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A review by nannahnannah
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by 墨香铜臭
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
So, yes, I’ve watched and fallen in love with the TV drama The Untamed last year just like so many others. So when I found it was based on a novel, I had to read it! Thank god I was properly warned first, though … there’s a lot of content that I wouldn’t normally read. But because I loved the characters and storyline so much, I tried the book out.
Representation:
- as this takes place in ancient China, every character is Chinese
- now, I’m not sure I would consider this representation, really, because it’s written by a fujoshi, but … okay, well, besides a few chapters, the last few chapters, and the extras (AVOID AT ALL COSTS), I could relatively call this LGBT media, with a bi main protagonist and a gay love interest.
Wei Wuxian, the infamous Yiling Patriarch, became a villain and a demon in the eyes of the rest of the civilized cultivation world after creating Demonic Cultivation (aka becoming a necromancer). When he causes almost uncountable death, all the clans rise together against him, and Wei Wuxian’s reign of chaos ends.
Of course, though the timeline of the book switches between the present (thirteen years after Wei Wuxian’s death) and the past (before he even becomes the Yiling Patriarch), it’s clear this is only the beginning. For one, in the present timeline, Wei Wuxian is brought back to life. Secondly, Wei Wuxian’s spirit isn’t the only thing returning from his past: the weapon that made him so powerful before he died (and the thing he destroyed!) is somehow in use again. Thirdly, he’s just run into the very two people he wanted to avoid in this new life: his brother -- the one who took credit for his death -- and Lan Wangji, a skilled cultivator, the definition of righteousness, and someone who Wei Wuxian thought had despised him for his demonic cultivation.
Unfortunately, I’ll just have to imagine what this story could have been like in the hands of someone who didn’t fetishize gay men (or one who actually cared about women). Its potential to be an amazing book is just … and the way it’s wasted in Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s hands because she just can’t view lgbt men as people other than something to salivate over and use for her own sexual satisfaction is too frustrating. Yes, these scenes made up about 10-15% of the book (and the horrifying extras; don’t read), but they were enough to completely throw me off, disgust me, and realize that as much as the plot, characters, and everything else in this book is written with such care, the story isn’t meant for lgbt people (or like … normal people) like me to enjoy. It’s for that gross niche audience: fujoshi and bl lovers. I don’t understand it; I don’t understand what makes that type of “romance” enjoyable -- why can’t these people enjoy a non-disturbing romance between two men?
It’s just so disappointing.
Because there’s just no way I can fully describe my frustration and disappointment, fine, I’ll move on. I don’t know if it was the translation (which is unofficial. There’s no real English translation for this novel, so I had to go through fan translations -- which, unfortunately, are also done by fetishists) or the actual writing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, but the book reads stilted and awkward. It’s one of those books that’s more dialogue than prose, but there aren’t even dialogue tags or beats! Maybe it’s the style that I’m not used to. Mo Xiang Tong Xiu also doesn’t seem to trust her audience to understand hints from text or dialogue, because she feels the need to explain everything. We understand what lying is, we promise (“Jin Ling clearly didn’t see Wen Ning and was making it up to distract Jiang Cheng so he would leave, etc., etc.” ← obviously not word for word).
Now, there’s lots to love about the book, too. The themes are amazing: challenge what you’re being taught and question who’s teaching you; always question your own choices constantly; how the younger generation can carry the intolerances of the older one, but how they also can be guided in other directions; how to deal when family and loved ones don’t have the same values/don’t think the same way you do -- and how do you continue to love them when they turn their backs on you?
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu also is a master of characterization and character arcs. And definitely plot twists. A big, big problem though is how she treats women -- lmao, which is a large problem with fujoshi in general. All of the women have tiny roles and are fridged, weak, and without fail die tragically. It’s pathetic.
Without making this like a dissertation, I’ll just sum it all up. Stick with the drama and other adaptations, especially since the drama takes a lot of the dialogue directly from the novel. Look up specific scenes if you really want to, but honestly? The sweet romance of the tv drama will make you feel so much more than the (non-con) sex in the book.
Representation:
- as this takes place in ancient China, every character is Chinese
- now, I’m not sure I would consider this representation, really, because it’s written by a fujoshi, but … okay, well, besides a few chapters, the last few chapters, and the extras (AVOID AT ALL COSTS), I could relatively call this LGBT media, with a bi main protagonist and a gay love interest.
Wei Wuxian, the infamous Yiling Patriarch, became a villain and a demon in the eyes of the rest of the civilized cultivation world after creating Demonic Cultivation (aka becoming a necromancer). When he causes almost uncountable death, all the clans rise together against him, and Wei Wuxian’s reign of chaos ends.
Of course, though the timeline of the book switches between the present (thirteen years after Wei Wuxian’s death) and the past (before he even becomes the Yiling Patriarch), it’s clear this is only the beginning. For one, in the present timeline, Wei Wuxian is brought back to life. Secondly, Wei Wuxian’s spirit isn’t the only thing returning from his past: the weapon that made him so powerful before he died (and the thing he destroyed!) is somehow in use again. Thirdly, he’s just run into the very two people he wanted to avoid in this new life: his brother -- the one who took credit for his death -- and Lan Wangji, a skilled cultivator, the definition of righteousness, and someone who Wei Wuxian thought had despised him for his demonic cultivation.
Unfortunately, I’ll just have to imagine what this story could have been like in the hands of someone who didn’t fetishize gay men (or one who actually cared about women). Its potential to be an amazing book is just … and the way it’s wasted in Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s hands because she just can’t view lgbt men as people other than something to salivate over and use for her own sexual satisfaction is too frustrating. Yes, these scenes made up about 10-15% of the book (and the horrifying extras; don’t read), but they were enough to completely throw me off, disgust me, and realize that as much as the plot, characters, and everything else in this book is written with such care, the story isn’t meant for lgbt people (or like … normal people) like me to enjoy. It’s for that gross niche audience: fujoshi and bl lovers. I don’t understand it; I don’t understand what makes that type of “romance” enjoyable -- why can’t these people enjoy a non-disturbing romance between two men?
It’s just so disappointing.
Because there’s just no way I can fully describe my frustration and disappointment, fine, I’ll move on. I don’t know if it was the translation (which is unofficial. There’s no real English translation for this novel, so I had to go through fan translations -- which, unfortunately, are also done by fetishists) or the actual writing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, but the book reads stilted and awkward. It’s one of those books that’s more dialogue than prose, but there aren’t even dialogue tags or beats! Maybe it’s the style that I’m not used to. Mo Xiang Tong Xiu also doesn’t seem to trust her audience to understand hints from text or dialogue, because she feels the need to explain everything. We understand what lying is, we promise (“Jin Ling clearly didn’t see Wen Ning and was making it up to distract Jiang Cheng so he would leave, etc., etc.” ← obviously not word for word).
Now, there’s lots to love about the book, too. The themes are amazing: challenge what you’re being taught and question who’s teaching you; always question your own choices constantly; how the younger generation can carry the intolerances of the older one, but how they also can be guided in other directions; how to deal when family and loved ones don’t have the same values/don’t think the same way you do -- and how do you continue to love them when they turn their backs on you?
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu also is a master of characterization and character arcs. And definitely plot twists. A big, big problem though is how she treats women -- lmao, which is a large problem with fujoshi in general. All of the women have tiny roles and are fridged, weak, and without fail die tragically. It’s pathetic.
Without making this like a dissertation, I’ll just sum it all up. Stick with the drama and other adaptations, especially since the drama takes a lot of the dialogue directly from the novel. Look up specific scenes if you really want to, but honestly? The sweet romance of the tv drama will make you feel so much more than the (non-con) sex in the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Gore
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Ableism and Incest
note: noncon and rape is, lmao, only vilified if between men and women; treated as normal and even “””romantic””” when between two men ………….; but also: fetishization, gross stereotypes about gay/bi men, such as them having 0 self control, being sexually aggressive & seme/uke stereotypes come the last few chapters + extras