- #1
I cannot fathom how this gem of a series is ranked a mere 3.5 stars. The vivid world-building, novel cosmology, and actual characters are a breath of fresh air in this dreary landscape of generic isekai and infinitely repetitive xianxia.Admittedly, the opening chapters are a bit slow, and a bit too generic as far as “cartoonishly tragic Cinderella” plots go, but those issues rapidly abate, and what is left is a really interesting setting about a fairly likable protagonist who actually grows! The world is responsive, and so far only a few of the antagonists in the first volume have been cartoon evil. The rest are far more interesting, with volume 2 really kicking the quality up a notch.The quality of the translation is also very impressive, with only a handful of incorrect pronouns cropping up every once in a while. The series does have that webnovel “tell don’t show” tendency. But it is far less bad than in many cases, and at least what is being told to the reader is interesting.This being said, I do need to offer a few warnings, as this series is likely not going to be to everyone’s tastes. First, the protagonist is very meek and passive initially, and even as of the end of volume 2 this is only somewhat improving. It is warranted characterization given his history, but if one cannot handle a character starting out without much ambition or self-confidence, the first volume especially will likely be pretty rough.Secondly, the series is very structured around the setting, which operates under its own logics. It greatly resembles the age of exploration, part of this setting is a very strict aristocratic society which engages in active polygamy. It is likely going to follow a “harem” path, although not in the painful way Japanese series usually do (with no progress and constant stringing along until the series eventually ends). This isn’t to everyone’s tastes, so if you can’t stand such dynamics in and of themselves possibly skip this one. If your disdain of them stems more the tendency of harem series to have staggeringly poor characterization and poor writing quality, it may be worth giving this a shot as the exception to the normal rules.Finally, the many characters are in fact incredibly young, to the point of their capacities straining disbelief. Ten year olds are incredibly unlikely to survive on their own, never mind traveling across country and establishing lives for themselves, as just one example. In top of this, the series definitely plays on the “1000 year old loli” archetype, heavily, and that may be a dealbreaker for some. It honestly hits my limits, and I’m pretty open minded depending on the context of the narrative.Still an excellent, very original series, but these caveats may prove a breaking point for some, which I fully understand. Still, for the world-building alone I highly recommend giving this a try!