Brief overview of the book
Synopsis: Born the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedicated study and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise may also fall, and fall he does — cast from the heavens and banished to the world below.
Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time, angering most of the gods in the process. To repay his debts, he is sent to the Mortal Realm to hunt down violent ghosts and troublemaking spirits who prey on the living. Along his travels, he meets the fascinating and brilliant San Lang, a young man with whom he feels an instant connection. Yet San Lang is clearly more than he appears… What mysteries lie behind that carefree smile?
Genre: Xianxia, Fantasy, Romance, LGBT, Light Novel
Pages: 416
Publishing date: September 1, 2020
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
My personal rating: 6/10
Originally written in Chinese, translated into English by Suika
Thoughts and feelings
I had picked this book up a couple years ago simply because the cover looked cool. That’s it. The art was nice, you can’t deny that. I left it on a shelf for a while, probably because I had other books to read. And then maybe about 2 years ago, I started to try to read it. I just couldn’t get into it and was struggling to keep track of the characters, particularly the ones with two names (even now, having read it recently, I can’t recall them and have to search them up: Mu Qing/ Xuan Zhen and Feng Xin/Nan Yang). So I put it down and got on with reading something else.
Fast forward over 2 years later, I tried reading it again and finished it in less than a day, simply as a result of a road trip and being bored. It was a decent book, I think. Not what I thought it was going to be but amusing at times, interesting here and there but nothing spectacular.
I admittedly snorted at some points, out of amusement at Xie Lian’s antics. There were definitely fun bits.
I really expected the writing to be phenomenal and wow-ing. Maybe it is because it was translated, or more likely because what constitutes as ‘good’ in English Literature isn’t equivalent in other languages so I had quite different expectations. But though it did seem to read fluidly to an extent, it also seemed to not. I was- and am quite frankly, simply not used to reading Light Novels. I never have before. To put it another way, it reads like a Manga. That’s how the characters acted. Nothing against this way of writing- it’s just not my own cup of tea. It might be for others, but it wasn’t mine.
Though I did not fully know what to expect within, I don’t think that I was expecting the darker elements to this, or the gore. I thought I’d be getting into adventures and lighthearted fun but there were some more gruesome parts to this book that had me… not enjoying some parts to the extent I would’ve liked. It was executed well, that is certain, but I just wasn’t expecting it. That’s not to say it was bad though!
But regardless, there were aspects I liked. It was a fun book. The exploration was fun, Xie Lian’s character was amusing and entertaining, as was San Lang/Hua Cheng and the relationship between them- I quite liked how it had begun to develop! They were engaging, I was rooting for their friendship to blossom (and I knew from spoilers that it would become something more).
The book’s pacing is also well done- not too rushed, not too slow. It flows fluidly and smoothly from place to place. And I liked how each section was a new story- sort of like a-day-in-the-life, something that I quite enjoy! I got to see the different sides of characters, engage with them more and see their bonds develop, as well as the world building; it felt fairly stable, consistent and easily understandable. I did find the world itself engaging, with the concept of worship and the heavenly officials- I really did like this aspect.
The illustrations within were also very nice to look at. Good art which illustrated the scene well, giving it a burst of life- that I felt was needed. That makes me think of another thing- the writing lacked some sort of life and emotion, I feel. There were some, but not really as much as I felt there ought to have been. It felt like I was watching a journey from a distance rather than riding up there next to the characters. Yes, I could imagine and picture the scenes fairly vividly, but at the same time it felt like I wasn’t fully engaged with the emotional scenes there within.
Summary
Well, this wasn’t my cup of tea. It amused me, but I won’t be continuing with the series. I acknowledge that others might love it, but I personally don’t, though I do not think that it is a bad book. Far from it actually, I have read far worse before. (The writing is better than that of Divergent, I think.) But it is just not my style. I want to say both that it was a good book and simultaneously, not my book.
Would I re-read it? Unlikely. No more needed to be said.
Would I recommend it? Light novel fans, Chinese web-novel fans, people who like lighthearted books sprinkled in with a bit of darker aspects, yes! To others- to those who like contemporary English Literature, probably not.
