Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation
by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù
Genres: Fantasy, Light Novels, RomancePages: 379
Series: Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (LN) #3
Rating:
Synopsis:SHOOT DOWN THE SUN
The bloody war against the Wen Clan once led Wei Wuxian to seek power in demonic cultivation, and the dark acts he committed drove a wedge between him and Lan Wangji. Now, those old sins come back to haunt him as his reincarnated identity is revealed to the cultivation world. But even as the other clans call for Wei Wuxian’s death, Lan Wangji stands by him, making Wei Wuxian realize what he took for disapproval in the past might have been a much deeper emotion.
The third volume of MXTX’s Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation flew by for me, with just a little pacing mismatch for me because of the rapid flips between the two timelines. It’s true that the long interludes in the past in Heaven Official’s Blessing weren’t always appealing either, but it’s weird and disorientating to flip back and forth quickly between chapters. I guess there’s no perfect answer there.
I loved seeing a bit more of young Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, all the same, especially Wei Wuxian’s first kiss, and all the tragic goings on of the fall of the Jiang Clan. I’m curious how much we ever learn about Wei Wuxian’s time in the Burial Mounds, and how he got back out: it might be one of those cases where less is more, much as in Heaven Official’s Blessing we never learn exactly how much Xie Lian has been poisoned, tortured, nearly killed, etc.
There are still a lot of characters and a lot going on, but I feel like I’ve got hold of most of the important things now. I’m curious how everything comes together, and — unusually for me — very tempted to start on the next book right away.
Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)
I’m slowly making my way through Heaven Official’s Blessing and I’ll probably get around to Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation eventually as well, although I feel like I already know all of the plot already!
I feel like some people really like time skips and multiple timelines in books, but I often don’t enjoy them exactly for what you said – both methods of including them can feel either frustrating or disorienting! I often find that I get into the story only for it to change and then I have to get into it again. Very frustrating!
Keira @Keira’s Bookmark recently posted…[Review] Every Moment Was You by Ha Taewan
I’ve enjoyed all of MXTX’s work: Grandmaster is maybe my least favourite, but I ended up liking it a lot too.
MXTX’s timeskips really drive me nuts at times. But I don’t think there’s any perfect way to handle them, and some of them are so important…