I enjoyed the start of this novel, but by chapter 178, you can see the nationalism has gone from a sense of pride in one's nation and history, and into denigrating others to establishment dominance. Its pandering and, frankly, greatly diminishes the story. The entire 'beat up the foreigners' mini tournament arc is entirely superfluous to the flow of the story, meaning it could be removed and nothing would have been lost.
I am quite understanding of the historical context of hostility and conflicts around the world. But when you write a novel, you are in charge of the world as its author. The whole fantasy-revenge-catharsis schtick is overdone in modern novels - the bullied kid gets OP and seeks revenge is such a common idea as to be ubiquitous in light novels, for example. Simply going from 'bullied kid' to the concept of 'bullied nation' doesn't make it any better, if anything it makes it worse because while one can emphasize with an individual's pain and struggles, to apply the same rubric to the collective people of a nation seeking revenge on the people of another nation, for a conflict that ended quite literally 40, 50, 60 years before they were born, is hard to emphasize with.
A cultivator, a daoist, is someone that has gone beyond being human, someone who is no longer mortal. For all the talk about dao hearts, following the dao, etc, I see nothing but an author's mind completely ensnared by the red dust of the mortal world.
To sum up my review, including criticism of the author; promising talent, heavenly gift, but a flawed heart, cannot reach the apex.
I enjoyed the start of this novel, but by chapter 178, you can see the nationalism has gone from a sense of pride in one's nation and history, and into denigrating others to establishment dominance. Its pandering and, frankly, greatly diminishes the story. The entire 'beat up the foreigners' mini tournament arc is entirely superfluous to the flow of the story, meaning it could be removed and nothing would have been lost.
I am quite understanding of the historical context of hostility and conflicts around the world. But when you write a novel, you are in charge of the world as its author. The whole fantasy-revenge-catharsis schtick is overdone in modern novels - the bullied kid gets OP and seeks revenge is such a common idea as to be ubiquitous in light novels, for example. Simply going from 'bullied kid' to the concept of 'bullied nation' doesn't make it any better, if anything it makes it worse because while one can emphasize with an individual's pain and struggles, to apply the same rubric to the collective people of a nation seeking revenge on the people of another nation, for a conflict that ended quite literally 40, 50, 60 years before they were born, is hard to emphasize with.
A cultivator, a daoist, is someone that has gone beyond being human, someone who is no longer mortal. For all the talk about dao hearts, following the dao, etc, I see nothing but an author's mind completely ensnared by the red dust of the mortal world.
To sum up my review, including criticism of the author; promising talent, heavenly gift, but a flawed heart, cannot reach the apex.
