tanithryudo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tanithryudo) wrote2018-04-17 10:05 am
tanithryudo) wrote2018-04-17 10:05 am
Entry tags:
Chinese Web Novels
So these things had swallowed up my life these last few months, an I figure I'd share the insomnia. Also, I'm just putting down completed stories here (at least for the CN edition); no WIPs.
First, some stories of the "normal" transmigration genre. IOW, just a single setting.
何为贤妻 by 月下蝶影, Translation: To Be a Virtuous Wife - 3.5 stars (out of 5)
八宝妆 by 月下蝶影, Translation: Eight Treasures Trousseau - 3.5 stars
Both of these are fairly straight-forward imperial romance (BG) focused transmigration stories by the same author. The actual transmigration doesn't really play much into the plot, other than as a framing/narrative device so that the reader can relate better to the main character, I guess. There's not a lot of action. The intrigue tends to be somewhat in the background, especially TBAVW which is more outright fluffy romance than intrigue.
盛世嫡妃 by 凤轻, WIP Translation - 5 stars
A much more plot driven story, some intrigue, lots of war, though with plenty of romance (BG) as well. The former life of the transmigrated main character actually becomes important part of her overt characterization and to the plot. A very female warrior hero kind of main character, such that the male lead may have been weakened in comparison. Villains are generally one-dimensional, but there are some supporting characters which were nicely built up.
我有药啊 by 衣落成火 - 5 stars
A not-quite-transmigration and not-quite-system story that's actually primarily related to alchemy/medicinal cultivation and a very slow burn BL romance. Really slow burn. As in, it takes like 300+ chapters of the 1000+ chapter novel for the main character to realize his feelings for the male lead is not platonic, then it takes another 100 chapters for them to come out to each other. However, it's not a bad slow burn, we do see their relationship slowly progress from beginning to end, and their characterization does develop and change throughout. The worldbuilding and sekrit backstories are also pretty well done, and mostly wraps up nicely around the overall plot. There's no angst for angst's sake or hurt-comfort for drama's sake. So it's a very fluffy story overall.
Next, the "quick transmigration" genre:
快穿之打脸狂魔 by 风流书呆, Translation: Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil - 5/5 stars.
The one that got me into this genre, and what I end up comparing all others to. It's BL romance. The CN version linked above is the "PG" version of the main story, plus the extra "NC17" extra chapters from the published version. (I additionally have txt file of the "NC17" versions of the main story too.) Some pretty memorable story arcs - my favorites were the first one, the fourth one (poor schoolboy arc), the three arcs following MC's "restart" (restart arc, pianist arc, cuckold emperor arc). The meta-story that strings all the sub-arcs together into a single story is decently done too.
炮灰逆袭系统 by 将至 - 3.5 stars
BL romance again. Mainly read it because I was looking for similar fixes after finishing QWTFOTD to tide me over. The arcs tend to have less suspense and challenge to them than QWTFOTD. The meta-story is...eh.
炮灰作弊系统（快穿）by 橘子舟 - 4 stars
快意重来 by 橘子舟 - 3.5 stars
BL romances by the same author. Not related to one another though. They're better done than the previous one, but not quite QWTFOTD. The sub arcs at least are more memorable, and the meta-story for both are more coherent too. For 炮灰作弊系统, I liked arc 5 (stuck in virtual MMO arc), arc 8 (space opera arc), and arc 13 (lost prince/ss arc). For 快意重来, I liked arc 1 (cuckoo arc), arc 3 (music magic arc); though the male lead (main character's romantic interest) has some traits that are just not my kink.
快穿：女主驾到，女配速退散 by 素手折枝, WIP Translation - 4 stars
A BG romance this time. Much much longer story with 57 arcs in total, with some arcs as long as 100 chapters to it (compared to previous stories which have less than 15 arcs, and average 20 or so chapters). The meta-story is more or less a fig leaf there to frame the sub-arcs. But there's certainly enough subarcs to make it worth reading. Too many memorable arcs to list!
快穿：黑化吧前女友 by 妹纸爱吃肉 - 5 stars
Another BG romance. Less number of arcs, but there's a much stronger concentration of the meta-arc plot line. Our main female and male lead actually take several arcs before they get together! And the main character undergoes character growth! Also, some memorable arcs too, including arc 3 (wherein MC is trying to do her job of screwing over the NPCs while also being wary of interference from the ML), arc 4 (wherein ML tosses off his actual job in his continuing attempts to win MC over), arc 5 (where they finally get together...as zombies), arc 12 (where we level up via sex XD), and arc 17 (where we find out the deep dark backstory of some supporting characters and how it's relevant to our MC).
First, some stories of the "normal" transmigration genre. IOW, just a single setting.
何为贤妻 by 月下蝶影, Translation: To Be a Virtuous Wife - 3.5 stars (out of 5)
八宝妆 by 月下蝶影, Translation: Eight Treasures Trousseau - 3.5 stars
Both of these are fairly straight-forward imperial romance (BG) focused transmigration stories by the same author. The actual transmigration doesn't really play much into the plot, other than as a framing/narrative device so that the reader can relate better to the main character, I guess. There's not a lot of action. The intrigue tends to be somewhat in the background, especially TBAVW which is more outright fluffy romance than intrigue.
盛世嫡妃 by 凤轻, WIP Translation - 5 stars
A much more plot driven story, some intrigue, lots of war, though with plenty of romance (BG) as well. The former life of the transmigrated main character actually becomes important part of her overt characterization and to the plot. A very female warrior hero kind of main character, such that the male lead may have been weakened in comparison. Villains are generally one-dimensional, but there are some supporting characters which were nicely built up.
我有药啊 by 衣落成火 - 5 stars
A not-quite-transmigration and not-quite-system story that's actually primarily related to alchemy/medicinal cultivation and a very slow burn BL romance. Really slow burn. As in, it takes like 300+ chapters of the 1000+ chapter novel for the main character to realize his feelings for the male lead is not platonic, then it takes another 100 chapters for them to come out to each other. However, it's not a bad slow burn, we do see their relationship slowly progress from beginning to end, and their characterization does develop and change throughout. The worldbuilding and sekrit backstories are also pretty well done, and mostly wraps up nicely around the overall plot. There's no angst for angst's sake or hurt-comfort for drama's sake. So it's a very fluffy story overall.
Next, the "quick transmigration" genre:
快穿之打脸狂魔 by 风流书呆, Translation: Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil - 5/5 stars.
The one that got me into this genre, and what I end up comparing all others to. It's BL romance. The CN version linked above is the "PG" version of the main story, plus the extra "NC17" extra chapters from the published version. (I additionally have txt file of the "NC17" versions of the main story too.) Some pretty memorable story arcs - my favorites were the first one, the fourth one (poor schoolboy arc), the three arcs following MC's "restart" (restart arc, pianist arc, cuckold emperor arc). The meta-story that strings all the sub-arcs together into a single story is decently done too.
炮灰逆袭系统 by 将至 - 3.5 stars
BL romance again. Mainly read it because I was looking for similar fixes after finishing QWTFOTD to tide me over. The arcs tend to have less suspense and challenge to them than QWTFOTD. The meta-story is...eh.
炮灰作弊系统（快穿）by 橘子舟 - 4 stars
快意重来 by 橘子舟 - 3.5 stars
BL romances by the same author. Not related to one another though. They're better done than the previous one, but not quite QWTFOTD. The sub arcs at least are more memorable, and the meta-story for both are more coherent too. For 炮灰作弊系统, I liked arc 5 (stuck in virtual MMO arc), arc 8 (space opera arc), and arc 13 (lost prince/ss arc). For 快意重来, I liked arc 1 (cuckoo arc), arc 3 (music magic arc); though the male lead (main character's romantic interest) has some traits that are just not my kink.
快穿：女主驾到，女配速退散 by 素手折枝, WIP Translation - 4 stars
A BG romance this time. Much much longer story with 57 arcs in total, with some arcs as long as 100 chapters to it (compared to previous stories which have less than 15 arcs, and average 20 or so chapters). The meta-story is more or less a fig leaf there to frame the sub-arcs. But there's certainly enough subarcs to make it worth reading. Too many memorable arcs to list!
快穿：黑化吧前女友 by 妹纸爱吃肉 - 5 stars
Another BG romance. Less number of arcs, but there's a much stronger concentration of the meta-arc plot line. Our main female and male lead actually take several arcs before they get together! And the main character undergoes character growth! Also, some memorable arcs too, including arc 3 (wherein MC is trying to do her job of screwing over the NPCs while also being wary of interference from the ML), arc 4 (wherein ML tosses off his actual job in his continuing attempts to win MC over), arc 5 (where they finally get together...as zombies), arc 12 (where we level up via sex XD), and arc 17 (where we find out the deep dark backstory of some supporting characters and how it's relevant to our MC).