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etherealisnt's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I should've know that this would happen. The last time I binge-read through a book like this, I was stuck in that rabbit hole for months after (I still am). "Thousand Autumns" wasn't any different. In addition, I watched through the animated series, which still hasn't been finished, even though two years have passed. I would LOVE to get season 2... the series was very fun to watch and very eye-catching.
"But what about the book?" you ask.
This book is longer than The Bible (fun fact!!) and I for some reason thought that it would be a good idea to read through it as fast as possible. In reality I finished it in less than a week, but I sat on it for a long time, since I had plans to reread it. Now I'm waiting for the official English translations, which will be complete by summer 2024 (yay!!) and then I'm good to go. The book translations are in 5 parts, so I'll get to read through five books, which is probably better than the out of this world volume the original one has.
The story itself is a little insane (or very much so). Yan Wushi is such a brazen and striking character that even if he does something unlikable, you might find yourself fine with such happenings, because that man has a way to wiggle himself into your system. I don't know if I love him (I do, he is super interesting) or hate him, but I think that he's so much more than that, he is simply put fucking complex.
Everyone has evil intentions in their minds. The only difference is executing it or not. There's no need to criticize them so harshly.
While Yan Wushi did not believe in the good nature of humanity, we had his opposite, the epitome of goodness - Shen Qiao. He is better and stronger than I'll ever be, because what the fuck? Man had so many misfortunes and people with bad intentions surrounding him, yet he stayed true to his beliefs - considerate without waiting for anything in return. It felt so great to see him learn about the ways of the world and become wiser. Despite that, he was already so resilient from the beginning, he took everything life gave him and dealt with it (and he had to suffer A LOT, ok).
There are many people in this world — some of them are good, and some of them are bad. But there are even more who can't be simply classified as 'good' or 'bad'. They may not think in the same way you think, or walk the same path you walk.
Yan Wushi's only thought, of course, was to try and break that poor man, to prove that the world is full of evil, because "after thousands of autumns, who could stay eternal?". Truth be told, somehow their duo made sense, it might be the opposites thing, but it was just so good! The book can be a little intimidating, because of it's length, but in reality, it's too fun to feel boring. So many things happen, so many twists and turns, so many emotions. I literally cried when I finished the story. The ending chapters made me want to scream into a pillow. The end truly was crazy, but good crazy :D
And yet past dreams sought, people departed, what has passed will never return.
Just like some errors have no way of being remedied, some cracks will forever persist, and death, impossible to wake from.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness and War
veronikav's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
3.5
Finally I have finished this colossus of a novel! I had many ideas for a fun and cheeky start to this review amidst which I wanted to make a joke about how Shen Qiao literally gave up his asceticism for some good d... but honestly it's Yan Wushi that was simping and chasing after him desperately in the end.
Let's get the first awkwardness out of the way - I was not that into the relationship. Even though there were compelling moments I ended up not enjoying the direction the characters went to. Shen Qiao was way too timid when it came to their relationship for my liking and Yan Wushi was just... I feel like his character didn't get a proper redemption arc. Or let me phrase it this way - I do not care if characters are evil and malicious but I do like the relationships they're in to feel somewhat balanced. It's because of that that I can enjoy Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu's relationship in Tian Ye Ke where both of them are pretty despicable people but because they are both this way it feels deserved. I just feel like to deserve Shen Qiao, Yan Wushi should go through a more soul-crushing change. A good attempt at this is the post-ambush arc where we can see hints of Yan Wushi's younger self - however this is not further explored once that arc ends and we don't actually get to find out much about Yan Wushi's motivations in the end.
Thousand Autumns is a robust historical fantasy novel. The setting is something I cannot judge the accuracy of because my knowledge of Chinese history is absolutely lacking. However I can acknowledge that the philosophical aspects of this novel were much more accurate than you tend to see in wuxia - as far as Taoism is concerned the author had a good grasp of it and actually utilized it in the plot beyond just "magical fairy people can fly cause I said so". Same goes for the political aspects and world building - it is a very solid work in this aspect. Furthermore I have to praise the translation that the first 70 chapters have which felt effortless and natural to an extent that is hard to see in amateur translation.
The book is very plot heavy. So if you're only into it for the relationship you should maybe consider if you're willing to go through all of it. After all it takes really long for the relationship between Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao to actually start growing - even though they have their share of flirtatious/coupl-y moments before that, it's all just manipulation and neither party is serious about it.
Generally I think the quality of this book is very good and if not for censorship laws this would be a book that can do well as a published work too. However personally I wasn't charmed by the main couple and ended up a bit frustrated because of it.
Let's get the first awkwardness out of the way - I was not that into the relationship. Even though there were compelling moments I ended up not enjoying the direction the characters went to. Shen Qiao was way too timid when it came to their relationship for my liking and Yan Wushi was just... I feel like his character didn't get a proper redemption arc. Or let me phrase it this way - I do not care if characters are evil and malicious but I do like the relationships they're in to feel somewhat balanced. It's because of that that I can enjoy Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu's relationship in Tian Ye Ke where both of them are pretty despicable people but because they are both this way it feels deserved. I just feel like to deserve Shen Qiao, Yan Wushi should go through a more soul-crushing change. A good attempt at this is the post-ambush arc where we can see hints of Yan Wushi's younger self - however this is not further explored once that arc ends and we don't actually get to find out much about Yan Wushi's motivations in the end.
Thousand Autumns is a robust historical fantasy novel. The setting is something I cannot judge the accuracy of because my knowledge of Chinese history is absolutely lacking. However I can acknowledge that the philosophical aspects of this novel were much more accurate than you tend to see in wuxia - as far as Taoism is concerned the author had a good grasp of it and actually utilized it in the plot beyond just "magical fairy people can fly cause I said so". Same goes for the political aspects and world building - it is a very solid work in this aspect. Furthermore I have to praise the translation that the first 70 chapters have which felt effortless and natural to an extent that is hard to see in amateur translation.
The book is very plot heavy. So if you're only into it for the relationship you should maybe consider if you're willing to go through all of it. After all it takes really long for the relationship between Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao to actually start growing - even though they have their share of flirtatious/coupl-y moments before that, it's all just manipulation and neither party is serious about it.
Generally I think the quality of this book is very good and if not for censorship laws this would be a book that can do well as a published work too. However personally I wasn't charmed by the main couple and ended up a bit frustrated because of it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
All of the above appear as themes in the book, pertaining to the main couple there is toxic relationship, sexual harassment and
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