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Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 2
by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“When humans ascend, they are still human… When they fall, they are still human.”
my wonderful time with this series is only ramping up in intensity as in this second volume i entered the realm of ghost city, a surprisingly horny gambling den, met a second (quasi) calamity in night-touring green lantern, met xie lian's unbearably aggravating cousin, finally seen the heavenly emperor in person and got the flashback of xie lian's pre-ascension time when mu qing and feng xin were still by his side. lots of exciting happenings, plenty character work and delicious dynamics woven into text, but most importantly - hua cheng continuing to be absolutely down bad for xie lian in ways most pleasing to fans of true soulamtism in romance.
the first half of this volume mostly plays out in ghost city, a territory ruled by none other than hua cheng himself. this obviously already made me incredibly excited even just beyond wanting to see the world building going into ghost city; i was instantly giddy waiting to see the interactions between our main two. and oh boy was i serviced! the ghost city interactions have to be the most fun bits i read so far between these two. the blatant favoritism and favor hua cheng treats xie lian with is something i simply can't get enough of.
we also get to have a peek into one of xie lian's identities during the past 800 years, yet another time where misfortunate befalls around him even though he was trying to do the right thing. meanwhile as far as new character introduction goes, no one is as annoying and hateful as qi rong, which also makes him a very successfully written one seeing as that was the author's obvious intention with him.
the second part of this volume dives more into xie lian's past, in particular exactly 800 years ago when he was still only 17 years old and before his first ascension. we get to see the fateful day he saves a child's life during a sacred procession. we learn more about his person when he was still young and filled with not yet broken down naivety. i especially enjoyed the way the writer succeeds at depicting this gap in his young self from his present day one - he is a boy unbroken by the world but you can also already see the familiar integrity, kindness and heart that he still possesses even after 800 years of hardships as a man. this makes him into a character that keeps gaining more and more of my respect as his journey to this point is gradually being unveiled.
i find it most interesting to read a perspective like this on a character - at present day he is someone who already finished going through his growth and tribulations that usually shape a character arc. but here we meet him at the end of it, and it gets to be told to us in a retrospective manner, which keeps giving us more and more context to both the plot surrounding him and he himself as a person. i very much enjoy unorthodox narratives that gradually enrich the reading experience and it is most felt with xie lian's writing.
by the very end we also get some more clues about the child he saves, whose later identity we all must have our guess about. most interestingly i loved the tidbit about the misfortunate star the child was born under and the way xie lian showed compassion and kindness regardless. it was a very emotionally impactful character exposition for him and also a solid building foundation for the relationship ahead of these two characters. i feel like it doesn't set the tone, but retrospectively gives meaning to the tone we have already felt in present day between these two characters.
without much explanation needed, i'm excited to continue with the next volume. i hope i get to see hua cheng and xie lian together in even more scenes, as i feel like this book series shines the most when those two are on the same page.
my wonderful time with this series is only ramping up in intensity as in this second volume i entered the realm of ghost city, a surprisingly horny gambling den, met a second (quasi) calamity in night-touring green lantern, met xie lian's unbearably aggravating cousin, finally seen the heavenly emperor in person and got the flashback of xie lian's pre-ascension time when mu qing and feng xin were still by his side. lots of exciting happenings, plenty character work and delicious dynamics woven into text, but most importantly - hua cheng continuing to be absolutely down bad for xie lian in ways most pleasing to fans of true soulamtism in romance.
the first half of this volume mostly plays out in ghost city, a territory ruled by none other than hua cheng himself. this obviously already made me incredibly excited even just beyond wanting to see the world building going into ghost city; i was instantly giddy waiting to see the interactions between our main two. and oh boy was i serviced! the ghost city interactions have to be the most fun bits i read so far between these two. the blatant favoritism and favor hua cheng treats xie lian with is something i simply can't get enough of.
we also get to have a peek into one of xie lian's identities during the past 800 years, yet another time where misfortunate befalls around him even though he was trying to do the right thing. meanwhile as far as new character introduction goes, no one is as annoying and hateful as qi rong, which also makes him a very successfully written one seeing as that was the author's obvious intention with him.
the second part of this volume dives more into xie lian's past, in particular exactly 800 years ago when he was still only 17 years old and before his first ascension. we get to see the fateful day he saves a child's life during a sacred procession. we learn more about his person when he was still young and filled with not yet broken down naivety. i especially enjoyed the way the writer succeeds at depicting this gap in his young self from his present day one - he is a boy unbroken by the world but you can also already see the familiar integrity, kindness and heart that he still possesses even after 800 years of hardships as a man. this makes him into a character that keeps gaining more and more of my respect as his journey to this point is gradually being unveiled.
i find it most interesting to read a perspective like this on a character - at present day he is someone who already finished going through his growth and tribulations that usually shape a character arc. but here we meet him at the end of it, and it gets to be told to us in a retrospective manner, which keeps giving us more and more context to both the plot surrounding him and he himself as a person. i very much enjoy unorthodox narratives that gradually enrich the reading experience and it is most felt with xie lian's writing.
by the very end we also get some more clues about the child he saves, whose later identity we all must have our guess about. most interestingly i loved the tidbit about the misfortunate star the child was born under and the way xie lian showed compassion and kindness regardless. it was a very emotionally impactful character exposition for him and also a solid building foundation for the relationship ahead of these two characters. i feel like it doesn't set the tone, but retrospectively gives meaning to the tone we have already felt in present day between these two characters.
without much explanation needed, i'm excited to continue with the next volume. i hope i get to see hua cheng and xie lian together in even more scenes, as i feel like this book series shines the most when those two are on the same page.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death