Editor's note: The online literature world is full of mud and sand, so we will be the first to take the risk.
"Star Road Fairyland" Author: Wang Yu
In the second half of 2024, there was big news in the online literature circle: Wangyu started a new book on Fanqie Novel Network. Yes, that’s the author of “A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality”. Fanqie was afraid that outsiders would think they had an imposter, so he deliberately posted a portrait of Wangyu that he had used for many years. Wangyu was also very cooperative. The protagonist of the new book is called Wang Yu. Very good, WANG YU is about to take root and sprout in the tomatoes.
However, judging from the current major rankings on the Tomato website, the serialization performance of "Star Path to the Unknown" is not ideal. Although it has been recommended many times on the site, it is basically nowhere to be found in the top ten of the peak list, word-of-mouth list, and reading list.
To be fair, the current situation is caused by the superposition of multiple factors.
First of all, the author’s physical condition. At the end of the latest Chapter 246, “The Author Has Something to Say” (written on February 28, 2025), Wangyu wrote that he was hospitalized, “I said that I have been in poor condition recently, and it turns out that there is something wrong with my body.”
In hindsight, it turned out that he had health problems while writing the manuscript. However, for a reader, there are always problems such as missing words and inconsistent context when reading "Star Road to the Immortal". Even in Tomato, where there are many amateur writers, such a reading experience is likely to discourage readers.
The second problem is the new style of the new book, which is a bit of a dilemma. Those old readers who just want to read the “mortal flow” will be disappointed that “Star Path of Immortal” is just a system text. And for readers who don’t know Wangyu, after clicking on “Star Path of Immortal” according to the recommendation, they will probably only say one thing - that’s it? !
Simply put, "Star Road to the Immortals" is a very routine system novel, with a setting that has been particularly popular in the online literature world in recent years - the protagonist enters the inner world to practice, and brings the skills and experience to the outer world. The two worlds gradually merge, and the protagonist upgrades all the way and settles all conspiracies and tricks.
The author gave up reading after Chapter 159 for no other reason than that, based on my many years of experience in reading books, I concluded that the author had dug so many holes that it would be difficult to fill them in the end. The outer world set in the first hundred chapters of Wang Yu is too vague. The so-called global crisis looks intimidating, but eventually it becomes an incomprehensible international dispute. The cultivation of the protagonist in the inner world is so uneventful and progresses slowly.
There are thousands of online novels in this world, why bother sticking to this one?
Finally, I wish Wangyu a speedy recovery.
"I Have Studied Abroad in Modern Times" Author: Yaoli Stabbed Jing Ke
The author is also in poor health, which can be seen from his frequent "leave notes". He often catches a cold or has a fever and goes to the hospital for intravenous drip. I would like to wish the author good health.
Back to "I Studied Abroad in Modern Times", this book is not very popular on Qidian Chinese website, but it often appears in the recommendations of online literature self-media, belonging to the category of "N niche great books" and "Why are these books not popular yet".
In my opinion, "I Studied Abroad in Modern Times" is too slow in the early stages and can easily discourage readers in this fast-food era. If I didn't like reading Song Dynasty literature, I would have given up on it a long time ago.
Let's sort out the context. There are actually three Song Zhezong Zhao Xu in "I Studied Abroad in Modern Times": the first one is the Song Zhezong we learned about in history textbooks, the third to last emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, who died young and was picked up by Song Huizong. The second Song Zhezong traveled to the modern era and became an expert in history, especially in the study of Song history. He also excavated many ancient tombs of the Song and Liao dynasties. The third Song Zhezong returned to his youth before he ascended the throne with the memories of the second Song Zhezong. This is the origin of the title of the book "I Studied Abroad in Modern Times".
Yongtai Mausoleum is the burial place of Song Zhezong Zhao Xu. According to the book "I Studied Abroad in Modern Times", Song Zhezong read in modern times that after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Song Mausoleum was looted by the Jin army, and especially his body was exposed in the wilderness. He made up his mind that after traveling back in time, he would never let the tragedy happen again.
In the world of Chinese online literature, time travel back to ancient times has always been a category that produces many best-selling books. In essence, it satisfies the fantasies of contemporary people and is a typical example of "I can do it". It is nothing more than traveling back to ancient times and using modern technology, the Industrial Party, red ideas and other means to make ancient China quickly become an industrialized developed country and finally create a grand Chinese era on the earth.
"I Studied Abroad in Modern Times" is different from the common time-travel novels on the market. It is more like a rebirth novel. For this reason, the protagonist of the book is more of an ancient emperor with modern knowledge, so he can have no psychological burden in the Song Dynasty to start "Keynes in the left hand and Hayek in the right hand", and he can easily deal with the Korean chaebols and the American military-industrial complex.
There are no assumptions in history, but time-travel writing is all about imagination. If Song Zhezong had not died and Song Huizong had not been able to ascend the throne, could the Northern Song Dynasty have changed its fate of national destruction? This book seems to be saying that Song Zhezong was able to turn the tide, but the irony is that the historical Song Zhezong did not have modern ideas on governing the country, and he was also unable to solve the three redundancy problems of the Northern Song Dynasty. Perhaps, Song Zhezong, who has modern ideas in a parallel universe, can do it.
Here is a suggestion for readers. You can completely skip the part where Sima Guang and others give advice, because it is not important. These long-winded historical figures will eventually become tools of the protagonist Zhao Xu.
"After the Immortal Disappeared" Author: Feng Xing Shui Yun Jian
It has a similar setting to "I Studied Abroad in Modern Times", but "After the Immortals Disappeared" is a novel about cultivating immortals.
"After the Immortals Disappeared", which is currently being serialized on Qidian Chinese website, is also a story of time travel within time travel, that is, an earthling travels to a world of immortals and demons, and with the help of the Dafang Pot, he returns to hundreds of years ago in his dream. In other words, the setting of this nesting doll finally becomes accumulating skills and experience in the inner world, and then solving problems in the outer world.
However, although the routine is still the same, this book can be regarded as a rare masterpiece in recent years. The reason is simple: "After the Immortal Disappeared" is a misty text. Readers cannot have a God's perspective, and the story will be suspenseful every few dozen chapters.
The author recommends chapters 400 to 700 of this book. It tells the story of several forces stirring up trouble in Lingxu City. The multiple clues span hundreds of chapters and are finally retracted one by one by the author. For this reason alone, the author deserves the title of "great writer".
Note: The above three books are all being serialized, but the last two have grown to as much as three to five million words.