This volume was my companion to my three urgent care visits related to my hand injury, and I could have hardly asked for something better. The perfect blend of absorbing and familiar (I first watched The Untamed, then read all eight million pages of unofficial fan translations, then approximately twelve billion words of fan-fiction.) I have been snapping these official translations up (despite the rather unfortunate decisions and policies made by the publisher). I don't reread often, but I am at that lovely point where I smile ahead of time because I recognize a good scene coming, and even the traumas are somehow comforting because I've seen them healed dozens of times (either in canon or fanfic or both).

There are a lot of things I love about the work, but one I was recently discussing it with friends in the fandom is how you can choose nearly any character across the sprawling story, and examining the events from their viewpoint, come to the conclusion that their actions were entirely justified. With one or two notable exceptions.) It's a quality that makes this story ripe for fanfic, but I think it is also a wonderful point in and of itself.

I don't tend to think of any reading as a "guilty pleasure," but I do sometimes feel like these books are "cheating" somehow -- especially when counting them toward something "serious" like a #WomenInTranslation challenge. Yet what other books in recent years have occupied so much space in my mind? Have inspired so many big thoughts about serious topics? Or caused me to learn so much about a different culture?

It's the joy and the gay yearning and the Lawful Good meets Chaotic Good and healing intergenerational trauma and the Very Good Boys and the grouchy boys and the diversity of motivations and the competence kink and the Big Gay Happy Ending for me.

I will be yelling about these books forever. ( )

Another really enjoyable volume! Some more of my favorite moments are in here, including more time with the Yiling Patriarch, Jiang Cheng kicking Wei Wuxian out of his room, and so much more. It took me a while to read because I've been having a weird month, not because I didn't love it.

Overall the art was beautiful, as it always is. I particularly love the cover by Jin Fang - I think it's my favorite cover in the set so far, though I am biased because Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian is my favorite version of him. The interior bonus illustration by minatu is also quite cute and lovely.

Although Marina Privalova's art is quite good - and even gorgeous - by and large, I'm conflicted on two images, and it's not down to Privalova's skill as an artist on at least one of them. The first is from the scene where Wei Wuxian confronts Wen Chao after become the Yiling Patriarch, and is talking with Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji. While the illustration in question - the Yiling Patriarch in the foreground, ghouls in the background - is absolutely gorgeous and I do love it, it's my impression that the scene it's depicting is supposed to be indoors, at least with some kind of ceiling, from which Wen Zhuliu is hanging, and which is supposed to have windows to be covered up, rather than what appears to be an open air courtyard. I'm also not sure why Wei Wuxian has 3-4 adult-looking ghouls with him while he is standing, when in the scene he has one adult(?) ghoul and a baby ghoul, and he's also sitting down. There might be one other ghoul somewhere in the room, hidden. While this makes for a great piece of fanart, it's not really depicting what's supposed to be in the story. Much like other images in this the "Mo Dao Zu Shi" volumes, though thankfully few (the only other one I can think of is the scene with the paper dolls in Yi City), the discrepancy is kind of odd. I'm not sure if Privalova was given bad instructions or just didn't care or what. I'm trying not to be picky about this, after all, the illustration is still beautiful, and the ghouls at least look more appropriate for the scene, and I've critiqued Western novels with interior illustrations and covers that have nothing to do with the actual story in the past. But this is kind of frustrating.

The other illustration is even more beautiful, and does actually depict what's in the scene. As a fan of the story who's read it already in full, and read this part multiple times, I am very happy the scene is in here, illustrated. And maybe other readers are far more able to predict things in advance than I am, so this isn't really an issue for them. But the scene is where Lan Wangji kisses Wei Wuxian while Wei Wuxian has a blindfold on and can't tell it's him. The POV in the narrative is from Wei Wuxian's perspective. All we knew from that POV is that whoever is kissing him is strong, but nervous. Wei Wuxian assumes it's a woman. The art used for this scene shows a third person's view: it's very obviously Lan Wangji kissing Wei Wuxian. When Wei Wuxian leaves the area afterward, blindfold removed, he comes across a very angry and flustered Lan Wangji, and doesn't know why. Perhaps most readers can figure out that Lan Wangji was the one who kissed Wei Wuxian from this, I don't know. It's very heavily implied in a way for readers to figure it out, though it is possible to not figure it out until later in the story. But with the art in there, readers don't even have to guess. You just know. It is in a way comical to have this level of foreknowledge going into the scene, seeing Wei Wuxian making a fool and an ass of himself before Lan Wangji, not knowing that it's Lan Wangji who kissed him! But it also changes the emotion in the scene, making it less "...oh wait Lan Wangji was the one who kissed him!" and more "wow, Wei Wuxian, you're an asshole and a moron". I almost think it would have been better to leave this scene as a bonus illustration for the next volume, or even volume 5. I'm not sure what else they would have done here - it's a very important scene to fans, certainly - but it is a bit frustrating to see. I love the illustration, it's quite beautiful, I'm just conflicted on its inclusion and how it changes a new reader's perception.

I did find two typos, but they were minor, and not translation issues. The story reads quite well. The pronunciation guide should still have IPA rather than whatever it is. I do overall appreciate the other explanations for name usage, who characters are, and what different things mean.

Overall, this is a great part of the book, and I really look forward to volume 4! ( )

If you're expecting this volume to pick up where the previous one left off, you'll be sorely disappointed, because the author starts this off with a 200-page flashback to Wei Wuxian's younger days, before he became known as the Yiling Patriarch, when Jiang Cheng still regarded him as a brother and lots of beloved family members were still alive.

The Wen Clan of Qishan demands that each of the other clans send at least twenty sect disciples to Qishan to be "educated" by members of the Wen Clan. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian are two of the ones sent by the Jiang Clan. Lan Wangji is sent by the Lan Clan - which Wei Wuxian learns has been devastated by the Wen Clan. The group of sect members ends up at the mercy of Wen Chao, the youngest son of the leader of the Wen Clan, a bully who delights in sending them after yao beasts and then claiming their victories as his own. Things only get worse from there and eventually lead to Wei Wuxian inventing and embracing demonic cultivation.

Although there were some good moments, this wasn't really what I'd call a fun volume. It started off okay, and then you learned the Cloud Recesses were burned to the ground and Lan Wangji had been expressionlessly walking around on a broken leg. Instead of wallowing in tragedy, though, MXTX gave readers a battle against a giant tortoise monster, so that was nice.

Then the tragic stuff started to pile up again. It wasn't quite as bad reading it as it was watching it in the live action TV series, but I still had moments when I wanted to smack Jiang Cheng and tell him to stop taking his pain and grief out on Wei Wuxian.

I really disliked Wen Chao and his mistress, Wang Lingjiao - they were both needlessly cruel and entirely worthless without the Wen Clan's power propping them up. That said, what happened to them was gruesome and horrific. The only one who saw a problem with any of it was Lan Wangji - everyone else (Jiang Cheng) was apparently fine with torture (including forced self-cannibalism) as long as it was their own side doing it.

While this was a downer of a volume, it did have several things I particularly liked. I've finally gotten enough on-page Wen Ning moments to confidently say that book Wen Ning is just as cute as live action TV series Wen Ning. Also, just as it was occurring to me that we hadn't seen enough of Jiang Yanli for her to be much more than "sweet girl who likes to cook," she finally got some good scenes.

Oh, and also there was the kiss. It felt like a fan service bone thrown at readers in an otherwise dark volume. Incidentally, I noticed that there was nothing in the text that explicitly confirmed it was Lan Wangji - an illustration filled in that blank.

Two more volumes to go, and I know we're not done with the tragic flashbacks and whatever the heck happens to Wei Wuxian now that everyone knows the Yiling Patriarch is back. I'm nervous enough that I broke down and looked at just enough spoilers to learn whether or not to brace myself for a sad ending.

Extras:

A lengthy glossary and character and name guide, two full-color illustrations, and black-and-white illustrations throughout.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

Volume 2 ended with the protagonists fleeing Carp Tower after Jin Guanyao revealed Wei Wuxian’s true identity. Volume 3 opens in the past, with the clans sending their heirs to Qishan for indoctrination by the Wen Clan. This volume was a tough read because WWX and LW endure so much heartache. The disciples are really hostages and, after being relieved of their swords, are bullied and endangered by their captors. They are used as bait for Night Hunting and these events lead, of course, to the Cave of the Xuanwu of Slaughter - and eventually the horror at Lotus Pier.

LW arrives to indoctrination wounded and WWX continually tries to help him – raising the ire of Wen Chao and the alarm of Jiang Cheng. After a hunt leads to the infamous Xuanwu, the Wens retreat and leave the disciples to die. WWX and LW figure a way to help the others escape, but are left trapped with no food, supplies or swords. Even though WWX and LW finally begin to communicate, and readers see the introduction of their song WangXian, this is far less “romantic” than the adaptations. They are in dire conditions and LW’s hostility toward WWX is somewhat extreme - no doubt due to the painful events he endured before arriving in Qishan.

The hardest part of this installment to read is the tragedy of Lotus Pier. This is the defining event that leads WWX to demonic cultivation. And his turn is so much darker than the tv show. In the novel, he doesn’t control smokey spirits – he controls literal corpses, that he has often dug up, and he appears with them around him, and it is creepy. This lends more credibility to the cultivation world turning against him, and LW’s painful confusion over what to do about WWX. Given what WWX endured, his revenge on Wen Chao is vicious and downright BRUTAL (and, I admit, far more satisfying).

The volume closes back in the present, as WWX awakens in Cloud Recesses after Jin Ling stabbed him, investigates how Jin Guanyao may have killed Nie Mingjue, and finally ends up with LW and WWX at the Burial Mounds at the start of the second siege. Definitely a cliffhanger for anyone who isn’t familiar from the adaptations. Despite the sad storylines, this was still a five star read. Great writing, great characters. I cannot wait for the remaining volumes! ( )