Yev's Reviews > Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (Novel) Vol. 1

What a surprising start to my reading two books per month that were voted on for me to read. This is a Chinese gay romance/danmei cultivation/xianxia written by a Chinese woman for Chinese women that has an official translation. I don't mind reading what I otherwise wouldn't from time to time, and that's certainly what this is. This is the first gay romance and first Asian cultivation novel that I've finished.

This began as a serialized webnovel that after it ended it was revised and became a novel. As far as I know that isn't uncommon for webnovels that become novel series. Sometimes they're completely rewritten. I think that at least partially accounts for its quality of writing, the dialogue is especially horrendous, even after considering that it's been translated. I'm unable to comment on the original work, so I can't say whether the !!!s, ???s, and various phrases in ALL CAPS are appropriate or not, as stylistic standards in originally self-published works are much looser. There are interspersed illustrations. This has adaptations in various types of media.

The protagonist is a mass murdering flute playing grandmaster of demonic cultivation/necromancer with a kill count in the several thousands at least. Also, he's already died before the story begins. Thirteen years later a teenage male homosexual sacrifices his soul to summon an evil spirit to slaughter his own family, and so the protagonist takes residence in his new body. The protagonist decides to jokingly go along with the homosexuality to antagonize and disgust everyone. Since he doesn't have any powers from his former body, he's rather useless overall. Not entirely so, but enough to where it doesn't matter much. Most of the book is him being escorted by the man in love with him and their previous school life together. The assumedly mid-30s man doesn't mind that the man he fell in love with is in a teenager's body that's roughly the same age as when they first met.

In this first volume in there isn't much romance. The most that they do by the end of this is arguably cuddling, if it can be called that, since it's arguably coerced. The protagonist carries on with the "I'll do gay stuff to disgust him, oh no why isn't it working?" act the entire volume. It's difficult to believe that he's this dense about what's going on, but it's a common trope, so it's probably exactly what's happening. I don't know if this eventually becomes a "I'm not gay, I only love you" sort of thing, or something else, but clearly their relationship deepens in some way.

There wasn't much of anything for me to enjoy in this, which I suppose is to be expected. It didn't enrage me, make me regret my life decisions, or wail in anguish, so I can't it give it my lowest rating, not even rounded down. Some of my one star ratings don't mean that, but they almost all do.

Rating: 1.5/5