Virtuous Sons: A Greco Roman Xianxia by Ya Boy

Reinventing the Xianxia Genre
REVIEWED AT: 0.18 [The Young Miss-tocrat 2]
BY HaltWrite02/04/2021 22:16:54
This is an inspired take on the xianxia genre. It reinterprets the setting through a Greco-Mediterranean lens instead of the typical Chinese setting, and I honestly find it quite refereshing. The author has clearly put in a lot of time and thought into merging the traditional xianxia system into the above aesthetic.

The style is evocative in an epic-fantasy feel that a lot of other stories lack. I also like how we're starting from a relatively grounded level instead of having mountains blowing up every other chapter, and it really makes the world feel more real (and only serves to make the epic more epic).

Grammar, spelling, and punctuation are flawless. The prose is smooth and is easy to read, no walls of text involved, and there is very little, if any, bloat. Each sentence is designed to impart something useful to the reader about the world, the plot, or the characters. Nothing here feels like my time is being wasted.

It's still very early on as I write this review, but already we're seeing hints of plot threads here that I'm really excited to see develop. What happened to Solus in the past? I imagine at some point we'll also be exposed to the wider world and that's going to be lit af, seeing how different city-states might have different cults (xianxia sects) forming. It is paced quite nicely, neither being too abrupt, but not meandering endlessly either.

Edit: Chapter 18, and the plot threads continue to intrigue!

The two main characters we see have a really nice dynamic between them. Both feel like fleshed out individuals. They've got some quippy lines, some interesting motivations, and a good back-and-forth. Really, what more is there to like in our leads?