Just finished: 三嫁咸鱼/Thrice Married to Salted Fish by 比卡比
Okay, not gonna lie, I'm a bit disappointed -- not to say the novel wasn't good, but my expectations might have been a bit too high due to its immense popularity, especially in the English-speaking fandom.
The story has some very interesting and refreshing ideas:
A transmigration novel told from the POV of an in-universe character rather than the transmigrator
Three separate transmigrations into the same universe
Main characters who unabashedly prioritizes their own interests
And it includes many popular tropes:
A genre-savvy transmigrator intentionally hijacks the plot from the original protagonist
A "feel-good" novel that mercilessly destroys the bad guys and other people standing in the main couple's way
Main characters are very smart and competent (if a bit OP)
The plot is action-packed and tightly-paced
The main couple has believable development and compatible personalities
But on the other hand [unmarked spoilers ahead]
I don't really like with the way the relationship arc has been handled. The gong transmigrates into three different bodies; even though it's the same spirit/personality that Lin Qingyu falls in love with, their dynamic is a bit different in each body and identity. A big part of Lin Qingyu's relationship with Lu Wancheng is them grappling with his declining health and inevitable death, and his relationship with Gu Fuzhou has a period of familiarizing with this new body. They are so distinct that I can't see it like one single relationship.
It is especially jarring to see Lin Qingyu "moving on" literally the night after Gu Fuzhou dies. Because he has been through this before, and this is meant to be Jiang Xing's "true body", there seems to be barely any adjustment. Qingyu becomes intimate with the new body before he is done processing Gu Fuzhou's death, and I feel like it was too abrupt given how deeply he has bonded with Jiang Xing-as-Gu Fuzhou.
The plot also feels more and more implausible as time goes on. The schemes Lin Qingyu and Lu Wancheng pull off in the Lu Household can be explained away by them being ballsy and smart, but as the scope of the story expands, their egregious interference of imperial politics just seems downright ridiculous. I really enjoyed the first part of the novel, where Lu Wancheng's poor health and Lin Qingyu's awkward political position give them more of an underdog-against-the-power kind of vibe. However, as they gain more political power and the "protagonist halo" , their progress becomes so smooth it can't even be called a conflict anymore.
Overall
I would summarize my impression of novel as "did not live up to the hype". It has many refreshing and enjoyable tropes, a sweet romantic arc and a feel-good kind of plot. It also has good and effective writing -- I was in tears reading about Lu Wancheng's death. Ironically, it starts in a way I really enjoyed, but shifts to a direction I enjoy less towards the end. Not a bad story, but I just hoped for something a bit more spectacular, or at least a bit different.
魂兵之戈/"Jiang Chao Ge and the Spirit Weapon" by Shui Qian Cheng
I can't believe this is my 10th SQC novel!
I always thought of SQC as the queen of dogblood scum gong crematoriums novels angsty urban romantic drama, but her action-adventure stuff is surprisingly fun and engaging!
Synopsis
Ruthless businessman Jiang Chaoge accidentally gets transported to an alternate universe that is built around Spirit Weapons. In this universe, the spirits of everything from mice to mythical beasts can be sealed into items made from their remains, and then summoned in their full form to perform the bidding of compatible humans who have special spirit powers.
(Someone on Weibo called it "Shaman King but with monsters from Chinese Mythology" and I can't stop about the story any other way now.)
Jiang Chaoge unwittingly proves himself to be compatible with a highly-coveted spirit weapon. He must figure out how to cultivate spirit powers, survive in this new world, defend against others who also want his spirit weapon, all while looking after an ill-tempered mythical spirit in the body of the most unruly toddler, whose real identity is his gong seems to be much more troubling that he already seems.
Hoping to return to his own world, Jiang Chaoge embarks on a dangerous mission with a gang of new friends, and eventually discovers the terrible secrets that may seal the fates of both worlds.
What I like about the story
Complex (and a little sue-ish) protagonist. Jiang Chaoge is a machiavellian business man, always analyzing the situation and trying to find the best deals for himself. He is an orphan street rat who had to learn to be ruthless to survive, and continues to be cynical, suspicious, manipulative, and unapologetically self-centered. He uses his street-smarts, business skills, and high EQ to cultivate useful friendships and quickly build a comfortable life for himself in this new and dangerous world. He also becomes the brain and emotional core among his companions, whom he chose carefully for their talent and usefulness. However, over the course of the story, his band of mutually-beneficial acquaintances become real friends. I don't always like it when a character who is alleged flawed (e.g. calculating and self-centered) but never demonstrate for face any negative consequences for it (e.g. betray or lose the trust of his friends.) However, Jiang Chaoge manages that balance that keeps him both interesting and sympathetic.
Intriguing plot. We start with Jiang Chaoge exploring an alternate world as a transmigrator, learning its rules while trying to make a living and return home. However, only the most powerful beings in this universe have the power to send him back home, and Jiang Chaoge must find and bargain with increasingly powerful and dangerous entities -- from the High Priest of the land to the most powerful of beast spirits. All of them have their own secrets and agendas, which involves finding god-like powers that are only known to the mystical beast spirits, and discovering the terrible truths and bitters betrayals from the ancient battles that killed all the mythical beasts millennia ago.
A dynamic supporting cast. A heroic prince a bit too idealistic for his own good. A teenage trafficked slave-turned-bounty hunter who wants to return home. A feudal lord's illegitimate daughter who wants a free life on her own terms. An introverted genius who, ironically, got tricked into joining the most dangerous journey due to his anxiety and OCD. And a curious local explorer who final leaves home. Each one of them has (or eventually gets) a spirit beast, who are their most important allies in battle, and are also simultaneously their most complicated and most important relationship.
Friendships! The main gang initially only came together due to a web of mutually-beneficial incentives weaved together by Jiang Chaoge. Most of them are loners who do not easily trust people, but the friendship between them develops gradually and organically as they help each other through life-and-death situations. I especially love this development in Jiang Chaoge, who gets to feel missed, loved, and taken care of despite his harsh upbringing, and learns to feel this way for others. We also see the interesting friendships and frenemy-ships between the legendary mythical beasts, who have known each other since the literal dawn of time so their relationships can't be not-complicated.
The implications of spirit weapons and spirits beasts. The high-level spirit weapons wielded by the main cast are made from the souls of mythical beasts who have cultivated human-level sentience. Naturally, they have *feelings* about being killed and made into a weapon for perpetuity. Even if the spirit and wielder can get along, the relationship is inherently unequal on every front: a living human vs a dead beast, a mortal human vs a immortal spirit, the fragile source of power vs the fierce creature who can maximize the power's potential. The more energy a spirit receive from their human wielder, the more powerful they become in battle, and the greater their chance of reversing the relationship -- using the human's spirit energy to return to life and turn the human into a spirit weapon instead.
Further complicating this dynamic is the fact that a spirit weapon can formally bond with its wielder. No one else can use this weapon while the current wielder lives, and the spirit becomes one of the most important relationships that will last for the rest of that human's life. A bonding can be achieved through an exchange of blood or sexual intercourse, and of course the second option is very relevant to the plot and the main couple.
On the other hand
The main relationship is not boring or unpleasant, but it's just not to my taste. The gong is fierce and protective in his love, but also has the temper, maturity, and sometimes the intelligence of a petulant child despite having lived for millennia. This makes for a lot of great comedy and fun interactions with the protagonist, and I really like seeing them gradually becoming friends, but the romantic component didn't feel too compelling to me. However, I love the conflict this couple get into later on in the novel, which is a bit cheesy and cliched but also plays perfectly off the character flaws they already exhibited in the story.
The rushed ending left many loose ends in the plot. I read that the author originally planned for a much longer story, but a host of problems with the platform and censorship hampered her writing. Some characters and couples are left in awkward or unsatisfying places in the narrative, if not downright forgotten, so it feels like their story has not been in explored in full. The climactic battle itself is one shocking reveal after another; and it feels a bit like an info-dump that has dragged on for too long. The ending is technically happy, but I think it's a bit silly and leaves a lot of problems open in the future.
Finally, while SQC is incredibly skilled at crafting emotionally complex stories and character, and the action feels very tight from scene to scene, I feel like the story is still missing several important pieces that keeps it from being super-amazing. So many interesting story elements are left under-explored, like the powerful anti-monarchist secret society, the complicated power dynamics between spirit weapons and their wielders, the other nations/continents in the alternate world, the pseudo-immortality of spirit beasts, and what do you mean we don't have another 50K of extras picking apart Yin Chuan's tragic relationship with Di Jiang and Yuren Shu's complicated dynamic with Tian Rong?!
P.S. This story has no explicit smut scenes, kind of a real shock considering this is SQC's work ...
Overall
This is a story with a refreshing concept/premise, good writing, fun characters, deep relationships, and very creative plot and use of Chinese mythology. However, it leaves me with a "4/5" kind of feeling, because even though there are so many good things about it, I feel like it just left so much unexplored.
It's like looking at a really interesting painting, but with areas that are incomplete and some patches done very roughly compared to the rest. I have high expectations because the artist created such a wonderful sketch and did so well on most of it -- but it's still one of the most best works I have seen recently.
Finally,
I discovered this story through its audiodrama, which is surprisingly very good and unsurprisingly not reaching that many people. Season 1 covered half the novel, and I hope the word spreads so we get a second season to complete the story.
The theme song -- a rock song with Chinese instrumentals -- has also been stuck in my head on and off for weeks now ~~
Finally, another story that makes me feel a bit hollow inside after finishing it. It has almost 2 million characters and took me weeks, and now I have to leave these characters behind but I can't stop thinking about them ...
Warning for period-typical polygamy and mutilation for a Qing Dynasty court drama: the shou is a real eunuch, and the gong is married to multiple women and has biological children
The Premise
Thirty-year-old Su Wei dies in the modern world and transmigrates to the Kangxi Era into the body of eight-year-old Su Peisheng, who has just entered the Imperial Palace to become an eunuch. After two years, he is assigned to serve the five-year-old Fourth Prince, Yinzhen. Su Wei knows Yinzhen will eventually become the next Emperor, though currently the young prince looks like he will be lucky to survive until adulthood.
In a story that spans four decades, Yinzhen grows from a child completely at the adults' mercy, to a young noble fighting for room to breath in complicated imperial politics, to a powerful prince with a vision for his nation, eventually making his way to the throne. He falls in love with Su Wei in his teens, and Su Wei stays by his side through all the highs and lows of his turbulent life.
[see end of this post for a more detailed plot summary]
Why I am obsessed with this story
Fantastic plot. This story tracks very closely to real history, and covers a lot of real events like wars, natural disasters, and political turmoil as documented in history -- the author did serious research, even if she did take major artistic liberties. The Qing Dynasty is undergoing a paradigm shift as it consolidates and stabilizes its governance of China. The struggles between the Princes are proxies for the conflicting interests of different political factions and ideologies. Every remark at court is a battle of wits between lots of smart people. As a danmei novel, we experience this through a personal lens, and see these conflicts strain familial relationships, make and break alliances, launch some into stardom and ruin others' lives.
A large, dynamic ensemble cast is the key to a good political drama. Characters in this story are intelligent, principled, and consistent, even if they are not always sympathetic. Each of the "Nine Princes Competing for the throne" have strengths and flaws, people they care about, and people who cares for them. They change and grow with their experiences, and it's not always for the better. The same is true of their consorts, concubines, servants, and allies. There are no pure-hearted saints or dramatic cartoon villains in this story: just people swept up in the tides of history and time.
Interesting female cast. This is by far one of the largest and most dynamic cast of female characters I have ever seen in danmei. At least ten of the Emperor's imperial consorts and just as many women from Yinzhen's generation have active roles in smaller story arcs. They show off incredible social, political, and emotional intelligence, but are also flawed in a human way. They love their family and children and lord husband, maybe too much or maybe not enough. Some learn from their mistakes, and others lose their best selves after being worn down by grief, trauma, and systemic oppression, but most of them have held on, fighting with impossible resilience to make the most out of life in a world that never saw them as fully human.
A complicated main relationship, to put it mildly. The gong is a prince with a legal harem, remains intimate with them throughout his adult life until he has "enough" biological children. The shou is the gong's personal eunuch, a slave who is considered more like property than person, but also his first and closest companion and confidante. For most of the novel, they have "old married couple" vibes, completely comfortable and relaxed around each other, loving and trusting each other unconditionally. Their relationship is consensual and fulfilling, but there is an insurmountable power difference, and it needs to remain an illicit secret forever.
Rich interpersonal relationships. Every relationship in the imperial family is a careful balancing act between emotion and politics. The Emperor loves his children, but has to treat them like subjects. The princes are constantly engaged in vicious competition with each other, but everyone values the few brothers they stay on good terms with. Yinzhen tries to love and raise his children in a gentler way, unlike his own stressful childhood. Su Wei and even Yinzhen have important friends, allies, colleagues, and family outside of their romance. This world come alive with these relationships and the hopes and vulnerabilities they inspire in the characters.
Just a laundry list of characters still living in my head rent-free. Kangxi is a father and an emperor but can't be both at the same time. The Fourth Princess Consort, who is never the same after losing her child. Shiyue is trapped by her gender and social position but keeps trying to convince herself to just live with it. Consort Nian's intelligence and ambition are wasted in an "inner court". The Fourteenth Prince, trying a find a balance between his family and his own ambition. The tragedy that is the original Crown Prince, doomed to fail by history and the impossible expectations of his position. And Dezhu-gongzi, who bought the best writing brushes and kept the soup warm for his lover, becomes a raw, bleeding wound that never heals in the heart of the man he died to protect. I absolutely hate the Eighth-prince in this adaptation, but his tenacity and resilience is sort of amazing.
But on the other hand
Transmigrator Golden Thumb. Su Wei knows the general course of history, but not enough specifics to help Yinzhen too much. Instead, his modern knowledge and experiences are used to make some toys for a young Yinzhen, and starting a business empire with a hotpot chain restaurant. His business ventures take off when Yinzhen needs to lay low in politics and they need to spend some time apart, but it is an exceptionally smooth enterprise. The business "side quest" is necessary to help Su Wei maintain a sense of self away from the power hierarchies of the imperial palace, but imho it feels a bit out-of-place in the narrative.
Su Wei's status as a eunuch and a slave is heavily downplayed in most of the novel; in 80% of the text, he lives in Yinzhen's estate outside the palace and is treated with great respect as the prince's right-hand man. His business ventures are about building an identity as a respected boss and master outside of imperial affairs. Even though the royals still treat Su Wei like a servant, he believes the indignity of slavery is a state of mind that he has saved himself from. It makes the story easier to read, but I do feel like it hand waves something very dark and fundamental to the premise and setting.
Length and Pacing. The novel is nearly two million characters long -- which is twice the length of QJJ, but covers a time frame that is around 15x longer. Slow and uneventful periods get skipped over, so you need to pay attention to the "Year x of the Kangxi era, Month y" annotation for each section. I have a hard time adjusting during Yinzhen's teen years, when the character grows a lot emotionally and physically, and still get a bit of a shock every time another young prince seems to grow out of their cute kid phase to broody teenager in the blink of an eye.
Character Decay, sort of. Remember how I said there are lots of interesting female characters? Well, sadly most of them don't stay that way. With very few exceptions, they either die as interesting and memorable icons of the potential they could have had, or live long enough to become another petty and scheming harem drama stereotype. But maybe that's the point, that such an oppressive and misogynistic system will ruin even the best women trapped in it.
Overall
This story feels like an epic period drama. Su Wei and Yinzhen spends nearly a lifetime together, and their relationships is impossible to ignore, but this story is so much bigger than just the two of them. It takes a lot of time for the author to build such a rich world, and also takes time for the reader to digest it, but it's all worth it in my opinion. All this context really helps the reader appreciate how special and important the main relationship is, and it feels extra-rewarding seeing other characters we have grown to care about also get satisfactory resolutions to their stories.
And Finally, A Plot Summary
[reasonably spoiler-free, covering roughly the first half of the novel]
Su Wei, in the body of Su Peisheng, is the protagonist. But as a prince's personal eunuch, his life is almost entirely defined by serving and supporting the prince.
Fourth Prince Yinzhen's first decade of life is marked by the tension between his adopted mother Imperial Noble Consort Tonggiya and biological mother Consort De, who resents being forced to give him up. The clan of his adopted mother has little interest in maintaining a relationship after her death. His biological mother Consort De has chosen to prioritize the younger children she has raised herself, and holds back on advocating for him. Yinzhen nominally has a prestigious background but very little substantial support.
In a few years, the rivalry between the two oldest princes, the First Prince and Crown Prince, intensifies as they grow up. Powerful officials at court and consorts in the Imperial Harem subtly (or not so subtly) start taking sides. Kangxi Emperor repeatedly sidelines Yinzhen, unwilling to see him building up a power base and complicate the rivalry between the older princes at court. Yinzhen is forced to step back from politics, and only supports the Crown Prince from time to time.
At around fifteen years old, Yinzhen is given two concubines, and soon takes a primary consort. It's around this time that Yinzhen realizes his feelings for Su Wei. They move out of the palace to his estate, where they have more freedom to be together. Yinzhen becomes closer with Su Wei, and keeps a diplomatic but not very emotional relationship with the women in his harem. However, he loves the three children he has with them, and is content to keep things like this for now. (The number and fates of his children differ from history due to Su Wei's presence.)
As time passes, the Eighth Prince grows up to become a substantial competitor against the Crown Prince and First Prince. He is smart, articulate, and strategic about building alliances with younger princes and key officials. Yinzhen's only son, Honghui dies as collateral damage in a political scheme, and it becomes a key turning point in Yinzhen's life.
Yinzhen's primary consort is wrecked by the grief of losing her only biological child, and the entire household is thrown into disarray. Su Wei and Yinzhen can't bring themselves to talk openly about the whole thing, because both of them feel guilty. Their relationship have caused Yinzhen to be emotionally distant with the mothers of his children, while the children's existence continues to be a shield for their illicit affair. And it's worse because they both genuinely love those children.
Su Wei and Yinzhen decide take some time apart. Su Wei travels and gets ideas to start his business. Yinzhen is determined to avenge his son, and dives deep into the dangerous court politics that has killed Honghui. Even though Su Wei has already made small changes in history with his transmigration, the general trajectory of history seems unmoved, and we all know it will get much worse before it gets better ...
