Reviews with content warning for Violence - Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu, Vol. 1

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu, Vol. 1 by Meng Xi Shi

16 reviews

tel's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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esmeloa's review against another edition

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3.75

So, second danmei it is (just read TGCF so far).

First, yes, as many have said, lots of info dump. It does make it quite hard to read at times, and having watched the donghua first definitely helped me picture all the different characters better when reading the novel. (I was unsure if I should jump right to volume 3 or still read vol 1 and 2 first, but this volume has proven me that it's interesting to read vol 1 and 2 even after having watched the donghua - many scenes are remodeled quite differently in the donghua, toned down let's say.)

I also have some issues with the translation - it's fine for the most part, but

"This Shen asks Sect Leader Yan to bring him away with you.” (171) : just why. Why, why. As a comparison in the donghua it went "Take me away with you." Granted that's probably quite a stretch from the original, but this is English we're dealing with. The impact of this line is completely lost in the novel's translation. I understand why it's translated that way, except the utter lack of localization lefts me a bit bewildered as a reader. You cannot possibly read this and feel anything other than "well what was that." As faithful as a translation needs to be it still needs to be natural English. "Bring him away with you" : is it him or is it you? That's just not a proper English sentence.

In general I don't understand why danmei translators keep the third tense for characters talking about themselves in English. You wouldn't find that in any novel (I don't know much about Chinese literature, but I read Japanese, in which similarly the third person tense can be used to talk about oneself. Professional translators don't leave the third person tense when translating Japanese novels, because it does not make sense in Western languages.) I'm all for remaining faithful to the original but not when 1. It hinders your comprehension of the text and reduces its impact, and 2. It seems quite random. All the shixiong, shidi, etc are kept but Yan Wushi is somehow "sect leader." The sentence I quoted just really encapsulates why I disagree with certain translation choices in this novel, and wish there were more thorough editing.

Anyway do I love what's going on between Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao yes absolutely so I'm driving into volume 2 rn but here is why it's a 3.75 : info dump (on the author) and questionable translation (on the translator). Otherwise it's so far quite good.

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klbreyfogle's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Enjoyed it! A bit bummed the library only has the first one but not sure I loved it so much that I’m going to immediately buy the rest (which I did with Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation). It’s definitely politics and martial arts heavy which I enjoy, and also definitely starting out in the enemies territory of enemies to lovers with is always kind of fun, plus the author’s done a good job with it so far! Might end up reading an unofficial translation before deciding on buying though, because five books is a lot when I’m not like deeply in love with it.

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sirenricobooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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bonriki's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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paradicsomleves's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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_i_am_et_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Most of my annotations were "wtf", like the most random things were just put in a sentence like some after thought (eg. SQ castrating mu yipo or smth)

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