books.
Surely the point of a translation is not only to get the meaning across, but to get it across in a way that makes the book convey the same feelings as it would convey to you in the original chinese. It should sound fairly natural in English at the least. This book did not do that and from what little I’ve read of the other two (SVSSS and TGCF) they aren’t much better. Although, I definitely think Faelicy and Lily did a better job translating than Suika did—most likely because there’s two of them rather than one. (Suika translated MDZS and TGCF. Faelicy and Lily translated SVSSS).
I have more to say, but this review is already so long and I’m tired. So if I feel like adding more I’ll add more later.
The writing is near unbearable at points and the info dumps made me want to bang my head against a wall.
If I wasn’t already a fan of the untamed, I would have dnf’d this book within two pages.
Won’t be buying the next volumes unless seven seas entertainment hires professional translators and better editors—I may not know jack about Chinese, but it’s pretty clear this is not a professional translation (I mean I know it’s not, it took five minutes to google that they let fan translators do this. I don’t blame the fan translators, btw, it’s not their fault. It’s the company’s fault for, I assume, being cheap gits. It’s a lot more money to hire a professional translator than just anyone who can speak some Chinese).
all you really have to do is look at the pronunciation guide in the back to know they didn’t really do their job well. Wangji’s name certainly is not phonetically pronounced as Wong-gee otherwise why would it be spelled in pinyin as WANGJI???—I don’t see why they didn’t just include a proper guide to pinyin pronunciation seeing as they said, and I quote, Mandarin “is a tonal language, so correct pronunciation is vital to it being understood.” It can’t have been that vital, seven seas, or you’d have done your job well.
Not to mention, the ink in the books I purchased smudges when they get damp. My finger sweated a bit one time and the ink used to print the words smudged.
I truly just don’t think this company is any good 😭at all.
I was charged £15.99 for each of the books I bought, which is around £7.00–£8.00 over the average price of a paperback. Like yeah, the pictures are pretty, but pictures are not enough to charge me so much for such poor quality products.
I wasn’t expecting an amazing translation because I am aware Chinese translations (at least the ones I’ve read in the past) don’t seem to sound the best in English. They often come off quite tell-y not showy. So I was prepared for that. And sure, this book was like that, but combined with that fact, the chinese authors tendency to info dump (which I’m going to assume, perhaps incorrectly, is still a bad thing in Chinese to begin with), and the constant unnecessary use of words like “immediately” “suddenly” “just then” “that moment” “seeing this”, it truly was downright unbearable. (Not knowing jack about Chinese doesn’t help here because Im not sure if they could have been cut from the English version or not during translation, but I, in all my glorious ignorance of how chinese works, personally thought they probably could have been taken out. In English, we get the exact same meaning with them in as we do with them out. And it flows better in English because we don’t need to be told people did things immediately and suddenly when it’s very obvious from context alone that they’re doing those things immediately and suddenly).
Not to mention the constant repetition of words in close proximity. They use the word sword about 7 times in two paragraphs (barely even half a page).
Cant remember if this is a real example from the book, but we had a lot of sentences that went like this: “he picked up the Apple and took a bite of the apple.” I’m sure things like this probably sounded fine in chinese (actually have no idea, but I do vaguely know some Asian languages have that repetition. They don’t always just call things “it” like we do, so I’m giving the author the benefit of the doubt and assuming it sounds fine in the OG language). However in English this is like the rookie writing mistake of all rookie writing mistakes, and I’m assuming it probably could have been translated to sound more natural in English—sure it would have taken a few liberties, but it gets the exact same meaning across, right?
All you had to do was be like “well they know the ‘it’ refers to the apple” and have it say “he picked up the apple and took a bite of it” or even just “took a bite”.
If I’ve made myself look like a white fool in this🧍♀️well I am a white fool, but sod this book. I found out there’s a Korean translation for it and I’m kind of sort of learning Korean right now so I’m buying those😭I refuse to buy anything else from seven seas Entertainment. When the other novels come out, someone hit me up with an illegal link.
This read like terrible FanFiction. In fact, I actually found After by Ana Todd more bearable to read than this, and I hated those books.
Surely the point of a translation is not only to get the meaning across, but to get it across in a way that makes the book convey the same feelings as it would convey to you in the original chinese. It should sound fairly natural in English at the least. This book did not do that and from what little I’ve read of the other two (SVSSS and TGCF) they aren’t much better. Although, I definitely think Faelicy and Lily did a better job translating than Suika did—most likely because there’s two of them rather than one. (Suika translated MDZS and TGCF. Faelicy and Lily translated SVSSS).
I have more to say, but this review is already so long and I’m tired. So if I feel like adding more I’ll add more later.
February 21, 2022
Edit 21/02/2022:
In light of people finding a whole bunch of missing lines and mistranslations (use of Lan Wanji instead of Lan Zhan, a whole paragraph missing as well as a dialogue line) I'd like to edit my star rating of the translation to like. 3 stars. Is that generous? Maybe a little.
I just personally think that for the price of these books, books that were published professionally and had paid translators and EDITORS to check that these mistakes don't happen, I am a bit disappointed. Hoping MDZS book 2, which is now being pushed back to May, will not be having the same amount of mistakes.
I saw someone say on twitter that ExR was heavily criticised for even the littlest of mistakes, so while I am not here to tell you to boycott or be rude to 7seas – like, don't – I do find it a bit outrageous that we can find this many mistakes (and important mistakes! Omissions that contribute to character development, not some random lines!) in a published book. Here's to hoping they change this in future printings and that the other books will be better <3
------------------------------------
Anyway I'm not gonna write a full review of this again because I poured my heart out reviewing the Chinese edition – read my full review here!!! TL;DR I LOVE WANGXIAN MORE THAN I LOVE MYSELF PROTECT THEM AT ALL COSTS THEY LITERALLY INVENTED LOVE AND ALSO READ THIS BOOK YOU COWARD
But this is more a review of the translation?? Kind of. But anyway – first things first: don't read this book for the prose. Always, always read MDZS (and most other Chinese novel translations tbh, although I'm not saying some translations aren't beautiful!) for the story. Because what you want to take away from this book is the story, the characters, the romance. Who cares if the prose isn't the most beautiful thing ever? I've seen quite a lot of people complain about this and like. yeah. This isn't some masterpiece of writing but it's a masterpiece of a STORY and of LIFE LESSONS and of ROMANCE and WELL-WRITTEN MORALLY GREY CHARACTERS so sit down and stop over-thinking it and just enjoy the thing. Damn. (and don't give the book a low rating because of it??? Wangxian don't deserve that thanks)
I genuinely don't mean to complain about the translation, both because I am so endlessly grateful that we are getting an official English translation and that I can finally hold these books in my hands and because I don't speak Chinese and it therefore doesn't feel right to criticize it. That said, I'm going to do exactly that for a sec bear with me–
I think the thing that made me the saddest about this translation isn't even that they could have done it better (as I've seen many people comment) – it's honestly just some iconic lines that were changed or some names that were anglicized that really, really shouldn't have been (Tranquillity Room hello? It will forever be the jingshi the vibes are simply nooot the same). Also I will mourn "Great news! Wei Wuxian has died!" until the end of my days. The Yin Tiger Tally feels so wrong too; it will forever be the Yin Tiger Seal to me, but that's also probably just because that's the most common translation I've seen and I've just gotten too used to it. Just little things like that, you know? However, I am so glad they kept words like "[last name]-xiong" "shidi/shixiong/shijie" "gongzi" in Chinese because got the alternative is CRINGE. So thank you
One last thing about the translation: the character guides were quite nice and will be very useful to first-time readers (although I usually recommend to start by watching one of the adaptations just because it makes it easier to understand), but the pronunciation guide was so weird?? The idea was there, but I don't really know why they just didn't use pinyin (and quickly explain how pinyin works) instead of doing this weird thing that doesn't even work that well. Anyway, plenty of Chinese people have pointed this out already so if you want to look more into it I'd recommend looking it up twitter – multiple informative/opinion threads have been posted and I'd recommend giving them a read! (and side note about names and stuff – am I the only one who finds calling their titles e.g. Hanguang-jun, Zewu-jun, etc "sobriquets" suuuuper weird? Aren't they just titles? Doesn't sobriquet mean nickname? Idk let me know)
All that to say – it's not perfect, but I love it nonetheless, and I'm so grateful and happy this is something that could be done nearly entirely by fans of the series. We are so blessed. I haven't held the books in my hands yet because they're back home in England and I currently am back home in Colombia but I WILL CRY A FUCKING RIVER when I do, believe me.
Again, read my long-ass review of the actual book here
In light of people finding a whole bunch of missing lines and mistranslations (use of Lan Wanji instead of Lan Zhan, a whole paragraph missing as well as a dialogue line) I'd like to edit my star rating of the translation to like. 3 stars. Is that generous? Maybe a little.
I just personally think that for the price of these books, books that were published professionally and had paid translators and EDITORS to check that these mistakes don't happen, I am a bit disappointed. Hoping MDZS book 2, which is now being pushed back to May, will not be having the same amount of mistakes.
I saw someone say on twitter that ExR was heavily criticised for even the littlest of mistakes, so while I am not here to tell you to boycott or be rude to 7seas – like, don't – I do find it a bit outrageous that we can find this many mistakes (and important mistakes! Omissions that contribute to character development, not some random lines!) in a published book. Here's to hoping they change this in future printings and that the other books will be better <3
------------------------------------
Anyway I'm not gonna write a full review of this again because I poured my heart out reviewing the Chinese edition – read my full review here!!! TL;DR I LOVE WANGXIAN MORE THAN I LOVE MYSELF PROTECT THEM AT ALL COSTS THEY LITERALLY INVENTED LOVE AND ALSO READ THIS BOOK YOU COWARD
But this is more a review of the translation?? Kind of. But anyway – first things first: don't read this book for the prose. Always, always read MDZS (and most other Chinese novel translations tbh, although I'm not saying some translations aren't beautiful!) for the story. Because what you want to take away from this book is the story, the characters, the romance. Who cares if the prose isn't the most beautiful thing ever? I've seen quite a lot of people complain about this and like. yeah. This isn't some masterpiece of writing but it's a masterpiece of a STORY and of LIFE LESSONS and of ROMANCE and WELL-WRITTEN MORALLY GREY CHARACTERS so sit down and stop over-thinking it and just enjoy the thing. Damn. (and don't give the book a low rating because of it??? Wangxian don't deserve that thanks)
I genuinely don't mean to complain about the translation, both because I am so endlessly grateful that we are getting an official English translation and that I can finally hold these books in my hands and because I don't speak Chinese and it therefore doesn't feel right to criticize it. That said, I'm going to do exactly that for a sec bear with me–
I think the thing that made me the saddest about this translation isn't even that they could have done it better (as I've seen many people comment) – it's honestly just some iconic lines that were changed or some names that were anglicized that really, really shouldn't have been (Tranquillity Room hello? It will forever be the jingshi the vibes are simply nooot the same). Also I will mourn "Great news! Wei Wuxian has died!" until the end of my days. The Yin Tiger Tally feels so wrong too; it will forever be the Yin Tiger Seal to me, but that's also probably just because that's the most common translation I've seen and I've just gotten too used to it. Just little things like that, you know? However, I am so glad they kept words like "[last name]-xiong" "shidi/shixiong/shijie" "gongzi" in Chinese because got the alternative is CRINGE. So thank you
One last thing about the translation: the character guides were quite nice and will be very useful to first-time readers (although I usually recommend to start by watching one of the adaptations just because it makes it easier to understand), but the pronunciation guide was so weird?? The idea was there, but I don't really know why they just didn't use pinyin (and quickly explain how pinyin works) instead of doing this weird thing that doesn't even work that well. Anyway, plenty of Chinese people have pointed this out already so if you want to look more into it I'd recommend looking it up twitter – multiple informative/opinion threads have been posted and I'd recommend giving them a read! (and side note about names and stuff – am I the only one who finds calling their titles e.g. Hanguang-jun, Zewu-jun, etc "sobriquets" suuuuper weird? Aren't they just titles? Doesn't sobriquet mean nickname? Idk let me know)
All that to say – it's not perfect, but I love it nonetheless, and I'm so grateful and happy this is something that could be done nearly entirely by fans of the series. We are so blessed. I haven't held the books in my hands yet because they're back home in England and I currently am back home in Colombia but I WILL CRY A FUCKING RIVER when I do, believe me.
Again, read my long-ass review of the actual book here
October 7, 2023
4.5 stars
Here’s my review: I’ve bought the entire rest of the “series” (which is really the rest of the book) as soon as I finished the first part.
That’s not a review, you say? Well, this is not an actual book, just the beginning of one, so….
Also, if you’ve seen the price tags on these ebooks, you should understand that was high praise.
Okay, here we go. Random thoughts to follow.
I can’t remember the last time a book that’s written in a way that shouldn’t work for me kept me so entertained and made me laugh out loud so much.
Wei Wuxian is rapidly climbing the ranking of Most Oblivious Character Ever and, believe me, he’s got some pretty good competition (looking at you, Damen).
Lan Wangji has the patience of a saint (also, I’ve loved him since the first time he appeared on page, )
Jiang Cheng should stop worrying about
I have a theory about the , but it seems so obvious that it’s probably wrong, so I’ll keep it to myself for now.
Maybe by the time I’ve read all 5 volumes, I’ll be able to keep track of all the names of all the characters and of all the names of the same character, but I’m not holding my breath. Thankfully, I have my BR friends helping on that front.
That’s all I have for now. Sorry, the second part of the story’s waiting.
Here’s my review: I’ve bought the entire rest of the “series” (which is really the rest of the book) as soon as I finished the first part.
That’s not a review, you say? Well, this is not an actual book, just the beginning of one, so….
Also, if you’ve seen the price tags on these ebooks, you should understand that was high praise.
Okay, here we go. Random thoughts to follow.
I can’t remember the last time a book that’s written in a way that shouldn’t work for me kept me so entertained and made me laugh out loud so much.
Wei Wuxian is rapidly climbing the ranking of Most Oblivious Character Ever and, believe me, he’s got some pretty good competition (looking at you, Damen).
Lan Wangji has the patience of a saint (also, I’ve loved him since the first time he appeared on page, )
Jiang Cheng should stop worrying about
I have a theory about the , but it seems so obvious that it’s probably wrong, so I’ll keep it to myself for now.
Maybe by the time I’ve read all 5 volumes, I’ll be able to keep track of all the names of all the characters and of all the names of the same character, but I’m not holding my breath. Thankfully, I have my BR friends helping on that front.
That’s all I have for now. Sorry, the second part of the story’s waiting.
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August 29, 2024
i love wangxian more than i love myself.
okay now onto the real review. honestly, i heavily prefer the unofficial translation that i read back in 2020 over this one. i don't know what it is about the writing but i swear there were some grammatical mistakes as well as a good amount of the book being written like something out of a wattpad. there were also many different terminologies used in this official translation that don't match the translations used in the donghua and live action. because of that, i was very uncomfortable reading some parts due to not being used to having certain things called a different way. that isn't a big problem though to people who are being introduced to the story for the first time through these books, but i've been in this world for 4+ years now, and having certain things named differently than what i am used to just wasn't it. the last thing i wanted to mention is the no warning flashback chapters. again, as someone who knows this world, i knew when the chapters were suddenly 13 years into the past, but if you don't know the plot, it could get confusing to read because there is nowhere that mentions if you are reading about the present or the past. however, after all these complaints, am i still rating it a 5 star? yes.
okay now onto the real review. honestly, i heavily prefer the unofficial translation that i read back in 2020 over this one. i don't know what it is about the writing but i swear there were some grammatical mistakes as well as a good amount of the book being written like something out of a wattpad. there were also many different terminologies used in this official translation that don't match the translations used in the donghua and live action. because of that, i was very uncomfortable reading some parts due to not being used to having certain things called a different way. that isn't a big problem though to people who are being introduced to the story for the first time through these books, but i've been in this world for 4+ years now, and having certain things named differently than what i am used to just wasn't it. the last thing i wanted to mention is the no warning flashback chapters. again, as someone who knows this world, i knew when the chapters were suddenly 13 years into the past, but if you don't know the plot, it could get confusing to read because there is nowhere that mentions if you are reading about the present or the past. however, after all these complaints, am i still rating it a 5 star? yes.
August 27, 2025
4.5 ★.ᐟ
"Do you want it?" he lifted Bichen in front of his eyes.
"I want it."
As if he thought this wasn't enough to prove his desire, Lan Wangji grasped the hand that Wei Wuxian held Bichen with and stared into his eyes with those light-colored pupils. Taking in a soft breath, he repeated his words, emphasizing every syllable,
"...I want it."
ooooookay Lan Wangji enough yearning, now, go get oiled up, won't you?
January 26, 2023
wangxian cured my depression
July 24, 2025
2025 Reread with Teal and Rosa:
When you can find new insights into events and characters, and find new things to discuss and debate each time you reread, that's peak writing.
2023 Reread with Teal, Rosa and Elena:
The tongue is not an aperture. And people have orifices, not apertures. 😂
But can we take a minute to appreciate Xichen, the best big bro and wingman ever to exist? 🥰
Reread review 2023 (BR with Teal):
I wasn't actually planning to reread this but just to skim along while Teal read it, but it's just so fun and readable, I kept getting pulled in and ended up reading more than skimming. Especially now that I've seen the show an unhealthy number of times, I was surprised by how much they changed in it. I did notice some changes while watching the first time, but it had been long enough since I read these earlier volumes that it was more of the "is that how it was?" and "I don't remember that" than the "why did they do that?" variety, although there was some of that last one too.
Wuxian is hilarious and has no shame. Wangji is too precious for this world and deserves all the good things. The kids are hilarious too, and I love how Wuxian is forever perplexed by his own reputation, lol.
2022 Original review:
I wasn't too sure about this one at first, but it grew on me and I ended up really enjoying it. It has an undeniable charm, and the writing style has a whimsical tone to it, despite all the dead bodies and spirits running around. It did take me awhile to adjust to the dialogue, which gave me some tonal whiplash at first. It kept reminding me of how a twelve-year old might think an adult talks, on one hand serious, on the other hand, not so much. Like, imagine if Juliet said, "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo? Seriously, though, what's your deal?" LOL It's not quite that extreme, but just for an example, it works. But then I decided this is 1) fantasy, 2) a translation from Chinese, and 3) a genre I'm not used to, and it didn't make much sense to quibble over some modernisms.
I really enjoyed the characters, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. I wanted to smack Wuxian constantly. He's one of those happy-go-lucky types who never take anything too seriously, which I imagine some readers might find exhausting. But they have Lan Wangji to balance that out a little. They seem like polar opposites on the surface, but there's still a lot we don't know about their pasts as of the end of this volume, and I'm curious to see what will be revealed, as well as other mysteries that are still up in the air. I have some theories, but they're probably wrong. Like I said, a lot left to uncover.
There is a character guide, and various other guides and glossaries at the end, including a pronunciation guide which just confused me more. I know I wasn't pronouncing a single name right in my head. 🙈 There are various illustrations throughout (all in black and white except for the frontispiece), and I really liked the style of those.
My library has the next volumes available, but I do also have the free fan translation, so I'm going to skim over that tonight and decide which version to proceed with.
When you can find new insights into events and characters, and find new things to discuss and debate each time you reread, that's peak writing.
2023 Reread with Teal, Rosa and Elena:
The tongue is not an aperture. And people have orifices, not apertures. 😂
But can we take a minute to appreciate Xichen, the best big bro and wingman ever to exist? 🥰
Reread review 2023 (BR with Teal):
I wasn't actually planning to reread this but just to skim along while Teal read it, but it's just so fun and readable, I kept getting pulled in and ended up reading more than skimming. Especially now that I've seen the show an unhealthy number of times, I was surprised by how much they changed in it. I did notice some changes while watching the first time, but it had been long enough since I read these earlier volumes that it was more of the "is that how it was?" and "I don't remember that" than the "why did they do that?" variety, although there was some of that last one too.
Wuxian is hilarious and has no shame. Wangji is too precious for this world and deserves all the good things. The kids are hilarious too, and I love how Wuxian is forever perplexed by his own reputation, lol.
2022 Original review:
I wasn't too sure about this one at first, but it grew on me and I ended up really enjoying it. It has an undeniable charm, and the writing style has a whimsical tone to it, despite all the dead bodies and spirits running around. It did take me awhile to adjust to the dialogue, which gave me some tonal whiplash at first. It kept reminding me of how a twelve-year old might think an adult talks, on one hand serious, on the other hand, not so much. Like, imagine if Juliet said, "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo? Seriously, though, what's your deal?" LOL It's not quite that extreme, but just for an example, it works. But then I decided this is 1) fantasy, 2) a translation from Chinese, and 3) a genre I'm not used to, and it didn't make much sense to quibble over some modernisms.
I really enjoyed the characters, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. I wanted to smack Wuxian constantly. He's one of those happy-go-lucky types who never take anything too seriously, which I imagine some readers might find exhausting. But they have Lan Wangji to balance that out a little. They seem like polar opposites on the surface, but there's still a lot we don't know about their pasts as of the end of this volume, and I'm curious to see what will be revealed, as well as other mysteries that are still up in the air. I have some theories, but they're probably wrong. Like I said, a lot left to uncover.
There is a character guide, and various other guides and glossaries at the end, including a pronunciation guide which just confused me more. I know I wasn't pronouncing a single name right in my head. 🙈 There are various illustrations throughout (all in black and white except for the frontispiece), and I really liked the style of those.
My library has the next volumes available, but I do also have the free fan translation, so I'm going to skim over that tonight and decide which version to proceed with.
Want to read
April 26, 2023bitch, you're next, and i'm watching the untamed as well!
January 13, 2026
5 'I can fix him I can love him as he is' stars
How to write a review for a book that changed your life? Ok, I'm being dramatic, but MDZS certainly did change my reading tastes or at least showed me the genre that I was searching for a very long time. I first read this book before I knew what danmei or xianxia is, before I knew it will pull me into 5 years-and-going long obssession with c-dramas, c-novels, chinese music and language. If there was one good thing that came out of covid-quarantine, it's this! And it started with Pinterest starting to show me CQL's bts gifs, and then I somehow managed to remember these two guys with very long hair to recognize them on Netflix's thumbnail, watching first two episode totally confused, listening to Wuji on repeat, finally finding fan-translation, and became completely consumed by this world before even knowing that I'll one day own a whole bookcase of danmei. And not even this horrible official translation will ever be able to lessen my love for this book, for MXTX, and especially this couple 🤍🖤
Review to come when... let's say I'll eventually catch up with all my reviews but today it is not this day 🫣
5 'I can fix him I can love him as he is' stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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How to write a review for a book that changed your life? Ok, I'm being dramatic, but MDZS certainly did change my reading tastes or at least showed me the genre that I was searching for a very long time. I first read this book before I knew what danmei or xianxia is, before I knew it will pull me into 5 years-and-going long obssession with c-dramas, c-novels, chinese music and language. If there was one good thing that came out of covid-quarantine, it's this! And it started with Pinterest starting to show me CQL's bts gifs, and then I somehow managed to remember these two guys with very long hair to recognize them on Netflix's thumbnail, watching first two episode totally confused, listening to Wuji on repeat, finally finding fan-translation, and became completely consumed by this world before even knowing that I'll one day own a whole bookcase of danmei. And not even this horrible official translation will ever be able to lessen my love for this book, for MXTX, and especially this couple 🤍🖤
Review to come when... let's say I'll eventually catch up with all my reviews but today it is not this day 🫣
5
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February 12, 2023
اینو خیلی وقت پیش ترجمشو خوندم و واقعا واقعا دوستش داشتم و فکرکنم مثل خیلی از طرفدارای دیگه مودائو اول سریالشو دیدم بعد رمانشو خوندم😅
در حال جز رمان ها و سریال هایی هست که خیلی دوستش دارم و از خوندن/دیدنش لذت بردم🥰
پ.ن: این فکرکنم نسخه کمیک داستان باشه اگه کسی نسخه رمانو تو گودریدز سراغ داره لطفا برام بفرسته تا اونو جز کتابای خونده شدم بزارم😅
در حال جز رمان ها و سریال هایی هست که خیلی دوستش دارم و از خوندن/دیدنش لذت بردم🥰
پ.ن: این فکرکنم نسخه کمیک داستان باشه اگه کسی نسخه رمانو تو گودریدز سراغ داره لطفا برام بفرسته تا اونو جز کتابای خونده شدم بزارم😅
April 6, 2025
Lan Wangji is literally yearning final boss
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