Bella Suartini

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 1

Book by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

DETAILS

Publisher : Seven Seas (December 14, 2021) Language : English Paperback : 432 pages ISBN-10 : 1648279171 ISBN-13 : 978-1648279171 Item Weight : 13 ounces Dimensions : 5.87 x 0.99 x 8.23 inches Best Sellers Rank: #6,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #61 in Historical Fantasy (Books) #105 in LGBTQ+ Romance (Books) #228 in Romantic Fantasy (Books) , NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER! The blockbuster danmei/Boys' Love novels from China that inspired the animated series! This epic historical fantasy about a prince and the mysterious man by his side is now in English, for the very first time. Born the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedicated study and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise may also fall, and fall he does--cast from the heavens and banished to the world below. Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time, angering most of the gods in the process. To repay his debts, he is sent to the Mortal Realm to hunt down violent ghosts and troublemaking spirits who prey on the living. Along his travels, he meets the fascinating and brilliant San Lang, a young man with whom he feels an instant connection. Yet San Lang is clearly more than he appears... What mysteries lie behind that carefree smile? This Chinese xianxia fantasy novel series built around the romanticized love between two men (danmei) is the newest work from author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, and has spawned an ongoing multimedia franchise that's beloved across the world--including the animated series (donghua) that amassed 100+ million views in just its first month. The Seven Seas English-language edition will include covers from 日出的小太陽 (tai3_3), and exclusive, all-new interior illustrations from ZeldaCW. Read more

REVIEW

This review is mainly for those who are unfamiliar with the Chinese fantasy/xianxia or BL/danmei genres as a whole, like me. If you stumbled across this book because it's bestselling, but think you'll probably pass because these genres aren't "your thing," I encourage you to reconsider. It is a saga that transcends its genres the further you read. It is HUGE in Asia and quickly gaining traction globally, and is widely considered to be the best of its genre, and there's a reason for that! The story, characters, setting, and visuals (in the adaptations) are all fantastic. SFF is my favorite genre, but second is classic literature, and this actually contains some elements of the latter, which most fantasy (at least Western fantasy) does not. Men can probably enjoy the story too because there is so much else going on and it's definitely fantasy, not primarily romance. I'm older than the typical audience for this and have read A LOT of books, and this has edged past my other favorite book, The Count of Monte Cristo--yes, I love adventure/drama epics! My only complaint with the book is with the writing style of the translation in the beginning, which I explain below. There is also an excellent and thorough Chinese and xianxia guide in the back. If you're new to the genre, be sure to read this guide, because it will be much clearer that way. THE STORY (no spoilers) When I read the entire novel (not just this book 1), I expected adventure, mystery, romance, and humor. And there is plenty of all of that. What I didn't expect was ethics, philosophy, and intense drama. And the entire story is not just "from one adventure to the next," as it seems at first, but is all shown to be closely related at the end, like zooming out from one part of a weaving to see the entire tapestry. This surprised and impressed me as well. The original web novel is five books, which will be 8 printed books. This printed Book 1 covers just the first half of the web novel's Book 1, and it stays pretty lighthearted. The novel starts out slowly and then steadily increases in speed. The adventurous parts are greatly enjoyable and a fun ride. The dramatic parts (which are mostly in the web novel's Books 2 and 4, describing Xie Lian's past) are extremely intense, to the point that many recommend it's better to take some breaks here and there while reading them. But like all good drama, it lends a great deal of depth that brings the whole story to a different level. (The 17+ label is because of these parts.) The romance is a very organic slow build, and it's not at either extreme of being the full focus or just jammed in awkwardly, but it is still at the very clear heart of the story. There have only been a few romances I've encountered that are built on something much deeper than normal, and this is one of them; it can be called epic without exaggeration, and most romance stories now seem shallow by comparison. It's hard to imagine this kind of relationship being able to occur outside of this fantasy setting, which is probably why it can go to such a different level. And even though I'm not (yet) a general "BL" fan, this relationship is now one of my favorites. It is sweet and healthy, with no toxic elements and very high mutual respect, and just highly endearing. (Though there is one aspect that would be creepy outside its narrative.) Some problematic tropes are inverted; for example the influence of 'sex pollen' is rejected, age boundaries are maintained, and magically-induced dubcon (just of kissing) is halted. It apparently doesn't follow the usual BL tropes which cater to a heterosexual audience, and is instead more realistic in its portrayal of a same-sex relationship, which is great if true. It also is not explicit (unlike MXTX's other two books) which seemed to actually fit very well with the story. The supporting characters are given a lot of focus as well, with a lot of time spent on their stories, which Xie Lian ends up being quite involved/entangled in; they are actually what drives the present-day plot in addition to Xie Lian's own journey. These characters are nuanced; there is bad in the "good" ones and good in the "bad," as well as growth as the story progresses. The book is gripping and moving, and as I got further in, I REALLY got pulled into the story and it was hard to focus on the rest of my life. This is apparently a common reaction to this saga. While reading, I didn't do anything but work and the most necessary chores and family activities. I don't do well without enough sleep but I still stayed up too late several times. And even while doing other things (like an all-day D&D session) my mind kept wandering back to the book. I felt like I was between worlds. And when I finished, I felt hollow and bereft, and at a loss of what to do next, wishing the story could just go on. (This also is apparently common.) None of that has happened to me with a book in a very long time. So I'm trying to fill the holes with related art, videos, fanfic, fan groups, etc, and will re-read this as each of the printed books is released, as well as MXTX's other two books. The extra chapters set after the book's end helped to ease the sting as well. THE WRITING/TRANSLATION This novel was first made available in English by a fan named Suika who did a gargantuan amount of work to singlehandedly translate it. Apparently Suika can be credited with much of its popularity outside of Asia. This new official version actually uses that translation, and Seven Seas has only cleaned up basic things like grammar errors and minor phrasing. The writing is fine for a fan translation, but it should have been more deeply edited for an official, professional quality release. There are problems with the writing style especially in about the first third of the novel. The wording is very informal, and the phrasing is clunky and often stiff and simplistic. Sometimes it flows more naturally and is crisp, engaging and more appropriately formal, but this isn't consistent. According to some fans who have compared the original Chinese to this translation, the phrasing problems are in the translation and not in the original Chinese, though the more informal dialogue is. It does improve as it goes on, however. In my first reading I thought that it might have just been my perception that changed the further I read; that I might have just gotten used to it, or was so engrossed in the story that I stopped noticing. But I'm re-reading it now and I can definitely say that the writing gets much better. There is also another possible factor on top of this, which is that in her postscript, the author describes some early struggles with this story, and that could also possibly account for some of the stilted feel at the beginning. So if you try this book and feel the same way as I did about the writing, try to stick it out because the story itself is worth it. THE ADAPTATIONS Like a lot of Westerners, I found this story through the donghua (animated series). Then I read the artistically stunning manhua (comic), and finally read the novel. I feel that the best order is the book first, and then the other two, because the book provides more detail that will increase the enjoyment of the manhua and donghua. However, some people have said that they preferred the other formats over the book (at least this first part of it), in part due to the writing style. The manhua can be read on the Bilibili site/app, and the donghua is subbed on Netflix and excellently dubbed on Funimation (which you can use for free for the first month). They so far have covered about the same amount of the story as this printed Book 1. The story is almost identical in all three formats, except for a few things. The manhua and donghua lend exquisite visuals that greatly enhance the story. But the book's prologue made some things a lot more clear to me, particularly Xie Lian's past; though on the flip side, the other formats reveal something about Hua Cheng's past that the novel doesn't touch on until later. In the book there are more details mainly in the interactions between the deuteragonists, revealing Xie Lian's inner thoughts about Hua Cheng, and some expressions/interactions between them that aren't as clear in the other two formats. Conversely, some overt intimate gestures in the manhua and donghua aren't in the book, maybe since those formats don't show all the inner discourse, so those gestures compensate. A live action show has finished filming. An audio drama is in progress with one episode released, which will actually contain the author's final version of the novel, with 100,000 added words (which presumably will be incorporated into future editions of the book). Some have been worried that the adaptations will be censored, but so far they haven't been. In fact as I said, they are MORE overtly romantic so far than in the book, though the upcoming live action show will most likely be heavily censored. And it's likely that any kissing will be censored in all adaptations, although because the animation studio is Japanese, they may release some extra uncensored content for non-Chinese audiences, as they've done with some other danmei stories. I do wonder if some of the side stories will be cut out of the adaptations to shorten them, which is common with book adaptations. PRINT/PRODUCTION QUALITY This is about as high quality as a paperback book can get. I usually get books on Kindle and wasn't sure if I'd want to keep the paperback, but I definitey am because it is gorgeous, as the customer videos show. While it is much higher quality than standard paperbacks, I do wish that it were more similar to the very elegant editions offered in some other languages, which are mostly hardback with more traditional and less cartoony cover art (though I do like the art on ours), a more formal title font, and even gold or silver foil. They also include extras such as prints, pins and bookmarks, and some have interior color art. (Look up the Vietnamese and Russian editions for a comparison.) Some also have box sets for every 2 books. I am hoping that we will get a special edition set more like these at some point.

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