/lit/ - Literature

Progression Fantasy fag doing a 20 book slog. People expressed interests in my reviews on this slog of a journey.

Slowed down for a while there due to work but I've wrapped up A Thousand Li and it was surprisingly good. I recall it being one of the first major xianxia to cross the pond and it shows, as a lot of the western xianxia I've read has borrowed formula and flow. For a Chinese author, his character writing is the strongest part of the entire book.

MC is personable and humble, rising at his own speed while befriending a few odd ball characters. Unfortunately he spends most of this book by himself but the journey was unique and introduced some odd features to the world. The cultivation takes a back seat to all of this, being a basic numbers system that relies on weapons primarily. One can learn the Truth of a Blade, Its Soul and then its Being which allows them to become one with it.

I enjoyed how the author would describe the flow of movement to a sword technique and then give it a name, such as the Dragon Step. Once its described initially, the author short-hands it from there and expands on other techniques. By the end of the book you can figure out most of the MC's main kata - Dragon Step, Swallow cuts the sky, etc, etc. It's never used as a crutch though, and the author fills in these absences by having the MC continue to develop his techniques.

Probably my favorite book since Cradle. This book also made me review my number scale and adjust some scores...:
Cradle by Will Wight - 9/10
A Thousand Li by Tao Wong - 7/10
Virtuous Sons by Ya Boy - 6/10
Bastion by Phil Tucker - 6/10
Reverend Insanity by Gu Zhen Ren - 4/10
Reincarnation: Threads by Michael Head - 3/10

Next up - Forge of Destiny by Yrsillar. I'm about 15 chapters in and definitely impressed. This book is from Royal Road but has completed volumes versus Virtuous Sons episodic delivery.