Mãng Hoang Kỷ / The Desolate Era (Wuxia Novel) by I Eat Tomatoes

[Dart-Sama]

Original Title: 莽荒纪
Romaji: Mãng Hoang Kỷ
Alternative Title: The Desolate Era
Author: I Eat Tomatoes
Status: Started on 2014 - ongoing

Synopsis taken from a site:

Fate had never been kind to Ji Ning. Wracked by illnesses and infirm his entire life on Earth, Ning knew early on that he would die as a teenager. What he didn't know was that there really was such a thing as life after death, and that the multiverse was a far larger place than he thought.

A lucky twist of fate (one of the few in Ning's life) meant that Ning was reborn into a world of Immortals and monsters, of Ki Refiners and powerful Fiendgods, a world where Dynasties lasted for millions of years. A world which is both greater...and yet also smaller...than he ever could imagine. He would have the opportunity to join them, and in this life, Ning swore to himself, he would never let himself be weak again! The Era he was born into was a Desolate one, but Ning would make it his era.

[Ophis]

Oh, nice! I was planning on creating a thread for this...

Let me say this first: Fuck you IET! Damn, why Spring Grass... why?! I knew this was coming the moment Ning let her father take Miwa with him.

[Dart-Sama]

yeah, i felt her death too, silly girl, u HAD to leave him and die didnt u? >.<

[Mahesvara]

I'm reading this with GT(finished first 23 books) and this is my favorite IET novel so far. But i totally agree with Ophis...

BIG SPOILER!

Spoiler:

When i read Spring Grass part with GT i didn't understand details. But now i know he is fine with accepting Spring Grass's feelings. Also i know he will revive every one of his loved ones. So will he revive and marry Spring Grass at the end of series(even though i know IET don't write harems i have tiny hope...)

[senjiro]

Originally Posted by Ophis

Oh, nice! I was planning on creating a thread for this...

Let me say this first: Fuck you IET! Damn, why Spring Grass... why?! I knew this was coming the moment Ning let her father take Miwa with him.

Je je in true in this WN IET give all. Betrayall. Death of companions. Etç.
also what thing has him with parents? Always danger fáll onto them in all his works....

[Rainne]

Just read the 40 or so chapters at worldofwatermelon and i must say, that this is without a doubt IET best work
i really love IET works, they are always so large and vast, when you think is done he throws another realm in the mix and makes everything up to this point seem like nothing.
the difference between japanese novels and Chinese is vast, chinese writing is just so much better is unreal. read about 11 different chinese novels and all of them are amazing, cant say the same for japanese

[BlackGaruda]

Links, please?

[dragon1412]

Originally Posted by Rainne

Just read the 40 or so chapters at worldofwatermelon and i must say, that this is without a doubt IET best work
i really love IET works, they are always so large and vast, when you think is done he throws another realm in the mix and makes everything up to this point seem like nothing.
the difference between japanese novels and Chinese is vast, chinese writing is just so much better is unreal. read about 11 different chinese novels and all of them are amazing, cant say the same for japanese

This is vastly due to taste, in fact, most of people i know ( about 90%) would say JP LN is better than CN. If i have to compare:
CN LN:

good :
+ generally chinese MC have no problem with killing, in fact, it is a normal thing in there, which make it better than JP MC .
+ The story is relatively simple and attract reader through the character progression, in fact pretty much 90 % of CN work is character driven.

bad:
- Generally bad world building, out of all CN novel i have read, only 2-3 title have world that could be considered large, other than that, most CN LN just refer it as travel from A to B, B have this and this, A have this and this. We don't see the link or feel the scale.
- lack of plot progression, most CN novel, due to their tradition, just have the MC " want to become strong for the sake of being strong", this might seem a good point at first, but when you read about 4-5 titles, than it starting to tire you out.
- Lack of skill system and references, the Cn i have read all revolved around Ki vein, energy -> skill, they might have different name, but it the same for any novel.
- Escalation, CN is extremely notorious for having power escalation to a ridiculous point, which some battle just become downright weird at the end.
- Lack of skill system, lack world building -> similarity, most CN LN is 1 way or another, similar to each other if they are in the same genre. so yeah, if you have read about 5-6 titles, this will become a bother.
- The power of fortune, he who chosen by fate, it's a chance for you only.... in other words "Luck", goddamn Luck....... The thing i couldn't possibly hate more in CN LN, it make all the hardwork look like a joke, Stellar transformation, Duolo Dalu,... all fall into this category, the chinese emphasized concept of fate and chance, but most of the time, LN take it too far and it make all the story seem like a joke.
- have i mentioned Luck ??
- Lack of character expression, only very few CN Ln i have read actually bother to develop character and show us their inner working.

JPLN:

good:

+ generally, better world building, better skill system, better power progression make more novel more distinct, though it might still fall into cliches, it much much less similar compare to CN.
+ Expression, almost 100% of JP LN have to show us the character mentality, one way or another, completely reversed from CN.
+ Plot, most JP novel have inner plot working or another( except comedy or the like), while in CN novel, it's actually very rare to find a novel with good plot and back story.They do exist though.
+ Luck. it's luck, JP MC might be born special, might get some special weapon or ability at the beginning, but that's all they received, at the very least, they don't have game-breaking luck
- have a goal, MC in JP, is somehow easier to accept than CN MC, due to the fact that they have their reason to seek strength, and that make us resonated more with them

bad:
- wishy-washy MC, ok, i don't need to hightlight this anymore, pretty much anyone would get it
- confusing, sometimes the plot is just weird, and coupling with character, make the story confusing.
- Escalation, about 50-50, in the past this happened a lot, but most novel nowadays don't fall into this anymore.

about it, i'm on the JP Ln side. Back in the days i was also think that CN novel is better but when i started to read more than 5 titles then i starting to see that they are being repeated one way or another, not as in Cliches sense but more like the story core is similar to each other.

[Ophis]

Originally Posted by Rainne

Just read the 40 or so chapters at worldofwatermelon and i must say, that this is without a doubt IET best work
i really love IET works, they are always so large and vast, when you think is done he throws another realm in the mix and makes everything up to this point seem like nothing.
the difference between japanese novels and Chinese is vast, chinese writing is just so much better is unreal. read about 11 different chinese novels and all of them are amazing, cant say the same for japanese

I can understand you liking Chinese novels more, but saying that the writing is better than Japanese novels, much better at that, is a little.....

Originally Posted by Mahesvara

I'm reading this with GT(finished first 23 books) and this is my favorite IET novel so far. But i totally agree with Ophis...

BIG SPOILER!

Spoiler:

When i read Spring Grass part with GT i didn't understand details. But now i know he is fine with accepting Spring Grass's feelings. Also i know he will revive every one of his loved ones. So will he revive and marry Spring Grass at the end of series(even though i know IET don't write harems i have tiny hope...)

Spoiler for Spring Grass:

Does Ning really revive her, or is it just a prediction based on other IET works?

[Mahesvara]

^

Spoiler:

I didn't read until that part but i read spoilers in SPCNET. At the begining of book 24(i'm reading this part now) he goes to Chaos Space for *spoiler* and chance to find a way for revive someone whose soul is destroyed. Yes, unlike other IET works(Like CD, Grandpa Doehring) in this novel it's possible to revive they. So he will revive his wife(soul destroyed) and others but i remember now, Spring Grass's soul doesn't destroyed. She just died and can reincarnate. So i don't know if he will interfere her new life if she is happy...

[casgoldsmith]

who's his wife?

[Mahesvara]

Spoiler:

Yu Wei(GT Name). He will meet her in book 7. She is a senior in his future martial school. But she isn't his first love interest like CD

[Lyase]

Originally Posted by Rainne

Just read the 40 or so chapters at worldofwatermelon and i must say, that this is without a doubt IET best work
i really love IET works, they are always so large and vast, when you think is done he throws another realm in the mix and makes everything up to this point seem like nothing.
the difference between japanese novels and Chinese is vast, chinese writing is just so much better is unreal. read about 11 different chinese novels and all of them are amazing, cant say the same for japanese

One-dimensional mc/villian/main heroine= interesting, repetitive training schedule,? I mean read old school wuxia if u want a good chinese novel.

[casgoldsmith]

Originally Posted by Mahesvara

Spoiler:

Yu Wei(GT Name). He will meet her in book 7. She is a senior in his future martial school. But she isn't his first love interest like CD

thanks
.................

[Jylenn]

This is one of my favorite series I'm reading now. You are absolutely correct about the generic feeling with these similar series but I just can't help but like it. Maybe because the only Chinese stories I've been reading until now have been DD, CD, and this. (If there's any "can't miss out on this one"! That you know please feel free to PM me so I won't!). I have to say that this is one I'm enjoying because we get to see the contrast between his previous life as someone who was good enough to warrant special treatment in the after life to someone who embraces and revels in his new worlds barbarism. He better hope he lives forever because I doubt he will get such favorable treatment the next time around!

Does anybody know Autumn Leaf's fate by any chance? I didn't see mention of her so I thought I'd ask out of curiosity. Seems to me she is sister-zoned but she is also a lot older than him so...

[Riz]

Spoiler for g6tta as2:

d6es dat brat, river he son's will got a duel with ji ning in the future?

[Kyosuke_Nanbu]

Originally Posted by Jylenn

This is one of my favorite series I'm reading now. You are absolutely correct about the generic feeling with these similar series but I just can't help but like it. Maybe because the only Chinese stories I've been reading until now have been DD, CD, and this. (If there's any "can't miss out on this one"! That you know please feel free to PM me so I won't!). I have to say that this is one I'm enjoying because we get to see the contrast between his previous life as someone who was good enough to warrant special treatment in the after life to someone who embraces and revels in his new worlds barbarism. He better hope he lives forever because I doubt he will get such favorable treatment the next time around!

Does anybody know Autumn Leaf's fate by any chance? I didn't see mention of her so I thought I'd ask out of curiosity. Seems to me she is sister-zoned but she is also a lot older than him so...

The most different thing about Ji Ning compare to other characters of IET is that he is not some cold-blooded bastard. He always tried to kill his targets only not his enemy's family,neighbours or entire town they lived in. AT the end of the "3 Realms" 2nd Great War, he had the chance to make enemy go extinct or something like that but he let them go at the price of giving up an asshole who again and again torment Ji Ning

I have hard time to imagine protags of CD and BL would let them go... In fact, that kind of revenge obsession scare him as in the case of his cousin.

[chaosbeowulf]

Originally Posted by Lyase

One-dimensional mc/villian/main heroine= interesting, repetitive training schedule,? I mean read old school wuxia if u want a good chinese novel.

Old-school wuxia (Jinyong, etc.) is like a wagyu steak; very good, but kinda hard to find, and there's only so much of it available. The recent wuxia novels by the likes of IET is kinda like pizza: not as good as a wagyu steak, but much more readily available. And who doesn't like pizza?

As for novel itself... Does anyone have any spoilers about the fate of Autumn Leaf and Ji Ning's mother?

[Kyosuke_Nanbu]

Originally Posted by chaosbeowulf

Old-school wuxia (Jinyong, etc.) is like a wagyu steak; very good, but kinda hard to find, and there's only so much of it available. The recent wuxia novels by the likes of IET is kinda like pizza: not as good as a wagyu steak, but much more readily available. And who doesn't like pizza?

As for novel itself... Does anyone have any spoilers about the fate of Autumn Leaf and Ji Ning's mother?

Spoiler for Fate:

Autumn leaf is still alive at the end of the series, his mother was revived mid series with his dad.

[Hiyono]

Originally Posted by Kyosuke_Nanbu

Spoiler for Fate:

Autumn leaf is still alive at the end of the series, his mother was revived mid series with his dad.

I was really sad how she just faded out of the foreground... Ji Ning makes this big fuss about 春草's death and the letter she left him, and then essentially totally forgets about 秋葉 later on, particularly given how devoted she remained to him the entire time. Oh well, at least he actually married the heroine I like the most of IET's works. Although in her case, the extra emphasis on plot development for her character as compared with the rest of IET's stuff worked out to her detriment