Well, I just finished Against the Gods. You're right, the translation is notably worse, but thankfully still good enough. However, I would only rate it about as good as Coiling Dragon as a whole, but considering how much shorter it is, slightly better. But it ATG definitely has the most potential.

I guess CD was that magical first experience for me. But if I take the first 130 chapters of CD and compare them to ATG, I'd probably want ATG to update the most.

I like the characters and character interactions in ATG more, and the plot and plots are certainly more complex and immersive and impressive, but I like the world and power system of CD more.

 

Yea. I probably shouldn't have pushed for ATG so quickly anyways, since when I say it's one of the best, it's mainly because I've read ahead already on the chinese raws to know what will happen.

 

Hey guys. I have started a Stargate Quest on SB.

here is the link; https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/stargate-command-quest.351512/

 

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7278544/1/First-Contact

Abandoned and a bit of a human wank, but it was still fun to read.

 

in like chapter 300 it happens, and later in the Raws it turns out he saved her life by raping her. Then after that rapes a mother daughtet duo because the mom was a bitch.

 

Do you mean a 'mother daughter duo'?

 

Yup fixing, though in my opinion, I find I Shall Seal The Heavens an enjoyable read

 

Well, I finished Stellar Transformations.

The translation was pretty bad. I'd even call it barely readable. It got better in the last book, but before that, ugh. Almost a pain to read.

The main character isn't bad, but he's a bit too arrogant, foolish, reckless and ignorant. Well, arrogant isn't really the right word, but... close. Out of all the Xianxia I've read (not that many), he relied on his own power the least. He's the most reliant of powers others have given him, and he knows the least about his own special power. He's also constantly pining after that girl... just meh. Oh, he's clever and cunning, audacious and unafraid, he's executed complex plots relying on deception, but as a protagonist, he's only so-so.

The story has way too much non-protagonist povs, the power system and progression was the kinda muddled and inconsistent, and it had many long, boring sections. At least I didn't give a shit about that underwater kingdom.

The last two books have been quite good, though. I'd give the early part 3.5, middle part 3.0, late part 3.5 and the last few parts 4.0.

Still, if I were to rank the Xianxia I've read thus far, it'd be something like Against the Gods > Desolate Era > Coiling Dragon > Stellar Transformations, with the first three being very close.

 

A refreshing FSN fic focusing on an aspect of canon that is rarely explored in canon, and that is how Arturia navigated her legend as a girl.

The premise has Archer going back in time to help her, but so far he's actually only featured on the side. The point in which he appears is after she's already become King, so she already has a powerful and established role, so they're a bit more on equal footing when they do interact. The other Arthurian characters such as Guinevere, Kay and Merlin have been characterised well too.

Only thing I'm not so sure about is Archer here. He's a bit more solemn and less of a troll. It makes him a bit more serious of a character, and I'm not sure whether that works better here, or whether I'd prefer interactions more along the lines of how he dealt with Rin.

Some good potential in this one, I think.

 

So I read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell when it came out a decade ago and loved it. The BBC series brought it to greater prominence for which I'm grateful and I recommend it to all of you. I've been going through the fanfiction and this one was the best yet. It captures the dreamy nature of fairy and is one of the better imitation of Susanna Clarke.

Wreaths of Poppy Twined With Ivy

Strange and Norrell seek to break the curse of Darkness, Misery and Solitude on the anniversary of its hundredth year.

In Hurtfew Abbey, all the clocks have stopped and all time is the same in the dark. But in England, the year is 1917, and all of Europe is at war.

 

Cruel To Be Kind is a Megacrossover SI fanfic where the Main character stumbles upon a multiversal transporter, he then sets out to build an empire. It is lon, very long, 300 chapters long.

 

It's also barely readable. YMMV, though.

 

Reason why its in this thread.

 

This fic is a "For Want of a Nail" story where Lelouch doesn't get banished from Britannia after his mom's death. It's decently well written, with the central relationship being very well developed. It does update slowly, and really hasn't moved very close to Code Geass canon events yet. I don't mind the slow pace though since it gives the author time to really develop the characters, but I know some will.

I don't think this story has been recommended on DLP before, and a quick search has turned up nothing, but I could be wrong.

 

I forget, is this the one where Cornelia has a thing for Marianne and Lelouch warns her off for it?

 

Yep. The story got better once Marianne kicked the bucket.

 

Well, I think I'm finished with my Xianxia binge. I think I've at least tried out all the major ones with English translations.

I know I kinda bashed Stellar Transformations earlier, and for the most part I still feel like that, but the recent chapters and the entire latest book actually really have been really good. The middle part was really a slog, but after the MC ascended into the higher plane, it's been really, really good. I hope it continues like this. The MC is also honestly not that bad, his cunning is only second to ATG's Yun Che.

Speaking of Yun Che, I actually went back and reread ATG (starting at chapter 30 something, the early parts are a pain). His revenge plots really are pretty amazing.

I didn't really like Dolou Dalu, the writing and the early part killed it for me, I wasn't interested at all. Battle Through The Heavens, kinda the same deal, I actually enjoyed the manga more, despite it being objecively worse, skipping stuff and being pretty superfluous.

I Shall Seal The Heavens has a slow start, but the protagonist grows and evolves very nicely. It only got good after the first book, imo. And it feels very... Chinese, with the pills and the system in general.

But one that hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet that I really grew to like is The Legendary Thief, found at Translation Nations. It's a real world MMORPG fic, with a futuristic virtual reality MMORPG, like in Sword Art Online. However, thankfully for once, the players aren't locked inside the game, unable to get out. Rather, it's a story of an ex-pro moba player who suddenly disappeared who is currently working as a... basically a handyman at a brothel. He and the courtesans decide to try to make a living out of the new huge game.

I'm a huge fan of the game and MMORPG genre, so I'm massively biased, but I really liked it. It's a mercenary take on a usually stale genre, with the goal of making enough real life money. And a team of courtesans is a rather unusual cast.

However, a personal concern of mine is that real life troubles might make their way into the story. The reason the protagonist, a rising star who was ranked top 10 in the world suddenly quit and disappeared, hasn't been explained, but is constantly being referenced to in a mysterious way. Crime might be involved. Then he also pissed off a guy who went PK who's an ex-con and a dangerous individual irl. Right now, their main worries are paying the bills and the protagonist's budding harem, but I kinda worry about the future. Still, it gets going quick and has been enjoyable so far. The game parts are great, which the story mostly consists of. It really has that feeling of pushing world firsts in a new, massive mmorpg.

And yeah, the protagonist is about as OP as Kirito, fairly quickly climbing into the world top 10 ranking and slowly rising. He becomes a warrior, but (title spoilers), basically obtains a Thief's ability later. Hasn't happened yet. He mostly plays solo, too. My primary personal dissatisfaction with him is that I feel like he's held back a little by the courtesan team and his boss, but that situation (and his personal relationships) has been improving and I have a feeling that the further the story goes, the better it'll get, too. But considering his irl situation, it's also kinda fair.

Anyways, if you're a fan of the fantasy MMORPG genre, like .hack, SAO, The Gamer, you should give The Legendary Thief a try.

Oh yeah, and about Xianxia in general - I feel like I definitely made the right choice starting with Coiling Dragon. The translation is the best, and unlike the rest which are firmly Chinese, it feels quite bit Western. It's also massively long and should finished fairly soon. ATG and even ST might have greater potential, but Coiling Dragon was really good and really solid.

 

Yun Che and Chu Feng have some the highest kill counts for Xianxia MC's

Yun Che- somewhere in the millions

Chu Feng- a couple thousand

 

Anyone else still reading Demon Lord's Hero? It was really, really good, and the Kokabiel Arc was amazing, but lately, everything with Karasuba has just made the fic feel....ugh. Is it just me, or does the presence of Karasuba seem completely unnecessary and that fact makes every scene containing her grating as all hell?

My reviews for the past couple chapters:

 

Demon Lord's Hero is like a typical In Flight copy.

It has some moments that are absolutely epic. The Kokabiel Arc was epic. The Rating Game was actually quite fun (if a bit of a Shirou wank). And Serafall is actually written as a really interesting character (instead of just comic relief).

But it's interspersed with boring dialogue between Shirou and the main cast (who basically just worship the ground he stands on) and other shit that I can't really consider it as anything more than something like God Slaying Blade Works.

The Karasuba arc is mildly interesting to me, but as you said, it just comes out of nowhere and just doesn't fit. I mean if he wants to write a Sekirei crossover, why not just do that as well? I'm just not really expecting anything more from the story, that's all.