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Coiling Dragon Saga #1
Coiling Dragon
At one time the Baruch dominated…
…but with time that glory was forgotten.
Can Linley restore the clan’s honor?
In a small town of Wushan, life was hard. His father lived in the past. Linley never knew his mother, but he thought of her often. To become the warrior that could restore the glory of the clan, he must qualify for the Ernst Institute. They don’t take just anyone. Linley must study to gain entry.
Who will teach him?
When he discovered the ring, everything changed. He sensed a great power but wasn’t sure where it would lead. Does he have the talent to be a great Magus?
Will the ring show him the way?
Across a vast land he must travel. The threats are many and each moment challenged him, but Linley’s strength continued to grow. When he arrived, the sight of the institute filled him with joy. It was short lived.
From day one…
…there was only contempt for him.
How will Linley survive in a world where he’s not wanted?
You’ll love this Cultivation Fantasy, because Linley’s ascension will challenge him and keep you turning the pages.
Get it now.
…but with time that glory was forgotten.
Can Linley restore the clan’s honor?
In a small town of Wushan, life was hard. His father lived in the past. Linley never knew his mother, but he thought of her often. To become the warrior that could restore the glory of the clan, he must qualify for the Ernst Institute. They don’t take just anyone. Linley must study to gain entry.
Who will teach him?
When he discovered the ring, everything changed. He sensed a great power but wasn’t sure where it would lead. Does he have the talent to be a great Magus?
Will the ring show him the way?
Across a vast land he must travel. The threats are many and each moment challenged him, but Linley’s strength continued to grow. When he arrived, the sight of the institute filled him with joy. It was short lived.
From day one…
…there was only contempt for him.
How will Linley survive in a world where he’s not wanted?
You’ll love this Cultivation Fantasy, because Linley’s ascension will challenge him and keep you turning the pages.
Get it now.
580 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 20, 2018
835 people are currently reading
792 people want to read
About the author
Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi
340 books56 followersAssociated Names:
* Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi
* I Eat Tomatoes (English)
* 我吃西红柿 (Chinese)
* หว่อชือซีหงสื้อ (Thai)
* Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi
* I Eat Tomatoes (English)
* 我吃西红柿 (Chinese)
* หว่อชือซีหงสื้อ (Thai)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
January 18, 2024
I read this series over the course of about a year, interspersed with other books. It is massive, comprised of 21 books, each of which is some 200-400 pages. This is apparently in the Xianxia genre, following a character's progression in martial arts and magic and attainment of godlike powers. The series takes place in a fantasy world and centers on Linley, a young scion of a formerly powerful clan that's fallen on hard times, in a small village. The series focuses on his rise to prominence and power, and is highly action-centric, with a lot of attention given to usually deadly fights between Linley and opponents or rivals.
When I began reading the series, a few things struck me at once. One was that the style was very much reminiscent of an action anime like Dragon Ball Z in its focus on power progression and fighting. These kinds of animes are generally geared towards teenage boys and tend to avoid more adult content, but Coiling Dragon had a surprising degree of brutality, with graphic depictions of gore and some occasional sexual violence. Then, the way that the world and its martial arts and magic was set up felt very much like a video game, with people progressing through distinct, numbered rankings of specific classes of combat.
The series devotes an enormous amount of attention to creating a gigantic world and examining how the world is set up, as well as to fleshing out the action sequences and how and why some people are more powerful than other people in terms of combat. However, it devotes very little attention to building characters and relationships.
None of the characters in the series feel particularly deep or well-defined, and surface-level personality tics are used in place of real examination of who these people are and what they believe in. Characters are almost universally motivated by the pursuit of power and by the desire to revenge grudges, or protect those close to them. Similarly, relationships are more a matter of degree than something infused with meaning: we see characters who care about each other, but it feels more like a piece of data in a computer than a true human relationship. Morality as a concept is largely absent: no one spends time talking or thinking about whether a given person and their actions are good or bad, merely whether they are more or less powerful, whether they're the target of a specific grudge, and so on. Despite this, the series surprised me with (very) occasional scenes of rather complex and real-feeling romance.
In general, not only with its characters but also with its world, the series suffers from a lack of introspection. While the world of the series is massive and detailed, very little attention is given to the implications of the rules and scenarios that are laid out. For instance, the world is divided into humans and magical beasts. Once magical beasts become powerful enough, they can assume any form they like, and pretty much universally decide to look like humans. Why? No one knows or cares. Another example: the series has a huge number of characters who are thousands or millions of years old and basically immortal, and again can alter their appearance at will. Some appear as youths, some as older people, some are beautiful, some are kind of weird-looking. The motivations for these characters choosing their particular appearances is, again, never explored.
All in all, the series is a very shallow and simple read. The action and power struggles were engaging enough to keep me reading, and there were enough surprises (in terms of unexpected artistic flair or unusual choices in the writing) to keep me interested. But the writing and the plot, by and large, is very repetitive and very simple. I'd say that by far the most bothersome thing about the book was the lack of character development. What I found most impressive was the overarching plot; especially towards the very end of the series, some very clever aspects of the series's plot are revealed, and it's deeply satisfying to gain insight into ideas that were clearly in play for a very long time.
I'd recommend this series to someone looking to kill a lot of time on light, easy, and action-packed reading. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who is looking for an interesting, deep, or emotionally engaging work of narrative art.
When I began reading the series, a few things struck me at once. One was that the style was very much reminiscent of an action anime like Dragon Ball Z in its focus on power progression and fighting. These kinds of animes are generally geared towards teenage boys and tend to avoid more adult content, but Coiling Dragon had a surprising degree of brutality, with graphic depictions of gore and some occasional sexual violence. Then, the way that the world and its martial arts and magic was set up felt very much like a video game, with people progressing through distinct, numbered rankings of specific classes of combat.
The series devotes an enormous amount of attention to creating a gigantic world and examining how the world is set up, as well as to fleshing out the action sequences and how and why some people are more powerful than other people in terms of combat. However, it devotes very little attention to building characters and relationships.
None of the characters in the series feel particularly deep or well-defined, and surface-level personality tics are used in place of real examination of who these people are and what they believe in. Characters are almost universally motivated by the pursuit of power and by the desire to revenge grudges, or protect those close to them. Similarly, relationships are more a matter of degree than something infused with meaning: we see characters who care about each other, but it feels more like a piece of data in a computer than a true human relationship. Morality as a concept is largely absent: no one spends time talking or thinking about whether a given person and their actions are good or bad, merely whether they are more or less powerful, whether they're the target of a specific grudge, and so on. Despite this, the series surprised me with (very) occasional scenes of rather complex and real-feeling romance.
In general, not only with its characters but also with its world, the series suffers from a lack of introspection. While the world of the series is massive and detailed, very little attention is given to the implications of the rules and scenarios that are laid out. For instance, the world is divided into humans and magical beasts. Once magical beasts become powerful enough, they can assume any form they like, and pretty much universally decide to look like humans. Why? No one knows or cares. Another example: the series has a huge number of characters who are thousands or millions of years old and basically immortal, and again can alter their appearance at will. Some appear as youths, some as older people, some are beautiful, some are kind of weird-looking. The motivations for these characters choosing their particular appearances is, again, never explored.
All in all, the series is a very shallow and simple read. The action and power struggles were engaging enough to keep me reading, and there were enough surprises (in terms of unexpected artistic flair or unusual choices in the writing) to keep me interested. But the writing and the plot, by and large, is very repetitive and very simple. I'd say that by far the most bothersome thing about the book was the lack of character development. What I found most impressive was the overarching plot; especially towards the very end of the series, some very clever aspects of the series's plot are revealed, and it's deeply satisfying to gain insight into ideas that were clearly in play for a very long time.
I'd recommend this series to someone looking to kill a lot of time on light, easy, and action-packed reading. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who is looking for an interesting, deep, or emotionally engaging work of narrative art.
January 16, 2019
When doing a translation, I guess you have to balance strict fidelity to the original text with making the text sound natural in the target language. In the case of this book, what might have sounded normal in Chinese feels quite awkward in English. So a translator has to decide whether to stick close to the original text, which makes for a clumsy, weird read in English -- or to make it sound more normal in English, but lose some of that flavor of "Chineseyness." In other words, the translator has to consider to what degree the readers will want to feel like they're reading a standard English-language novel versus feel like they're being exposed to a different written culture. In this case, the translation feels very, very "Chinesey." For better or worse.
July 13, 2020
The narrator of the audiobook (Esther Merriken) does a pretty poor job of voicing the story. She talks quickly (about 20% faster than most narrators), and basically just sounds like a primary school teacher reading to a class. She stumble on pronunciation, which are still in the final audiobook. You can hear background mouse clicks, and other background noise as well as some breathing and mouth opening and closing noises.
Story is interesting, but the overall quality of the audiobook is bad.
Story is interesting, but the overall quality of the audiobook is bad.
August 12, 2018
Coiling Dragon is one of the first Chinese series I started reading. I read the hundreds of chapters available on wuxiaworld.com until I caught up to the ongoing translations around Volume 17 (or the 7th novel in the kindle series). Since then I have read numerous other Chinese novels in the wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan genre. Coiling Dragon is a strong series and one I rank highly amongst all the other popular Chinese web novels available in translation.
Coiling Dragon is perfect for new readers to the Chinese web novel genre. The books contain a certain level of Chinese culture while still having appeal for western readers. There are many crosses between eastern and western that makes the the saga accessible. Other Chinese novels might be too heavy with sayings or cultural references that require footnotes in each chapter, but Coiling Dragon does not. If you don't focus too hard on Coiling Dragon being a Chinese novel, then you might not even notice it while reading.
Storywise, the series is very binge-able. The story continues to escalate to the point that the second half of the series is unrecognizable from the first half. However, while I'm rereading the series, I'm not bored. It's interesting to look back on how the protagonist, Linley, built the foundation of his power and his legacy. Overall, the story tone is thrilling with some humorous and serious moments. I'd recommend it for older teens and adults.
The author, I Eat Tomatoes, is actually one of my favorite Chinese authors. He's not the best writer, nor are his stories the most interesting, but they are solid and reliable. Many Chinese novels in this genre contain certain elements that can be annoying the read. For instance, the protagonist can be a lecherous playboy who constantly harasses women, or the protagonist could add every female he meets to his harem of lovers. Another protagonist I dislike reading about is the blood thirsty and ruthless protagonist who slaughters anyone (and their entire clan) who sneezes in his direction. I Eat Tomatoes never has harem stories and his protagonists fall on the strong and intelligent side rather than the strong and ruthless side.
This is another reason why Coiling Dragon is great for newer readers of Chinese novels. The content isn't so offensive. In addition, a veteran reader might find some of the tropes in Coiling Dragon to be repetitive and boring, a new reader will feel that they are fresh and unique. Tropes such as finding a divine object and having an ancient old man helping the protagonist cultivate.
Coiling Dragon gets 4 stars from me. In terms of Chinese novels, it is a solid 4.5, and I would even rate it as 5 stars relative to its peers overall. However, for western readers, it definitely contains a bit of that simplicity very common in translated or Asian inspired novels. There are many paragraphs where the same thing in repeated over and over just for emphasis, as is the nature of web novels that update one chapter at a time, but as a whole, it is very redundant. I definitely recommend the series for western readers who normally wouldn't venture in Chinese novels, but the story telling is not of the same standard of the truly great western fantasy series. Relative to western stories, it is a solid 4 stars, which in my opinion means it is definitely worthy of reading and recommending to a friend.
Coiling Dragon is perfect for new readers to the Chinese web novel genre. The books contain a certain level of Chinese culture while still having appeal for western readers. There are many crosses between eastern and western that makes the the saga accessible. Other Chinese novels might be too heavy with sayings or cultural references that require footnotes in each chapter, but Coiling Dragon does not. If you don't focus too hard on Coiling Dragon being a Chinese novel, then you might not even notice it while reading.
Storywise, the series is very binge-able. The story continues to escalate to the point that the second half of the series is unrecognizable from the first half. However, while I'm rereading the series, I'm not bored. It's interesting to look back on how the protagonist, Linley, built the foundation of his power and his legacy. Overall, the story tone is thrilling with some humorous and serious moments. I'd recommend it for older teens and adults.
The author, I Eat Tomatoes, is actually one of my favorite Chinese authors. He's not the best writer, nor are his stories the most interesting, but they are solid and reliable. Many Chinese novels in this genre contain certain elements that can be annoying the read. For instance, the protagonist can be a lecherous playboy who constantly harasses women, or the protagonist could add every female he meets to his harem of lovers. Another protagonist I dislike reading about is the blood thirsty and ruthless protagonist who slaughters anyone (and their entire clan) who sneezes in his direction. I Eat Tomatoes never has harem stories and his protagonists fall on the strong and intelligent side rather than the strong and ruthless side.
This is another reason why Coiling Dragon is great for newer readers of Chinese novels. The content isn't so offensive. In addition, a veteran reader might find some of the tropes in Coiling Dragon to be repetitive and boring, a new reader will feel that they are fresh and unique. Tropes such as finding a divine object and having an ancient old man helping the protagonist cultivate.
Coiling Dragon gets 4 stars from me. In terms of Chinese novels, it is a solid 4.5, and I would even rate it as 5 stars relative to its peers overall. However, for western readers, it definitely contains a bit of that simplicity very common in translated or Asian inspired novels. There are many paragraphs where the same thing in repeated over and over just for emphasis, as is the nature of web novels that update one chapter at a time, but as a whole, it is very redundant. I definitely recommend the series for western readers who normally wouldn't venture in Chinese novels, but the story telling is not of the same standard of the truly great western fantasy series. Relative to western stories, it is a solid 4 stars, which in my opinion means it is definitely worthy of reading and recommending to a friend.
August 8, 2019
Not a bad book story wise, but really can't give it more than 3 stars.
I absolutely realize it's likely due to being translated to English from it's original Chinese, but man a lot of this book was hard to get through.
I feel like it would be a much better book if it was professionally edited.
Linley and his friends referring to each other constantly as "boss" and "second bro", "third bro", fourth bro" was one of the things I am talking about. Also calling everyone uncle/grandpa/big brother just seems weird in English.
Especially when Alice would refer to her boyfriend as "big brother". Ew.
I think the biggest issue though is the repetitiveness. Almost constantly I felt like I was reading things multiple times in a row. Also constantly using the full name when mentioning items or a person's title got old REAL fast.
It really felt like a kid in high school writing a school paper and desperately trying to hit the minimum word mark to finish.
All in all I do plan to read the next one, but reading this one was just so exhausting, I need to switch to something else first before I dive back into this mess.
I absolutely realize it's likely due to being translated to English from it's original Chinese, but man a lot of this book was hard to get through.
I feel like it would be a much better book if it was professionally edited.
Linley and his friends referring to each other constantly as "boss" and "second bro", "third bro", fourth bro" was one of the things I am talking about. Also calling everyone uncle/grandpa/big brother just seems weird in English.
Especially when Alice would refer to her boyfriend as "big brother". Ew.
I think the biggest issue though is the repetitiveness. Almost constantly I felt like I was reading things multiple times in a row. Also constantly using the full name when mentioning items or a person's title got old REAL fast.
It really felt like a kid in high school writing a school paper and desperately trying to hit the minimum word mark to finish.
All in all I do plan to read the next one, but reading this one was just so exhausting, I need to switch to something else first before I dive back into this mess.
March 14, 2022
something to understand
Translations are tough. Tough to read and tough to rate.
This is a solid translation. All of the sentences make sense and there isn’t anything that is truly confusing. The English and grammar are good.
But.
The storytelling tradition is different. It has a different pulse, a different rhythm. The characters do and say things that westerners find unsettling. The plot takes turns that are confusing.
This requires a specific taste in reading, an understanding that the cultural basis for the story is wholly alien to native English speakers.
I’m not sure if I will continue with the series. Even a *good* translation (which this is) is challenging to read. Sometimes I’m just not feeling like I want that challenge.
Translations are tough. Tough to read and tough to rate.
This is a solid translation. All of the sentences make sense and there isn’t anything that is truly confusing. The English and grammar are good.
But.
The storytelling tradition is different. It has a different pulse, a different rhythm. The characters do and say things that westerners find unsettling. The plot takes turns that are confusing.
This requires a specific taste in reading, an understanding that the cultural basis for the story is wholly alien to native English speakers.
I’m not sure if I will continue with the series. Even a *good* translation (which this is) is challenging to read. Sometimes I’m just not feeling like I want that challenge.
August 16, 2020
I was trying the audiobook version. The narrator was not great. The pacing of their narration was inconsistent and often rushed. And honestly their voice just did not fit the story.
And beyond that I am not sure if it was the original writing or the translation but the wording didn't have what I've come to connect with Chinese fantasy stories. The ones I've really enjoyed have a certain style and cadence. They pull you into the feeling of a different culture. I wasn't really getting that here.
There may be fun to be had in this story for some but it just wasnt there for me.
And beyond that I am not sure if it was the original writing or the translation but the wording didn't have what I've come to connect with Chinese fantasy stories. The ones I've really enjoyed have a certain style and cadence. They pull you into the feeling of a different culture. I wasn't really getting that here.
There may be fun to be had in this story for some but it just wasnt there for me.
April 18, 2022
Would have been a great read if it went through the hands of an experienced translator/writer instead of this online/fan translation that is currently published. Quality is just too low, with repeat sentences everywhere, although it improves a bit in sequel books.
July 9, 2021
The story may be good but the translation made it so hard to read
September 14, 2020
Review for entire series. Light spoilers.
tldr;
Coiling Dragon Saga, while not the best set of books I've read, is something that I'm sad I've finished reading. I managed to read the entire 8 book saga in just under two weeks and found that I would spend long amounts of time binge reading, waiting to see what would happen to our death-defying main character and his clan. The scale of power is awesome and the cultivation system is interesting and realistic (within reason).
Overall, I would give this book a 3.5, but I've decided to round up to 4 stars for various reasons.
Full Review:
There are several elements about this saga to praise - consistency, detail, world-building, and plot twists. There are also some things to criticize - thickest plot armor I've seen to date and special character syndrome (more on this later).
First the good,
Consistency:
Linley, Bebe, and the rest of the cast make for a great set of characters whom stay consistent throughout the saga. Their actions are believable and I didn't feel caught of guard by anyone's actions. Everything developed in a natural and believable way, which, across 8 books, can be difficult to pull off. Further, non of the characters acted in a frustrating or dumb way. The main character and friends didn't make weird mistakes that betrayed common sense.
World Building:
Further, I thought the author did a good job of building up the world, rules, power structures, and tension. At any point in the story I had a decent idea of where the main character was in the proverbial food-chain. Seeing how the main character and cast interacted with the various areas was fun and seeing how the world reacted to them was always a treat. Although I didn't have a clear picture in my head of every area the main character went, I didn't feel like I needed to as that wasn't important.
Plot Twists:
This isn't a series built on plot-twists but I wanted to note that the few that exists were nicely done and added needed tension. I didn't feel that they came out of left-field and felt unfair; rather, I felt that they made sense and fit will within the story.
Now the not-so-good,
Plot Armor:
Linley and friends quite possibly have the thickest-plot armor I have ever seen. This extends to the Deus Ex-Machina effect as well (good things happening for no apparent reason). The amount of times the main character gains power, avoids death, or gains an advantage is truly large. I dare say that if you want a book where the main character isn't "special" then you won't like this book. The main character is a Genius with a capital G. Everyone else in the entire universe pails in comparison to the Main Character. There is more I could say here but those would be spoilers. It's enough to say that the Main Character basically doesn't experience any major setbacks throughout the entire 8 books. Conversely, almost all of those who have the misfortune of being Linley's enemy die, or are massively defeated with a few notable exceptions. Once you get far enough into the saga you will gradually feel like nothing bad can truly happen so the tension starts to decrease.
Wrap Up:
I could say more but I'll leave it here. This was a fun saga to read and the fact that it was already completed was a joy for me as most series I read are only partially complete. The scale of the power and the depth of the cultivation system kept me engaged and wanting more. While I complained about the plot-armor, it wasn't a deal breaker for me and I found myself enjoying it most of the time.
tldr;
Coiling Dragon Saga, while not the best set of books I've read, is something that I'm sad I've finished reading. I managed to read the entire 8 book saga in just under two weeks and found that I would spend long amounts of time binge reading, waiting to see what would happen to our death-defying main character and his clan. The scale of power is awesome and the cultivation system is interesting and realistic (within reason).
Overall, I would give this book a 3.5, but I've decided to round up to 4 stars for various reasons.
Full Review:
There are several elements about this saga to praise - consistency, detail, world-building, and plot twists. There are also some things to criticize - thickest plot armor I've seen to date and special character syndrome (more on this later).
First the good,
Consistency:
Linley, Bebe, and the rest of the cast make for a great set of characters whom stay consistent throughout the saga. Their actions are believable and I didn't feel caught of guard by anyone's actions. Everything developed in a natural and believable way, which, across 8 books, can be difficult to pull off. Further, non of the characters acted in a frustrating or dumb way. The main character and friends didn't make weird mistakes that betrayed common sense.
World Building:
Further, I thought the author did a good job of building up the world, rules, power structures, and tension. At any point in the story I had a decent idea of where the main character was in the proverbial food-chain. Seeing how the main character and cast interacted with the various areas was fun and seeing how the world reacted to them was always a treat. Although I didn't have a clear picture in my head of every area the main character went, I didn't feel like I needed to as that wasn't important.
Plot Twists:
This isn't a series built on plot-twists but I wanted to note that the few that exists were nicely done and added needed tension. I didn't feel that they came out of left-field and felt unfair; rather, I felt that they made sense and fit will within the story.
Now the not-so-good,
Plot Armor:
Linley and friends quite possibly have the thickest-plot armor I have ever seen. This extends to the Deus Ex-Machina effect as well (good things happening for no apparent reason). The amount of times the main character gains power, avoids death, or gains an advantage is truly large. I dare say that if you want a book where the main character isn't "special" then you won't like this book. The main character is a Genius with a capital G. Everyone else in the entire universe pails in comparison to the Main Character. There is more I could say here but those would be spoilers. It's enough to say that the Main Character basically doesn't experience any major setbacks throughout the entire 8 books. Conversely, almost all of those who have the misfortune of being Linley's enemy die, or are massively defeated with a few notable exceptions. Once you get far enough into the saga you will gradually feel like nothing bad can truly happen so the tension starts to decrease.
Wrap Up:
I could say more but I'll leave it here. This was a fun saga to read and the fact that it was already completed was a joy for me as most series I read are only partially complete. The scale of the power and the depth of the cultivation system kept me engaged and wanting more. While I complained about the plot-armor, it wasn't a deal breaker for me and I found myself enjoying it most of the time.
March 20, 2020
I have mixed feelings about starting this novel.
Well I completed volume one. This novel had a great story to tell, sadly the author (and translator) repeated things he already said or explained multiple times.
It's like he thinks his readers have kindergartener retention levels, so he has to explain a point over several chapters, many times repeating exactly what he said before.
If some more effort was put into translating (and the author allowed it) this book could have been four stars. The comradery of the "brothers", and the emotional maturity of the protagonist made for great characters. These characters fit well into the story, the constant repetitiveness of facts was beyond annoying, and brought down my star rating and enjoyment.
I may pick up the sequel.
2.5/5 Stars
Well I completed volume one. This novel had a great story to tell, sadly the author (and translator) repeated things he already said or explained multiple times.
It's like he thinks his readers have kindergartener retention levels, so he has to explain a point over several chapters, many times repeating exactly what he said before.
If some more effort was put into translating (and the author allowed it) this book could have been four stars. The comradery of the "brothers", and the emotional maturity of the protagonist made for great characters. These characters fit well into the story, the constant repetitiveness of facts was beyond annoying, and brought down my star rating and enjoyment.
I may pick up the sequel.
2.5/5 Stars
December 23, 2021
I picked this up as Will Wight said that it was one of the inspirations for his Cradle Series.
I like the world that's presented in the book, some characters feel more believable than others. Some of the side characters have more personality than the main character until later on.
Most of the problems in this is down to this book being translated from Chinese, it could do with being edited so that it reads better in English.
Having 8 year olds talking about getting laid was a little weird.
Having listened to the audiobook version, the narrator does have problems with pacing, and pronouncing character names seems to differ. I can see why it wasn't continued in Audiobook format.
I'd like to continue with the series.
I like the world that's presented in the book, some characters feel more believable than others. Some of the side characters have more personality than the main character until later on.
Most of the problems in this is down to this book being translated from Chinese, it could do with being edited so that it reads better in English.
Having 8 year olds talking about getting laid was a little weird.
Having listened to the audiobook version, the narrator does have problems with pacing, and pronouncing character names seems to differ. I can see why it wasn't continued in Audiobook format.
I'd like to continue with the series.
December 9, 2019
Sorry, but translated books will never get a high rating as unless the translator does major changes, it's gonna be choppy and chunky and weird.
That aside, I listened to the audiobook. I am perplexed. It's read waaaaaay too fast. But it sounds like the narrator was having issues keeping up her own fast paced narration. I'm wondering if the author or translator requested for that because no sane narrator would purposely read so fast just to make her life hard and struggle through it.
That aside, I listened to the audiobook. I am perplexed. It's read waaaaaay too fast. But it sounds like the narrator was having issues keeping up her own fast paced narration. I'm wondering if the author or translator requested for that because no sane narrator would purposely read so fast just to make her life hard and struggle through it.
September 20, 2018
Awkward
Since this is a translated text, the cultural differences in writing styles made it awkward to read. I felt it would flow better with some more editing.
Since this is a translated text, the cultural differences in writing styles made it awkward to read. I felt it would flow better with some more editing.
July 28, 2022
Either a bad translation or bad writing
I have read a lot of happy translated novels and grown accustomed to the negatives associated with them. This has all of them.
I have read a lot of happy translated novels and grown accustomed to the negatives associated with them. This has all of them.
July 25, 2022
https://fanfiaddict.com/review-coilin...
A highly divisive series that forced me to get over many of my peeves, but one that was worth it all! I simply loved this!
Let me start off on why many readers would be instantly put off when starting this…
This is a translated novel, and so comes with a heavy baggage of peeves that struck me quite hard when I started this series. Though the translation captures the content well, it does not flow smoothly in English. The dialogue is stilted and often the emotions behind the dialogue wasn’t translated. So at times, I was unsure on whether the dialogue was spoken in anger or respect or sarcasm. In many occasions, it felt very abrupt both at the start and at the end of the dialogue making it hard to establish a confluence between the dialogue, the context and the prose. I believe the cause is that the translation is more literal rather than qualitative.
Then we have the modern westernization that permeates the prose which does not gel well with the Chinese themed setting. You get characters named Brad and Dillon fighting over the town of Wushan, the mix of Chinese customs with modern swear words (“you can all f*ck off” and people calling each other “bros”) creating a very dissonant world building that neither captures the majesty of ancient China nor the modernity of current civilization. It’s made for a very uncoordinated and awkward read, that I personally found it hard to get over with.
Here’s why I highly recommend you turn your peeve filter off and get past the above:
It’s Progression Fantasy at it’s finest! If you love a overpowered MC who starts off as underdog and smashes his way to the peak in a very Goku (Dragonball Z) kind of way, this should me a must read. The progression is literally non-stop and to capture a phrase from the book itself, when you climb a mountain all you see are higher mountains. I simply have not read a book that has so many vertical and horizontal levels of progressions as this. Every time, I see a peak climbed, a level attained and expect the book the taper off, it threw me into a loop and kept my expectations completely smashed as the progression continued full steam!
The book is quite epic in scope, in cast and in progression. The worldbuilding just keeps expanding and more and more powerful casts kept appearing all through 8 books till the last great finale, which let me completely pleased. Considering the sweeping scope, it was near impossible to maintain a flow of character development for supporting cast and it does show in the series, but overall a admirable job in keeping them together. The main cast is more or less constant through the books making it a easy read to follow through the progression.
The timeline progression takes some getting used to. The progression happens over millions of years or so. For example, You can get instances of MC meditating for a couple of centuries before making a breakthrough. It really forced me to reassess my preconceptions on timeline progression as most of the characters are near immortal. A very unique concept that I loved (after taking some time to get used to it)
The magic system and power progression is solid. The transition in power up is smooth and the power progression blends in smoothly with the character progression. There is a structure to the plot progress that we see happen cyclically, but the world and setting change keeps things fresh all through. New world, new monsters, new people, new magics, yet the underlying consistency is maintained making it one progression novel rather than a set of staggered books.
The MC has a lot of plot armor all through. He gets the right breaks, gets lucky at the right instances, people turn up giving him what he needs at the right occasions etc. For many, this would be a turn down, but I loved it because it was a happy fun read. There enough plot tension to keep you turning the pages, but we soon realize this would be a Happily Ever After book rather than one that drags you through moral grey traumatizing events.
To conclude, it’s a flawed book, but one which bought out the simply joy of power progression in me. Has shades Dragonball Z and Hunter x Hunter running through which I thoroughly loved.
I hope you pick this up, get past the flaws and enjoy yourself!
A highly divisive series that forced me to get over many of my peeves, but one that was worth it all! I simply loved this!
Let me start off on why many readers would be instantly put off when starting this…
This is a translated novel, and so comes with a heavy baggage of peeves that struck me quite hard when I started this series. Though the translation captures the content well, it does not flow smoothly in English. The dialogue is stilted and often the emotions behind the dialogue wasn’t translated. So at times, I was unsure on whether the dialogue was spoken in anger or respect or sarcasm. In many occasions, it felt very abrupt both at the start and at the end of the dialogue making it hard to establish a confluence between the dialogue, the context and the prose. I believe the cause is that the translation is more literal rather than qualitative.
Then we have the modern westernization that permeates the prose which does not gel well with the Chinese themed setting. You get characters named Brad and Dillon fighting over the town of Wushan, the mix of Chinese customs with modern swear words (“you can all f*ck off” and people calling each other “bros”) creating a very dissonant world building that neither captures the majesty of ancient China nor the modernity of current civilization. It’s made for a very uncoordinated and awkward read, that I personally found it hard to get over with.
Here’s why I highly recommend you turn your peeve filter off and get past the above:
It’s Progression Fantasy at it’s finest! If you love a overpowered MC who starts off as underdog and smashes his way to the peak in a very Goku (Dragonball Z) kind of way, this should me a must read. The progression is literally non-stop and to capture a phrase from the book itself, when you climb a mountain all you see are higher mountains. I simply have not read a book that has so many vertical and horizontal levels of progressions as this. Every time, I see a peak climbed, a level attained and expect the book the taper off, it threw me into a loop and kept my expectations completely smashed as the progression continued full steam!
The book is quite epic in scope, in cast and in progression. The worldbuilding just keeps expanding and more and more powerful casts kept appearing all through 8 books till the last great finale, which let me completely pleased. Considering the sweeping scope, it was near impossible to maintain a flow of character development for supporting cast and it does show in the series, but overall a admirable job in keeping them together. The main cast is more or less constant through the books making it a easy read to follow through the progression.
The timeline progression takes some getting used to. The progression happens over millions of years or so. For example, You can get instances of MC meditating for a couple of centuries before making a breakthrough. It really forced me to reassess my preconceptions on timeline progression as most of the characters are near immortal. A very unique concept that I loved (after taking some time to get used to it)
The magic system and power progression is solid. The transition in power up is smooth and the power progression blends in smoothly with the character progression. There is a structure to the plot progress that we see happen cyclically, but the world and setting change keeps things fresh all through. New world, new monsters, new people, new magics, yet the underlying consistency is maintained making it one progression novel rather than a set of staggered books.
The MC has a lot of plot armor all through. He gets the right breaks, gets lucky at the right instances, people turn up giving him what he needs at the right occasions etc. For many, this would be a turn down, but I loved it because it was a happy fun read. There enough plot tension to keep you turning the pages, but we soon realize this would be a Happily Ever After book rather than one that drags you through moral grey traumatizing events.
To conclude, it’s a flawed book, but one which bought out the simply joy of power progression in me. Has shades Dragonball Z and Hunter x Hunter running through which I thoroughly loved.
I hope you pick this up, get past the flaws and enjoy yourself!
June 4, 2023
Coiling Dragon by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi
[The Story]
Born to the dying Baruch Clan on Yulan, Linley has distinguished himself as a prodigy from the age of 8. Old enough to be told of their Clan's hidden history, Linley learns that he shares blood with the legendary dragon-blooded warrior. After learning that he does not have enough of the blood to be a warrior, he decides to become a magus... and soon a legendary artifact, which provides a teacher in the spirit of a Saint Level Earth Magus named Doehring Cowart. It falls on Linley and his secret master to cultivate the power needed to reclaim his family's ancient heirloom sword and restore honor to his clan.
[The Character(s)]
Linley is the village head's eldest son and a descendant of a legendary warrior with EXCEPTIONAL elemental affinity and spiritual attunement. Upon discovering an ancient ring hidden in his estate and bonding with it through blood, he's able to conjure a 5,000 year old Saint-Level Magus who agrees to train him into a legendary Earth Magus. By the age of 10 he tries out for the Ernst Institute - the most famous Magus Academy on the continent - and learns that he has exceptional DUAL essence cultivation. Linley is not only able to bend earth to his will, but wind just as easily. With all that behind him, within his first year at the academy he is able to with 10,000 gold from an arrogant young master and establish himself as one of the top prodigies.
Doehring and Bebe are much simpler characters by comparison. Having escaped death by sequestering his soul inside of the Coiling Dragon Ring that Linley discovers, he emerges to a world vastly different from his own. Deciding to adopt Linley as a godson (as he's the only human who can see him), Doehring reveals that he is a 10th Level 'Saint' Cultivator of Earth Magic. What should've taken Linley 50 years to accomplish will now only take 10.
Linley's shadow beast Bebe is a small black mouse capable of minor teleportation. As he grows, he's able to shapeshift and become a terrifying monster capable of killing even 6th level cultivators with ease. He acts as Linley's protector and saves him when Linley's own overwhelming might won't do.
[The System]
The more one meditations and trains, the more their magical reserves and affinity grows though there's not a focus on this like in Reverend Insanity and ISSTH. The first book proposes ranks 1-9 with each being 'a world unto itself' before one achieves the level of SAINT and can easily bend the heavens and earth to their whims. Each cultivator can further diversify into an element: earth, wind, water, fire, lightning, darkness, and light but each elemental affinity will share the same techniques. All wind cultivators will know the same wind techniques, for instance.
Sainthood comes with understanding Profound Truths, though not explored heavily in the first book. This amps up a Saint's magic considerably and allows them to bond Saint-level spirit beasts.
[Final Thoughts]
Dropped on chapter 45 of 77.
Another overpowered MC who's given the entire world served up on a platter within the first 20 chapters. When met with a challenge Linley breezes through it with almost no worry, but 5 chapters later we'll be told through another character how harrowing it must have been. Entire dialogue chunks are dedicated to worshipping Linley as the #1 genius and it all grows tiresome after a while. Obviously not my cup of tea, since I enjoy my characters struggling and surviving. I wish I had a bingo card so that I could convey the sheer amount of tropes checked off in the first 15 chapters alone.
Presentation of the system was also a struggle in this book. More than once, random cultivators would show up in the sky and fight to inspire the main character's growth. They would use a named technique the one time and the author would avoid describing the techniques in favor of using the name. Usually this is fine, but a technique should evolve... We're told that the 'earth tremor will evolve into the earth spike and then the heaven's earth upper super decker' and it's never visually demonstrated in a combat again.
Unengaging system, boring characters, and an uninspired world. No more overpowered MCs. Might curate my remaining list to make sure I avoid them.
[The Story]
Born to the dying Baruch Clan on Yulan, Linley has distinguished himself as a prodigy from the age of 8. Old enough to be told of their Clan's hidden history, Linley learns that he shares blood with the legendary dragon-blooded warrior. After learning that he does not have enough of the blood to be a warrior, he decides to become a magus... and soon a legendary artifact, which provides a teacher in the spirit of a Saint Level Earth Magus named Doehring Cowart. It falls on Linley and his secret master to cultivate the power needed to reclaim his family's ancient heirloom sword and restore honor to his clan.
[The Character(s)]
Linley is the village head's eldest son and a descendant of a legendary warrior with EXCEPTIONAL elemental affinity and spiritual attunement. Upon discovering an ancient ring hidden in his estate and bonding with it through blood, he's able to conjure a 5,000 year old Saint-Level Magus who agrees to train him into a legendary Earth Magus. By the age of 10 he tries out for the Ernst Institute - the most famous Magus Academy on the continent - and learns that he has exceptional DUAL essence cultivation. Linley is not only able to bend earth to his will, but wind just as easily. With all that behind him, within his first year at the academy he is able to with 10,000 gold from an arrogant young master and establish himself as one of the top prodigies.
Doehring and Bebe are much simpler characters by comparison. Having escaped death by sequestering his soul inside of the Coiling Dragon Ring that Linley discovers, he emerges to a world vastly different from his own. Deciding to adopt Linley as a godson (as he's the only human who can see him), Doehring reveals that he is a 10th Level 'Saint' Cultivator of Earth Magic. What should've taken Linley 50 years to accomplish will now only take 10.
Linley's shadow beast Bebe is a small black mouse capable of minor teleportation. As he grows, he's able to shapeshift and become a terrifying monster capable of killing even 6th level cultivators with ease. He acts as Linley's protector and saves him when Linley's own overwhelming might won't do.
[The System]
The more one meditations and trains, the more their magical reserves and affinity grows though there's not a focus on this like in Reverend Insanity and ISSTH. The first book proposes ranks 1-9 with each being 'a world unto itself' before one achieves the level of SAINT and can easily bend the heavens and earth to their whims. Each cultivator can further diversify into an element: earth, wind, water, fire, lightning, darkness, and light but each elemental affinity will share the same techniques. All wind cultivators will know the same wind techniques, for instance.
Sainthood comes with understanding Profound Truths, though not explored heavily in the first book. This amps up a Saint's magic considerably and allows them to bond Saint-level spirit beasts.
[Final Thoughts]
Dropped on chapter 45 of 77.
Another overpowered MC who's given the entire world served up on a platter within the first 20 chapters. When met with a challenge Linley breezes through it with almost no worry, but 5 chapters later we'll be told through another character how harrowing it must have been. Entire dialogue chunks are dedicated to worshipping Linley as the #1 genius and it all grows tiresome after a while. Obviously not my cup of tea, since I enjoy my characters struggling and surviving. I wish I had a bingo card so that I could convey the sheer amount of tropes checked off in the first 15 chapters alone.
Presentation of the system was also a struggle in this book. More than once, random cultivators would show up in the sky and fight to inspire the main character's growth. They would use a named technique the one time and the author would avoid describing the techniques in favor of using the name. Usually this is fine, but a technique should evolve... We're told that the 'earth tremor will evolve into the earth spike and then the heaven's earth upper super decker' and it's never visually demonstrated in a combat again.
Unengaging system, boring characters, and an uninspired world. No more overpowered MCs. Might curate my remaining list to make sure I avoid them.
October 20, 2023
This review covers the entire series, not just the first chapters. (it has over eight thousand pages and aproximately 806 chapters).
I start by stating that, there can be no virtue, nothing worthwhile of an author that tortures, mutilates, maims, kidnaps, enslaves, sacrifices, immolates, carnage, sexual assaults, eats alive, etc. his creations (the characters in this novel series) (just because he couldn't come up with (lack of imagination) yet another story arc that has clear ethical boundaries and is something positive and entertaining to his readers). To me, it is worse that mercenarism (people that kill for money) (because the author writes it in this way "to entice" and earn more money from his web-readers and patrons) Mercenaries kill others for money, this author kills/tortures/etc. his characters for money too (like if a painter would burn his paintings, or an architect would bomb the house/building that he has designed/built). This author has deep psychopathic tendencies that need urgent therapy or encarceration/interdiction. I have always believed that authors write what they know, and allow in their writing what they think is possible. If it is a dark-apocalyptic-enslaving-torturing-series-of-extreme-violence, then it is their lack of social boundaries, lack of Emotional Intelligence and lack of personal ethics that allow it.
This web series turned into a book series started as a carbon copy of the structure of the classic novel, Count of Montecristo by Alexandre Dumas (French 1844).
Although there is a summary that states that it is a cultivation series, there is little to no cultivation in this alternate reality fantasy series because the main character in this series is a Mage, Sculptor and lastly Warrior. Usually cultivation of the traditional kind is only for martial artists. There is little to no alchemy, little to no usage of medicine to improve the Dantians, Meditation, to create the body needed to become a stronger martial artist. This main character barely assisted classes and was basically self-taught (without books or knowledge). The Spirit in his ring, Coiling Dragon ring, became a foster-father of sorts, instructed him more than the "top school where he attended", but still, both were Mages (Magic users) that have little to no real cultivation. Then the rest of this book is drama, tragedy, a soap opera of misfortunes upon the main character, his family, his friends and close relationships in a progression fantasy web-novel series turned into a book series (re-edited) to make even more money...It is almost all action, but it is also drama/tragedy centered. Using main characters as hostages, punching bags, sacrifices, etc. is not something I enjoy or does it entertain me. From the very beginning, it's just one long shooting gallery... who can be entertained by seeing the main characters become sacrifices of corrupt, depraved, monsters?? Only a sado-masochist/psychopathic author?? Bebe does not deserve it, I tell you!!
I find it contradictory, illogical, irrational and nonsensical that Linley, main character, trains all of his life to protect his family and loved ones and because of "the training" has never really been with his family or protected his family??? Linley trains and empowers himself to avenge his family and loved ones and by always training, has never really protected his family, been there for his family or done anything positive for his family. It's as if he has gained power and levels for the sake of power and not for the improvement, safety, etc. of his loved ones. Why would the author write such blatant and naïve contradictions??
Everybody is free to do and to think however they wish, to like or dislike what they do, but no one is above the law, or free from the consequences of the thoughts and actions that come about because of those thoughts.
I start by stating that, there can be no virtue, nothing worthwhile of an author that tortures, mutilates, maims, kidnaps, enslaves, sacrifices, immolates, carnage, sexual assaults, eats alive, etc. his creations (the characters in this novel series) (just because he couldn't come up with (lack of imagination) yet another story arc that has clear ethical boundaries and is something positive and entertaining to his readers). To me, it is worse that mercenarism (people that kill for money) (because the author writes it in this way "to entice" and earn more money from his web-readers and patrons) Mercenaries kill others for money, this author kills/tortures/etc. his characters for money too (like if a painter would burn his paintings, or an architect would bomb the house/building that he has designed/built). This author has deep psychopathic tendencies that need urgent therapy or encarceration/interdiction. I have always believed that authors write what they know, and allow in their writing what they think is possible. If it is a dark-apocalyptic-enslaving-torturing-series-of-extreme-violence, then it is their lack of social boundaries, lack of Emotional Intelligence and lack of personal ethics that allow it.
This web series turned into a book series started as a carbon copy of the structure of the classic novel, Count of Montecristo by Alexandre Dumas (French 1844).
Although there is a summary that states that it is a cultivation series, there is little to no cultivation in this alternate reality fantasy series because the main character in this series is a Mage, Sculptor and lastly Warrior. Usually cultivation of the traditional kind is only for martial artists. There is little to no alchemy, little to no usage of medicine to improve the Dantians, Meditation, to create the body needed to become a stronger martial artist. This main character barely assisted classes and was basically self-taught (without books or knowledge). The Spirit in his ring, Coiling Dragon ring, became a foster-father of sorts, instructed him more than the "top school where he attended", but still, both were Mages (Magic users) that have little to no real cultivation. Then the rest of this book is drama, tragedy, a soap opera of misfortunes upon the main character, his family, his friends and close relationships in a progression fantasy web-novel series turned into a book series (re-edited) to make even more money...It is almost all action, but it is also drama/tragedy centered. Using main characters as hostages, punching bags, sacrifices, etc. is not something I enjoy or does it entertain me. From the very beginning, it's just one long shooting gallery... who can be entertained by seeing the main characters become sacrifices of corrupt, depraved, monsters?? Only a sado-masochist/psychopathic author?? Bebe does not deserve it, I tell you!!
I find it contradictory, illogical, irrational and nonsensical that Linley, main character, trains all of his life to protect his family and loved ones and because of "the training" has never really been with his family or protected his family??? Linley trains and empowers himself to avenge his family and loved ones and by always training, has never really protected his family, been there for his family or done anything positive for his family. It's as if he has gained power and levels for the sake of power and not for the improvement, safety, etc. of his loved ones. Why would the author write such blatant and naïve contradictions??
Everybody is free to do and to think however they wish, to like or dislike what they do, but no one is above the law, or free from the consequences of the thoughts and actions that come about because of those thoughts.
May 25, 2023
Coiling Dragon was recommended to me by a friend years ago, and I finally decided to give it a shot.
It follows the story of Linley, the son of a countryside noble family that's slowly declining, as he follows his dream of becoming a top level magus. He embarks on his magical journey when he finds a magic ring hidden in the depths of his dilapidated estate. Hidden within that ring is the 5000 year old spirit of a Saint level earth element magus user called Doehring Cowart, who's a wealth of knowledge on everything magic related. Of course, it helps that Linley's natural affinity for magic is incredibly high too.
With his innate abilities, Linley ends up joining the #1 magic school in the land, a super elite school that only accepts 100 students a year, and works hard to train everyday. As expected, he levels up at lightning quick speeds and is widely recognized as one of the up and coming geniuses of the magic world.
This first book in the series (which covers roughly books 1-5) is really setting up the world setting and introducing the characters. Not a ton happens other than to establish that Linley is a genius lol
I'm a huge shounen fan, and this book gave me strong shounen vibes at first which I really enjoyed. However, halfway through the story takes a weird turn and Linley becomes very enamored with a girl out of nowhere, and then afterwards there's a shift in focus to stone sculpting which I found a bit odd. I was expecting a pure leveling up novel, especially in the first book, so I'm not sure where the author wants to take that.
Some spoilerish thoughts:
I can't believe he already came across a 9th level dragon that conveniently dies right in front of him and gives him access to a ton of dragon blood. And how nice that he happened to have tons of the Blueheart grass on hand to offset all the pain from drinking the blood and awakening the Dragonblood within his veins.
Also, I didn't expect him to become a Dragonblood Warrior so quickly. When his dad brought up this awakening method earlier, I thought it'd take a while before Linley leveled up enough to get there, but nope it happened so fast!
Who is the evil man with his three evil kittens that Linley unknowingly let out by removing the Bloodviolet sword?? Sounds like he was some evil presence that had been sealed away for thousands of years, and now he can free to wreak havoc on the Yulan Continent.
It follows the story of Linley, the son of a countryside noble family that's slowly declining, as he follows his dream of becoming a top level magus. He embarks on his magical journey when he finds a magic ring hidden in the depths of his dilapidated estate. Hidden within that ring is the 5000 year old spirit of a Saint level earth element magus user called Doehring Cowart, who's a wealth of knowledge on everything magic related. Of course, it helps that Linley's natural affinity for magic is incredibly high too.
With his innate abilities, Linley ends up joining the #1 magic school in the land, a super elite school that only accepts 100 students a year, and works hard to train everyday. As expected, he levels up at lightning quick speeds and is widely recognized as one of the up and coming geniuses of the magic world.
This first book in the series (which covers roughly books 1-5) is really setting up the world setting and introducing the characters. Not a ton happens other than to establish that Linley is a genius lol
I'm a huge shounen fan, and this book gave me strong shounen vibes at first which I really enjoyed. However, halfway through the story takes a weird turn and Linley becomes very enamored with a girl out of nowhere, and then afterwards there's a shift in focus to stone sculpting which I found a bit odd. I was expecting a pure leveling up novel, especially in the first book, so I'm not sure where the author wants to take that.
Some spoilerish thoughts:
I can't believe he already came across a 9th level dragon that conveniently dies right in front of him and gives him access to a ton of dragon blood. And how nice that he happened to have tons of the Blueheart grass on hand to offset all the pain from drinking the blood and awakening the Dragonblood within his veins.
Also, I didn't expect him to become a Dragonblood Warrior so quickly. When his dad brought up this awakening method earlier, I thought it'd take a while before Linley leveled up enough to get there, but nope it happened so fast!
Who is the evil man with his three evil kittens that Linley unknowingly let out by removing the Bloodviolet sword?? Sounds like he was some evil presence that had been sealed away for thousands of years, and now he can free to wreak havoc on the Yulan Continent.
January 11, 2024
I really liked the first half of the book and loathed the second.
The story starts very nice. The oldest son of an ancient but impoverished noble family works very hard to help to avoid the total downfall of the family. He finds a lovely and cute companion and enters a prestigious academy.
Verdict about the entire series:
Positive: a very long saga
a rather unique story
Negative: 1 constant really, really aggravating repetitions that seem to make up almost a quarter of
2 the story
3 no maps
4 underwhelming world building
5 not enough interesting places
6 the overarching plots are really contrived
7 the author constantly writes himself in a corner and has the protagonist saved by
HEAVY plot armor and powerful, mostly neutral parties
8 i liked the start of the series as the protagonist didn´t have too many boons but this
changes drastically, people seem to fall over themselves to provide the protagonist with
more and more boons later on. In the last book this gets REALLY obscene
9 the protagonist is a unrelatable bore who is obsessed with training and becoming
stronger
10 most of the female characters turn into simple breeders that need constant protection
11 no really interesting characters
12 the protagonist´s progress is ridiculously fast
13 the protagonist starts as mage who are able to use devastating spells even at lower
levels - throughout the entire series he never uses any such spell but is only a magical
melee fighter
14 a huge missed opportunity of having wise magical creatures teach the protagonist
The story starts very nice. The oldest son of an ancient but impoverished noble family works very hard to help to avoid the total downfall of the family. He finds a lovely and cute companion and enters a prestigious academy.
Verdict about the entire series:
Positive: a very long saga
a rather unique story
Negative: 1 constant really, really aggravating repetitions that seem to make up almost a quarter of
2 the story
3 no maps
4 underwhelming world building
5 not enough interesting places
6 the overarching plots are really contrived
7 the author constantly writes himself in a corner and has the protagonist saved by
HEAVY plot armor and powerful, mostly neutral parties
8 i liked the start of the series as the protagonist didn´t have too many boons but this
changes drastically, people seem to fall over themselves to provide the protagonist with
more and more boons later on. In the last book this gets REALLY obscene
9 the protagonist is a unrelatable bore who is obsessed with training and becoming
stronger
10 most of the female characters turn into simple breeders that need constant protection
11 no really interesting characters
12 the protagonist´s progress is ridiculously fast
13 the protagonist starts as mage who are able to use devastating spells even at lower
levels - throughout the entire series he never uses any such spell but is only a magical
melee fighter
14 a huge missed opportunity of having wise magical creatures teach the protagonist
March 8, 2020
Hard work! While the translation to English is very well done, with only a few obvious difficulties, the book is very much set in the Chinese mindset and it can be quite a head scratcher to bypass the very different East/West perspectives. Sometimes the descriptions and "information" are extremely long-winded, at other times sections seem to drag on with way too much input. Some days I really wished for the Readers' Digest Condensed version. There were a few times I put the book down and left it to percolate for a bit, but it is a testament to how good the story is that I returned consistently to see what happened next.
It ends on a cliffhanger - something that was not disclosed when I got the book and that displeased me. I don't like cliffhanger novels in general, I prefer each story wrapped up on its own, even if it is a progression. And this is a genuine cliffhanger. Not an "oh well, that's another story" type, but middle of the scene kind.
Would I recommend this? If you watch Chinese TV dramas, you'll understand what you read, if only because they work on the same long-drawn-out-end-on-a-cliffhanger theme. If not, I would find this a difficult novel to suggest to any of my acquaintances. The story is good, but you really need to have some foreknowledge of Asian mindset to get into it.
Still debating whether or not I want to move on to Book 2.
It ends on a cliffhanger - something that was not disclosed when I got the book and that displeased me. I don't like cliffhanger novels in general, I prefer each story wrapped up on its own, even if it is a progression. And this is a genuine cliffhanger. Not an "oh well, that's another story" type, but middle of the scene kind.
Would I recommend this? If you watch Chinese TV dramas, you'll understand what you read, if only because they work on the same long-drawn-out-end-on-a-cliffhanger theme. If not, I would find this a difficult novel to suggest to any of my acquaintances. The story is good, but you really need to have some foreknowledge of Asian mindset to get into it.
Still debating whether or not I want to move on to Book 2.
July 11, 2019
I got this book from Kindle Unlimited because I learnt about it at the wuxiaworld forums.
It's a good origin story in a world where magic and cultivation are real, from a Chinese author. This time there's a twist. It's normal in this kind of stories to get a guy who can't cultivate and then finds something magical that contains a forbidden knowledge and he soars.
That's not this story. At the start our main character is already better than most of the people of his age, because he's a descendant from a impoverished clan that had great warriors in the past, and his bloodline is special.
So, when he does find something magical, it gets him further ahead, but he was already really good. The supporting cast has two stages: in one we have the first mental communications with his mentor and his magical beast companion, and those are really fleshed out. But then we have all the rest of the people and they tend to follow more of an archetype until one is central to the plot and gets a little more fleshed out.
Quite a good read for what it's the start of a long series.
It's a good origin story in a world where magic and cultivation are real, from a Chinese author. This time there's a twist. It's normal in this kind of stories to get a guy who can't cultivate and then finds something magical that contains a forbidden knowledge and he soars.
That's not this story. At the start our main character is already better than most of the people of his age, because he's a descendant from a impoverished clan that had great warriors in the past, and his bloodline is special.
So, when he does find something magical, it gets him further ahead, but he was already really good. The supporting cast has two stages: in one we have the first mental communications with his mentor and his magical beast companion, and those are really fleshed out. But then we have all the rest of the people and they tend to follow more of an archetype until one is central to the plot and gets a little more fleshed out.
Quite a good read for what it's the start of a long series.
May 15, 2020
Coiling Dragon is one of the classic xianxia (online)novels and probably one of the better starting points for newcomers to the genre. Especially the first three to four books are full of interesting concepts and ideas, cool world-building and impressive fight scenes while avoiding falling to deep into the typical cliches and problem zones of the genre (one dimensional characters, everybody being an arrogant asshole, deeply misogynistic portrayal of women, repeating plotlines, loss of the cast of characters every other story arc etc.) as well as the problems of web-serials overall. The later books do in my opinion become considerable less enjoyable, largely due to the later two points I just mentioned, but many people seem to enjoy the ever escalating power-levels so your mileage may wary.
The books are reasonably priced so it may be worth checking them out if you are interested in a different style of fantasy and have some free time but don't expect to much and really don't expect to much of the genre.
The books are reasonably priced so it may be worth checking them out if you are interested in a different style of fantasy and have some free time but don't expect to much and really don't expect to much of the genre.
December 3, 2021
A thrilling adventure.
Many years ago I read this series for the first time. I was new to translated books and fell whole heartedly never looking back. I had fond feelings whenever I saw mention of it but was scared it wouldn't be as good as I remember. In a way I was right…It is so much better. Since I have been immersed in the translated novel culture for years since I first read Coiling Dragon; I find myself in love with the story even more.
On top of the story the main thing that stands out is how much love was put into the translation. I have read many translations where you can't feel any emotions or see the lightning hitting in your mind. RWX has such poetry in his translation that I just wanted to keep reading as the story is layed out.
Needless to say, thanks to both I Eat Tomatoes and RWX for bringing this story into my life. It has made my life so much better because of it.
Many years ago I read this series for the first time. I was new to translated books and fell whole heartedly never looking back. I had fond feelings whenever I saw mention of it but was scared it wouldn't be as good as I remember. In a way I was right…It is so much better. Since I have been immersed in the translated novel culture for years since I first read Coiling Dragon; I find myself in love with the story even more.
On top of the story the main thing that stands out is how much love was put into the translation. I have read many translations where you can't feel any emotions or see the lightning hitting in your mind. RWX has such poetry in his translation that I just wanted to keep reading as the story is layed out.
Needless to say, thanks to both I Eat Tomatoes and RWX for bringing this story into my life. It has made my life so much better because of it.
July 4, 2021
This is the biggest piece of shit I have ever had the misfortune to read. I feel like the whole internet has lied to me about this book because apparently its beloved by fans of the genre.
The translation is terrible, the story has no tension or struggle the characters are boring and the mc gets nowhere on his own without multiple cheats. Translated novels are never great but this one is specifically bad.
Do not read this book. You will never get that time back and life is too short.
Its been ages since i last attempted to read this and I'm only writing a review now because i saw someone recommend it and it made me so mad that i had to vent about it and i thought, if i can save one person than i can die knowing i have done some good in the world.
The translation is terrible, the story has no tension or struggle the characters are boring and the mc gets nowhere on his own without multiple cheats. Translated novels are never great but this one is specifically bad.
Do not read this book. You will never get that time back and life is too short.
Its been ages since i last attempted to read this and I'm only writing a review now because i saw someone recommend it and it made me so mad that i had to vent about it and i thought, if i can save one person than i can die knowing i have done some good in the world.
January 11, 2023
How do people take these translated Chinese web novels seriously?
This is the worst thing I've ever read/listened to. The sound effects, the endless repetitions, the awkward word choices... It's like a book written by a person who only read manga before and tried retelling one, like a child.
Expect something like:
Linley went in the woods and "whoosh", a monster attacked, but "squeak squeak", linleys shadow mouse squeaked squeakily and, "roar", crashed into the monster, "crash".
It was a 5th ranked shadow mouse, which is much higher then 3rd rank, which was the rank of the monster. Linley was rank 6, because he was the genius of the academy.
"Ha ha ha", he laughed enthusiastically. This beast was much to weak!
This is the worst thing I've ever read/listened to. The sound effects, the endless repetitions, the awkward word choices... It's like a book written by a person who only read manga before and tried retelling one, like a child.
Expect something like:
Linley went in the woods and "whoosh", a monster attacked, but "squeak squeak", linleys shadow mouse squeaked squeakily and, "roar", crashed into the monster, "crash".
It was a 5th ranked shadow mouse, which is much higher then 3rd rank, which was the rank of the monster. Linley was rank 6, because he was the genius of the academy.
"Ha ha ha", he laughed enthusiastically. This beast was much to weak!
January 20, 2020
This was my first foray into the light novel translations on WuxiaWorld.com. It was difficult at first because of the translations into English aren't the kindest, but the translators do a great job of trying to keep it as genuine as possible to the original work without compromising the authors intent/meaning. Once I got the hang of how they read I was hooked and have been in the light novel community for years now.
I was really happy for the translator when he got the series into print. Its worth the read and once you get past the language of the story this martial arts fantasy is a fun and satisfying read.
I was really happy for the translator when he got the series into print. Its worth the read and once you get past the language of the story this martial arts fantasy is a fun and satisfying read.
July 9, 2020
i only lasted 1.5 hours of listening to the audio. the narrator esther merriken was a very stupid choice. did she do it for free? i don't understand why anyone would pick a female with a southern accent to narrate a xianxia novel. i've actually listened to xianxia novels like a will eternal and i shall seal the heavens narrated by google text reader and those were 100x much better than this girl with a southern accent.
secondly the story was just a series of awkward conversations and info dumps. i know it's been translated, so have all the other xianxia webnovels on the internet. but this is poor writing, and possibly poor translation... but most likely just poor writing.
secondly the story was just a series of awkward conversations and info dumps. i know it's been translated, so have all the other xianxia webnovels on the internet. but this is poor writing, and possibly poor translation... but most likely just poor writing.
December 14, 2019
Over all it's better that average, but a bit different.
It's standard wuxia, except all the vocabulary and names are anglicized and uses modern slang. It can be annoying. Ex. "Bro", "Insta-cast". I think this is due to the translation to English.
Also the beginning, it is hard to connect with the characters, because it doesn't get it to their lives or personalities, just what is happening at the moment. After 1/4 of the book It gets better.
So I'm going to continue the series, but many may find it bland of annoying.
It's standard wuxia, except all the vocabulary and names are anglicized and uses modern slang. It can be annoying. Ex. "Bro", "Insta-cast". I think this is due to the translation to English.
Also the beginning, it is hard to connect with the characters, because it doesn't get it to their lives or personalities, just what is happening at the moment. After 1/4 of the book It gets better.
So I'm going to continue the series, but many may find it bland of annoying.
September 5, 2018
Worth to read it all.
I'm too lazy to review all the books, but this series was really enjoyable so I'll drop one here and at the end.
Great epix series that is super long, and actually finishes. The translation/language is silly sometimes, but the story more than makes up for it. It's especially cool how many pieces that seemed insignificant turn out to be an integral part of the stories tapestry which you only find out at the end.
I'm too lazy to review all the books, but this series was really enjoyable so I'll drop one here and at the end.
Great epix series that is super long, and actually finishes. The translation/language is silly sometimes, but the story more than makes up for it. It's especially cool how many pieces that seemed insignificant turn out to be an integral part of the stories tapestry which you only find out at the end.
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