>long as fuck names for characters, places, concepts etc (had to write them down to memorize them)>weird non-flowing sentences>lots of poetry-ish sounding sentencesIt seems like the author literally translated ancient chinese slang into modern day english, its just difficult for me to read. Anybody else experience this?
>>25194386that's just how chinese translates
>>25194426This is basically what it all sounds like to me, im really trying to enjoy it but its really difficult to read it
>>25194443vgh the unmatched lyricism of the Chinese language.......
>>25194386>It seems like the author literally translated ancient chinese slang into modern day englishThat's just what you get with an amateur, literal Chinese translation.
>>25194386Can you post the specific passages that you found difficult to read/understand?
you get used to itpro tip: the names and the concepts don't matter, you can just skip over them.Yes, I know that the author said that "the unfathomable demonic banner and its myriad ancient spirits are enough to allow a foundation builder to contend for an incense stick of time against an old monster half a step from the third level of the nascent soul realm," but the truth is that the author will never mention the banner again by the time the MC impacts the realm barrier between the third revolution of his (seventh patterned) golden core and the fourth coalescence of his divine sense (i.e. in ten chapters). By your third xianxia you should be able to tell what they mean at a glance. Besides it's not like the MC will ever be in a difficult situation.
>>25195212>the names and the concepts don't matter>it's not like the MC will ever be in a difficult situationthis nigga could not be more wrong
>>25194386Translation is an art by itself because it is so trick to transpose the multitude of information, feels, meaning and context, which among other things can be easily bent out of shape, specially when language structure context and culture are as different and diverse as say, Chinese and English.This arouses me though, like, there's beauty in the sense of venturing into the unknown and in my own way, I'm off for that.
>>25194426It's up to the translator how it translates. When translating literature you have the semi-competing pressures of fidelity and sounding natural in the target language.
>>25195693how many chinese novels have you read translations of?
>>25196113Not many, but then I read Chinese.
>>25196122congrats. the original and the translation are two different beasts. I've read at least a dozen, classical and modern, and they all "suffer" from the same problems. Chinese and English are just too different for a smooth translation, especially with the chinese love for idioms.
>>25194386Googled this sloppa out of curiosity and it’s banned by the Chinese government? That has me interested but 2000+ chapters doesn’t seem worth it
>>25196148Or you can try obsessing a little less with literalness and try for "how a native English speaker would express the same concept".
>>25196154why are you telling me this? I don't translate chinese books.
>>25196156I mean impersonal/generic "you"
>>25194386The pacing is god-tier not too slow and not too fast, just right, obviously the entire story is pretty much about MC saying lmao to all the rules and groups and factions then almost dying then lmao then doing impossible things then almost dying then lmaoing then doing impossible things while monologuing about how he alone is the strongest but that's the beauty of it
>>25196154there has to be a reason so many different translators don't.
Basically everything Chinese is poorly translated. I'm sure it's not easy to do, but reading Chinese fantasy novels is an absolute slog because of that. Lord of the Mysteries isn't hard to understand or anything, but everything just sounds so clunky.
>>25196153Read 200 chapters, that's the first book.
>>25196154it's impossible when half the text is made of chengyu. might as well rewrite the book
>>25196215And how much of English text is made up of idioms and allusions?
>>25196216much less
>>25196217Depends on the text, though generally yes.
>>25196148I have not read the original and frankly I don't care too much about muh idioms. It may be a big thing in Chinese (though I don't think it is) but in English it's not. If some (or all) idioms are missing and where replaced with English text that conveys similar meaning, or even if translator took liberties and changed the text, maybe added English/western idioms to convey the idea I am ok with it. I've seen "green behind the ears" used in translated xianxia, definitely not a Chinese saying but it was likely used in place of one.
>>25194443There are people here that actually read this cancer? Learn chinese or skip this.
>>25196608Those are just words in random order.
Not wanting to be trampled on, there are two ways. One is to become strong, strong until no one dares to step on you. Another is to turn into dog shit, something no one would want to step on.
kids game compared to finnegans wake, git gud fattie
>>25197920Finnegans wake lacks a Dao.
I keep seeing this Reverend Insanity book mentioned here, and for the record I have to say that it is one of the most off-putting titles I’ve ever seen, and I seethe a little every time I read it. It’s uniquely retarded in the way only an oriental could imagine of.
>>25200515What makes you think it's the original author that came up with that title rather than the translator? In Chinese it's 蛊真人.
>>25200525蛊真人, now that has a nice ring to it.
>>25200525true gu dude
>>25200515I feel stupid and gay and retarded whenever I say it
>>25200532I guess 蠱 doesn't really have a straightforward English translation.
>>25200541Correlation does not equal causation in this case however
>>25200558Forced but witty. 5/10
>Spectral Soul Demon Venerable handled matters and conflict with basically one method.>That was to kill!>You do not relent? Kill!>You are an eyesore? Kill!>His own mood was bad? Kill!>He was bored? Kill!Spectral GOAT is the true main character of the setting.
>>25200515It'a cool title. Are you a religious christian, does the use of the word reverend offend in some way?
>>25201068Yes, I think that has something to do with it, anon, aside from the grammar. Though, if there was a character from, say, JoJo Star named Reverend Insanity, I would just think it’s funny and not cringe.
>>25201483Like others have already explained the title Reverend Insanity does not have any connection to the story/plot/characters within the novel. I am not entirely sure why the original translator used this title desu
my favorite part is when the reverend of insanity says "it's reverend time" and insanities all over the place
>>25201691Is that before or after you take your meds?
>>25196113About 10
>>25201691“Let’s REVEREND the fuck out of this” - reverend Insanity if it were written by Andy Weir
>>25204055That's insane.
>>25194386You have to stick with it. Eventually you realize its pretty straight foward story about a guy relieving his previous life with all the knowledge of what happened previously, collecting pokemon and cultivating his power level like DBZ. 40,000 pages of it.
Reverend Insanity speaks to me on so many levels. It is a title which invites us to stop and ponder: is there such a reverend, named insanity? Is there such a thing as a reverent insanity? Or is Mr. Reverend Insanity a normal, unassuming man, considered insane by the world for his love of the Gospel of Christ? There are but a few of many contemplative avenues in regards to Reverend Insanity
>>25194386Chinese has a certian "tone" you need to read it it, just get used to it over time and change your mindset into that of the chinese equivalent of a european medieval person should help. RI is a truly unparalelled piece of chinese fiction.Chinese stories are usually more realistic, absolutely 0 of that pathetic goody goody japanese shit you're likely used to.
>>25206075>chinese storiesIm so chinese I just call them stories.
I read chinese raws by running them through chrome's browser mtl function. The trick isn't to raise your literacy rate enough to understand the chinese, but to lower it enough to understand the chinese. MTL chinese prose and english prose now read as mostly similar to me - no, actually, chinese prose is more comfortable. English prose is usually bloated with too many unnecessary descriptions, it's hard to stomach now. Brevity is the soul of wit, kings could only exist when the masses were illiterate! Illiteracy is king!!! Illiteracy is king!!!
>>25206947>kings could only exist when the masses were illiterate! Illiteracy is king!Based and peasant-pilled
>>25206947>English prose is usually bloatedThis anon knows...
>>25205476Sounds based, I wish more novels were like that.
>>25196196Lotm is clunky even in Chinese.
>>25194386The thing to keep in mind is the first third or so of it is pretty directly a parody of popular chinese fantasy fiction c. 2010. As it goes on it starts leaning less on that but if you don't know chinese fiction tropes you'll probably be lost well before that.
>>25213754What tropes?
>>25213461Currently in Volume 2 chapter 278, it's lowkey lame and boring, i prefered Vol1...can i speedrun or watch a summary up to an interesting point then resume reading? like, am sure all this bs am going through won't matter much later on and i'll forget most of it.
>>25214937Literally all of them.e.g. the infamous bear scene. Rape used to be the go-to move for demonstrating that a villain is super evil in low quality 2010's era china slop. The entire first half of the chapter is a bait and switch to make you think Fang Yuan is going to rape the girl. Obviously he does not and does the bear thing instead.
>>25214937Well for starters the basic premise of a guy from modern China who gets reincarnated into Cultivation World then becomes famous there by passing off famous historical Chinese poetry as his own is beat by beat the most hackneyed late '00s Chinese fantasy novel plot imaginable. How he turns out to actually be bad at cultivation and then has to spend a lifetime of suffering in a world where that is the only skill that really matters is intended as an obvious subversion of the cliche initial plot.
>>25216017>How he turns out to actually be bad at cultivation and then has to spend a lifetime of suffering in a world where that is the only skill that really mattersSounds very inspirational. I am ok with such subersion.
>>25215481The bear was less a parody of rape plots generally and more a specific parody of the whole brat correction meme (which was even more of a thing in China (before the recent censorship tightening) than it ever was in Japan).
>>25215232The novel has a steady decline until like chapter 900 (like chapters 550-850 are barely readable), after which it gets slightly better (still not at the level of volume 1/2), and then it continues that way till about chapter 2000. I'd say chapters 2000-2200 are about on par with the quality of the second arc, After chapter 2200 it's on par with first arc
>>25194386>he hasn't read enough Xianxia to effortlessly remember Chinese names and words
>>25220760Half of the difficulty is the translators (mostly MTL) changing names and genders. Including when they switch between how the names are written in Latin alphabet and their Chinese names. Also switching between stuff like "Dong" and "Duong" randomly, not to mention there being like 20 different clans that go by the same English name, even though the Chinese character is differentIt's particularly hard with reverend insanity because of dumbass author naming characters after prominent CCP officials then having them be censored and changed in later chapters
>>25194386It's a good story, come on...
>>25222097Haters gonna hate
>>25222097NIGGA I CANT FUCKING UNDERSTAND IT ITS LITERAL NONSENSE BADLY TRANSLATED BABBLE
learn chinese
>>25225205I've never had trouble with it, sure the translation is dry and the names are weird but you only need to remember a few names.
>>25226275The translation is concise and to the point. It fits the novel perfectly.
>>25225205Hater.
I made it to 200 pages. No matter how I try to see it, it just reads like it's written for edgy teens who just got into reading stories and immediately thinks it's the greatest thing ever. There's many others like this in the cultivation genre.Even webtoons like Solo Leveling.I always thought there would be something eventually given the hype, which is how I made it that far.Turns out there are simply just lesser unfortunate people.
>>25229337>always thought there would be something eventually given the hype, which is how I made it that far.Can post some (web) novels that did satisfy your expectations?
>>25231131I don't read web novels, you wouldn't know the books I read.If a book doesn't have you curious and hooked by 100 pages.. that number is just arbitrary. I have always known what I would like before even getting into it. It's always a blast from the get go. Starting from Naruto as a kid. And I just can't get into things I don't like no matter how popular it is, like Dragon Ball. Of course I get experimental naturally, exploring and broadening horizons, I really liked Game of Thrones, would wait for the book to finally finish before reading it. But Lord of the Rings? Now that was incredibly boring and I don't even remember where I dropped it. Although I like it and respect it, it's genre defining creator stuff.I didn't think I would like One Punch Man, not knowing it was the forerunning creator of an archetype which cannot even be replicated. It's objectively my favourite, my personal favourite bring Mob Psycho 100. You should read those two instead of cultivation slop. I'm really enjoying Versus, I think it's the best manga out there now and will be.As for what I'm reading? Wuxias, The Deer and the Cauldron.Cultivation slop? I have learnt my lesson with confirmation.Am I dissing your taste? Absolutely. I feel pity. Webnovels like Reverend Insanity isn't even fantasy, it's escapism within escapism holed up in the corner.>INB4: Muh subjectivity, muh relativity.HUT! Strip your copes! Bare the shame of your naked ugliness.
>>25229337>>25231414lol filtered
>>25231414Why are you talking about manga on /lit/ ?
>>25231414People are really just using AI to make clones of my original bookSmh
>>25195212>just lower your expectation of quality baseline and consume slop until you dont realize it's empty calories and you are addicted and comforted by it
>>25200515It's just the chink faggot shilling his slop. Nobody here actually reads it or he wouldn't need to shill it.
>>25231437What am I even being filtered of?>CultivationRight, of course.
>>25231519Based manga reader, try /a/ next time
>>25195212More often that's the case with western fantasy novels where magic does not matter and all the focus is on drama/romance. In Reverend Insanity there is none of that.
>> 25200515The title is the author's name, Gu Zhen Ren. Gu originates from an old chinese legend where venomous insects known as gu would be put into a jar, and the strongest would survive. This is pretty clearly an allusion to the nature of the gu world, and if it weren't banned we would have gotten an even clearer picture. Zhen Ren is roughly translated as "true person" and to truly understand it you would have to look into the philosophy of the "zhen ren". For a brief explanation, it describes someone who has achieved true freedom and is true to themselves. Fang Yuan is such an individual, and that is why he is generally viewed in such an admirable light despite his actions- it isn't about the nature of his heart or his actions, but an innate desire to be able to give up everything in pursuit of your dreams, to break free of the rules and regulations that bound us, and become a true person. The Reverend in the name has nothing to do with the clergy or religion. It is instead a general title used (in translation) for Buddhism and Taoist masters. The "Zhen Ren" was translated into Reverend (remember not anything related to Christianity, but references a Taoist master, and more aptly a true person) and the "Gu" was translated into insanity. If you read the story, the name is actually extremely fitting, and I think the translator made the right choice.
>>25234324"He had always been Gu Yue Fang Yuan" - final line of mermaid arc
>>25201631It absolutely does. I remember exactly how the original translator described how they decided to translate the title, and it was extremely fitting. Reverend has nothing to do with Christianity. It was already standard to use it as a translation in place of a title to show respect for esteemed Buddhist monks, Taoism masters, et cetera. It has also been used as a translation for 'zhen ren' instead of 'true person'. The gu is absolutely crucial to understanding the nature of the world Fang Yuan lives in, and what exactly is going on. People refine gu, and the world is refining them- gu masters are another form of gu. The legend goes that the strongest gu would be confined together, where they would eat and kill each other and the strongest would emerge and evolve. Is that not a direct analogy to the gu world? There are tons of analyses that have been done, but considering where it was banned, we may never know the true and exact nature of the world, and why exactly it works the way it does. If anyone is interested in actually in depth and good analysis, scour the subreddit, as they are rare and not too popular, but they certainly exist.
>>25235477Based. Lesser MCs would have simped out.
>>25237012The mermaid arc has flashbacks concerning his love from his past life lol. If you read it you will understand that he is simply based regardless of what his goals are- whether it is his pursuit of eternal life, the only goal that could make his life interesting, or his actions in the mermaid arc :)
to be a half step ahead of your era is geniusto be a full step ahead of your era is insanity
>>25206947You make a good point.
>>25237946be ten steps ahead
>>25237248ugh... when will the wolf king arc end?
This thread survived 20 days lol
>>25240268/lit/ classic
>>25240268What of it?
>>25240268It's an excellent thread
>>25194386It is great and you're retarded.
>>25194386Is it true that CCP killed this series and thus will never get a proper ending?
>>25244205Yes, retard author decided to name antagonists after ccp officials including xi jin pingFang yuan isn't even that evil compared to a lot of xianxia protagonists, rape is a pretty common trope and those novels rarely get banned, but fang yuan never does that (on screen at least). But those novels are smart enough to not criticize daddy xi jinping
>>25244265Fang Yuan is an upstanding gu master.
>>25240263>He thinks the wolf king arc is the too long and tedious oneOh lord gird your lions for the zombie arc.
>>25244265The CCP banned mention of reincarnation in fiction around the same time which hit the Chinese fantasy scene particularly hard, though from what I remember the ban of Reverend Insanity was targeted and not general.
>>25244205Yeah he talked shit about politicians
>>25244265Did he really criticize xi? All I remember there was a character by the same name mentioned one time (he took some magical tree or something) in like chapter 1000 and that was that.
>>25194386I am pretty sure every direct translation of Chinese is like that. Korean direct translations also have really weird grammar that takes a while to get used to. But it's far easier to adapt to English if the translator has a good grasp of both languages. Structurally the story is the same, just takes consistently adapting the grammar and sentence structure. No "localization" necessary. However Chinese will always sound and be structurally wonky unless you do a full rewrite. Not helped by the fact that Chinese story telling and tropes are totally different from western story telling and tropes, and it just doesn't transfer over well. So you ether have to put in a whole lot of extra effort to get it, which in my opinion generally isn't worth it since the vast majority of stuff put out is shit imo, or you find a localized adaptation which is rarely available and not really the same thing. Chinese web novels, like the vast majority of web novels, generally are pretty poor even if you could flawlessly read them in their original language though. Don't know if Reverend Insanity is a expedition, but I never intend to read it to find out. If I am going to read slop I might as well read sword and sorcery or even litrpg slop instead since I enjoy that more.
>>25248134>I do not enjoy xianxia>I've also never read xianxia
>>25249854In web novel form, no. They are universally shit as far as I can tell. Some of the older stuff written as stand alone books that have tight beginning, middles, and endings were ok if a bit rough due to the translation.
>>25240263Most people do find that arc to be a bit of a pain. The end of the arc is amazing though, so you should push on! You already saw the end of the three kings inheritance, so you should know what the author is able to cook up. You definitely won't be disappointed if you continue.
>>25249908That isn't really true. The genre is absolutely massive, and there are tons of different types of stories within it. Even if you might not like the style of stories like Reverend Insanity or Lord of the Mysteries, there may be others you enjoy. Try out Mirror Legacy.
>>25249938No.
Does this ever get as good as the first arc? I'm like 700 chapters in and ready to tap out because it hasn't been very interesting compared to the beginning.
>>25249993After fang yuan becomes venerable (around chapter 2200) it returns to the quality of the first arcHis interactions with sciv are peak, so is when he declares himself great love immortal venerable and the successor of paradise earth (even though he killed him)Up until chapter 2000 or so (when he destroys fate gu) it's kinda mid so I'd skim up to their. There are some good arcs but most of its fluff
>>25246008I don't get why people hate the zombie arc so much, it acts as a midpoint between mortal and immortal, focuses mostly on basebuilding but still includes a lot of scheming and fightingWolf lord arc is complete ass until the very late parts
>>25194443We take romanization for granted. Reading translations of actually foreign works, like arabic or Chinese, is difficult because we lack many of their words, so we need to split them up. "Five Elements God Tribulation" is one character and makes perfect sense in Chinese, just like the word "Trinity" is one logical word for us but probably 4 illogical words for them
>>25249993No. First ark was peak.
>>25249938Mirror legacy is not xanxia and it's not cultivation.
>>25196608Yeah you have to learn Chinese to read Chinese works… they do not translate at all into English without clusterfuck descriptors and cloud sky heaven bullshit. It just doesn’t work. Even for young Chinese people they have a hard time making sense of it in Chinese. There’s ancient Chinese typically used for poetry and literature which is nearly impossible to translate, and there’s contemporary Chinese which is also difficult but less poetic so easier to decode.
>>25254077RI has a perfect English translation
>>25250930Maybe I'm weird but I found the concept of "I'm the narrative equivalent of a pet class in a video game, but with Chinese scale applied" interesting enough that I kind of liked the wolf king arc (also a cool intro to norther plains and t88y building).The zombie arc felt like a lot of the same stuff repeating endlessly but without the "oh that's kind of neat" foundation. You're just a strong zombie bro.
>>25256441Zombies are cool.
>>25257272The first zombie dude we meet at the caravan who like also had zombie minions was pretty cool.
>>25200515>>25200525In Arabic it's called "The Mad Monk". Seems like no one stuck with the original title of GZR.
>>25231131>Can post some (web) novels that did satisfy your expectations?Not the same anon, the only web novel I ever finished was Genius Warlock. I thought it was a decent read and I liked it cause at least it wasn't the typical cultivation / martial art schlock that Chinese and Koreans usually produce.
>>25256441My main beef with the wolf lord arc is that it's mostly preparations that don't matter for anything (That bone wheel gu that can fight at immortal level despite being only rank 5 that Fang Yuan spent a lot of money to restore? Yeah it was never even brought up again) and uninteresting large scale fightsThe beginning is good, with hiding the immortal gu and joining one of the tribes, and the partnership with Lang Ya land is pretty significant for the future of the story, but besides those it's mostly monotonous and pointless. It doesn't help that almost all of the characters introduced don't matter because they're mortals and at the end of the arc we're firmly in the immortal territory
>>25258331Wasn't that mainly to add credibility to his identity as the Wolf King more than anything?
I want to give this an actual try, so I wish someone takes it on themselves to retranslate and edit it properly, because from what little I read, the writing is pure garbage. Same with other popular translated webnovels.
What I like about Webnovels is that in a way they represent the un-edited version of the story. Novels usually skip a few steps in between that needs to be filled in by the reader but Webnovels go ahead and fill in most of the blanks. It makes the experiance richer, personally speaking. All the details and thoughts added in gives a flavor.That is to say I don't mind the length of RI, and the payoff is tremendous. Fate arc is especially where this shines. I still haven't seen any other story that hits as hard about going against Fate as this one.>>25258573Regarding Translations, there are multiple versions initially, but go through the starting bunch and it gets better. And you get used to the style as well
>>25256285No they don’t trust me, there’s no possible ‘perfect’ or ‘good’ translation of Chinese literature. I’m Chinese, I can read both and you lose all context of poetry in the translated version where 90% of the text barely glosses over the real meaning. You also don’t know the cultural context.
>>25258655I don't care about poetry. I guess RI English version is better than the original in Chinese.
>>25194386>>25235474>>25258583Best place to read this/best translation of it? Never read a chinese webnovel or anything xianxia
>>25194386Is this like the literary version of Where Winds Meet or something
>>25194386All chinese webnovels are translated by unqualified singaporeans and malaysians. They are not very good with both English and Chinese. Sure they technically speak the language at home and in their daily life, and learned quite a bit in their school. They may even have bullshit certificates. But there’s still a huge gap compared to the language skills of actual Chinese or gweilos. Basically all chinese webnovels are mistranslated.
>>25261490Read online on novelfire, also epubs are available from the usual sources. There are two versions I think. Get the version that's on novelfire (the first two paragraphs of the first chapter, if they match then that's the right version)
you're basically reading fan-fiction anyway.I wouldn't trust CN -> EN translations unless it's personally done by the author
>>25261490Novelfire like the other anon suggested is good. It has a healthy comment section so the website is fine or the epubs whatever you prefer.If you don't want to go through much hassle, just read from the Webnovel app or site (official one). It has the same translation.
We are so back, bros, chapter 2335 soon...
No way this shitty thread is stil alive
>>25265593This thread keeps moving forward relentlessly
>>25265593>>25266413And if it dies we'll create a new one because the web novel is starting up again. Anyway it's better than the dozen "thoughts on this, /lit/?" threads with an social media screenshot that plague the board.
>>25266552Let it go unc, its time to move on
Can't wait for the new chapter
>>25195439Modern authors put one plain meaning in their work.
>>25194386The author is Chinese and writes in Chinese.The translator is some unpaid literal who on the internet, probably an ESL, so don't expect anything special.
>>25195212>Besides it's not like the MC will ever be in a difficult situation.You have not read Reverend Insanity
>>25266552Yeah, RI might be slop but at least its still honest literature. Can't se the same for the twitter/Icantgetawomen/incel/rightoid thread #1045621
>>25269177The reason people say this is that Fun generally wins by ass pull.I like RI well enough but any time FY is in something approaching actual trouble the chink equivalent of deus ex machina intervenes to bail him out, either literally (heavens will) or narratively None of the advantages he's going to use to win are very established before the moment he uses them.
>>25269199I think people have somewhat unrealistic expectations when it comes to success.If you want to be the most succesful of billions of people, very competent, intelligent, and driven people, you have to put in the effort but also you have to receive incredibly fortunate benefits.If you look at the biographies of the most rich and succesful people in the real life, their lives are full of fortuitious encounters of unimaginable scale and frequency.
>>25269199In the first half of the novel yeah, he quite literally can't lose. Of course neither he nor we know that at the time, so it doesn't directly ruin the enjoymentAfter he loses the support of heaven's will and later the ability to rewind time though, every bailout has been prepared by him in advance and/or has a severe cost.You may see it as deus ex machina, and that's understandabe, but to me the climaxes where Fang Yuan turns around a situation by revealing hidden cards that even the reader doesn't know are some of my favorite scenes in the novel. Being an overprepared and paranoid scheming bastard is a core part of what makes him such a fun character imo
>>25258655>>25261857>>25262914How difficult is this to read in Chinese? I might try downloading both and reading them side by side.>Enemies surrounded him all around; there was already no way out>The major factions of justice that had surrounded him were not just the experienced elders, but also young and talented heroes. Around the heavily surrounded Fang Yuan, some were roaring, some were sneering; there were eyes that were gleaming with light, some holding onto their wounds while looking on fearfully
if you read shit like this you are completely unironically brain dead
>>25269538>nooooo the writing style of a foreign work doesn't perfectly align with my 21st century amerimutt preferencesGet filtered fag
>>25250195This post reads like a fucking skit. Do chinkfags really?
>>25269843The books are big because authors are paid by character. >The road was empty. There was no one on the road. It could be said if there were full roads, there were also empty roads.It reads like Mojo Jojo speaking. The stories also have no editors. I'm watching a Donghua of Renegade Immortal, and it shows how clear the same can be if someone trims the fat and and drive narrative focus to the things that really matter.Also, Reverend Insanity is forever incomplete thanks to the CCP inviting the creator for tea.
>>25269466He's supported by heaven's will who won't let him lose in the first 1k chapters, in the next 1k chapters he's supported by the venerable's wills who also won't let him lose. He's only "on his own" after fate gu dies, but even then THDV helps him become venerable. If reverend insanity is ever unbanned I wouldn't be surprised if the author did an asspull RLDV or Ren Zu or some shit are behind the scenes in the next 1k chapters and fang yuan is unable to lose.But tbf there's nothing else the author could have done, the gu world setting has too many pitfalls and dangers that without plot armor fang yuan would inevitably die early into the novel, at least the plot armor is "justified" by in world stuff
>>25269624t. SEAmonkey
>>25194386>Revenge is not my intention, the demonic path does not compromise.
>>25270563The plot armor isn't obvious which makes it fine, he faces plenty of hardship during the story so that's also fine. I don't really understand people who bitch about the main character overcoming hardships and winning. That is what main characters do, that is the reason they are main characters
>>25269538This is actually a reference to Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre. Basically to truly appreciate Reverend Insanity, you basically need to read like 10 other better-written Chinese classics first. Also to be well-versed in Chinese otaku matters.
>>25269508You can compare things on lnmtl.
So anyone got a good epub or other ebook format of this novel? The one shared on /r/reverendinsanity is garbage. It's filled with stuff like "ripped from readonlinenovel.com". And it keeps crashing my kindle. No idea whether because it's too large or it's a malicious file.
>>25274408limewire.com/d/uklXo#uvHcHDNdGg >12345
>>25275017>limewireWhat year is this?
>>2527501712.1MB for a novel? Haven't seen anything more suspicious in years lol.
>>25275017I download it. Extracted it. It's just 1 file "Reverend Insanity c1 2334 -- Gu Zhen Ren, 蛊真人 -- 9dd24fcf5b4d72b8a9ee58c35955501f -- Anna’s Archive.epub".Also my windows now slows down to a crawl. Suffice to say my laptop got infected.
>>25275533>>25275543>most tech literate /lit/user
>>25275543Your laptop is too weak, it can't handle a PEAK novel like Reverend Insanity.
>>25194386I enjoyed MZDS a lot more. Just ignore the epilogue unless you enjoy zesty activity.
>>25275727These chinese webnovels have really short chapters. So 2000+ chapters doesn’t translate to that many pages. So yeah, 12.1MB is definitely suspicious. Especially when it’s all text. No maps, illustrations, and other BS like that.
>>25276097Looking through all of my pdfs and epubs, 12.1MB for a 2000+ page book (each chapter will be on a separate page) is not at all suspicious.
telll me what to read next bakas
>>25276215My longevity simulator
>>25276215Virtuous Sons.
>>25276215For similar amoral rational anti-heros, try Trashero he's actually a good guy, Regressor Instruction Manual, and Omniscient First Person Viewpoint. There's also ouroboros record (basically Japanese reverend insanity with obligatory 1D harem), but calling it mid is generous, it is typical Japanese ln slop.For deranged amoral mcs, try Isaac and I am this murims crazy bitch (the former is fantasy and the latter is wuxia.) Neither are anything like fang yuan though. The latter is super racist too, fair warningFor a cultivation novels somewhat similar to reverend insanity try speedrun cultivation (MC is incredibly scheming, but he is a good person. He's still willing to frame his enemies, rig markets/the press, etc. to achieve his goals. You'll have to MTL it yourself though).For evil scheming antagonists in cultivation fiction there's gu zhen ren's other works and surviving in the primordial saint sect, but they're all kinda mid. There's also slack off cultivation, the MC is evil but not really scheming, he's more just trying to survive while being caught up in others' (and his system's) schemes
>>25276774>Omniscient First Person ViewpointWut. How is he an antihero? (Keep in mind I only read parts of the manhwa.)
>>25277178He's a thief who manipulates the regressor and other characters into supporting him with his mind-reading ability. He only acts for his own benefits (at least for the first 200 chapters or so, haven't read past that). It's basically RIM-lite, he's pretty clearly an antiheroWere you confusing it with orv?
>>25277195>Were you confusing it with orv?Oh shit yeah, my bad.
>>25276215Basically the closest thing would be those heavenly demon korean murim slop.
>>25269199>The reason people say this is that Fun generally wins by ass pullBaked into the demonic faction. You risk it all on small chances and end up with a big win or you fail hard. >>25273385Also this. There are in theory thousands upon thousands who followed a similar path and failed, but why would you want a novel about those people?
I personally don’t see the problem with RI. Lord of the mysteries, on the other hand, is just a string of asspulls.
>>25277720>Also this. There are in theory thousands upon thousands who followed a similar path and failedMost of the venerables, too. Almost every demon venerable tried to destroy Fate, and FY ultimately succeeded only because all of those left behind tricks and inheritances to help him achieve it. And the venerables had literal plot armor guiding their path all the way from birth
>>25261490>>25269508~30 chapters in now and I'm enjoying it a lot. The translation is definitely kind of ESL but looking at it side by side with the Chinese, I'm assuming it's a native Chinese speaker translating. When they slip up it's pretty easy to see what they were going for it and put it in a more literary way in yourself. The author himself actually seems decent in that he's good at weaving in aspects of the worldbuilding piece by piece, avoiding massive lore dumps that I see it tons of western and japanese ln/wn works.Similarly I find the MC refreshing in comparison to all of the japanese LNs I've read, but maybe he's pretty standard for Chinese works in this genre. I do wish we got some more info on his past life of cultivation because as much as he laughs at the shallowness and shortsightedness of his peers, his past failures (eg getting duped by Shen Cui and his uncle/aunt) show that this is obviously in part him subtly criticising his old self a bit. In a sense it seems like his younger brother is like a version of himself that never wisened-up, always remained shallow and "righteous," so I'd be interested to learn what was the turning point in him choosing the attitudes he holds in the present.
>>25278237Lmao, first time I read a positive review from a new reader. Usually they’re just criticism of the writing and translation.
>>25278237>I'm assuming it's a native Chinese speaker translating. When they slip up it's pretty easy to see what they were going for itAny examples of this?
>>25278355It's most obvious whenever he tries to translate imagery, it just ends up being quite clunky because such things can be said very concisely and with few words in Chinese (I'm omitting the paragraph breaks because idc):>The spring rain quietly rained down on Qing Mao Mountain. It was already late in the night, a slight breeze blowing with the light rain. Yet Qing Mao Mountain was not covered in darkness; from the side down to the foot of the mountain, dozens of tiny lights shone like a bright band. These lights shone from tall buildings, even though it could not be said to match up to ten thousand lights, yet it was still a few thousand in number. Situated on the mountain was Gu Yue Village, giving the vast lonely mountain a rich touch of human civilization.>>25278332I read so many lackluster LN+Manga translations while learning Japanese that it's not really anything new to me. I've read far worse, and the writing from the author themselves doesn't seem that bad. Biggest issue is grammatical mistakes and like I said above, clunky use of English in the more imagistic/poetic descriptions that the author employs. The plot writing is pretty solid so far.
>>25276740i wonder what the historians in 300 years when this continent settles down will think about this inscription
>>25269624NTA but I read Japanese and that passage would be embarrassing to encounter even in the absolute shittiest webnovel I've ever touched (異世界帰りのペド吸血鬼は自堕落に生きたい)
>>25279270kys, SEAnigger
Is there really nothing like this but Western? A lot of the replies were complaining about the writing and the translation. Surely, there’s a well-written novel by a native English speaker that does similar stuff? Plans after plans. Schemes after schemes. Weak MC.
>>25280482>Surely, there’s a well-written novel by a native English speaker that does similar stuffNo there isn't, western lit is cucked.
just get this shill thread to the bump limit i never want to hear about this trash again
>>25269538Why do you not like it? Is it because of slightly weird translation?
>>25283121This board is mostly people who like actual literature All webnovels are slop
>>25283141>This board is mostly people who like actual literatureAverage thread on this board is complaining about social media shit or culture war politics. And then theres the GRMM and Sanderson threads. Then frogposters complaining about their lives. Maybe 25% of threads are actually dedicated to discussing literature at all, so I'd assume most dont read anything, not even slop.
>>25283155I give pdfs of books to chatgpt and then have it read summaries aloud to me while I play video games or if Im watching a movie or porn I just chat with it about the book
>>25276215>>25276774Doubling on Isaac, it's pretty short and concise. His bouts of insanity are unique and sometimes downright hilarious.Also check out Sovereign of Judgement.
>>25283141Sadly, most "actual" literature is kind of pozzed.
>>25283176Why not just read the actual books yourself?
>>25286422Nta but there are so many web novels that are 90% fluff bc they are paid by the word. I've considered writing an ai agent to summarize wns for me but I've never gotten around to it
>>25219806Noooo, that sucks. Nta, but I just started volume 3 and was looking forward to it.
>>25280482Go visit scribblehub, 99% of western wns are harem smut, with the majority of them being gender bender or futaThe remaining 1% are kn novel clones like MLAThere is no room for anything actually good
>>25288899>99% of western wns are harem smutIn fairness this is the same for eastern99% of everything is shit, that's a universal fact about almost anything you can think of
>>25194386>42 day old thread
>>25280482This nigga never heard of the parahuman series by wildbow
>>25289225https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worm_(web_serial)Interesting. This sounds like non-asian webnovel, but done pre-royal road.The subreddit and online discussions are pretty enthusiastic about his works. I have no idea if they were just fake astroturfing. But I will give Worm a try. Thank you.
