The Lake in the East Mountain

Desolate Era #2

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi, 我吃西红柿

Fate had never been kind to Ji Ning. Wracked by illnesses and infirm his entire life on Earth, Ning knew early on that he would die as a teenager. What he didn’t know was that there really was such a thing as life after death, and that the universe was a far larger place than he thought.

A lucky twist of fate (one of the few in Ning’s life) meant that Ning was reborn into a world of Immortals and monsters, of Ki Refiners and powerful Fiendgods, a world where Dynasties lasted for millions of years. A world which is both greater…and yet also smaller…than he ever could imagine. He would have the opportunity to join them, and in this life, Ning swore to himself, he would never let himself be weak again!

The Era he was born into was a Desolate one, but Ning would make it his era.

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novel, Asian Literature, Novels, Seinen, China

Unknown Binding

About the author

Associated Names:
* Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi
* I Eat Tomatoes (English)
* 我吃西红柿 (Chinese)
* หว่อชือซีหงสื้อ (Thai)

Reviews

[Lazybee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epic. Getting more training.

[Andrew Dato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still don’t know how to review these books. Book 2 ends on a cliffhanger for book 3 but if feels more like a chapter then a full book. In this book, we get to travel outside and see how the world is like. The action is decent and the world is still very intriguing. It feels more of mythical ancient China then a new fantasy world but it is serviceable.

My biggest complaint is that in two books our protagonist is still to perfect. He excels at everything he does, he has people constantly fawning over him, and he doesn’t feel like he’s trying in fights. I feel like I want some flaws that I don’t see yet. I see a couple of flaws but that feels nonintended like his treatment of “villains”. I’ll just have to keep reading and figure it out.

[Darnell · Rating 1 out of 5]

These books are shorter than average for xianxia, so I accidentally read two books. This volume isn't as completely free of tension as the last (there is a "boss monster" antagonist), but it's still pretty relaxed: the protagonist breezes through everything with all the support in the world (and beyond). He even just goes off "adventuring" with massive support from his parents, still no substantial plot in sight.

While I have not enjoyed the start of this series, this is one of the few I can actually imagine "getting better" because it might shift once it gets out of this easy stage. Not going to be reading more soon, though.

[Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of entire series.

One of the best progression fantasies, I've ever read. Just brilliant. It suffers from awkward and stilted dialogue and prose because of the translation, but once you get past that style...certainly one the most fun books I've read.

It's a bit longer than Coiling Dragon (which I'd recommend everyone to read first before getting to this) and the progression elements are done brilliantly. The action is near non stop and pacing never drops as we keep shifting gears.

Highly recommended.

[Mnoraznan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is progressing nicely, with the slowly unveiling worldbuilding

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8

[Saurabh Modi · Rating 4 out of 5]

On second reading, this novel feels ok. I think I really liked it the first time around. Hopefully it’ll get interesting the further I’m in the story.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Metric system - Those are my personal opinions, you may discord, my final rating of the book is not necessarily linked to this system and may diverge from it.
Book Storyline
- Originality: 4/5 stars
- Development: 5/5 stars
- Enjoyment: 4.5/5 stars
- Writing stile: 4/5 stars
- Funnyness: 1/5 stars
- Epicness: 2/5 stars
- Scaryness: 1/5 stars
- Smartness: 2/5 stars
- Addictiveness: 4/5 stars
- Plot twists: 1/5 stars
- Pace: 5/5 stars
- Storyline planning: 2/5 stars OR -/5 negative stars
- Ending: -/5 stars OR -/5 negative stars
- Holes: 3/5 negative stars
- Impact on series storyline: 5/5 stars
- Self contained (Y/N): N
- Cliffhanger (Y/N): Y
- Adult (Y/N): N
- Violence level: Hostage taking, human eating monsters, allusion to rape and slavery, so a little over intermediate.
- Tech level: Tribal
- Religion level: none
- Main genre: Xianxia
- Subgenre: Shounen, Animewise, Training then fighting
- Point of view: First person main character with occasional interludes.
- Aftertaste: Let's see the next one
- Quote: “Alright. You can head out now.” Yichuan spoke. “If you are going to leave, then leave. Be straightforward about it.”
Series Storyline
- Originality: 4/5 stars
- Development: 4/5 stars
- Enjoyment: 4/5 stars
- Writing stile: 4/5 stars
- Funnyness: 1/5 stars
- Epicness: 2/5 stars
- Scaryness: 1/5 stars
- Smartness: 2/5 stars
- Addictiveness: 4/5 stars
- Plot twists: 1/5 stars
- Pace: 4/5 stars
- Storyline planning: 2/5 stars OR /5 negative stars
- Ending: -/5 stars OR -/5 negative stars
- Holes: 3/5 negative stars
World
- Originality: 3/5 stars
- Variety: 2/5 stars
- Consistency: 5/5 stars
- Impact on the story: 2/5 stars
- Maps: -/5 stars
- Real world (Y/N): N
- Fantasy based on real world (Y/N): N
- Journey (Y/N): N
- Main scenario: Village and Swamp
Characters Quantity
- Total amount: 13
- Points of view: 1
- Main characters: 1
- Secondary: 6
- Ordinary: a handful
Characters Quality
- Overall: 4/5 stars
- Main: 3/5 stars
- Secondary: 4/5 stars
- Consistency: 4/5 stars
- Connection: 3/5 stars
- Underworld Crew (Y/N): N
- Training (Y/N): Y
- Notable best characters: Serpentwing
- Notable worse characters: none
Rules
- Devised system: 4/5 stars
- System complexity: 4/5 stars
- System explanation: 3/5 stars
- Impact on storyline: 5/5 stars
- Rulebreaker (Y/N): N
- Type of Rule: Ki Cultivation, Body Cultivation, Skills (superhuman)
Xianxia
- Battle phase: 4/5 stars
- Skill innovation: 3/5 stars
- Treasure hunting phase: -/5 stars
- Cultivation phase: -/5 stars
▶◀
A lightweight xianxia, Ji Ning's story is beginning to get into shape with a far better pace than the first book.
Some battles and action begins to take place too.
Good read.