Any Book, Any Time: Heaven Official’s Blessing

My original plan had been to read and review the entire series, until on purchasing the 3rd volume I saw there were 8 on the shelf. The author, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, had also written The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, which is 4 volumes, with the 4th being almost half the size of the first 3. Despite reading the first of HOB in 3 days, I knew it wasn’t likely I was going to be finishing all 8 any time soon given I would need the funds first to do so (books are hardly cheap!). So, let’s look at the first one as an example of the rest of the series.

Now before I begin, I am aware that, like GDC, Heaven Official’s Blessing was written as one full novel then divided up and published in several volumes. Volume 1 is better treated like manga volumes where ongoing serliased chapters are collected, rather than something as intentionally structured as individual novels in a series. I am, essentially, reviewing the first 1/8th of a larger novel.

I enjoyed GDC immensely, so I naturally am enjoying HOB as a natural progression of the author’s style and interests. The characters are fun and distinct from the get-go, the setting begs to be explored, and the story sets off at a strong pace to hook you straight away. Like with earlier works there is mystery, horror and political conflict as major players in the story that construct the narrative around the romantic tension of the main characters.

Obviously a big reason I was able to race through this first book is because it is aimed at teens and young adult readers, so the text is larger and more spaced out, there’s beautiful illustrations, and more than anythig the prose style is light and informal. Compare that to me dragging my way through the dense, slow and disengaging style of Murakami’s work, I was like a starved person being given a buffet.

My downsides are that the books themselves are very large, making them difficult for commute readings as they don’t fit in my bag so easily and take up a lot of space on my lap on a busy train. Also the chapters are a little longer than I’ve become used to, so pausing mid-way if I’m reading in short bursts is pretty awkward. This is great for binge-reading on days off or geting a few chapters read during lunch break, but not so great for the shorter times when I’m trying to reduce aimless phone scrolling.

I’m excited to work my way through the rest of the books, but will have to take a break midway to read some other things until I get some sort of discount bulk order or a book token. I know I could probably read it online, but I am trying to stop staring at screens so often.

So far, can very much recommend to fans of fantasy, drama and romance. If you enjoyed GDC you’ll enjoy HOB.

Any Book, Any Time: The Wind-Up Bird

Rather than do a book a month, my current goal now is to read as many books as I can in a year. I’ll be honest and say I’ll maybe manage 14-16 instead of 12. But it can’t hurt to try. Putting the effort in is what gets results, and a book a month has finally started getting very doable in a way that I think I can push for just a bit more.

So, the first book of the year: The Wind-Up Bird by Haruki Murakami. This was gifted to me for Christmas after I had noticed the author’s work at my local Waterstones earlier in the month. Of course I’d heard of him, and that he was supposed to be a fairly notable author, but never read his work before. I can decidedly say I am not interested in reading another one ever again.