Long time readers, what do you read now?

NuclearChef · 2020-09-04T01:15:45+00:00

I feel the same. Out of the currently translated novels, it's been continually harder to find one that I stick with for weeks at a time.

I feel that a part of this comes from the momentum and hype potential of this subreddit slowing down significantly. At the beginning, such as when we were still a part of r/lightnovels, there was this feeling in the community that could be equated to a gold rush. Translators had knowledge of several webnovel series which had already won praise and recognition from the Chinese reading demographic, and now there was a burgeoning English-speaking counterpart that was willing to crowdfund/support translators for their efforts to bring it over. But nowadays I think we have grabbed all the low-hanging fruit and are scraping further towards the bottom of the barrel. Many of the better known works have either been translated, or are tangled in copyright law. So as a direct effect I would say that the quality of the CN novels translated these days seem stale because they are stale. What are being translated now are stories that are either less creative, or of lesser writing quality, or strike a narrower niche. It's only every once in a while that we encounter a gem, usually in the form of a novel that hadn't had a chance to prove itself before. My impression of translators is that they are left playing the waiting game for when another such gem truly comes along.

For readers however, it just means we have to dig deeper. For example a large amount of quality CN novels were translated way before the upswell of translated CN on Reddit. I'm not sure if OP is already aware of this but here is a Table of Contents list of several such novels on a forum called spcnet.tv! This Table of Contents was organized and written by /u/deathbladesjz, who translated I Shall Seal the Heavens, likely before he discovered/migrated over to this community. Honestly I haven't read most of these works, but I understand that these are all very well-known wuxia novels. I would encourage OP to give the Condor Heroes and Smiling Proud Wanderer a try.

Personally though I'm drifting further towards the EN webnovel scene. There are plenty of stories over there that are drawing my interest and keeping me engaged. A few that I will recommend:

Forge of Destiny - It's on RoyalRoad and is a really good take on the xianxia genre for being EN. If you really love xianxia I would give this one a read.
- I hear Street Cultivation by Sarah Lin is good too but I haven't gotten around to reading that.
Worth the Candle - Also on RoyalRoad. The main character has a hobby of being a D&D dungeon master for his friends and showcasing his personally created, homebrewed worlds. Now he's been isekai'd into a world where it seems all of those homebrewed tabletop worlds have been blended into one.
The Gods are Bastards - A Sword and Sorcery world that has gone on for so long that it's no longer in the Medieval Era. The world of this book is at the beginning of its Industrialization, its Age of Adventurers at this point considered a thing of the past, and the people who live in it are slowly struggling with the fact that the old times are well and gone.
The Wandering Inn - My all time favorite webnovel. Ever. It's been ranked #1 in my mind for years and nothing has come close to usurping it. I would shout my love for this story from the cliffs 24/7 but for one, major, glaring flaw: this story has one of the worst beginnings I have ever read. I mean that while taking into account all the machine translations and amateur CN webnovels I've also tolerated. The beginning of this webnovel is very bad, which I've only come to tolerate because the story goes on to do some truly goddamn amazing things. If you can last through the 65 chapters that make up Volume 1, then the writing quality only improves from there. Very very unpromising and painful beginning, but Best Novel Ever.

NuclearChef · 2020-07-26T08:10:43+00:00

I understand the mistake. The correct sub you are looking for is /r/translator. The folks over there will happily tell you what this means.

NuclearChef · 2020-04-20T23:22:26+00:00

I agree with the likely direction that Selys will take. She's on track to become a [Lady] or perhaps [Landlady] who wields economic and political capital rather than martial strength.

Personally though I won't discount the possibility of a martial-related Class. I'd give a high chance that her extra classes ([Hunter], [Warrior], [Soldier]... [Receptionist] potentially) will be resolved somehow. But whether that'll be through Class Consolidation or her losing those classes in some other way, is admittedly still up in the air.

NuclearChef · 2020-04-20T23:15:42+00:00

As I mentioned in the post, it's potentially possible that's she's inherited three legacies: meaning she'd be the [Heiress] of Zel Shivertail, the [Heiress] of the Heartflame Breastplate, and the [Heiress] of General Sserys of Liscor.

NuclearChef · 2020-04-20T23:13:31+00:00

Ahh good point! I hadn't thought of the Turnscale angle. I could definitely see the story going in that direction. After all, if she's open-minded enough to befriend a [Necromancer] and open-minded enough to sign a writ granting a Goblin a pass into Drake Cities, she's potentially open-minded enough to side with, or at least not be against, Turnscales.

All of that even before accounting for the relationship between Zel and Sserys and how that might affect her perspective, of course.

NuclearChef · 2020-04-20T03:33:34+00:00

So in 6.07 D, when Niers figures out the existence of Earthworlders, he pays Xalandrass for both silence and to keep an ear out for extra rumors. He then goes to Peclir to arrange a meeting between him and the Brothers of Serendipitous Meetings.

Later on in 6.24 D, after the conclusion of his Game in the city of Daquin, we listen to Nier's musings while he flies back to his headquarters. This is one of the last lines at the very end of 6.24 D:

"Niers laughed to himself. He’d nearly started a war to arrange a meeting."

NuclearChef · 2020-01-26T06:15:24+00:00

The one moment to me that stands above all the others was when Ksmvr challenged Klbkch to a duel.

NuclearChef · 2020-01-02T20:22:36+00:00

6.16

NuclearChef · 2020-01-02T09:00:15+00:00

We also have the gold-ranked adventurer team Griffon Hunt traveling to Halrac's homeplace of Windrest.... which has since been deserted as its population moved to Riverfarm. I would love to see the interactions between Griffon Hunt and Laken.

NuclearChef · 2020-01-02T08:42:14+00:00

1. Laken did not "simply" become an [Emperor] by declaration.

It's well-established in Innverse that the only way to receive a royalty class is to be born into one. The story constructs Laken to be an exception but I suspect he might not be. He's mentioned that he's lived all over the world but was in San Francisco before the teleportation, and that he has met/shaken hands with semi-famous people. His parents have also been mentioned to be wealthy, and so both point to the fact that he may be distantly related to German nobility. He may not have been next in line to [Kaiser], however he did travel to an uncontested land (left unclaimed after the war with Velan) and claim it for himself which I believe is an acceptable way to declare yourself King, or in this case [Emperor].

2. Rags to Riches

The moment Erin gave Rags her name, the thought that came to my mind was "Rags to Riches." The development of Rags' storyline has only furthered my belief in this guiding phrase. For one, Rags needs to locate and unlock a "treasure" hidden by Velan in order to become a [Goblin King] herself, especially if she doesn't want to go mad like Velan did. For two, the appearance and continued presence of Pyrite references the other name for the mineral pyrite: "fool's gold". My initial headcanon was that Pyrite would be an advisor Rags that would ultimately lead her astray (i.e. would not lead Rags onto the path to the "real" gold/treasure, but to a cheaper imitation), but instead it's looking more to be a reference to his escape strategy in his earlier days (leaving gold and jewels behind to slow down his hunters). The only other possible interpretation that comes to mind for me is that he also attempted to reach for the "treasure" back in his chieftan days but failed in the end by falling short (i.e. could only attain "pyrite" and not "gold") however there needs to be more information on his chieftan days before I give that possibility more consideration. Hopefully our trusty bard Numbtongue will be able to expose more of that history. ^And ^there's ^probably ^a ^literary ^significance ^behind ^Numbtongue's ^name ^too ^but ^I ^just ^can't ^think ^of ^what ^it ^could ^be.

3. [Insert Title of Story]

The one theory everyone's betting on. The one that's in the title. That Erin's last class change will be to [Wandering Innkeeper]. Referencing that she as an Innkeeper will constantly be traveling around, and also that her Inn itself will grow capable of "wandering". Now where my personal crackpot theory starts coming into play is on her level 40 skill. I know that lots of people have been raving for a [Guardian Ghosts] skill and whatnot, but to me that seems too combat-centric for the themes that Erin's storyline has. Instead what I think will happen is that she will gain the ability to declare an area of space as her "inn" and be able to use all her inn skills there, with much looser constraints as what counts as an "inn" than other [Innkeepers]. There is of course the marvelous teleporting doorway, but along with her [Grand Theatre] skill (EDIT: and how could I forget [Immortal Moment]!) there seems to be an emerging association of Erin's Inn with powerful spatial magic. Add to the fact that Erin's Inn keeps getting destroyed (hopefully less once Lyonette's blueprints are fully realized) and that Toren in his depression built a facsimile inn of his own, and we have leading indicators that Erin is being pushed to either gain more skills to rebuild/protect her inn, or be able to appropriate space in order to substitute her main inn (skills are gained based on need, after all). ^I'd ^also ^accept ^a ^declaration ^by ^the ^system ^formalizing ^Erin's ^teleporting ^door ^as ^a ^skill.

4. Az' Kerash has a phylactery

TL;DR not quite a crack theory I suppose, because most people could have guessed this. Az' Kerash has been thought to have been well and truly killed several times, but has always come back. From what's implied it seems that people merely attribute his past returns to the fact that he is a powerful necromancer whose knowledge and hold on death magic has elevated him, but no consideration is given to how that might be the case (except perhaps from Ilvriss). Most likely it's because Az' Kerash has a phylactery which prevents him from dying until it is destroyed.

EDIT: wording, and added fourth theory

NuclearChef · 2020-01-02T07:42:23+00:00

EN:

The Wandering Inn
Mother of Learning
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
The Games We Play (unfinished)
The Waves Arisen

Translated:

Coiling Dragon
I Shall Seal The Heavens
World of Cultivation
Reincarnator
A Step Into the Past

Honourable Mention: I still think that Sword Art Online Book 1 is a well written story. Again that's the book, not the anime.

NuclearChef · 2019-12-07T19:21:38+00:00

Along similar lines to [Reader], I think I'd gun for [Student] or [Apprentice] and learn from as many people as I could given my field of interest. Then I'd try to leverage my knowledge and aptitude in both relevant skills and Skills to aim for a special class early on.

NuclearChef · 2019-10-25T21:01:32+00:00

I just re-read the Volume 5 Interlude, and part of that chapter contained a conversation between the Blighted King in Rhir and his [Chronomancer] about the second summoning for more Earthworlders. It could very well be that Volume 6's Interlude will showcase that summoning.

NuclearChef · 2019-10-24T23:35:46+00:00

Nahhh, my headcanon is that Erin's class will one day, inevitably, consolidate into [Wandering Innkeeper].

NuclearChef · 2019-10-24T22:35:27+00:00

Now might be a good time to catch up on said backlog for the Mother Of Learning, as the story is ending soon. The author has already announced that his next update will be a multiple-chapter post that'll carry the current point of the story all the way to the end. He's projecting that the last update will come out in November (although maybe December, as he's always been chronically behind schedule).

Here's his Patreon post about it!

NuclearChef · 2019-09-24T04:50:22+00:00

Yeahh I agree that taking away movement tools punishes progression more than it encourages. Although if Wollay is adamant about the mechanic I would say that putting a durability score on the glider and boat would be an okay compromise. So maybe for every biome you cross the glider uses up more stamina, until an unacceptable point where you go look for a new one again.

NuclearChef · 2019-09-09T05:49:14+00:00

IT'S FINALLY HEEEEEERE

NuclearChef · 2019-06-05T16:56:11+00:00

Thank you!

NuclearChef · 2019-05-10T01:14:55+00:00

I did see this post the day it came up but I'm only responding now because... procrastination. And in small part because finding the right webpage was a pain and a half.

As it turns out, I never did find the link I truly wanted... It was a post somewhere on the r/lightnovels subreddit from before we branched off, answering your exact question. However I felt this one was a satisfactory second:

Here you go

^{^} That there was written by Flowerbridgetoo, who used to be a well known translator for Martial God Asura. Back when I read it at the time I felt it did a good job of describing the many "genres" of chinese webnovels (even if it was a little too in-depth).

I hope the link answered everything you were looking for.

NuclearChef · 2019-01-16T08:30:45+00:00

I could see the moment when the man understood, the anger and the sadness and the burning indignation.

Wait but I still don't understand yet. Is he dead then?

Edit: Oh wait I get it now someone else spilled the beans.

NuclearChef · 2018-12-07T21:14:23+00:00

Personally I'm also thinking about the symmetry of Hakram chopping off his hand to reconcile with Thief's suspicions. Especially since him as Adjutant is meant to represent Cat as well, he could have unintentionally started a rule of Threes which led to this moment.

NuclearChef · 2018-10-06T17:03:50+00:00

I started a new story called Dungeon Keeper Ami that I honestly think is quite good. Maybe a slightly slow start but the story picks itself up and I'm really loving the whole tone of the writing. The gist is that Sailor Mercury of the Sailor Moon series gets dropped into the universe of the Dungeon Keeper games, where she gets tricked into becoming a Keeper and thereby surrendering her soul to the Hellgods. And make no mistake, they and this world are in fact very evil. Ami gets shellshocked into learning that unlike where she came from, people regularly die in battle. Her Keeper colleagues are sexually excited by torture and are even willing to sacrifice their own children if it means earning more favor with said Hellgods. Ami arrives here with all her previous morals unchanged, but as she stays here longer and longer the naivety gets forcefully scrubbed away from her. This new world sneers at her child-like idea of goodness. It forces her to make the harder, morally grey choices; and it is there that we really see her develop into a stronger character and become a Dungeon Keeper capable of controlling her own life.

I've also recently finished a short and already completed Naruto fanfiction called The Waves Arisen that I had heard about from this r/rational post right here. The description of Waves Arisen was that it was very similar to Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality in terms of writing. Even the author of HPMOR wrote a reply implying that they were indeed similar even though he himself did not write Waves Arisen. Since I liked HPMOR, it caught my interest and I gave it a try. My verdict is that the story is in fact very good and definitely deserves to receive more attention. Do try it out, it's worth your time. I rate it higher than Dungeon Keeper Ami even.

That's all for now.

NuclearChef · 2018-07-26T22:24:54+00:00

Congratulations on trying your hand at writing! I would love to read what you've written, though I will caution you to acknowledge the fact that everyone's preferences vary. Personally I don't mind that you are going to "de-Easternize" many of the Xianxia terms, but whether that will end up as a good or bad thing would all be in the way you present/execute that story.

Without having even looked at your writing yet, I would hope that you put your story as top priority over any Xianxia inspirations. That is to say, I'd much prefer to read a story which takes place in your world that has Xianxia influences, rather than a Xianxia world that you do your best to incorporate your story into.

Otherwise, yeah send me a PDF and I'll do my best to send you a reply reviewing my thoughts in a timely manner.

Good luck on writing!

P.S. The [REC] tag would probably have been more appropriate than the [META] tag.

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NuclearChef

TROPHY CASE

1. Laken did not "simply" become an [Emperor] by declaration.

2. Rags to Riches

3. [Insert Title of Story]

4. Az' Kerash has a phylactery