A review by par4phrasing
残次品 [Can Ci Pin | Imperfections] by priest

5.0

"In my soul, the brilliant, monumental civilizations and history of man crystallized from the dawn of creation until today. 

How finite my mortal life is.

Yet I am eternal."

I want to preface this by saying that I usually don’t read sci-fi novels, it’s a genre I’ve barely explored, so my thoughts might seem a bit all over the place. However, Priest can apparently make me appreciate every genre, so buckle up for this mess. 

Even after finishing this novel I don’t think I’ve truly comprehended the extend of the world Priest built, this might just come from the boundless and uncharted nature of space and the universe as a whole, but there is so much thought behind every character, every planet and every action it left me speechless. 

Slowly discovering this world throughout the eyes of the characters felt like slowly falling in love with it and the people around you, and also watching things change, tragedy strike and the consequences of these happenings. Especially through Lin Jingheng’s character arc this was very apparent, seeing his cold exterior slowly chip away to reveal his caring and protective nature as he found a home in the Eighth Galaxy and Lu Bixing was incredible. 

On the note of Lu Bixing, I don’t think the development of a character ever affected me as much as his, not only because you could witness his slow descent into ‘madness’, but also because you could see how grief fundamentally changed him as a person throughout the years. When first introduced to him you experience him as this incredibly passionate person, with a goal to improve people’s lives to the best of his ability, and he does, with his passion he ignites a fire in the people around him like no one else. But seeing his passion slowly fade away under all of the tragedy he had to witness, losing the closest people to him and then having to take on so much responsibility broke me. He practically turned into the person Lin Jingheng used to be. 

The dynamic between him and Lin Jingheng shifted significantly after their reunion, before it was always Lu Bixing who had to reach out to Lin Jingheng, but from that point it was Lu Bixing who needed reassurance to heal from his own trauma and see how much people genuinely believe in him. He always had so much faith in others, especially Lin Jingheng, and now it was time for Lin Jingheng to believe in him. His process of healing still makes me want to cry! 

I also really enjoyed Priest’s references to different classics in this, it really gave the world, and antagonists specifically, much more depth. So that you could further emphasise with their viewpoints to a certain extend, see why they turned out the way they did, but still acknowledge how, at the end of the day, ended up on the wrong path. (Lin Jingshu especially was such an interesting character!!!) 

And all of the philosophy behind the different viewpoints of characters, their morals, convictions and goals, I feel like I have to collect my thoughts more on this aspect, but I’ve always been a fan behind the discussion of what freedom actually means to humanity and how our own inventions affect the fate of society as a whole! 

There’s so much more I could say, but I’m going to end it here because otherwise I will just write an entire essay. I really enjoyed this novel!!