Tag: Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 6

Posted October 30, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 6

Heaven Official's Blessing

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Pages: 403
Series: Heaven Official's Blessing / Tian Guan Ci Fu #6
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

BODY IN ABYSS, HEART IN PARADISE

White No-Face, Xie Lian’s greatest fear and most hated enemy, has arrived…or so it seems. While the ghost with the half-crying, half-smiling mask is somewhere nearby, the creature is elusive as always, taunting Xie Lian from just out of reach and promising the total destruction of everything he holds dear.

As Xie Lian confronts the trauma of his last encounter with the terrifying ghost, Hua Cheng will do anything in his power to protect him. But White No-Face’s identity and purpose are not the only mysteries to unravel, as Hua Cheng also has a history in the labyrinthine tunnels beneath Mount Tonglu. Will Xie Lian finally discover the full connection they share—and learn the true depths of Hua Cheng’s devotion?

The sixth volume of MXTX’s Heaven Official’s Blessing is certainly full of ups and downs. The first section, in the “present” of the narrative, answers a few mysteries and gives us a moment we’ve been waiting for since the first book: Xie Lian acknowledges Hua Cheng’s feelings for him, and indicates that he returns them. It’s a lovely, lovely scene…

And then we slip off into a flashback even darker and sadder than the first. It’s better-paced, in my opinion, but it’s an extremely rough read, as Xie Lian is manipulated and cast down by his people. He loses his way severely, and it doesn’t really help to know that he ends up being true to himself again — you still have to read about him going through it.

Reading it with an eye for metaphor, and remembering how important Xie Lian’s virginity is as a theme, it’s hard to avoid drawing parallels with the incidents on Beizi Hill in the first flashback, and reading the mass-stabbing as a literal and metaphorical violation, so it’s all a bit dark.

There’s important stuff in this volume, but the flashback is a really rough read. It’s hard to decide quite how to rate it — but the scene from the cover is so good it has to be a 4/5, even with all the misery of the flashback.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 5

Posted October 3, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 5

Heaven Official's Blessing

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Pages: 465
Series: Heaven Official's Blessing / Tian Guan Ci Fu #5
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

LAST GHOST STANDING, FIRST LOVE BLOSSOMS

Ghosts are converging on the cursed Mount Tonglu for a massive battle royale, the sole survivor of which may become a Ghost King, a being of unimaginable power. Xie Lian is sent to secretly infiltrate and try to prevent this--by destroying any ghosts strong enough to stand a chance. His heavenly powers are weakened near the cursed mountain, but he has one trump card on his side--Hua Cheng, who has survived Mount Tonglu before. As they struggle against murderous ghosts and the mountain's strange defenses, Hua Cheng's knowledge of the area may prove invaluable. But can they even begin to unravel the cursed peak's secrets?

There are parts of the fifth volume of Heaven Official’s Blessing that just cry out for the soundtrack to be “Yakety Sax”. It’s amazing that I get along with MXTX’s books so well, given that isn’t an uncommon element, but somehow it just fits (at least, now that I’m used to it).

It’s hard to review each volume separately, to be honest; because they were designed to follow continuously from each other, and I’ve started reading volume six. So many little things are starting to add up, and there’s the whole mystery of Wuyong and why there are so many similarities between the story of its prince and that of Xie Lian.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned the internal art yet, but I do love it — and especially the image of Hua Cheng as a puppetmaster, looking tiny and evil while Xie Lian just smiles.

Of course, there are quite a lot of coincidences here, with certain other characters showing up, and I’m also crying out to know what happened to Shi Qingxuan. I trust that that plotline hasn’t been dropped entirely, but I want to know what’s happened now! So, as ever, I’m impatient to read on, and I don’t suggest you read volume five without volume six to hand.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 4

Posted September 20, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 4

Heaven Official's Blessing

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 419
Series: Heaven Official's Blessing / Tian Guan Ci Fu #4
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

FATES ALIGNED, BODIES INTERTWINED

The Reverend of Empty Words, a monster that feeds off the fears of the fortunate, is hunting Xie Lian’s friend, the Wind Master Shi Qingxuan. Knowing that his abysmal luck inoculates him from the creature’s power, Xie Lian doesn’t hesitate to throw himself into harm’s way—to Hua Cheng’s horror and panic. But another one of the Four Calamities may be closer than anyone knows, and even a ghost as powerful as Hua Cheng can lose control under the right circumstances. With his inhibitions gone, will desire overtake him?

Volume four of Heaven Official’s Blessing certainly goes places! It continues the story opened in the previous volume, digging into what’s going on with Shi Qingxuan and the Reverend of Empty Words, but it also begins a plotline involving Mount Tonglu, and another involving Ling Wen. There are some pretty epic reveals… and it also seems like Xie Lian is beginning to realise that he has feelings for Hua Cheng, as well.

There’s no flashback in this volume, and it really helps with the pacing — along with the fact that Xie Lian never seems to stop. Sure, there are some lovely domestic scenes with Hua Cheng, but there’s also a lot of plot going on. It isn’t like The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, where it’s basically all about Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe — there’s a lot more sidequesting going on, which gives the characters time to breathe and develop, and also shows us a lot more of the world and how things work.

To be clear, I love SVSSS! Different things suit different books. It’s also not to say that the events don’t drive Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s relationship, because there are absolutely developments there the whole time. It just feels like it’s driven more by other stories, in which Xie Lian and Hua Cheng play a part and which contribute to their story.

I’m excited for the stuff on Mount Tonglu, next!

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 3

Posted September 8, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 3

Heaven Official's Blessing

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 476
Series: Heaven Official's Blessing / Tian Guan Ci Fu #3
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

SOMETHING TO FIGHT FOR, SOMEONE TO LIVE FOR

Gods should never meddle in the affairs of mortals, but Xie Lian is not one to follow the rules when lives are at risk. He spits in the face of heaven and its laws and descends in a fury to save his country from drought and civil war. Yet this golden child gets a harsh dose of reality when he discovers just how little one individual—even a god—can do to save a crumbling nation. As the people reject and betray him, one young soldier stands by Xie Lian—a boy with a face wrapped in bandages and a fierce loyalty in his heart. In this chaotic past, can an unshakable bond grow from the ashes of unimaginable destruction?

Volume three of Heaven Official’s Blessing is very up-and-down. The first part is the conclusion of the second arc, which is an extended flashback filling in details of events we pretty much knew about already. Much as I liked seeing Xie Lian in an earlier stage of his life, that quickly palled. While I know the significance of seeing Honghong-er and the unnamed little soldier, and it was important to see Xie Lian fallible and foolhardy, and you gotta appreciate the rudimentary epidemiology (at least, you do if you’re me)… it feels like it all just took too long.

That said, the third arc hits the ground running and had me quickly grabbing volume four to continue the story. It feels like so much happens in the “present” arc, including a lot of delightful moments like the lanterns for Xie Lian and his utter freakout about the underwater “kiss”; the second arc really suffers in comparison to that as well, because the third arc is just one thing after the other, adventure leading into adventure… and of course, it also features more Hua Cheng. The second arc is predictable because it’s covering details we already know, and Hua Cheng isn’t present — at least, not in the way we know him by now.

In some ways, I feel like there was a similar problem in The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System. The character whose mind we most wanted to understand was Luo Binghe, but the narrative sticks close to Shen Qingqiu, who doesn’t understand what’s going on. Xie Lian is a different flavour of oblivious, but he’s still oblivious, and I really want to know what Hua Cheng is thinking.

Not that that relationship is the be-all and end-all — there’s also a fascinating story going on with other characters, which I’m excited to dig into. As ever, the cut-off happens mid-arc, so have volume four at the ready.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 2

Posted August 30, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 2

Heaven Official's Blessing

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 438
Series: Heaven Official's Blessing / Tian Guan Ci Fu #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

THE TOUCH OF A HAND, A ROLL OF THE DICE

Xie Lian has confirmed that the bewitching youth San Lang is actually Hua Cheng, one of the Four Calamities and a supreme ghost despised by all heavenly officials. Still, he has trouble matching the terror of his companion’s reputation with the charming, clever, and protective young man he’s come to know.

When a distress signal leads Xie Lian into Ghost City, a bustling metropolis containing all the horrors and delights of the dead, he sees Hua Cheng in his element—and his true form—for the first time. But despite their chemistry and care for one another, there are missions to fulfill and secrets to uncover, and Xie Lian’s centuries of troubled history are never far behind.

The second volume of Heaven Official’s Blessing finishes up with arc 1 and begins arc 2: I can see why some readers complain that the volumes are split in weird places, but I think it’d end up with ridiculously chunky volumes and then really skinny ones if it was split by arcs or something, and I bet you people wouldn’t like that either. Still, I agree it feels weird that it’s basically one continuous story, and you can’t stop and feel satisfied at the end of a volume; that’s kind of unavoidable, given it was a webnovel first.

As with the first volume, I’m sure that there are critiques of the translation, but it’s pretty internally consistent and it’s definitely readable, and not significantly better/worse than the translation of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, for example. I believe the translators are different, but something of the underlying style does seem to come through — though at times I could do without it (stop yelling, Qi Rong).

The end of arc 1 gives us a visit to Hua Cheng’s domain, followed by some answers about Xie Lian’s past in the form of confronting Qi Rong, his cousin, with Hua Cheng figuring out what happened during an infamous and bloody event, and manipulating matters so that Xie Lian can no longer claim all the blame for himself. There are some really nice character/relationship moments there, and then act 2 begins, which seems to be all a long flashback to Xie Lian’s life before godhood (going into his first ascension afterwards, in book 3).

All in all I’m really enjoying it. There’s a lot more detail and complexity than in SVSSS, which makes sense since there are eight books in total. I fear how MXTX is going to torture Xie Lian and Hua Chung… but I’m all-in.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 1

Posted August 22, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 1

Heaven Official's Blessing

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 417
Series: Heaven Official's Blessing / Tian Guan Ci Fu #1
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

A GOD FALLEN, A GHOST RISEN

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?

As a lover of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, it was only a matter of time before I tried something else by MXTX. Heaven Official’s Blessing was what my hand met first when I reached to the shelves, and I was very quickly engrossed — so here I go, setting out on an eight-book journey. Though… I don’t think the books are divided in any particular thought-out way, because it feels like the first chapter of the next book follows immediately from the last. Which makes sense, since it was originally a webnovel, but could get frustrating if you were hoping for some resolution at the end of the volume.

I can’t comment on the translation quality, as I don’t speak the original language at all. What I will say is that translation is always an interpretation, and often requires some localisation, and that’s very tricky to get right and please everyone. I found the translation readable, though the unfamiliar names and traditions sometimes keep me on my toes trying to keep up. (I’ve been recommended the first season of the donghua, to help me get up to speed.)

The illustrations are cute, and I do enjoy the growing dynamic between Xie Lian and San Lang/Hua Cheng. Very excited for him to see Hua Cheng’s face. And Xie Lian seems like such a sweetheart — though I wonder if he’s going to be as clueless as Shen Qingqiu about his feelings. I have some suspicions about other characters, but maybe I’m jumping at shadows.

All in all, eager to continue!

Rating: 4/5

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Top Ten Tuesday: Things I Loved About The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

Posted July 16, 2024 by Nicky in General / 5 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is “Ten Things I Loved About [Insert Book Title Here]”.

The obvious choice for me would be to tell you all about the things I love about Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor — and there’s so much I could tell you about that I love, from the world-building to some of the descriptions, like one character looking at another (whom she has underestimated) “like she’d been bitten by a pillow”.

But it would be terribly obvious for me to pick The Goblin Emperor, and I’ve talked about it plenty before. So instead, here’s my list of things I love about The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System. It’s technically released as a series of four volumes, but it’s really a single story (originally a webnovel), so I’m going to talk about the whole thing.

Cover of The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù Cover of The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System vol 2 Cover of The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System vol 3 by MXTX Cover of The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System vol 4 by MXTX

  1. The illustrations in the English translation! I usually have trouble imagining characters, as I have total aphantasia, but the illustrations in these books are gorgeous and expressive.
  2. Luo Binghe’s curly hair. I know it’s not actually in the text of the books, as far as I can remember, but it looks pretty lush in the illustrations.
  3. Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu’s total lack of self-knowledge. Bless him, he’s an idiot, he has no idea he’s gay, he doesn’t understand his own motivations, he’s just a mess. But he gets there in the end!
  4. Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu is a total nerd. He tries to hide it, but he has so many opinions about the story and the monsters, and he’s unabashedly fascinated by so much of it.
  5. Liu Qingge. He becomes so protective and supportive of Shen Yuan (as Shen Qingqiu), and he doesn’t try to sugarcoat anything. When he thinks Shen Qingqiu is worried about being a burden to the sect, he doesn’t try to say he isn’t — but he says he doesn’t fear that burden. How supportive can you get?!
  6. The fact that Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu canonically get married, and that Shen Qingqiu’s total idiocy doesn’t stop him from trying out calling Luo Binghe his husband one more time, even when they aren’t having sex.
  7. None of Luo Binghe’s love interests from the original story are demonised, and the fact that the story becomes about Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu’s love story allows those characters to grow and shine.
  8. The story doesn’t take itself too seriously. Shen Qingqiu is constantly commenting about the dramatic moments and silly plots, lampshading it all. And it’s so aware of fandom: the story knows what the fans are thinking (indeed, that’s kind of the point).
  9. It’s one of the few stories where the love interests have bad sex, not just once or as a plot point, but continually. It makes sense with their characters and levels of experience, and the constraints of the world — and they are getting a bit better at it in the extras… They’ll get there. It just feels surprisingly realistic, all things considered, that things aren’t magical for them right away.
  10. It has a happy, unambiguous ending. Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu are in love, together, married, and will work things out, whatever life throws at them. I won’t say no tragedy here, because they go through a lot to get there — but despite everything, they get their happy ending.

Now, would I recommend this series to everyone? Mmm, no. I thought I wouldn’t like it myself, reading the first book, and there are things about it which are tricky (a teacher having a relationship with his former student, whom he met when he was a lot younger, for example). But it wormed its way into my heart, and dealt with all of that surprisingly well, and I could use about three books more (especially if they feature Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe having to wear a metaphorical get-along shirt).

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Review – The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, vol 4

Posted February 26, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, vol 4

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, vol 4

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 436
Series: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System #4
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

What happens after an epic tale ends?

This collection of eleven short stories picks up days after Scum Villain’s finale and follows the cast’s relationships and adventures through their pasts and futures. The first trial? A glimpse into another world, where Luo Binghe was never saved by his beloved teacher — unless he can claim this world’s Shen Qingqiu for himself. Other tales recount the riotous history of Shang Qinghua and Mobei-Jun, the bittersweet romance of Luo Binghe’s parents, and the untold tragedy of the original scum villain himself.

The fourth volume of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System is actually a collection of extras and shorts, some of which are focused on Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu, and some of which don’t even mention them — expanding instead on Shang Qinghua, Mobei-jun, Shen Jiu, etc.

Some of the stories were more of interest to me than others (Shen Jiu is pretty unredeemable to me, sorry, and I don’t quite get the appeal of Mobei-jun and his relationship with Shang Qinghua), but it was interesting to get a better look at the world and particularly at Binghe’s experiences during the five years that Shen Qingqiu appeared to be dead.

It’s lovely as well to see in some of these stories a sense of ease growing between Binghe and Shen Qingqiu. At times, Shen Qingqiu is still a little too caught up in his own internalised homophobia, but we see him begin to forget where he came from and live fully alongside Binghe, and accept their relationship.

It’s funny sometimes to look at the relationship between the two of them, though. Just reading the words on the page, Shen Qingqiu spends a lot of time protesting — but it seems pretty clear that it’s a case of the maiden protesting too much, putting everything together. Still, I’d have loved another snippet a bit later on, showing him being a bit more comfortable still with the physical side of his relationship with Binghe. And for the love of god, someone give the two of them some sex ed, geez.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, vol 3

Posted February 16, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, vol 3

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, vol 3

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 408
Series: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System #3
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

To save his sect from destruction, Shen Qingqiu has at last submitted to Luo Binghe—though he wishes people would stop saying it like that! Unfortunately, they're not wrong.

Luo Binghe has finally made his desire for his old master clear. For all that Shen Qingqiu longs to return to their peaceful days together on Qing Jing Peak, he knows it's impossible now that Luo Binghe has darkened into a true demon lord. But as Shen Qingqiu begins to uncover more of Proud Immortal Demon Way's hidden plot, including his host body's own backstory, he realizes he must learn to see Luo Binghe for who he truly is if either of them is to survive.

Oof, what to say about volume three of MXTX’s The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System? I suppose one thing to address up front, which I didn’t really discuss in my initial reviews, is that this isn’t a straightforward romance novel/series in the way I think some Western readers expect when they see others’ enthusiasm. If you read it because you’re a fan of Western romances, there’s a lot in this series that just won’t make sense, because it’s part of a bigger tradition, and that tradition is required for understanding some of what’s going on. The story does explain a lot of it along the way, as do the extras in the back of the book, but it’s not a straightforward ride… and another thing is that despite this being the last part of the series proper (the fourth volume has extras), the happy ending is fairly understated.

Art from The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, vol 3. A curly-haired young man with an uncertain expression grasps the hand of a smiling, elegant older man who is looking at him with acceptance and love.In addition, the relationship between Shen Qingqui and Luo Binghe is extremely problematic: SQQ is older and knew LBH as a child, and is also his teacher/master. SQQ could do a lot of harm to LBH due to that childhood crush turned obsessive love (and does, albeit against his will and by refusing to have a relationship with LBH). Consent is also a massive problem, in both directions (SQQ has sex with LBH while LBH is out of his mind, to save him; the sex is painful and awful for SQQ, who sees it as the only way to save LBH). So if anyone got this far to volume three thinking it was going to change, or has been curious because of my reviews and is now getting tempted to dip a toe in, be very very aware that this isn’t a romance novel and there are a lot of tropes and cultural things that would never be OK in Western romance. The whole dynamic is a mess.

All the same, there’s also a lot to enjoy here, when you take it in its context. There’s a fair bit of action and swordplay, which is all a lot of fun. The art pages are beautiful, and SQQ’s stupid inner narrative makes me giggle a lot (though, trigger warning for his internalised homophobia). SQQ’s slow acceptance of LBH’s love, and his slow steps toward trusting him and loving him in return, produce some genuinely lovely moments. I absolutely love the last piece of art (shown on the right):

“This time, no matter where you wish to go, this master will accompany you.”

I really want to read the last volume now, from what I’ve heard about it.

[And indeed, I’ve read it since I wrote this review, and loved it… but that’s a story for another day.]

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, vol 2

Posted February 2, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, vol 2

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, vol 2

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 351
Series: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

[CHARACTER DEPTH LEVEL +10]

Three years have passed since Shen Qingqiu betrayed Luo Binghe, and now there are only two years left before his “deceased” disciple rises from the dead to claim his bloody glory as the protagonist. At least, that’s how the story is supposed to go.

In the midst of investigating a mysterious plague, Shen Qingqiu discovers that his actions have irreparably altered the plot—Luo Binghe has returned all too soon and Shen Qingqiu’s brilliant escape plan isn’t even ready yet! Worse, Shen Qingqiu can no longer predict his young disciple’s actions.

The only thing that hasn’t changed is Luo Binghe’s intense fixation on Shen Qingqiu himself, but even this obsession may be more than it seems. Not that Shen Qingqiu has the time to puzzle through all the inconsistencies. There are various parties at play in the changing plot, and if he doesn’t act fast, he may face a fate far worse than death.

The second volume of MXTX’s The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System is as gorgeous an object as the first, with black and white illustrations, helpful back matter, etc. The tone and style set in the first book continue, unsurprisingly, with SQQ being completely clueless — though LBH is a bit more opaque. The conflict does centre on a miscommunication (or, let’s be honest, a complete failure to communicate), but one that’s kind of unavoidable given the givens.

Still, if only people would just talk instead of making assumptions…

All in all, it’s a lot of fun, totally over the top, and I felt like I had to bump up my rating from the previous book. It’s still not 100% my thing in every possible way, but I had enough fun that that doesn’t matter. I’m curious how it’s going to wrap up in the next volume.

Rating: 4/5

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