So recently a friend of mine recommended a wuxia novel (Chinese martial arts/fantasy webnovel) by the name of against the gods. I found it fairly bad, to be honest, but it got me interested in the genre. Unfortunately Sturgeon's Law seems to apply pretty heavily over here, so I'd appreciate anybody helping me find a decent read or links to where I can read the (relatively) good stuff.

 

There's a shit ton of Gary Stu'ism wish fulfillment in the Wuxia genre. Protagonists generally are or become overpowered and just curbstomp shallowly crafted antagonists. They generally encounter powerful female companions who they then add to their harems. Power level creep occurs because the author realizes the story has gone stale and then the protagonist has to power up again and again to overcome the next level of generically evil shallow antagonist.

That said, I still enjoy the genre. Tales of Demons and Gods is a pretty fun read for the first couple arcs.

Another read that I found somewhat enjoyable to read is actually a western author writing in this genre. If you've got kindle unlimited, you can actually read both books over here: Amazon - Unsouled by Will Wight

 

If you haven't read it already, the Condor Trilogy one of, if not the classic of the genre.

 

http://www.wuxiaworld.com

Is probably the site where most of the better stories are currently hosted. But I have to admit that I have so far not read any story that was more than a guilty pleasure. As the guys above says, Wuxia is full of bad tropes of which, besides no sense of scale and ever increasing powerlevels, the most pressing are probably a generally horrendous/sexist portrayal of woman and a tendency to have arrogant/asshole MC's who are nevertheless portrayed as nice guys (Wuxia is really into the whole might makes right idea, especially when it comes to the MC).

That said the action scenes tend to be nice and the stories can sometimes be quite entertaining.

In regards to suggestions:

I shall Seal the Heavens is probably my personal favourite though that sadly doesn't mean that much.

And then there is of course Coiling Dragon which while not being that amazing is one of the few fully translated stories I know of and can be a solid read if you like the genre.


That said, I would actually argue the ATG is actually one of the better stories in the genre so I have my doubts you will be be very satisfied with what wuxia has to offer.

 

www.novelupdates.com
Is also a good way to find stories and reviews. I second Coiling Dragon, and if you end up liking that, Stellar Transformations by the same author has also been fully translated.

 

Wuxiaworld is the best site for starting out. There are others, but start there. Btw, Against the Gods is actually Xianxia, not Wuxia. Most translated Chinese webnovel stuff that you read is actually Xianxia - basically, Wuxia is more "real world" inspired, while Xianxia is more of a full fantasy spin.

The common Xianxia themes are poor plot, poor character development, poor romance, mc infinitely power upping, decent to good and interesting eastern fantasy and martial arts worlds and culture.

Just a fair warning, Chinese culture is really very different from the western stuff and has very different values. I hope you're at least passingly familiar with some eastern mythology and stuff, cause you'll see a lot of it. The writing might seem a little poor, stiff and filled with weird phrases and idioms. You'll get used to it. Also remember that almost all of the translators are amateurs. With the rising popularity of Xianxia, however, a few have became full time translators.

Coiling Dragon is one of my all-time favorites. Long, complete, and much more western than the rest. The translator is one of the good ones too. Highly recommended for your first read.

ISSH (I Shall Seal The Heavens) is quality and one of the best currently updating ones.

Desolate Era, from the author of Coiling Dragon. Basically a more polished version of Coiling Dragon. One of the better ones and probably my current favorite.

Against the Gods is considered one of the better ones, but I personally dropped it a few hundred chapters in. The plot and fight progression just got insanely repetitive (moreso than the usual) and I just lost interest. Still usually one of the recommended ones, also has a bit more darker stuff than the usual.

Stellar Transformations, from the author of Coiling Dragon. Complete, but imo the most boring of the author's translated works. Has went through several translators and the translation quality is kinda bad.

Basically anything from Wuxiaworld is readable. There are five "big" authors, who all have their styles. I like a few and dislike one immensely. If you're interested in the genre, try something from different authors.

Also, the Other Fandom Almost Recommendable: Barely Readable to Almost Good [Volume Two] had some Xianxia discussion. Page 32+. Mostly my ranting though, looks like =p

 

Right now the Chinese fantasy stories I am reading are:

1. Against The Gods

2. Battle Through The Heavens

3. I Shall Seal The Heavens

4. Long Live Summons

5. Martial God Asura

6. Tales Of Demons And Gods

7. Wu Dong Qian Kun

To be honest, while I would rank them as the best I've been able to find, I wouldn't score any of them above guilty pleasure and they are all pretty much versions of the same story. Many of the things in these stories that I consider flawed I am curious of if they are a Chinese cultural thing or just bad writing by the author in general (I force myself to think its a difference in culture just so I can move past it). Things like the sexism, no such thing as altruism, might makes right, and the constant focus on one's elders/ancestors seem to be recurring themes. No one is a good person in these stories, the MC is just less of an evil asshole compared to everyone else.

I am up to date on all the stories listed except for the last one, which I only have about 20 chapters to go in. The next Chinese fantasy novel I am looking to start is titled Peerless Martial God.

The best thing I can say about all these stories is that they are all very well translated. This is a big thing when you compare them to a lot of the Japanese light/web novels on novelupdates.com. Many of the Japanese novels there really need the help of a good editor before posting. I also find the difference between Chinese and Japanese main characters very extreme. Chinese MCs are overly aggressive and too arrogant, while Japanese MCs are overly passive and too humble. It would be nice for a main character to be a happy medium of the two.

 

I find the genre to be quite interesting. More to do with the culture surrounding them than the writing. The genre will never be anything more than guilty pleasure, the plots are simply not to standard. However, there are certain arcs in the story that can shine amongst the dog shit that does makeup most of the stories.

It honestly draws more of a parallel to manga than a traditional story. These authors are paid by popularity -- basically views. However, the population of readers is fickle. Authors are expected to produce multiple chapters a day, every day. If they slow down they risk the chance of losing readers and losing money and ultimately becoming left behind by other stories until theirs is not worth continuing. It is an interesting system that they have. One that doesn't really cater to quality stories. And just like manga they are filled with multiple arcs, filler, and repetitive villains.

I would be curious to see the demographics of the readers. Remember, middle school is average populations reading level. I'm not sure if this plays as large of a part as I think it would, but still interesting to think about. The second issue is the translations. Mad props to the translator of this genre. Chinese is a language of many meanings. Puns within puns with puns within puns -- you get what I mean. And so it is hard for me to say whether or not the level of writing is actually bad or not. The plot for sure, but the writing? I don't know. Chinese is poetic in how many meanings can you convey in a sentence. A sentence can have many meanings all alluding to the same thing in a different way. How does one translate that meaning -- especially the hidden mythology and innuendo that is hidden within the many meanings. It's layered, and honestly daunting.

From the western perspective I can see why these are considered bad. Who wants to hear about face for 5 chapters. It is a cultural difference and one that takes getting used to and understanding. As for the quality of writing...they aren't professional translators (actually 3 of the ones on wuxiaworld are) so I can't determine whether or not it's bad in that regard.

 

I've got the English translated (fan translated I believe) pdf of the 2nd and 3rd of the trilogy kicking around somewhere.

The author Jin Yong I'd consider as the best of the genre. Each of this stories addresses a cultural theme or issue relevant as part of the overarching narrative - racism, loyalty, conservatism/traditionalist vs rebellion against convention etc. Unavoidably cheesy at times but in general much better than some other ridiculous stories which I shit you not read like an Independent Harry with a harem story with all the associated power bloat and foreknowledge garbage.

 

Came here to mention this. I grabbed the first one for free a couple of weeks back and read em both in a day.

 

1. I Shall Seal the Heavens
2. World of Cultivation
3. Sovereign of Three Realms
4-5. Martial World and True Martial World(author reuses a lot of his ideas between them but they're both solidly entertaining without the MC being gigantic cunts that turn you off the story.)
6. Gate of Good Fortune(people complain about his bad luck but these MCs are always ridiculously lucky anyway so it evens out.)
7. Immortal God Emperor(I hear that it steals a lot from some game and it's a bit generic at the start but it's kept me entertained.)

Those would be the Korean MCs.

 

I guess Coiling Dragon and Stellar Transformation are a good play to start if you are new to the whole genre and they have been fully translated. Though fair warning, both are huge with more than 1.7 million words each.

After that you can read other novels by the same author like Desolate Era or The Nine Cauldrons which is currently being translated.

As others have said, I Shall Seal the Heavens is the best novel being translated right now with World of Cultivation a close second.

Transcending the Nine Heavens and Emperor's Domination are also pretty good.

Warlock of the Magus World is fun.

 

So I read through the first book of ISSTH and I definitely think it's the best among what I've read so far- keeping in mind that I'm still new to the genre, though.
The MC can come off as a bit bloodthirsty, but he still feels reasonably well adjusted and not OP (yet). The translation job seems to be done better than ATG too, the writing doesn't feel as clunky and I can generally read through it without ruining my flow.

One question though- why do the Chinese writers hate rich/handsome/talented people so much? Every novel I read inevitably has them come across as insufferably arrogant and only has them set up to be knocked down by the MC. It was especially bad in ATG, too the point that when the hundredth one came around (a prince or something) I had to stop reading.

 

The main reason is because of social structure. Take Shanghai as an example, it's city whose size can be found just about anywhere in North America, but the difference is that the population is equal to that of Canada. When taking into account of this fact and that the China's 2 largest province, so half the country, while habitable, contains quite the desolate environment, you can imagine the scarcity of resources. As a result, university graduates are often unable to find job and nepotism in the form of the "fu er dai" or "rich second gen" is rampant.