This is just another xiaxia novel about the fall of a mortal into depravity. I don't know why authors in this genre like to make main characters that keep getting more and more amoral as they grow strong, I certainly don't like wuss and "goody two shoes" characters, but a psychopath that kills everyone who "cross" him, steals and exhorts people just because he can is not my idea of an interesting character either, even torture and kidnap take place and while he doesn't rape his freaking pet loves to
by the end of v4 Meng Hao has already killed over half a million people, common people, elderly, women, children.... maybe more, and no I'm not exaggerating, the author just purposely mentions the unsavory bits when talking about his enemies but conveniently avoids saying that in those whole towns, clans, outposts. etc, children and common folk lived, its still implied thou
Worst still is that the author tries to justify this kind of behaviour, pictures the main char as a balanced person and even goes as far as calling this amoral progression as "becoming mature".
My second gripe with this novel is the reason by which the main character is able to grow strong, all Xiaxia have them, rebirth, an invisible teacher, sudden appearance in a different world and so on, in this one the reason is LUCK, yep, luck, and yeah, I know luck and destiny/fate have a similar meaning in this novel. Still, the main char happens to find all he need on the way and all falls into pieces for him to just happen to get what he needs when he needs. In my opinion, even if the other methods are cliched they are hundred of times better than this convenient crap about luck, oh and how the author likes to use that word again and again as justification.
As for the good, it's hard to say since I read a translation but the writing is not bad, better than other Wuxia and Xiaxia novels I read at least and for the most part there is little repetition of phrases (which I find very annoying), so good job the author, the translator or both, can't tell (The translator at least does an incredible job, using a variety of phrasing and words, which makes for good prose, not just sticking with the cliched styles. You can really see the effort invested in the translation [Edit: unfortunately he seems to be running out of steam in the 4th book and the writing becomes mediocre]). Also, they clever and scheming personality of the MC is well done, you can often see the pieces of the plan falling into place in a logical way which I always find satisfying. Also there are some pretty nice uses of rhetoric which are also very satisfying.
Edit: After finishing the 4th book I can add:
This has become extremely long-winded, the author is becoming increasingly verbose and takes chapters and chapters to describe exhaustively (leaving no room to doubt just how uber the MC is) something that could fit in one chapter, thus making the story unnecessarily long, Ej. I don't need 4 charapters explaining how the MC extorts a person!. The same content could be told in 30-40% of the pages the author used and still use good prose and be descriptive, given this has something like 20.000 pages that amount of superfluousness just kills it.
The luck factor mentioned above gets even worse, the MC seems to be the exception to all rules and past paradigmas, he's unprecedented or something not seen for tens of thousands of years in everything he does and if there ever is something he can't handle some miracle happen, he learns a new ability out of nowhere or a mysterious invincible figure pops-up saves his ass and disappears. By this point he has over 20 secret/heavenly/forbidden/forgotten legacies, one of which would make him world unique, he needs over 20! and it only the 4th volume!
Last and by far the most off-putting is how it's progressively becoming a self-mastubation ode about how great the MC is, how some hate him, some love him but, no one would ever dare! to ignore him, given the MC is the authors creation and thus in many ways a part of him I find this rather pathetic to be honest. Talk about kissing your own ass.
The result of all this is a terribly boring story were except at the start, all miraculously is turned into good fortune for the MC, there is thus no suspense since how can the MC not be awesome, the best ever, invincible, etc, and lest not forget an unparalleled orator and actor. There is nothing more boring than a perfect character (except maybe a perfect char with sh*t personality...). Dropped after v4 If this is the best Xiaxia, I'm guessing this genre is not for me.
By the way, the author should really be more consistent with time and distance, its a senseless mess. Ej:
at one point Meng Hao ask a certain bird to form a circle around him of 300.000km, he and his followers do so in a few breaths running (~300.000km/s is the speed of light by the way), after which Meng Hao being in the middle can talk and see the guys surrounding him. Did you know Earth circumference is ~40.000km? Need I say more? Ohh, apparently this is a small part of the smallest "country" in the world... by that reference and that crossing the western desert (less than half the world) flying non stop should take over 10 years time, that planet should be at least 10 light year wide... Oh, just to screw things up more, a few chapter later faster people take several minutes at top speed to cover 500km (something that might actually make some sense), so which is it? Even if the 300.000km is actually km² (300km radius) and it slipped the author or translator mind to say or my eyes to read, it still doesn't add up, Its even revealed later that at the time his divine sense was at most 3km in a straight line.. meaning he can't see or talk with someone further than that.
In a dumb effort to make every single crap sound amazing the author screws up time, quantities and distances all the time.
(-41)
