Deathblade
Translatora month ago
·
EditedRecommended
I'm writing a totally new review after reading past chapter 60. If you want to see my original review, it's at the bottom. In case you're not familiar with how Wuxiaworld works, I have the translator tag, not because I'm the translator of THIS novel, but because I'm a WW translator of other novels.
Translation quality: Very good. There are some things I would handle differently, but overall I give it a thumbs up. Smooth and very easy to read. There are occasional mistakes, but being a translator who makes mistakes, I understand that.
Writing quality: Generally good. There are many situations in which scenes could have been a lot more efficient, leading me to just skim past the fluff to get to the point. In some cases, I have been getting bored with some of the side stories of the supporting characters. There are some elements of the story that the author didn't seem to think through very clearly. There's a part in the mid-30's that a lot of readers took issue with in which the MC makes a bad decision. Honestly, that decision could have been completely justified with a sentence or two, so I'm not going to have a conniption over it. But it's a good example of how the author seems excited to get to certain scenes or events without doing the best job of setting them up. In the end, this is not Jing Yong. But it's not supposed to be, so I'm fine with it.
Characters: The protagonist is a top martial artist who is mostly silent and a bit naive, but who is a good person. He is not invincible, but is a badass. He has a tragic backstory that is slowly being revealed. There is an expanding cast of supporting characters, most of whom are interesting and have unique backstories and abilities. Even going into roughly chapter 60, there seem to be new supporting characters being added, and additional depth going into the existing characters. It's not uncommon for the author to shift POV to a supporting character, sometimes for a few chapters in a row, before going back to the protagonist. The characters generally act like real people with a wuxia flare, although there have been a couple instances in which I felt that a character acted in a way that didn't make sense. I'm worried about the possibility of the cast getting too bloated, but time will tell.
Story: I'm not totally sure of the overall point of the story. It's not that the story is episodic. Instead, the author is clearly trying to build a complex story that revolves around typical wuxia themes like revenge, defense of the nation against foreign invaders, and, of course, martial arts. I'm fine with going along for the ride as the complex plot is revealed. I feel that the story could be a lot tighter. What has taken 60 chapters probably could have been done in 40-50. That said, I'm still curious to see how things develop.
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I'll go ahead and be the first review. Yay. Below is my original review after having read 12 chapters, and after that are updates as I've gone further.
First let me say I was excited to see an actual WUXIA novel on Wuxiaworld. And yes this is actual wuxia. Not xianxia, cultivation, xuanhuan, etc.
Translation quality: Very good. There are some things I would handle differently, but overall I give it a thumbs up. Smooth and very easy to read.
Story and characters: It's hard to say after only 12 chapters. Up to this point, everything is still being set up. I really have no idea what the larger plot will be. The MC is mysterious to the point where I feel like I know nothing about him. He has a few interesting traits. I assume we will learn more about him going forward. Supporting characters so far have not had enough time to become relevant.
Action scenes: Cool so far.
Overall opinion: I'm enjoying it. I get the feeling it's going to take a good 20-30 chapters, maybe more, before the story really gets going. It's a recommend from me, at least so far.
UPDATES
Chapter 24 - Up to this point, everything from above is mostly the same. The biggest change is that there is now a lot of detail going into some of the supporting characters. In fact, there are multiple chapters where the MC (he is the MC, right...?) is not present, and everything is from the POV of supporting characters. I still don't know if there is some sort of overarching plot, but there are hints there could be. There are some points in which dialogue or plots points seem forced or, at least, not very well thought out. For instance, here is a summarized bit of dialogue:
Cool swordsman: "What makes you think I would ever help you??"
Hot female martial artist: "Because I couldn't find anyone else to help me.
Cool swordsman: "I will indeed help you."
..... Okay..... Anyway, I can forgive those kinds of things. I'm still reading and looking forward to more chapters.
Translation quality: Very good. There are some things I would handle differently, but overall I give it a thumbs up. Smooth and very easy to read. There are occasional mistakes, but being a translator who makes mistakes, I understand that.
Writing quality: Generally good. There are many situations in which scenes could have been a lot more efficient, leading me to just skim past the fluff to get to the point. In some cases, I have been getting bored with some of the side stories of the supporting characters. There are some elements of the story that the author didn't seem to think through very clearly. There's a part in the mid-30's that a lot of readers took issue with in which the MC makes a bad decision. Honestly, that decision could have been completely justified with a sentence or two, so I'm not going to have a conniption over it. But it's a good example of how the author seems excited to get to certain scenes or events without doing the best job of setting them up. In the end, this is not Jing Yong. But it's not supposed to be, so I'm fine with it.
Characters: The protagonist is a top martial artist who is mostly silent and a bit naive, but who is a good person. He is not invincible, but is a badass. He has a tragic backstory that is slowly being revealed. There is an expanding cast of supporting characters, most of whom are interesting and have unique backstories and abilities. Even going into roughly chapter 60, there seem to be new supporting characters being added, and additional depth going into the existing characters. It's not uncommon for the author to shift POV to a supporting character, sometimes for a few chapters in a row, before going back to the protagonist. The characters generally act like real people with a wuxia flare, although there have been a couple instances in which I felt that a character acted in a way that didn't make sense. I'm worried about the possibility of the cast getting too bloated, but time will tell.
Story: I'm not totally sure of the overall point of the story. It's not that the story is episodic. Instead, the author is clearly trying to build a complex story that revolves around typical wuxia themes like revenge, defense of the nation against foreign invaders, and, of course, martial arts. I'm fine with going along for the ride as the complex plot is revealed. I feel that the story could be a lot tighter. What has taken 60 chapters probably could have been done in 40-50. That said, I'm still curious to see how things develop.
---------------------
I'll go ahead and be the first review. Yay. Below is my original review after having read 12 chapters, and after that are updates as I've gone further.
First let me say I was excited to see an actual WUXIA novel on Wuxiaworld. And yes this is actual wuxia. Not xianxia, cultivation, xuanhuan, etc.
Translation quality: Very good. There are some things I would handle differently, but overall I give it a thumbs up. Smooth and very easy to read.
Story and characters: It's hard to say after only 12 chapters. Up to this point, everything is still being set up. I really have no idea what the larger plot will be. The MC is mysterious to the point where I feel like I know nothing about him. He has a few interesting traits. I assume we will learn more about him going forward. Supporting characters so far have not had enough time to become relevant.
Action scenes: Cool so far.
Overall opinion: I'm enjoying it. I get the feeling it's going to take a good 20-30 chapters, maybe more, before the story really gets going. It's a recommend from me, at least so far.
UPDATES
Chapter 24 - Up to this point, everything from above is mostly the same. The biggest change is that there is now a lot of detail going into some of the supporting characters. In fact, there are multiple chapters where the MC (he is the MC, right...?) is not present, and everything is from the POV of supporting characters. I still don't know if there is some sort of overarching plot, but there are hints there could be. There are some points in which dialogue or plots points seem forced or, at least, not very well thought out. For instance, here is a summarized bit of dialogue:
Cool swordsman: "What makes you think I would ever help you??"
Hot female martial artist: "Because I couldn't find anyone else to help me.
Cool swordsman: "I will indeed help you."
..... Okay..... Anyway, I can forgive those kinds of things. I'm still reading and looking forward to more chapters.