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What I Finished Reading This Week
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 3 – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Volume one was cute and diverting. Volume two really started to align with my interests. And as for this, the third volume?
Oh. My. Yes. I AM SOLD ON THIS SERIES. Like, wow. There are books that execute tropes I don't like well. There are books that don't execute well tropes I do like. This book? Has tropes that I like, executed very well indeed, and yes. I AM SOLD. There is so much that works for me here.
The pacing and plot progression continue to remind me a lot of Sugiura Shiho (in fact, a lot about these books reminds me of Sugiura Shiho), where interactions between the characters slowly build on each other over time until even small details and minor shifts in how they relate to one another become Really Big Deals.
I particularly like this when the author trusts readers to identify what's going on without including narrative bells, whistles, and flashing neon signs to make sure that we all know that What Just Happened Is Really Important. MXTX doesn't belabor the point with this stuff, which means there's space for my mind to fill in the blanks. For instance, here's a character being grievously wounded: He might have heard someone screaming, or he might not; his ears were ringing, so he couldn't tell.That's far more effective than the standard "He heard himself screaming over and over, like an [insert bad metaphor here]. Is that really me? he thought. He felt his ears start to ring and saw with dawning horror that that his whole body was covered in blood" and blah blah blah. The lighter touch is much more horrific.
Or take this scene, where our main character, who's just regained consciousness after a vicious battle, realizes that everyone--but especially a specific individual--are in really great danger.
The whole series is slow burn done right. Moreover, when the characters finally have sex at the end of the book, it's bad. Really bad. And oh, do I kind of love really bad first time sex between characters who, due to their identities and their past experiences, should in no way be mindblowing sex gods the first time they go at it.
And then there are all the other tropes that I like:
So, yup. This was pretty much everything I want out of my genre fiction and I am all over it. There will be fanfic.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 1 – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Have I mentioned that I really enjoyed this series? Because I did, enough to start an immediate reread of volume one after I finished the third.
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 4 – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
I had zero intention of ever reading this gaiden volume. Then I started volume three, got to the midway point, and immediately bought this one so I could have it to read once I finished volume three. So far, MXTX has already preempted a bunch of my plotbunnies, but that's okay, because I'm having as much fun reading them as I would writing them myself.
Ariadne – Jennifer Saint
I have less than a quarter of the book to go; with any luck, I’ll have finished it by the weekend.
The Cuckoo’s Egg – Clifford Stoll
Still early days, but I'll concentrate more on this after I finish Strittmaier and/or Saint.
We Have Been Harmonized – Kai Strittmaier
Same observations as in previous weeks. Strittmaier is very good at encapsulating the point in a snappy turn of phrase and adroitly summarizing situations and developments. You just have to keep an eye out for all the weasel words he slips in.
What I’m Reading Next
This week I acquired Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 4 and Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.
これで以上です。
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 3 – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Volume one was cute and diverting. Volume two really started to align with my interests. And as for this, the third volume?
Oh. My. Yes. I AM SOLD ON THIS SERIES. Like, wow. There are books that execute tropes I don't like well. There are books that don't execute well tropes I do like. This book? Has tropes that I like, executed very well indeed, and yes. I AM SOLD. There is so much that works for me here.
The pacing and plot progression continue to remind me a lot of Sugiura Shiho (in fact, a lot about these books reminds me of Sugiura Shiho), where interactions between the characters slowly build on each other over time until even small details and minor shifts in how they relate to one another become Really Big Deals.
I particularly like this when the author trusts readers to identify what's going on without including narrative bells, whistles, and flashing neon signs to make sure that we all know that What Just Happened Is Really Important. MXTX doesn't belabor the point with this stuff, which means there's space for my mind to fill in the blanks. For instance, here's a character being grievously wounded: He might have heard someone screaming, or he might not; his ears were ringing, so he couldn't tell.That's far more effective than the standard "He heard himself screaming over and over, like an [insert bad metaphor here]. Is that really me? he thought. He felt his ears start to ring and saw with dawning horror that that his whole body was covered in blood" and blah blah blah. The lighter touch is much more horrific.
Or take this scene, where our main character, who's just regained consciousness after a vicious battle, realizes that everyone--but especially a specific individual--are in really great danger.
Shen Qingqiu tumbled off the bed, searching everywhere for his outer robe. As he spun around haphazardly, he failed to notice someone approaching him from behind, and a hand covered his eyes.And then the chapter ends. Hello, unreliable narrator! You may still be pretending that you don't have feelings for this guy BUT I CAN SEE THEM AND I KNOW WHAT THEY ARE. It works on its own, but in the context of all the other times these two have interacted, when Shen is afraid of Luo, and then when he's no longer afraid of him, and then when he's afraid for him, but not realizing it, and then afraid for him and realizing that but not the rest of what he feels, this passage lands hard.
Shen Qingqiu automatically struck out with his elbow. “Who is it?”
Who else would have the guts to play such a stupid trick, let alone the interest? His hand was firmly caught in a grasp, and a familiar voice spoke by his ear. “Why doesn’t Shizun guess?”
What wa the point of guessing when he’d already opened his mouth and called him “Shizun”? Shen Qingqiu was rolling his eyes when the person behind him suddenly grabbed his waist, causing them both to tumble onto the bamboo couch to the side. Its bamboo twigs crackled under their combined weight. The object blocking his eyes moved away. Sure enough, it was Luo Binghe.
That hand moved to cover Shen Qingqiu’s mouth instead. “Don’t blink. Shizun’s eyelashes are so long. They tickled me too much and now both my hand and heart are itchy.”
You’re the one with long eyelashes! The person with the longest eyelashes is you!
Shen Qingqiu continuously blinked dozens of times, expressing his anger.
Luo Binghe smiled, then kissed his eyelids softly. “Don’t shout. If someone from Qing Jing Peak discovers us, Shizun’s prestigious reputation would truly be ruined.”
What reputation? It’d long since been ruined by this unfilial disciple.
Luo Binghe kissed his way down Shen Qingqiu’s eyes. “I said that I would come for you. It’ been so many days since our last meeting. Did Shizun miss me?”
According to the standard response Shen Qingqiu had in mind, first he should knee Luo Binghe in the belly, then kick this unfilial disciple away and tidy up his appearance before finally delivering a cold and aloof, “I didn’t.”
But somehow, when he thought back to that recent memory of Luo Binghe kneeling alone in the Bamboo House, silently picking up the teacup on the floor, his leg wouldn’t obey him at all.
Shen Qingqiu’s breathing also seemed to tremble against Luo Binghe’s palm. He closed his eyes and nodded.
The whole series is slow burn done right. Moreover, when the characters finally have sex at the end of the book, it's bad. Really bad. And oh, do I kind of love really bad first time sex between characters who, due to their identities and their past experiences, should in no way be mindblowing sex gods the first time they go at it.
And then there are all the other tropes that I like:
- Two damaged people getting together
- In a slow burn
- With class and hierarchy differences in the way
- That don't resolve along standard lines
- Also, there's Only One Bed
- And also Seeing Each Other On The Brink Of Death
- And dream voyeurism into each other's worst moments
- And pining. So. Much. Pining.
- Also, Luo Binghe's anxious and disordered attachment style is a true thing of beauty
- That makes all the sweetness at the end even sweeter. And for the cherry on top, MXTX taking the piss out of her own story in the denouement was just everything I needed out of this book.
So, yup. This was pretty much everything I want out of my genre fiction and I am all over it. There will be fanfic.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 1 – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Have I mentioned that I really enjoyed this series? Because I did, enough to start an immediate reread of volume one after I finished the third.
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 4 – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
I had zero intention of ever reading this gaiden volume. Then I started volume three, got to the midway point, and immediately bought this one so I could have it to read once I finished volume three. So far, MXTX has already preempted a bunch of my plotbunnies, but that's okay, because I'm having as much fun reading them as I would writing them myself.
Ariadne – Jennifer Saint
I have less than a quarter of the book to go; with any luck, I’ll have finished it by the weekend.
The Cuckoo’s Egg – Clifford Stoll
Still early days, but I'll concentrate more on this after I finish Strittmaier and/or Saint.
We Have Been Harmonized – Kai Strittmaier
Same observations as in previous weeks. Strittmaier is very good at encapsulating the point in a snappy turn of phrase and adroitly summarizing situations and developments. You just have to keep an eye out for all the weasel words he slips in.
What I’m Reading Next
This week I acquired Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 4 and Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.
これで以上です。
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