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The Grave Robbers' Chronicles #2
Angry Sea, Hidden Sands
When Uncle Three’s boat disappears in the South China Sea, an undersea grave- robbing adventure begins for Fats, Poker-face and Uncle Three’s long-suffering nephew. While searching for their reprobate leader, they find themselves lost in a labyrinth of shifting rooms—and pursued by two monsters that are as tenacious as they are deadly.
Who can be trusted? Who is lying? Answers to these questions shift and change as quickly as the rooms that imprison the gang of grave robbers. Rapidly each of them realizes nobody is to be relied on and that the truth is harder to find than any tomb’s treasure trove or the enigmatic and elusive Uncle Three. This second volume of The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles continues the fast-paced horror saga that began in Cavern of the Blood Zombies, filled with humor, history, and a black-hearted femme fatale who is definitely out for blood.
Soon to be followed by the third volume of The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles, Angry Sea, Hidden Sands is a mystery as well as a gripping adventure story. As ensnaring as the homicidal hair on the head of the Forbidden Lady, it’s bound to keep readers in place until the last plot twist has been played out and the very last page has been turned.
Who can be trusted? Who is lying? Answers to these questions shift and change as quickly as the rooms that imprison the gang of grave robbers. Rapidly each of them realizes nobody is to be relied on and that the truth is harder to find than any tomb’s treasure trove or the enigmatic and elusive Uncle Three. This second volume of The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles continues the fast-paced horror saga that began in Cavern of the Blood Zombies, filled with humor, history, and a black-hearted femme fatale who is definitely out for blood.
Soon to be followed by the third volume of The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles, Angry Sea, Hidden Sands is a mystery as well as a gripping adventure story. As ensnaring as the homicidal hair on the head of the Forbidden Lady, it’s bound to keep readers in place until the last plot twist has been played out and the very last page has been turned.
229 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2010
31 people are currently reading
350 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 9, 2020
2 books in and Zhang Qiling finally smiled
September 30, 2019
I really love the Chinese TV dramas The Lost Tomb, both #1 and #2, that are based on these books by Lei Xu, that's why I keep buying them and I keep hoping that they will be as good as the series. Alas. What's definition of insanity again? Doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result? Well.
You see, the story in these books and in the series is the same, the dramas are very true to them, but! And there's a big BUT. The characters are much more likable in the TV series than in the books. In the TV series, they have a ride or die friendship and a deep affection for each other, both Wu Xie and Zhang Qilin, and Wu Xie and Fats. In the books? Wu Xie is a cowardly brat and his behavior towards Fats in particular - calling him a "dumb fuck" etc. - is just abhorrent.
Next year, The Lost Tomb 3 should be out. Unless something drastically changes and I decide to test Einstein's insanity definition once again, I think I'll stick with the moving pictures from now on.
You see, the story in these books and in the series is the same, the dramas are very true to them, but! And there's a big BUT. The characters are much more likable in the TV series than in the books. In the TV series, they have a ride or die friendship and a deep affection for each other, both Wu Xie and Zhang Qilin, and Wu Xie and Fats. In the books? Wu Xie is a cowardly brat and his behavior towards Fats in particular - calling him a "dumb fuck" etc. - is just abhorrent.
Next year, The Lost Tomb 3 should be out. Unless something drastically changes and I decide to test Einstein's insanity definition once again, I think I'll stick with the moving pictures from now on.
January 25, 2021
An equally fast-paced thrilling sequel from Cavern of the Blood Zombies.
Uncle Three disappeared during his exploration in an undersea tomb.
Wu Xie then joined grave robber team lead by female grave robber, Ah Ning, in search for his uncle.
Fatty and Poker Face (Zhang Qilin) later on joined as well and the three of them start to forge a strong bond.
In this book, we get glimpse of Qilin's past and Uncle Three's past adventures.
Zhang Qilin:
"For you this is an adventure. For me it's a twist in my heart that never goes away. If I don't solve this mystery, I will never be truly alive"
I feel like want to give him a hug...
Uncle Three disappeared during his exploration in an undersea tomb.
Wu Xie then joined grave robber team lead by female grave robber, Ah Ning, in search for his uncle.
Fatty and Poker Face (Zhang Qilin) later on joined as well and the three of them start to forge a strong bond.
In this book, we get glimpse of Qilin's past and Uncle Three's past adventures.
Zhang Qilin:
"For you this is an adventure. For me it's a twist in my heart that never goes away. If I don't solve this mystery, I will never be truly alive"
I feel like want to give him a hug...
June 13, 2019
Edit review: Well, my opinion about Wu Xie improved. The three of them did make a golden trio, with Wu Xie and Wang Pangzi being the dumb and dumber and Qilin was fed up by their bullshits most of the times. Im looking forward to see their partnership in the next book, but maybe not in the third so gotta skip that for later.
I cannot help to think that Wu Xie is one judgemental jerk. he called people names by their physical traits and was quick to judge/hate/dislike people in a first greeting only (which would end up wrong I dare say). and not only was he judgemental, he was also ungrateful. after Baldy saved him from the ghost ship, he said that Baldy had given exaggerate account at how he had saved his sorry ass and you know what I say? he earned it. but did I hear you thanking him once huh, Wu Xie? You still called him names (still) and was more into admiring your sexy partner's body than being a grateful human being. And no, not once did I hear him thanking his saviour. I'm starting not to like him.
I cannot help to think that Wu Xie is one judgemental jerk. he called people names by their physical traits and was quick to judge/hate/dislike people in a first greeting only (which would end up wrong I dare say). and not only was he judgemental, he was also ungrateful. after Baldy saved him from the ghost ship, he said that Baldy had given exaggerate account at how he had saved his sorry ass and you know what I say? he earned it. but did I hear you thanking him once huh, Wu Xie? You still called him names (still) and was more into admiring your sexy partner's body than being a grateful human being. And no, not once did I hear him thanking his saviour. I'm starting not to like him.
June 4, 2013
This book is just as good as the first book I can't say enough about his zombies.
This one was pregnant but not with a baby zombie but with a demon.
There was no corpse eating bugs but there was sea monkeys not the type sea monkeys that we see in those advertisements but sea monkeys that resemble the creature from the black lagoon.
So far I just love this series and can't wait to read more.
I highly recommend it.
You won't regret it
This one was pregnant but not with a baby zombie but with a demon.
There was no corpse eating bugs but there was sea monkeys not the type sea monkeys that we see in those advertisements but sea monkeys that resemble the creature from the black lagoon.
So far I just love this series and can't wait to read more.
I highly recommend it.
You won't regret it
July 17, 2021
I just can’t quit this series in any format. Having finished all currently released seasons of the drama adaptation, I decided to come back to the books. Fellow fans have impressed upon me that the books provide no more answers to the mysteries of this series than the dramas do. While they’re certainly right thus far, I continue reading to see more of our iron triangle.
This book is largely a condensed version of The Lost Tomb 2: Explore With The Note. There are few variations but I still enjoyed reading it and getting inside Wu Xie’s head a little more. It’s particularly fun to see these early interactions between Wu Xie & Pangzi. While they clearly annoy the shit out of each other, you can also see the beginnings of a strong brotherhood. If you’re a PingXie fan like me, you’ll have to squint but it’s starting. At this point, I’d say the drama took liberties in progressing the relationship between those 2 at a much faster pace than the books.
While the translator for this book is the same as the 1st, I felt like they’d settled into the material a bit more. I was thankful they stopped shying away so much from including Chinese words and names (Zhang Qiling rather than that Kylin nonsense).
Like the 1st one, however, there’s really no extra content here. If you’ve seen the drama, then you’ve essentially seen this. Only truly recommend for people like me who just can’t quit daomubiji.
This book is largely a condensed version of The Lost Tomb 2: Explore With The Note. There are few variations but I still enjoyed reading it and getting inside Wu Xie’s head a little more. It’s particularly fun to see these early interactions between Wu Xie & Pangzi. While they clearly annoy the shit out of each other, you can also see the beginnings of a strong brotherhood. If you’re a PingXie fan like me, you’ll have to squint but it’s starting. At this point, I’d say the drama took liberties in progressing the relationship between those 2 at a much faster pace than the books.
While the translator for this book is the same as the 1st, I felt like they’d settled into the material a bit more. I was thankful they stopped shying away so much from including Chinese words and names (Zhang Qiling rather than that Kylin nonsense).
Like the 1st one, however, there’s really no extra content here. If you’ve seen the drama, then you’ve essentially seen this. Only truly recommend for people like me who just can’t quit daomubiji.
January 27, 2024
"For you this is an adventure. For me it's a twist in my heart that never goes away. If I don't solve this mystery, I will never be truly alive."
[3.5] I really want to rate this series higher than I have been, but maybe I have drama bias and I'm not used to the book style yet, maybe we just aren't deep enough into the plot yet, I don't know, but I'm still enjoying myself! I remember the undersea tomb from The Lost Tomb 2 fondly, and this book's plot is 1:1 with the drama, so I can't complain too much. I will say though that I felt like the drama's pacing was better than the book's... and it felt a bit more detailed and made the characters closer.
[EDIT: I'VE FOUND OUT IT'S BECAUSE THIS OFFICIAL TRANSLATION CUT OUT A TON OF DETAILS. ENTIRE PARAGRAPHS. CHANGING THINGS. JUST WHY]
That being said, I enjoyed seeing a hint of the future Iron Triangle in this book! Wu Xie, Pangzi, and Xiao Ge are on their 2nd tomb together, and trust is starting to form. Each character had moments to shine and show their expertise, and it's fun to see how they work together - it's fun seeing baby Iron Triangle again... they really don't get along sometimes lol they aren't a perfect team yet but they're working on it. Xiao Ge told Wu Xie and Pangzi to shut up and stop bickering more in this novel than I remember in the drama lol, but they only met like, last month and are still getting used to each other. They undoubtedly consider themselves friends by the end though. I do still feel like the drama focused more on moments of character bonding and conversations than the book did though, but ah well... I probably just have to accept that this is what the author wants, at least for these early books (?). It can't all boil down to translation problems. But even with what we got, the characters grew a lot during this tomb and I'm pleased with that.
The plot is Plotting now so I'm looking forward to the next books! Xiao Ge's memories... Sanshu.... the writing from [redacted] on the wall... the snake brow copper fish.... Mt. Changbai.... I want to see how well the dramas adapted the next books and how much information I have is correct lol.
This time I didn't keep the fan-translation up next to me as I went, since it ruins the flow sometimes when I'm darted my eyes from the official page to the fan translation of the same page... I'm reading the book 2x over. I'll be going over if there was anything skewed or cut at some point after I post this review lol. I feel like the translation read a little bit better in this one at least so that's a plus!
September 26, 2022
I feel like the author has hit his stride here with the dynamic between Wu Xie, Pangzi and Men You Ping aka Zhang Qiling. In this book, they are a delight together: each competent in their own way, by turns funny and cool, endearing to the reader even if sometimes annoying to one another. Pangzi has started calling him Xiao Wu...
As for the story, I'm more invested this time round than in the first book. Definitely because the secret of this tomb under the sea is intrinsically tied up with Men You Ping's backstory. (It's a little frustrating that we don't find out more, but surely that's intentional to string us along.) Plus, it's interesting that San Shu's secrets are being called into question.
Let's not forget the horror. The monsters in this book are even freakier, I love it.
Maybe two is too early to call it, but these books - even down to the chapter level - seem to follow a straightforward formula. Is it one that works? Going by the success of the series, probably. Giving this 3.5 stars, rounded down so I can ramp up if these books keep getting better.
As for the story, I'm more invested this time round than in the first book. Definitely because the secret of this tomb under the sea is intrinsically tied up with Men You Ping's backstory. (It's a little frustrating that we don't find out more, but surely that's intentional to string us along.) Plus, it's interesting that San Shu's secrets are being called into question.
Let's not forget the horror. The monsters in this book are even freakier, I love it.
Maybe two is too early to call it, but these books - even down to the chapter level - seem to follow a straightforward formula. Is it one that works? Going by the success of the series, probably. Giving this 3.5 stars, rounded down so I can ramp up if these books keep getting better.
September 21, 2020
okay NOW i'm thrilled, this was a much better experience than the first book. i was so disappointed by the writing and the translation but there is a huge improvement in this one and i enjoyed it much more.
it was a solid read, i would say 3.5 stars, good time, short and fun, i just really wanted some sort of conclusion instead of such an abrupt ending, like, at least answer one or two of the ten questions i have
it was a solid read, i would say 3.5 stars, good time, short and fun, i just really wanted some sort of conclusion instead of such an abrupt ending, like, at least answer one or two of the ten questions i have
June 5, 2021
It's short. I wanted more details, more conversations, more explanations, but this is the writer's style.
Watch the series if you liked this.
The Lost Tomb 2
"Based on the second book, titled Angry Sea, Hidden Sands, the third book, titled Bronze Tree of Death, and a little bit of the fourth book, titled Palace of Doom."
Watch the series if you liked this.
The Lost Tomb 2
"Based on the second book, titled Angry Sea, Hidden Sands, the third book, titled Bronze Tree of Death, and a little bit of the fourth book, titled Palace of Doom."
August 2, 2021
I'm waiting for the characters to be as endearing as they are in the drama (in their multiple versions) but do far it's not happening. Where is the Iron Triangle I love so much?
The series remains as entertaining and fast-paced as ever though and that's what I wanted, at least. (I'm just hoping Wu Xie & al become more likeable in the following volumes - like I know they can be)
The series remains as entertaining and fast-paced as ever though and that's what I wanted, at least. (I'm just hoping Wu Xie & al become more likeable in the following volumes - like I know they can be)
March 6, 2022
Another fun book! More tomb robbing, but underwater this time! Our narrator is starting to get more into tomb robbing, we have a full name for Poker Face, and more weird zombie creatures attack. It was a little difficult to tell when parts of the tomb were underwater or not at the beginning, though.
June 28, 2023
I was basically obsessed with this novel. It was super addictive, especially after watching the whole drama series. I couldn’t miss pingxie’s scenes as well. They’re more intense in the novel compared to the series. I need the next book ASAP!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2024
3.5
Top moment of this book? Zhang Qiling smiled!
Another thing I really like about this book series is the fact that when they see any supernatural creature, nobody is doubting it, and they are just guessing what type of creature it is (so refreshing omg).
Top moment of this book? Zhang Qiling smiled!
Another thing I really like about this book series is the fact that when they see any supernatural creature, nobody is doubting it, and they are just guessing what type of creature it is (so refreshing omg).
April 9, 2020
Another cliffhanger ending but the book keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you sat up watching Indiana Jones movies as a kid you will love this series
November 2, 2020
Mystery mystery and mystery !
Plus a dumb and a dumber!!!!!
Plus a dumb and a dumber!!!!!
November 30, 2020
I liked this one better than the 1st one, maybe because it was a fresh story for me. I am very curious about both Zhang Qilin and Uncle Three.
So far I really like this series :)
So far I really like this series :)
February 15, 2022
此書講述主角一群人探索一個海底墓。我從沒聽過海底墓，經網上搜索才發現它在現實中其實並不存在。然而作者對海底墓的每個細節都描寫得具體迫真，連如何下葬也有詳盡解釋，令我不得不佩服他的想象力。
February 26, 2017
Loved it. The continuation of the fist book, gives us a better insight in Uncle Three's past and grants us a slight insight into who Poker Face is, or rather was.
This time the monsters and traps are based on sea legends such as ghost ships, sea monkeys etc.
This time the monsters and traps are based on sea legends such as ghost ships, sea monkeys etc.
July 18, 2012
Today's post is The Grave Robbers' Chronicles Volume 2 Angry Sea, Hidden Sands by Xu Lei and translated by Kathy Mok. It is published by ThingsAsian Press and it 237 pages long excluding author's info and preview of the next book at the end. In my post about volume one I had some problems with that I thought was the translation style but now I think differently. Volume one was the first novel that Xu had written and the second volume is much better. It is easier to read, the action is more exciting and in general all in all just better. The language is still coarse but not as bad as in the first one.
The plot of volume starts right where one left off with Wu opening the box he found in the tomb of dead warriors. Inside there is a fish with eyebrows that are shaped like fish. His uncle Three pulls another one out of his pocket that looks just like the one Wu has. His uncle takes off without telling Wu anything> At first Wu is not concerned but when a week goes by without hearing anything from his uncle he is starting to get worried when he is called by a rental company. Uncle Three rented a boat with a full crew to find an underwater tomb which is a story that Wu has heard about all his life. Over the course of the story Wu ends up with two of his companions from the first Fats and Poker-face whose name we learn is Zhang Qilin The plot twists in this volume are more unpredictable then in the first one. I am looking forward to the next one because of the way he ends this one. Once again if ancient Chinese lore is your thing then definitely is a story for you. The third book is still being translated in English but I hope so see it soon.
The plot of volume starts right where one left off with Wu opening the box he found in the tomb of dead warriors. Inside there is a fish with eyebrows that are shaped like fish. His uncle Three pulls another one out of his pocket that looks just like the one Wu has. His uncle takes off without telling Wu anything> At first Wu is not concerned but when a week goes by without hearing anything from his uncle he is starting to get worried when he is called by a rental company. Uncle Three rented a boat with a full crew to find an underwater tomb which is a story that Wu has heard about all his life. Over the course of the story Wu ends up with two of his companions from the first Fats and Poker-face whose name we learn is Zhang Qilin The plot twists in this volume are more unpredictable then in the first one. I am looking forward to the next one because of the way he ends this one. Once again if ancient Chinese lore is your thing then definitely is a story for you. The third book is still being translated in English but I hope so see it soon.
December 24, 2019
It's Great!
I love this series so far. Although it might take me forever to get through, due to a reading slump, it doesn't make the content any less enjoyable! I love Wu, Fatty, and Qilin together and without even meaning to, they've become a pretty formidable team!
I love this series so far. Although it might take me forever to get through, due to a reading slump, it doesn't make the content any less enjoyable! I love Wu, Fatty, and Qilin together and without even meaning to, they've become a pretty formidable team!
January 4, 2016
Amazin saga, but you need to read them in two books at the time, to not left behind with so many questions between them
November 2, 2019
悶油瓶不是影帝就是人格分裂，這集與第一集相比更加歡樂，而且也同樣留下許多未解之謎，讓人十分好奇後續發展！
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