Hi, I have a few friends who enjoy fantasy books and are interested in reading some danmei in the Chinese xianxia genre. They have neither read BL nor xianxia before but would like to give it a try. I think they would like MXTX a lot, but which book do you think they should read first? If there are better options, I am open to introducing other novels to my friends as well.
Hm, I would definitely say that Heaven Official's Blessing would be a strong start! Since it's far less explicit than the others. You Boys Play Games Very Well is a really sweet and cute one, I love it a lot.
uhhh maybe mo dao zu shi? that one was the first novel (and bl) ive read so maybe be good as a starting (i think so cause that was the time i started reading asian novels KKKKKKKK) but!!! depending on ur friends' taste, maybe scum villain's self-saving system be better as a history with a narration more look like with modernity i guess? (pls dont care that much abt my vocabulary, im not that good w english) tho i dont think hob would be a good idea, cause it's too big and TOO HURTFUL like OMFG there's 5 books and even the jokes make you want to cry other good options that i LOVE are "mistakenly saving the villain" and "nan chan", both not that big, but with a little drama and happy ending
Thanks! Yeah, MDZS and SVSSS are slightly explicit, so I'll probably go with TGCF (but I agree with @raflow, it does kind of make me want to cry, even after re-reading it).
Agree with those above, definitely recommend Heaven Official 's Blessing but MDZS is a good introduction too because it has complete donghua and live action for additional content
if youre worried with non explicit, think abt qian qiu (thousand autumns) too as a second option!! forgot this one before hob will be great, yet im already feeling sad for them KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK i loved reading but i couldn't control my tears
I also agree with @raflow in terms of explicitness. Thousand Autumns isn't also heavy on the romance and focuses more on world-building and character development so it's good for BL beginners. I think the only issue is that the novel is pretty heavy with wuxia terms so if your friend isn't really into that or has a hard time following new terms, it may not be the best option
Oh yes, Thousand Autumns is great as well, just that my friends don't read Chinese so I kind of ruled that out (I read Thousand Autumns' original version and there were quite a lot of names and titles and stuff). As for Mistakenly Saving The Villain, I rather enjoyed it but I just didn't like the way it ended. Not that I do not enjoy grand reveals, but that kind of makes Song Qingshi and Yue Wuhuan unnaturally OP... just my opinion. Spoiler: What I didn't like Making them gods ruling over even secular worlds was a little over-the-top for me. I haven't heard of Nan Chan before, but I'll take a look once I finish all the books I'm currently reading.
It's really good. Gave me HOB vibes - the main villain is very similar. But I wouldn't recommend Nan Chan for the beginners in chinese novels. That novel is quite complicated, and one must have good knowledge in xianxia tropes and chinese mythology to understand it on a deeper level.
I totally agree to both points. [And Mistakenly Saving the Villain is also a no go for bl beginners.] How about short and sweet bl novels first? Start off with modern and light read danmei novel/s? Although MDZS is also my first BL novel, I personally think xianxia novels are not suitable as bl starter packs. Speaking from experience, I was so dang lost and confused with all the terms and words all over the book and I just couldn't understand what's going on or who was who with so many names being thrown my way lol. I had to reread MDZS and other xianxia novels I began with after gaining some exp and vocab in the xianxia genre. It was... Not a good experience, reading my first bl book and not understanding almost the whole of it, to say the least. Plus, MXTX novels is a bit heavy themed and long for a bl beginner but if they can read a 100+ chinese novel in other genre and can endure slow burn and chapters sprinkled with angst here and there, then I guess it's no problem. But I wouldn't recommend xianxia novels for danmei beginner readers as starter pack. Wuxia novels can also be a challenge since some are slow-paced with drama. Better to start with short stories with fluid plot, full of fluff and meng, like an appetizer. Then gradually step into the wuxia and xianxia tropes.
Agreed! Definetly start with short story something with school life or just fluff to get used to the new gnere. Yup mistakenly saving the villain is a bit angsty and tragic. Not for beginners but it's not bad. But when i finished this one i was a bit depressed ( not exactly but yeah). My first novel on NU was fox demon cultivation manual ( xuanhuan) and i had to read again to understand it properly * sigh*. I was like what is this, it was my first time seeing something like that and i couldn't understand the terms too. Then i read MDZS it was good ( who am i kidding it was really good) and the drama helped too. And the explict part is in the extra's so if you are able finish the novel i don't think you'll mind it much. The romance is slow paced ( like a snail) but the mystery and drama keeps us going so can't really complain. Heaven official's blessing is good too. The mystery, drama, comedy and their interactions are all wow. There are not too many terms but there many characters so if your memory is not good then it might be a problem [all the xianxia novels have too many characters my smol brain can't handle it ]. But the good thing is there is not much power imbanace in these type of novels. If you really have to read xianxia only then you can start with this. I didn't like the scum villain's self-saving system much idk why but i just didn't like it. The legendary master's wife (xuanhuan) i have read this book so many time i was literally addicted to it. I love momo i love ling xiao i love the qiu team but i love momo more i don't know what's special about it i really can't say but this book is really long and i still read it so many times even though i don't really like novels with so many chapters (unless they are paperbacks). It was fun. Drama was nice, adeventure was good, comedy was good and it was a weak to strong type so wasn't boring. But again i still struggeld to remember the order of the strength ( cultivation level). And sometimes ling xiao was annoying too but after few para he's good again. And i was also angry at momo sometimes that look idiot they are taking advantage of you but it was all got at then end 'cause he's not dumb it's just his brain stops working when he's withing xiao. Oh and i didn't the summary. Xianxia: Devil venerable also wanta to know It's not easy being a master These two are also not bad for beginners.
Heaven official's blessing It's not easy being a master (nothing too heavy and even though it's not that great compared to mdzs or tgcf but for beginners it's not bad)