Chinese fantasy novels recommendations (are they on par with Western fantasy?)

[Ansileran]

Looks very interesting... I'm looking at (finally) starting to read in Chinese so I might take a look at that list. Free and translated sounds very good to me.

I had started Skyfire Avenue (available on wuxiaworld) a while back and got stumped by the amount of vocab (jewels, wines...)

[Xianxia]

Originally Posted by Ansileran

Looks very interesting... I'm looking at (finally) starting to read in Chinese so I might take a look at that list. Free and translated sounds very good to me.

I had started Skyfire Avenue (available on wuxiaworld) a while back and got stumped by the amount of vocab (jewels, wines...)

Skyfire Avenue is probably the least read on Wuxiaworld.

I Shall Seal the Heavens, Against the Gods, The Desolate Era are the most popular.

[Chaiwala]

Very interesting thread here. the only chinese novel I ever read was the Three Body Problem, and thought it was ok. Love their cinema and tv though.

[Xianxia]

Wuxiaworld is translating these fantasy novels:

AGAINST THE GODS (逆天邪神)
BATTLE THROUGH THE HEAVENS (斗破苍穹)
CHILD OF LIGHT (光之子)
DESOLATE ERA (莽荒纪)
HEAVENLY JEWEL CHANGE (天珠变)
TALES OF DEMONS & GODS (妖神记)
THE GREAT RULER (大主宰)
I SHALL SEAL THE HEAVENS (我欲封天)
MARTIAL GOD ASURA (修罗武神)
PERFECT WORLD (完美世界) – INDEX - slow at first but really good after it gets going
RENEGADE IMMORTAL (仙逆) INDEX
SKYFIRE AVENUE (天火大道)
UPGRADE SPECIALIST IN ANOTHER WORLD
WU DONG QIAN KUN (武动乾坤)

bold = highly recommended

[Xianxia]

GravityTales also translating several web novels

Highly recommend Conquest, True Martial World and Demon's Diary




The very best fantasy web novelists are making millions of USD in royalties each year.

http://publishingperspectives.com/20...e-web-authors/

In fact, there are now so many web-writers in China (in the millions) that they are now “ranked,” both by their earnings and number of fans.

On the lowest level is the ordinary writer, also “known as poor guy (or poor guy writer).” They have a limited number of fans, and their work is seldom recommended to others. Their annual income is around 1,000 yuan.

Next up are the Xiaoshen (low rank god) writers with a fan base of more than 100,000 and annual earnings of more than 100,000 yuan ($16,100).

One step further up the ladder are the dashen (super god) class of writers with earnings of more than 1 million yuan ($161,200) with fans counted in the millions as well.

At the very top of the tier are the 20-30 web writers known as platinum authors or zhigaoshen (the Supreme God) class of writers. The 2014 Chinese web-writers list ranks Tangjiasanshao first, with earnings of 50 million yuan (around $8.06 million) per year from royalties, while second and third on the list both raked in more than 25 million yuan ($4.03 million) each.

[radius]

Interesting thread! I have never read any of the modern stuff. I didn't realize there was so much of it published. It does read a little like fan-fiction to me.

For reference, I cut my teeth on stuff like Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Duke of Deer Mountain etc. (now that I think of it, was there ever an English language version of Legend of Condor Heroes?)

[frostschutz]

Originally Posted by radius

It does read a little like fan-fiction to me.

Most fanfiction gets released chapter-by-chapter so that's probably similar to webnovels. Regular authors can go back into their story and revise something in the prior chapters, webnovels kinda can't go back and have to carry stuff along (or drop it under the carpet and never mention it again).

I liked Coiling Dragon a lot, currently I'm reading Stellar Transformations by the same author, but the quality is a lot lower. Started out okay but then it went Spongebob. Some of these novels also seem to suffer from mediocre translation quality and lots of typos (but hey, it's free).

I think I should stop reading these things, otherwise I won't get to read anything else all year

[Xianxia]

Originally Posted by frostschutz

Most fanfiction gets released chapter-by-chapter so that's probably similar to webnovels. Regular authors can go back into their story and revise something in the prior chapters, webnovels kinda can't go back and have to carry stuff along (or drop it under the carpet and never mention it again).

I liked Coiling Dragon a lot, currently I'm reading Stellar Transformations by the same author, but the quality is a lot lower. Started out okay but then it went Spongebob. Some of these novels also seem to suffer from mediocre translation quality and lots of typos (but hey, it's free).

I think I should stop reading these things, otherwise I won't get to read anything else all year

Yeah Stellar Transformations is not very good compare to his other works (Coiling Dragon and Desolate Era).

Desolate Era is very good.

I Shall Seal the Heavens is probably #1 on many readers list. Slow at first but after it picks up, WOW.....

[Xianxia]

Here's the ranking (# of users reading the series)

http://www.novelupdates.com/series-r...opular&org=495

Current Filters - Ranking: Popularity (all time, # of users reading series) | Origin: Chinese

Stay away from a few of them because they are not good

FROM THE CURRENT TOP 25, STAY AWAY FROM THESE SERIES

Long Live Summons!
Martial God Asura
Chaotic Sword God
Peerless Martial God
Martial God Space
Immortal God Emperor

they are not worth reading IMO.

The rest of the current top 25 are good reads.

[frostschutz]

I'm currently reading "a step into the past", where a modern day elite soldier is sent back into the warring states period of ancient China. It's an alternate history novel. The modern knowledge that the main character brings back serves as a replacement for "magic" to keep things interesting. It has wayyy too much harem, apart from that, I like it a lot. There is also a television series for this novel, not sure if it's any good.

[Xianxia]

http://www.wuxiaworld.com/welcome-et...-three-realms/

Sovereign of the Three Realms joins Wuxiaworld today



So Wuxiaworld line-up is currently:

AGAINST THE GODS (逆天邪神)
BATTLE THROUGH THE HEAVENS (斗破苍穹)
CHILD OF LIGHT (光之子)
DESOLATE ERA (莽荒纪)
HEAVENLY JEWEL CHANGE (天珠变)
TALES OF DEMONS & GODS (妖神记)
THE GREAT RULER (大主宰)
I SHALL SEAL THE HEAVENS (我欲封天)
MARTIAL GOD ASURA (修罗武神)
PERFECT WORLD (完美世界) – INDEX - slow at first but really good after it gets going
RENEGADE IMMORTAL (仙逆) INDEX
SKYFIRE AVENUE (天火大道)
SOVEREIGN OF THE THREE REALMS
UPGRADE SPECIALIST IN ANOTHER WORLD
WU DONG QIAN KUN (武动乾坤)

[frostschutz]

I started reading "Against the Gods".

The more I read the more I have the impression that I have read it already. There is such a thing as reading too much of the same genre. ^^'

Against the Gods has the same weaknesses as other xianxia novels... main character has unfair advantage, is just too powerful and all-knowing, yet miraculously even more powerful adversaries manage to appear as otherwise the story would be boring.

Main character also suffers from "just in time" syndrome... no matter what he does, like randomly getting lost in the wilderness, getting stuck for an arbitrary amount of time, bumbling about in various inns, but when he finally reaches the next big city, he is "just in time" the very day, hour, minute for an event that happens only once a year.

Oh well. Still a fun and easy read I guess.

[Marco77]

Hey there,

While searching the web, I found this interesting article describing the xianxia genre: “Xianxia- The Fantasy Genre that’s Dominating Chinese Web Fiction” – http://robynpaterson.com/?p=3823

So, what is this mysterious Xianxia Genre?

For most of my English speaking readers, I can explain it in one hyphenated word- “leveling-up”. Taking its roots from Taoism and Buddhism, the characters in Xianxia novels (often generically referred to as Cultivators) are trying to “evolve” their souls into higher and purer forms and work their ways up to becoming immortals. However, while that might sound boring and make you think of a bunch of monks sitting around chanting and hoping to spiritually transcend this mortal coil (which is the reality version), in a Xianxia novel this has turned into an excuse to give the main characters magical superpowers they use to fight other Cultivators.

Personally, I've quite enjoyed Coiling Dragon (now that it's over, I'll pick it back where I left) and one written by a Western author, the Gemstone Chronicles (Wiz) [EDIT: not the one one amazon.com]. I shall gladly take note of your recommendation for ISSH etc.

I would classify their target audience as teens to YA demographics. While they're not particularly bad per se, combined with the fact they're mostly translated by amateur staff (I certainly appreciate their effort, though!) I often find the vocabulary lacking and constructs sub-par. Yet, they can be deeply enthralling stories too.

I usually alternate these novels with more complex works, in style and vocabulary terms.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Chaiwala

Very interesting thread here. the only chinese novel I ever read was the Three Body Problem, and thought it was ok. Love their cinema and tv though.

That's science fiction, not fantasy.

[frostschutz]

Originally Posted by Marco77

While they're not particularly bad per se, combined with the fact they're mostly translated by amateur staff (I certainly appreciate their effort, though!) I often find the vocabulary lacking and constructs sub-par. Yet, they can be deeply enthralling stories too.

This is particularly noticable in stories that changed hands several times, with each translator using their own style (which can even include changed character names).

However, in terms of language quality, I've read worse written by (presumably) native speakers. In terms of story I enjoyed "Morcyth Saga" by Brian Pratt a lot but it really needs a re-write...

Coiling Dragon is still my favourite, of course it's one of the few complete ones, which is a huge plus.