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#1 |
Zealot
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Chinese fantasy novels recommendations (just as good as Western fantasy)
Wuxia and xianxia are the two most popular Chinese fantasy genre.
I have been reading a lot of xianxia lately (in English of course since I can't read Chinese characters) through fan translations. In my opinion, they are just as enjoyable as Western fantasy (GRRM, Tolkien, Jordan, Sanderson, Rothfuss, Abercrombie etc...). My recommendations for xianxia (immortal heroes) fantasy series: Against the Gods 9.5/10 (wuxiaworld translating) Tales of Demons and Gods 9.5/10 (wuxiaworld translating) I Shall Seal the Heavens 9.5/10 (wuxiaworld translating) Douluo Dalu (Battle Continent) 9.5/10 The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor 9.5/10 ------ highly recommended for those who are interested in Virtual Reality gaming Battle Through the Heavens 9/10 Way of Choice 9/10 Wu Dong Qian Kun 8.5/10 Coiling Dragon 8.5/10 The Desolate Era 8.5/10 The Great Ruler 8.5/10 Sealed Divine Throne 8.5/10 Martial God Asura 8/10 Mad God 8/10 Stellar Transformation 7.5/10 Peerless Martial God 7.5/10 Chaotic Sword God 7/10 I haven't read any wuxia though but will soon. More novels: True Martial World 9.5/10 I'm Really a Superstar 9.5/10 Emperor's Domination 9.5/10 Martial World 9/10 Demon's Diary 9/10 Heavenly Jewel Change 9/10 Perfect World 9/10 The Empyrean Overlord 9/10 Transcending the Nine Heavens 9/10 Realms In The Firmament 9/10 A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality 8.5/10 The Nine Cauldrons 8.5/10 (skip volume 1 long prologue) Last edited by Xianxia; 07-12-2016 at 12:40 AM. |
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#2 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Interesting. I really can't think of a lot of Chinese fantasy that I've read, at least not fantasy that was originally published in China. Lot's of fantasy written by Western authors set in China, though. I wonder if they are covered by copyright laws here in the west.
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#3 |
Member
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That's very impressive, thanks for providing a recommendations list as well. I wonder if you can buy any of them from an Indigo branch? Aside from that, I was hoping to give a few titles but realized I only know of a few chinese fairy tales and Buddhist tales I was told as a kid.
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#4 |
Witcher
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Read The Grace of Kings (Dandelion Dynasty #1) by Ken Liu this summer. Didn't like it at all. Character development was non existent, repetitive storytelling with a simplistic plot. One main character is just dumb. That is his main thing. No female characters of any importance. Huge cast of paper thin characters that contributed very little, lazy world building (one country is just farmers, the other just fishermen, the other just warriors, etc etc), inconsistencies in technologies used (gas propelled airships and battle ships propelled by rowing). In one word a disappointment.
I really wanted to like it because I love reading fantasy from non anglo-saxon traditions, but alas. Thank you for the recommendation list, maybe I'll have better luck with some of those. |
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#5 |
I write stories.
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Are you looking specifically for work by authors who live in non-western countries, or simply for work by authors with Asian heritage?
If the latter, you might try Aliette de Bodard. I'm more familiar with her science fiction ("On A Red Station, Drifting", "Citadel of Weeping Pearls"), but she's just released a Fantasy series, as well. |
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#6 |
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The translation of Coiling Dragon got completed recently. I found an ePub and will start reading tonight.
I will see how good they are. I am reluctant to read fan translation as they are usually not good at all, I am often disappointed with fan translations of light novels I read after watching their shows. Mangas are usually nicely translated but they only dialog and thus much easier. Last edited by GERGE; 11-30-2015 at 08:30 AM. |
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#7 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I enjoyed Liu's Grace of Kings quite a lot--though I wasn't blown away, or anything. Of course I'm very rarely "blown away" by any fantasy books these days. Good thing I don't really require anything other than a modicum of steady amusement when reading it.
![]() Thanks for the list! I'll keep an eye out for translations. |
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#8 |
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According to novelupdates (think of it as goodreads for Asian fantasy novels)
Against the Gods Rating(4.6 / 5.0, 340 votes) 5 82% (279 votes) 4 9% (30 votes) 3 4% (12 votes) 2 1% (4 votes) 1 4% (15 votes) Tales of Demons and Gods Rating(4.5 / 5.0, 242 votes) 5 73% (177 votes) 4 15% (36 votes) 3 3% (8 votes) 2 3% (7 votes) 1 6% (14 votes) I Shall Seal the Heavens Rating(4.7 / 5.0, 241 votes) 5 84% (203 votes) 4 10% (24 votes) 3 2% (6 votes) 2 1% (2 votes) 1 2% (6 votes) I Shall Seal the Heavens is probably on par with A song of ice and fire in term of scope, world building, action etc... Slow at first but after it picks up, WOW... |
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#9 |
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Well, I finished the one Wuxiaworld published on Amazon (something called Martial God Asura) and it was spectacularly bad. I have no proper words to explain how bad it was, you should read it just for that. It is simply unbelievable. It is actually so bad, it is good if that is a thing.
Anyway, it was seriously weird. At least read one, and then hope you can forget it. Bad fanfiction shines in comparison. It is not the writing that is bad, it has a weird style but not strictly a worse one. It is the story, the characters, the world and most of all the way it takes itself seriously. If all of these web novels are like this, there must be something very wrong with China. I could only hope that Martial God Asura isn't a good example of the genre. |
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#10 | |
Zealot
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Quote:
Try this one Against the Gods http://www.wuxiaworld.com/atg-index/prologue/ Rating(4.6 / 5.0, 357 votes) 5 82% (293 votes) 4 9% (33 votes) 3 3% (12 votes) 2 1% (4 votes) 1 4% (15 votes) |
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#11 | |
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It's modern, not classic, but I really enjoyed reading Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. "A fantasy crossed with Chinese folklore"
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#12 |
Groupie
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As far as I'm concerned, Wuxia begins and ends with Jin Yong. Not much of his stuff is published in English (officially, plenty of fan translations exist), so you're SOL if you can't read Chinese.
Outlaws of the Marsh (aka The Water Margin) by Shi Nai'an is a classic piece of Chinese literature that arguably started the entire wuxia genre and does have numerous English translations (Sidney Shapiro's is the best. Pearl Buck's translation reads well but leaves out some of the more questionable actions of the heroes... like cannibalism.) |
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#13 | |
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Some impressive stats from Wuxiaworld. Especially 1.35 million unique visitors so far this December.
http://www.wuxiaworld.com/wuxiaworld...ry/#more-38318 Quote:
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#14 | |
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In celebration of the 300 chapters translated to English, the author of Against the Gods posted a thank you message to overseas readers:
http://www.wuxiaworld.com/atg-chapte...om-the-author/ Quote:
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#15 | |
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Quote:
Coiling Dragon is quite "serious" fantasy, it has very little jokes/romance, and more fights and learning magic. If I had to compare it to something, it's like reading Dragon Ball without the gags. The main character grows stronger and stronger and stronger but his enemies always raise in strength as well. Best "free" read I came across in a long time. ![]() |
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