Starting with a heads up for potential readers. While Part 1 of Tibetan Sea Flower is officially published, Part 2 has only been posted on the official DMBJ website. Part 2, therefore, is lacking in editing that truly would have benefited the story. Furthermore, this series is INCOMPLETE and has not been updated by the author in years. It ends on a cliffhanger and given the author's history, I think it's quite unlikely we'll ever be given a conclusive ending to Tibetan Sea Flower. This is incredibly unfortunate as the author set up many things that I was excited to see come to fruition.
This story does deliver some peak PangXie interactions! These two best friends love to take the piss out of each other but would also do anything for one another and it's more evident than ever here. Absolutely love their scenes together. Pangzi's loyalty, reliability, and intelligence really shines. Unfortunately, his pervy and condescending attitude towards women does too.
This author really hates women, huh? They're consistently seen as weak, otherworldly in their thinking and therefore something to be protected and fawned over OR too aggressive and strong willed to be considered anything more than something nice to look at and condescend to when the men around them are inevitably proven to be more adept. THANKFULLY, the author rarely even bothers to include women in these stories. If I had to put up with this shit consistently, I don't think I'd have made it so far in this series.
Another consistent issue with this author is his use of side characters. Or rather, his lack of use. All too often we'll be introduced to a side character but then the author seems to forget their existence entirely and only remembers to include them in the story again when it's plot relevant. It's quite confusing.
As for Wu Xie! Our baby is starting to grow up and have confidence in his abilities and judgement. While he still has a long way to go, Wu Xie is less likely to just follow along with what everyone says, he has his own opinions and motives and no longer caves to the slightest pressure from outside forces. & thank FUCK for that because the people around Wu Xie really put him through HELL. I don't know how this guy still trusts others and genuinely wishes the best for everyone in spite of how their actions affect his well being. I want to punch so many people on his behalf. You can definitely see his innocence starting to fade as this story progress, though, and it's interesting to see Wu Xie wrestle with that.
Old faces pop up and we finally meet the Zhang Family...and I'll let anyone reading form their own opinions about them. At the very least, their introduction leads to Wu Xie learning more about the mysteries of the main series and Xiao Ge's past which was heart wrenching.
The pacing is all over the place. There are chapters upon chapters dragged down by retellings of past events. While these flashbacks are important for the story and characters, the author expands too much on unnecessary details. Of particular note is the authors continued in depth explanations of the mechanisms of various tombs. To add insult to injury, there was a moment in this book where I FINALLY became curious and wanted to know how the fuck a particular tomb functioned BUT THEN THE AUTHOR REFUSES TO TELL US!!! It was infuriating and I am adamant that this is because he wrote himself into a corner and had no clever answer for this conundrum of his own creation. When we're in the present and Wu Xie is on the move, however, it's great! So interesting and non-stop fun. I can barely stop reading!
Look. These books are FAR from perfect and I obviously have many issues with this author and his writing. What I LOVE are these characters, their relationships, and the adventures they have together. Somehow all of that manages to overshadow the writer's shortcomings. Just like the drama adaptations, I can look at this story and blatantly see all of the ways that it's lacking....but it's still just so enthralling that I can't put the damn books down!