A review by thursdaygirls
将进酒 [Qiang Jin Jiu: Ballad of Sword and Wine] by Tang Jiu Qing

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I often feel as if many works that are initially published as web novels suffer upon their traditional release as the pacing, often more juvenile and simplistic writing style struggle in the classic format yet Tang Jiuqing manages to avoid the former pitfalls in this exemplary work. With the world itself being mostly lifted from Ming Dynasty China there is the benefit of easily available and thus comprehensible world building to both author and reader. This basis is what allows for the rich cast of characters to be developed with almost the entirety of them undergoing complete arcs within the story that are also relevant to the plot itself. 

Also all my gratitude and compliments to the team of fan translators who put together the works, it is some of the best fan based efforts i have ever read and seven seas will have to work hard to top it. Looking forward to getting my hand on the first official english release this summer !!