I'm logging this book although I didn't finish it because this book is quite good. The premise of the story is that a policeman dies in the line of duty and transmigrates into the past where he then has to deal with the challenges of the time.
Chrysanthemum Garden's translation is top tier. The English translations are natural, with a good flow and the translator provided detailed footnotes. The story is multiple POV, with side characters playing a part (hence the mammoth length).
This is a slow story, about the protagonist's efforts to make a life for himself in the past and the focus of the narrative is on how he builds a base of power for himself and how he then improves the lives of others. The story is concerned with society (how it runs), leadership and strategy. The hero here builds and runs a community. There is a romance subplot between the general and the protagonist too.
Dropping this as I'm sadly specifically in the mood for a political intrigue novel with lots of drama and angst and not in the mood for other things lol. I might pick this up again.
holy -- this was a whole 383 chapters!! and i thoroughly enjoyed myself.
there is A LOT of war, court politics, and ancient history but i can't believe i enjoyed it all the way through. truly rare, i feel. there are also sooo many characters that you will get lost with their names and titles.
there were many days i wish i had way more time to just greedily absorb the chapters and it's so bittersweet now that it's over.
Kingdom building focused- about the tail end of the Jin dynasty as the world falls to chaos. As the author/translators mention, it's literally a transmigrated character's path from low nobility to emperor. If there is a novel I would compare it to... maybe World Online (not BL) or Back to Ming to do Charity (BL). Pacing and focuses are somewhat similar. Personal rating & comments: 4.7? Loved the novel. Great world building, strong historical depth, well-paced and considered plot. It's been so long since I've read a novel that wasn't super predictable. Didn't love the characters- didn't dislike them but I never really liked the ML, nor did I love the pairing. I did enjoy it, but there was something that stopped me from shipping them strongly until much much later, and even then it was more like- "oh they're cute". MC isn't the kind of character I really like, but he's an interesting character, and I enjoyed a lot of his interactions with different people. Read for the kingdom building and the interactions between father-son, lord-official, etc- don't expect too much romance (it really doesn't fit with the way the author approached the story). Great translators- there's a couple terminology changes when the translator changes, but I didn't find it bothersome. Both translators did an amazing job. The first translator also included a lot of notes for anyone who is interested in the historical background behind real figures and events.
It's good. I like the MC, it's very human, he always try to bear with the responsibilities that his positions carries it, he is likable. The story is good, have a very good pacing but its very confusing sometimes because the names of characters, the places, positions. It's so confusing and tiresome, if you want begin with an historical webnovel, it isn't.
long but worth it I few too many wars in my opinion but the plot was well done I wish Yiyan had a personality…like to me he didn’t have much depth and was just there to be useful to the main character. Don’t get me wrong, I liked their relationship, it just felt like he was lacking as a character I’m not saying he was a bad character, I liked him but he could have been better