- #1
If you enjoy fast-paced writing, dog-blooded plots and lively face-slapping shows—Marshal’s Cannon Fodder Spouse is not for you.The story is slow-paced; and while DHY and the Marshal are mired in a web of deadly political intrigue from the outset, one they slowly untangle over the course of the novel, the focus is placed less upon these exterior circumstances and more on their emotional dimension, Hengye’s in particular. This, his growth as a person, especially the friendships he develops over time, was one of the two aspects I best enjoyed about the story.The other was the worldbuilding.While it may be dismissed as ‘filler’, or ‘fluff’ meant only to divert and drive up the wordcount...I genuinely enjoyed seeing the characters, like, actually work. Hengye is a professor and you see him lecturing, you see him bond with his students; he is a mech researcher, and you see him go about that. You likewise see some of Meng Jinhuai’s various duties, the lives of his men.Granted, the author was by no means writing a thesis on the minutiae of technology or politics in the interstellar age, but the effort made to give this aspect some flesh, some internal consistence and logic beyond ‘it is like this because these are the tropes we are working with, you are familiar’, was very refreshing to this reader.No wheel was reinvented here: the water, far above the Mariana trench, rolled gently, reaching no higher than my waist.Still, I reckon this is a decently solid 3/5 stars all the same. (Reviews being subjective and all, laozi tacked an extra half-star on the rating just for Su-ge. He really stole the show whenever he was in a scene.) (And this old devil’s heart besides!) If you are the type of reader to whom this appeals, slower stories focused on character progression, this might be for you. The romance between the leads is healthy and very sweet. ^^ (So sweet it was quite maddening the pages never really turned at least pale yellow, ah!)
