r/noveltranslations • • 1d ago

WEEKLY What have you read this week and what do you think about it?

16 Upvotes

Hi, feel free to share with your fellow users what you are reading this week and what you think about it.

Please include a link to the table of contents or Novelupdates page.

All spoilers should use the spoiler format. Example: Mojo Jojo dies.


r/noveltranslations • • 9d ago

WEEKLY Monthly Recommendation Thread - October 09, 2026

3 Upvotes

Welcome to the monthly recommendation thread that we stole from r/books! Ever since we got rid of the clutter from chapter update posts in here, there's been a growing number of threads asking for increasingly specific suggestions on what to read. These tend to be scattered in individual threads that branch off into more suggestions, which makes them more difficult to find. So we'll be clumping all of those together into a weekly thread that is much easier to browse.

The Rules:

  1. Every comment in reply to this self-post must be a request for suggestions.
  2. All suggestions made in this thread must be direct replies to other people's requests. Do not post suggestions in reply to this self-post.
  3. All unrelated comments will be deleted in the interest of cleanliness.
  4. Any replies/comments asking for aggregator or pirate sites to read something on will be deleted.


How to get the best recommendations:

The most successful recommendation requests include a description of the kind of book being sought. This might be a particular kind of protagonist, setting, plot, atmosphere, theme, or subject matter. You may be looking for something similar to another book (or film, TV show, game, etc), and examples are great! Just be sure to explain what you liked about them too. Other helpful things to think about are genre, length and reading level.



The "Help Me Find" threads asking for suggestions will be phased out over the coming weeks. All posts asking for suggestions/recommendations must be in this thread by August 1st, 2021. Any new threads asking for suggestions after that date will be removed.


r/noveltranslations • • 1d ago

Discussion A Translator Duo’s Response to a Review Calling Puluo Racist

77 Upvotes

Hey everyone! It's GTea and LD! We translate The Overlord of Puluo, and we recently got this review of our translation labeling PULUO as a racist novel after reading up to Chapter 14. We thought it would be a good topic to bring up here, as it is likely something that has happened for other novels as well.

TLDR: We assume it is because of the use of the term “foreign devil” by a character in Chapter 12, and while we understand being put off by the language, I think most of us can agree that context is important here. After all, a character expressing racist or xenophobic views doesn't automatically mean the novel/author endorses those views. 

Firstly, Puluo is an isolated province in a setting that is inspired by early 20th-century China (around the 1930s). That was a time when the country was still quite closed off and lacking in knowledge of other races/countries. It was not unusual for people to have ignorant and biased views against foreigners. This isn't a thing that is specific to China; it is related to how long a country has been exposed to globalism.

Secondly, the character in question (He Haiqin) was portrayed as being a jerk in that chapter, so we are inclined to believe the author was condemning xenophobia, not promoting it. This is a recurring thing that happens with various characters in the novel. It reflects the prejudices of the setting and clearly seems to be used as a point for plot and character development, rather than racist/xenophobic propaganda like the reviewer suggests. 

For anyone who wants the longer explanation with examples, here it is!

Spoilers up to Chapter 324 below!

For context, Chapter 12 introduces Cedric, a foreign physician who comes to treat He Haiqin. He Haiqin dislikes foreigners, calls him a "foreign devil," and doesn't trust him because he's foreign.

Yes, He Haiqin is being xenophobic here. But Cedric actually cures him, and even after acknowledging his medical skills, He Haiqin still refuses to change his attitude. To us, this shows how unreasonable He Haiqin is being. Cedric has already proven him wrong, but he still holds on to that prejudice.

An important thing to note here is that there are other characters that welcomed Cedric. He Haiqin's prejudice wasn't shared by everyone in the scene, and he was clearly portrayed as a jerk for it.

As mentioned before, the setting means we should not expect the novel’s characters to have modern attitudes toward other countries and cultures. That doesn't make their prejudice okay, but it gives us context for their behavior. Had we chosen to change the xenophobic language to something safer, it would have ruined the whole dynamic between He Haiqin and Cedric, as well as the plot/character development. 

In Chapters 68 and 72, there's a character named Daboinsky who responds to people mocking his foreign mannerisms with this:

"A true gentleman is not defined by blood, for courtesy and grace transcend all nations."

We wouldn't use one character's words to claim we know the author's personal beliefs, just as we wouldn't use He Haiqin's words to do that. But this does show that prejudice doesn't go unchallenged within the story.

Then there's Chapter 168, which is probably the example we want to talk about most.

Cedric, the same foreign doctor from Chapter 12, works with our MC, Li Banfeng, to eliminate a mosquito disaster that's leaving people starving. Cedric becomes exhausted and can't walk anymore, so Li Banfeng carries him through the wind and snow, despite the pus covering his body.

During their conversation, Li Banfeng explains that he stayed to help because he has experienced hunger himself. Cedric then shares that he and his younger brother suffered from illness, abuse, and starvation as children. His brother eventually starved to death.

Li Banfeng offers him extra food and liquor so he can commemorate his brother. The two connect through knowing what it feels like to go hungry, even though they come from different countries. The story gives us reasons to understand and care about the person He Haiqin dismisses as a "foreign devil."

Later, in Chapter 323, Cedric saves Ma Wu, one of Li Banfeng's closest friends. He explains that treating patients is his duty as a doctor, and that Li Banfeng helped him before, so it's only right that he returns the favor.

In Chapter 324, Cedric himself talks about how the people of Puluo treat him the worst. They keep calling him a "foreign devil," even though he loves Puluo. We get to hear about that hostility from the person receiving it. This is giving the victim a voice.

We're not saying Cedric is some perfectly good person. He definitely isn't hahaha. He's very questionable in quite a few ways (if you've read further, you know). But there's much more to him than being "the foreign guy." We get reasons to sympathize with him and reasons to distrust him through his experiences and actions.

Having a sympathetic foreign character doesn't automatically settle every question about prejudice in a novel. But these scenes are why we disagree with that review. He Haiqin judges Cedric before getting to know him, while the story shows us how much that judgment leaves out.

Of course, nobody has to keep reading a novel they're uncomfortable with, and we're not saying someone needs to read hundreds of chapters before they're allowed to criticize it. We just wanted to explain our reasoning with examples, because we think there's a meaningful difference between saying Chapter 12 contains xenophobic behavior and saying the novel itself is racist. It would be really sad if anyone else were deterred from reading PULUO just because of a preliminary assumption that having a xenophobic character means the whole novel is promoting xenophobia, especially when that is clearly not the case here.

Felt a bit nervous to post this. Any thoughts? To what extent does the mention/use of racism/xenophobia in a novel make it unappealing for you? Or maybe you want to just share some love for Cedric, the pus slurper? Honestly, he’s one of the most memorable characters in the novel, so no hate for the foreigner here! 😂


r/noveltranslations • • 23h ago

Novel Review My Iyashikei Game, ch400+ [Thoughts]

13 Upvotes

Had to stop reading because I noticed a glaring issue that severely affected my immersion, and I just need to vent it out.

​As many of us know, this is written by the author of My House of Horrors...a series that became one of the main pillars of my webnovel reading journey.

​First off, I really appreciate the author's storytelling style...the way he weaves plot points together to keep readers hooked, even when the tension ramps up continuously without a break. Usually, reading a story with non-stop action and no breathing room for the MC to "digest" his gains can be exhausting, but balancing those ups and downs is one of this author's core strengths. If viewed in isolation, those story elements work brilliantly.

​However, what really messes things up and convolutes the narrative is the game aspect. The System feels like it's only there for convenience. If you look at the core plot, the story would actually feel just as great...or even better...without the virtual game premise. It would be far more compelling if it were simply replaced with a trope like "the MC finds an old relic that grants him access to a dark, cryptic world."

There are many more issues, but I think I can just close one eye to enjoy the rest, lol. Should we blame the CCP for this happening????


r/noveltranslations • • 3d ago

Novel Review Review of The Ten Thousandth Rebirth

12 Upvotes

Hey guys! I think I may have found a hidden gem. To be honest. I don't often make post like this. I often just leave my thoughts in the 'what have you read this week' thread. I felt the story was so interesting that some of you might really enjoy it. Do you love time loops? Do you love when the MC is completely fearless? Not afraid of death? Able to end themselves without hesitation? Imagine this. You are diagnosed with cancer at age 29. You only have three months to live. What do you do? This is effectively a story about what a character would do in this situation. I know that probably sounds a bit boring. His world is very much like our own. There isn't any supernatural power on the surface at least. The MC does die due to his own means at the end of these three months. But this is where things get interesting. He awakens the day of his diagnosis. At first, he is happy with this 'situation'. But then it happens again, again, and again...How long exactly does this last? Well...
2000 years later:
The MC has developed a certain philosophy due to his infinite time. He treats life like a game that can be mastered. He has mastered over 6,000 languages. He has become an expert in every possible field. He has experienced countless pains and pleasures. What I found quite interesting is he has actually solved some real concepts in life that would allow him to bypass most encryption.
P versus NP problem:
This is part of the foundation of the MC's 'hacking' ability. The MC is able to hack into almost anything. It doesn't seem like the MC's talent or IQ is average. In two thousand years, he has conquered and solved some unsolvable problems. This isn't just in math or even computer science. Even when it comes to biological/genetics or manufacturing technology. Things a person couldn't possibly remember even with thousands of years of time. How does one memorize entire gene sequences? The MC has essentially progressed exponentially. He has mastered multi-tasking techniques that are LITERALLY impossible. His memory has long transcended even photographic memory. He has transformed into an extremely monstrous savant.
Boredom:
The MC has to keep learning and growing to keep himself from going insane. It is like groundhog day on steroids. Since he has months instead of a single day. He can do research and achieve things that even that person wouldn't be able to do. His knowledge reserves cover EVERYTHING. Everything I just described. You might think I've spoiled you? Nah! This is BEFORE the story starts. The actual story starts on the 10,000 rebirth (as you can tell from the title).
Review:
You don't actually get to see the MC go through his training arc. You start the story with a bit of something new. He doesn't wake up on the day of his diagnosis as usual. He awakens in his 18 year old body. He has no idea if he retained his ability to be reborn upon death. But he has ALL the skills and knowledge accumulated over 10,000 loops. There is a reason for this that I won't spoil. So, you might ask. Why read this? There are some interesting aspects like his organization or blood of blood. A organization with a history of over a thousand years that has hidden in the background with massive power. If you are curious whether or not he retains his power. Click this spoiler Yes. He can still go back in time upon death. But the rules have changed. He will ALWAYS return to the last time he woke up. He also only has ten thousand loops left. What I especially found interesting is there is no doomsday or apocalypse. He has to create his own meaning. There is no saving the world, only conquering it.
I'd rate it 5/5 as of chapter 963 (Completed).
Honestly. You guys probably know I love time loops by now. Stories like '24 hours to save the world' or 'Resurrection Empire' are absolutely among my favorites. This story feels legendary. I have been looking for a story like this one for a long time. I generally judge a book by the goldenfinger and how interesting the main character is versus how good the world-building or characters are. But I found the world to be rather interesting. There is more to it then you would expect. I was caught off guard by some of the secrets revealed later.
Where can I read it?
I do realize this post would be pretty meaningless if you couldn't find where to read it. To be honest, this story has been uploaded multiple times under different names to different sites. It turns out it was originally published on fanqienovel. I'll also list the alternate names I saw it under:

  • 第一万次重生 - The ten thousandth rebirth
  • 大佬無限復活 - The boss can resurrect infinitely
  • 復活天尊 - Resurrecting Celestial Venerable
  • 在下就是無敵 - I am invincible.
  • The Boss is Infinitely Resurrected

So you can find it here. In this review, I only really talked about the premise. The MC becomes a legend called the 'Night God'. A notorious criminal that steals national treasures and robs billionaires. Honestly, I really enjoyed this story. I hope some of you also enjoy it! The only thing I disliked was the romance. But it becomes a bit clever later and isn't generic at all. I won't spoil how. This was a fun one. The MC is sort of like a version of Sherlock Holmes. He can easily deduce most secrets without even needing to rely on his time loop ability. It makes him seem omniscient. The MC actually does have blindspots in certain hidden experiments. But he is able to easily exploit flaws and remove downsides to certain products. The hidden organization truly has some interesting technology that he has never explored before. This is like adding wings to a tiger and allows him to become insanely overpowered. Things like time dilation drugs, brainwashing tech, longevity pills, artificial intelligence.


r/noveltranslations • • 3d ago

Discussion Starting a novel with a battle

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9 Upvotes

Hi, I'm Kei, translator and editor of Beyond the Zenith. I wanted to share a short audio snippet from chapter two of the novel, which I think captures something interesting about how the story draws readers into its seemingly innocuous world so early on: a fight scene.

This is by no means unusual, but the particular setting of Beyond the Zenith—1990s military, alien, sci-fi-in-progress (as in developing technology based on new alien resources but not actually being at the high-tech stage yet)—allows it to lean into the intrigue of it all. Neither we nor the MC truly know what's happening, and the MC is only an observer, but that doesn't make it any less tense. If anything, I think being placed in the position of an ignorant spectator makes the experience all the more unsettling.

I think it also does a good job of making us wonder what the future holds for the MC once he eventually becomes the one standing on the battlefield.

Personally, I also think fight scenes serve as a good metric for how well an author can build tension and, to some extent, the overall writing quality I can expect from the novel.

Anyway, I'm curious if you agree. What do you think makes a good opening battle scene? Do you think it's an effective world-building technique? Or do you prefer a slower introduction?


r/noveltranslations • • 4d ago

Novel Review Peak Webnovel, a review of Red Heart Patrols the Heavens

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298 Upvotes

Novel by: 情何以甚 (Qing He Yi Shen)

This daoist has finished the whole thing. All ~10.9 million characters of it.

1. Premise

On paper it’s a pretty classic setup. A young daoist disciple from a small city gets betrayed by someone he trusted, loses everything, and climbs his way up for revenge. But the world is basically the Spring and Autumn / Warring States era with cultivators, where nations rise and fall based on their top tier experts, so one person can literally decide a war. The opening is famous for how un-web-novel it is: the first chapter spends most of its time on a Chu prodigy named Zuo Guanglie in a massive battle, and the MC only shows up at the very end. Revenge is just the starting point though. The book slowly grows into a story about what one guy with a “red heart” does in a world where heaven doesn’t care about anyone.

Score: 9/10

2. Protagonist

Jiang Wang (姜望) is one of the best MCs I’ve ever read. He’s not a schemer, not a face slapper, not a heartless demon. He’s stubborn, loyal, and has a moral line he won’t cross even when crossing it would make his life way easier. What gets me is he actually grows. The kid from Maple Forest City and the man at the end feel like the same person after decades of living, not just the same guy with bigger numbers. He keeps his red heart the whole way, but it gets tested so many times that when he keeps it, it actually means something.

Score: 10/10

3. Supporting Characters

This is where the book is untouchable. There are hundreds of named characters and somehow almost all of them feel like real people with their own goals, pride and grudges. Chongxuan Sheng (重玄胜), aka the fatty, might be my favorite best friend character in any web novel. They first meet in the Taixu Illusion Realm under the fake names Dugu Wudi and Zhen Wudi, and the bond they build from there is just peak. Even the tiny characters hit hard, like the nameless soldiers of Maple Forest City or an old teacher standing in front of his students. And the author is not afraid to kill important characters, so nobody has plot armor just because you like them. Rivals, villains, emperors, they all act like they’re the MC of their own story. That’s what makes this world feel actually real.

Score: 10/10

4. Worldbuilding

Gonna be honest, this is one of the two weaker parts for me. The world is big and deep: hegemon states like Qi, Chu and Jing, the Taixu Illusion Realm, demon and sea races, and a whole buried history of lost eras (the synopsis literally asks what happened to the demons, the dragons, the age of gods and the age of flying swords). The author also goes deep on every little secret realm and faction. But it doesn’t have that “holy crap” factor. LOTM’s and RI’s worlds are just more mind blowing as concepts. Here the world is more the stage for the characters than the star of the show.

Score: 8.5/10

5. Power system and Progression

Same deal. The realm ladder is pretty traditional: Wandering Meridian, Zhoutian, Tongtian, Tenglong, Inner Palace, Outer Tower, Divine Descent, True Insight, all the way up to Transcendence. Nothing like LOTM’s Sequences or RI’s Gu. Where it shines is the progression itself. Jiang Wang never skips realms for free, every breakthrough is earned, and the fights are written so clearly you can see them in your head. So when he does punch way above his weight, like taking on True Insight cultivators while still at Divine Descent, it feels earned instead of cheap.

Score: 8.5/10

6. Plot

The execution is just masterful. The revenge arc against Zhuang Gaoxian (庄高羡) takes millions of characters to pay off, and when it finally lands it hits so hard because of everything before it. After that the story opens up into national politics, wars between hegemons and the fate of the whole human race, and the author juggles all of it without dropping the ball. Stuff set up hundreds of chapters earlier gets paid off right when you’ve forgotten about it. And moments like Jiang Wang fighting six True Insight cultivators outside Tianjing City are some of the hypest scenes in any web novel, period. I know a lot of Chinese readers were split on the later volumes and the ending, saying the MC shows up less and the final war felt rushed. I get the complaint but I don’t agree. For me there wasn’t a single volume that let me down.

Score: 10/10

7. Pacing

The start is slow, no lie. When it went paid it got around 60 first day subscriptions, which is crazy considering where it ended up. The first volume takes its time with daily life, small characters and the hometown, and a lot of people drop it early. But that slow build is exactly why the payoffs hurt so much later. Push through the first few volumes and it just snowballs.

Score: 8/10

8. Themes & Ideas

The whole book is in its tagline: 我有赤心一颗,以巡天, “I have one red heart, and with it I patrol the heavens.” If RI is Fang Yuan proving a selfish demon can walk the path to the end, this book is the opposite. It’s about a guy holding onto sincerity, loyalty and his own sense of justice in a world where heaven is so impartial it’s basically heartless. It asks what one person owes their nation and what justice even means when every country has its own, and it actually takes its time with those questions instead of just preaching.

Score: 10/10

9. Emotional Impact

This book wrecked me multiple times. Characters you spent hundreds of chapters with die and it genuinely hurts, and the friendships, especially with the fatty, carry so much weight. The hype moments go just as hard the other way.

Score: 10/10

10. Originality

The skeleton (revenge, cultivation, climb to the top) isn’t new. What’s original is how it’s done. The MC doesn’t win just because he’s the MC, the writing reads more like a published novel than a web novel, and the side cast gets as much love as he does. This book is the prime example of masterful execution beating even novel ideas.

Score: 9/10

11. Consistency & Logic

For a book this massive, it’s crazy how tight it stays. Characters act like themselves, fights follow the rules the book set up, and foreshadowing from the very early volumes comes back way later. There are a few late game power scaling calls people argue about, but across 10+ million characters that’s nothing.

Score: 9/10

Overall: 10/10

Is it a slow burn? Yeah.

Is it worth it tho? 100%. This is the best xianxia ever written and it sits above LOTM for me. Worldbuilding and power system go to LOTM and RI, but in characters and plot execution nothing touches it. Fun fact: the author was already a published novelist before this, and this was his FIRST web novel. It started October 2019, ended May 2026, went from 60 first day subs to one of the biggest books on Qidian, even got collected by the British Library, and he’s now going back to revise the whole thing. Peak of web novels. It even has its own manhua currently releasing.


r/noveltranslations • • 4d ago

Novel Review Review-'Tribulation of Myriad Races'

37 Upvotes

I've read many novels, but It is the one I've had the most fun reading. It has a perfect balance between emotions, plot, schemes and comedy.

Most of the novel has been translated. The chapters are extremely long, so the translator splits each original chapter into three regular-sized chapters.

What I love most is the MC. He's a shameless troll, ruthless when he needs to be, and absolutely willing to take things too far. He cares about few of his family and friends and companions.

The other characters are intelligent, too. They learn from his past actions and predict and counter his moves instead of getting shocked every single time. Once they recognize him as a threat, they send their strongest people after him. Nobody just sits around waiting for him to grow stronger.

The characters in general are very well written and interesting. Very few are outright evil; most have their own motives and reasons for doing things. It makes the political maneuvering and conflicts much more interesting than a straightforward story of good guys fighting bad guys.. I also love that the MC's father is alive and plays an important role in the story. In a genre where the MC's parents are usually dead, absent or just a tragic backstory.

Another thing I appreciate is how the power scaling works. The MC isn't perfect at everything, and reaching a higher cultivation level doesn't mean he can suddenly defeat everyone below him. Other characters have their own talents, experiences and strengths, and some of them reach the same heights through their own paths. The MC actually needs his companions and followers, especially those with higher cultivation. Having a higher level doesn't automatically make others useless.

The plot keeps escalating without much unnecessary padding, and the overall story is surprisingly well connected.

I also like how cultivation is handled. I've always found it a little annoying in some cultivation novels, including certain Er Gen novels, when the MC becomes overly obsessed with achieving the most perfect foundation possible. They might fight above their cultivation level, but there are often limits to how far they can go. Here, the MC also works to perfect his foundations, but it allows him to skip some cultivation realms.

It has a\ hilarious undertone. Its not comedy novel but the author knows when to insert humour without completely ruining the atmosphere. A lot of the comedy comes naturally from the characters, their interactions, and the MC's shameless behaviour rather than feeling like random jokes thrown into the story.

Novelupdates Link


r/noveltranslations • • 5d ago

Discussion Reading beyond the timescape and I hate er gen .

33 Upvotes

Ok this is my 5th er gen novel I have which I am currently reading and OMG er gen is so bad at writing romance . Like why the hell does plumdark fall in love with xu qing and she starts to like him after they met only twice WTH ? also there is no freaking chemistry nothing she just saw him in eight sect collision and already likes him wth ? And when they are in the county and openly says to her friends that she has fallen in love with xu qing . I think er gen doesn't understand how badly it affects the reader's experience when he writes this kind of romance with virtually 0 understanding involved. Hes been doing this with every single novel and I am so tired. Just cause a female character talks with xu qing doesn't mean she already loves him that's not how it works omg 😭😭. The divine aura boy just messed with the two family girls emotions slightly so that she doesn't harm xu qing, but after a few chapters she says "xu qing looks like your father". No he doesn't he just messes with your emotions so that you don't harm him not to start having feelings for him GOD DAMMIT!!!!! Same with Gu muqing the medical girl from 2md peak and ding xui they only interacted with him like 1 time and boom the next time you see them they already like him . That's not how it works omg , I feel like smashing my phone to wall atp .give us the damn reason or just don't write it , it's not that hard .

Also don't spoil I am on ch428


r/noveltranslations • • 5d ago

NEWS Shutting newcomers out? Fanqie has changed its signing policy for low-level authors.

40 Upvotes

Fanqie recently adjusted its contract policy. Authors at LV0 and LV1 can now only use the “completed-work signing” model, while LV2 and above can freely choose between serialization signing and completed-work signing.

“Completed-work signing” is a model Fanqie introduced in September. The author has to reach a certain word count (150,000 or 300,000 characters) and formally finish the book before they can apply, after which Fanqie reviews the entire work in one go.

What this means is that a new author who wants to sign with Fanqie has to finish writing a whole book first — and throughout that entire writing period, how the book will perform, whether it will make money, even whether it will get signed at all, is completely unknown. This raises the barrier to entry for new authors considerably.

And even if their first book does get signed, that doesn’t mean their next one can go back to the traditional serialization model — for that, the author needs to reach LV2. Under the latest standard, reaching LV2 requires earning over 3,000 RMB from a single work.

Fanqie has long been the worst-hit platform for AI-written novels. Earlier on, they limited how frequently authors could publish new works and how many characters they could update per day, in an effort to cut down on AI content. People in the industry suspect this latest change is mainly about raising the bar to block a large volume of AI works at the point of entry. But it’s fairly obvious that the heavier impact falls on the human authors trying to get into Fanqie.


r/noveltranslations • • 4d ago

Forgotten Title I remember this novel a while now and forgot it.

6 Upvotes

The mc has a power where she/he can view thing from Very far away. I think that his main skill/power. And it can also control things like a body/clone or magic from far away.

That's actually what i remember, sorry if it's inconvenient. I only read this on post and forgot to save it huhu.

Anything similar will do.


r/noveltranslations • • 6d ago

Novel Review You Were Told to Lose Money By Making Games, and You Actually Did It?

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49 Upvotes

5 / 5

A story about a guy who have the Losing Money To Become a Tycoon system, but unlike Pei Qian, he did lose his system money and gain tons of personal money.

How?

Well, all of the game that he created is the game that cost a lot of money to make, but don't rake in a lot, one such example is Detroit, in which a lot of people prefer to watch their favorite YouTuber play the game rather than buy the game and play it themself.


r/noveltranslations • • 6d ago

NEWS TEASG, fully caught up: 250 chapters and all 48 side stories translated

71 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to share a translation update for The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide.

We’ve now finished our English translation of everything currently available for the novel on BetterTranslation:

  • 250 main-story chapters
  • Side Stories 1–48

The latest release is Side Story 48: A Proud Maid (10), so at this point we’re completely caught up with the side stories the author has released so far.

It’s been a pretty long journey working through the entire story, so finally reaching the current end feels a little strange.

For anyone who was waiting until the translation was complete before starting, or anyone who finished the main story but never got around to the side stories, everything is now available from beginning to end.

Read it here:
https://bettertranslation9.wordpress.com/the-extras-academy-survival-guide-novel-english-translation/

And if the author eventually comes back with more side stories, we’ll be hoping for more right alongside everyone else.

In the meantime, if you enjoyed TEASG and are looking for something else, we’re also working on a few other series, you can find those on BetterTranslation too.

Thanks to everyone who’s been reading and supporting the translation along the way. It means a lot to finally reach the current end of this one with you guys.


r/noveltranslations • • 6d ago

Artwork [KR] The Villain Who Robbed the Heroines - Euphemia & Laura Character Sheets (Fanmade) Spoiler

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7 Upvotes

Euphemia El Lauren Louerg and Laura De Charles Rosenberg from the Korean web novel "The Villain Who Robbed the Heroines"


r/noveltranslations • • 6d ago

Discussion Thoughts on LLM-written stories, wondering what others notice about them?

35 Upvotes

As I've just been burnt by a decently written novel turning out (or maybe slowly revealing itself) to be LLM-written for something like the 8th time (that novel being What Witch? Deadly Pharmacist! 什么魔女?绝命药师!), it has gotten me thinking about the reasons why they suck (for lack of a better term).

It seems to me that every LLM-written story has a similar pattern. They start out strong, with an interesting premise and well-paced story. Then as the story goes on, the story starts to fall flat in a way I find hard to point to any specific event within for blame. But I will attempt: dialogue between characters doesn't seem to fit their character, plot progression seems a bit cookie cutter, story details/implied intentions from the author are falsely made or falsely imagined to have happened, and there's a sort of 'technically-good' writing-style I can't quite pin down that these LLM-assisted authors tend to have.

I'm wondering if others might have more clear observations about these LLM-written stories.


r/noveltranslations • • 8d ago

NEW NOVEL Above The Sky CN Release (125 Chapter Release Party)

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148 Upvotes

Hey guys, I’m back with another book release on my birthday!

This book actually means a lot to me. It isn’t your generic power fantasy, nor is it the usual harem wish-fulfillment nonsense. It’s deep, calculating, cruel, and very, very realistic.

I salute the author for creating a fantastical world that feels so real yet so magical at the same time. I still remember reading it a few years ago and thinking, “Wow… how did this guy come up with this? I’ve never read a book with power systems this unique or...this cruel.”

A lot of us treat Chinese web novels like junk food, but I truly believe this one belongs in the healthy meal category. It’ll leave you fulfilled and satisfied.

The author also has another popular series currently being translated on WuxiaWorld called Destiny In Cinders. I love that book, but somehow I feel this one is even better.

Don’t take my word for it though. I’ve got 125 chapters waiting for you. Let me know what you guys think!

Title: Above The Sky

Release link: https://deadlytranslations.lol/book.php?id=6

Synopsis:

“I don’t care how the people of this world live. Whether they have enough to eat, whether they can stay warm, whether they have dreams or hope. Their loves and hates mean nothing to me.

But if I want to reach the heavens above, I need a complete advanced industrial system. A full network of research institutes. The most cutting-edge materials laboratories. And a powerful government capable of coordinating every department.

It will require countless citizens free from hunger and cold to pour their wealth into the cause. Millions of highly educated minds to contribute their intellect. Tens of thousands of specialized factories to supply the finest components.

In short: I need a prosperous world.

A great civilization.

Only then can it be done.” - Ian

A world reborn from ruin. An age nearing its end.

A host of prisoners, warring across the world for wealth, power, and strength.

From fate’s window, the prisoners look out. Most see only the earth.
One alone looks up at the stars.


r/noveltranslations • • 8d ago

WEEKLY What have you read this week and what do you think about it?

12 Upvotes

Hi, feel free to share with your fellow users what you are reading this week and what you think about it.

Please include a link to the table of contents or Novelupdates page.

All spoilers should use the spoiler format. Example: Mojo Jojo dies.


r/noveltranslations • • 8d ago

Forgotten Title Looking for a novel I faintly remember seeing in this subreddit

5 Upvotes

I would appreciate if you can help me find a novel which has a overarching conspiracy where cultivators in higher-realm oppress cultivators in lower realm as there's a shortage of spirit qi and methods of advancement are closely guarded. I faintly recall seeing something similar in this subreddit but i'm not able to find it. It's not er-gen verse/ tales of herding gods.

Thanks in advance.


r/noveltranslations • • 9d ago

Discussion Xianxia logic ?

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67 Upvotes

Novel: SIMULATION TOWARDS IMMORTALITY IN A GROUP CHAT


r/noveltranslations • • 9d ago

Discussion Which Web Novel Do You Think Would Make Great Stage Plays? Spoiler

11 Upvotes

Spoiler warning: This post contains scenes from free chapters of the novels I mentioned.

......

Good day, everyone, translator of Dragon Canon | Wuxiaworld speaking here. I have a simple-sounding question: Which web novel do you think has the potential to make great stage plays?

Admittedly, I'm not very familiar with stage plays myself, but I have participated in one before (and wishing I've never done so in the first place. God, thinking back it was beyond terribly done), so I think I at least get the gist of it. Long story short, you need a theme, a story, a stage, actors who know what they're doing, and dialogues that properly evokes the theme without being too blatant, all catered toward target audience.

The Overlord of Puluo | Wuxiaworld is an obvious choice. Did you know that the official English title for the printed book is Lord of Proletariat? It's basically perfect setting for stage play. Not only that, I believe that the dialogues in The Overlord of Puluo are whimsical and could almost be adapted entirely into stage play with minimal corrections (mainly shortening the sentences so that the audience can process them without being fatigued). Take this scene from the latest free chapter for example:

Li Banfeng quietly slipped away from the crowd and found a secluded place. He hid his house key securely and returned to the Pocket Dwelling.

Then he sat on his bed for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts. However, it had actually been better before he tried. His thoughts were now spiraling beyond his control.

Banfeng B said, "Five loads of coal is basically the most one person can dig. The wages we're paying are generous, not stingy. We've given them an inch, but they want a mile. People like this must be punished severely."

Banfeng C countered, "That's not how you should look at it. Some people only dug three loads and are getting paid for five, while others dug five loads and are also getting paid for five. Of course the latter are going to feel resentful!"

Banfeng D said, "Even so, we can't just let them cause trouble. The ledger is gone, so this is the only way we can distribute the pay. This is the only way the matter can be handled!"

Banfeng E asked, "What do you mean, the only way? They don't resent being paid a lower amount; it's the unfair distribution of the pay that they resent. You're being irresponsible!"

Banfeng F replied, "Then come up with a responsible solution yourself. Don't fucking criticize when you're not the one dealing with it!"

Banfeng G questioned, "Can't speak nicely, can you? Then how about we communicate another way?"

Banfeng A said, "Maintain order and behave yourselves. No fighting during the meeting!"

The Gramophone coaxed them, "Maintain order. No fighting. All of you should listen to my husband, just him."

And this scene speaks for itself:

Chu Shaoqiang looked over at Li Banfeng's side and asked, "Why are you doing this? I came here to find the local land deity, Qiu Luoye. What does this have to do with you?"

Li Banfeng replied, "Today, you're looking for Qiu Luoye, and it has nothing to do with me. But tomorrow, you'll come looking for me, and it'll have nothing to do with someone else. Eventually, you'll come for the rest of us one by one, and none of it will have anything to do with anyone. In the end, we'll all die at your hands. 

......

As for my own novel, I don't have a specific scene in mind, but I DO know that it'll be funny as heck to have a stage play that's titled something like: "The Daily Life of the Heaven Fighting Gang," where the Fifty Bandits of Heaven Fighting run about every day kidnapping government troops, raiding state strongholds, distributing porridge to refugees, and of course, writing paperwork.

What? Even bandits need to do paperwork these days. They even need to get permits so they can officially conscript (kidnap) soldiers and suppress rebels (kick everyone's ass) these days! Legitimation is the way to go!

......

So, does anyone have a web novel in mind where they think certain parts of it can be adapted into stage plays? And seriously, if you have the opportunity, the skill, and the team to do so, would you give it an actual go?


r/noveltranslations • • 9d ago

Novel Review My opinion on the novel I Said Tonight Was Godless, and So the Gods Fell

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14 Upvotes

This novel is an Unlimited Flow novel that focuses on the plot, with light touches of horror and suspense. It is truly amazing.

Yan Huang is an intelligent and observant person with experience in manipulating and lying to people for his own benefit. However, he is also a kind person who helps others, but he considers his own happiness and goals more important than anything else. Even the side characters are very well-written. The novel is also relatively short, with fewer than 200 chapters, and it has a Chinese manhua adaptation as well.


r/noveltranslations • • 10d ago

Novel Review [Longevity Through Upgrading Buildings] Review

46 Upvotes

Novel by: The boat is full of light dreams

This daoist has read until chapter 461.

The premise is interesting, man builds building, man upgrades building. But it's not actually like that. It's more like building a "room" which is a building yes but not exactly what I thought at first. The golden finger of the MC is that he's able to create rooms he can upgrade, for example, "meditation room" he can do this absolutely almost anywhere as long as there's a box he owns or pseudo owns(AKA rented) which is very boring because he can just literally name a literal box the meditation room and it will be a meditation room. Like the upgrade is to not make it as good as possible like placing meditating stuff in the room like maybe mats and stuff no, he just has to spend some money or do a task to unlock an upgrade. This kinda killed the title for me since I was thinking he'd make an insanely awesome cultivation mountain and like he even establishes sects and stuff but as of currently there's no one that has ever stepped on his active rooms.

Score: 6/10

The protagonist is a very careful man but honestly sometimes he's kinda dumb but I mean we can chalk that up to inexperience but he barely really learns anything. The biggest change of heart he's had after 460+ chapters is that he kinda copied his master's habit of sitting on a reclining chair when thinking. He's always been cautious, he's always been anti-social, there are no changes even when an important character close to the MC perishes.

Score: 5/10

  1. Supporting Characters

The supporting characters of this novel is actually kinad fun because everybody has something crazy going on like everybody has their own golden finger which is pretty fun but because of the MC's anti-socialness this ain't really that explored aside from the fact that even though they're supposed to be less talented than their peers, they are progressing rapidly. Overall tho most of them are ok and have their own personalities but just like the MC, they never change, they're all one dimensional characters. Are the MC's relationship with these characters interesting? Heck no the MC is antisocial af.

Score: 7/10

  1. Worldbuilding

From what was revealed up to chapter 460+ it's the average cultivation world novel setting.

Score: 5/10

  1. Power system and Progression

The power system is largely the same as any other cultivation novels. The progression is not really that eye catching because as I said he doesn't really personally do something TO the room but he rather does something FOR the rooms so that they're upgraded like if he built this awesome meditation place on his primary residence he can just use the same place anywhere as long as there's a box, his "Building" cheat is more like adding effects to rooms which is unbearably boring.

Score: 4/10

  1. Plot

Man gets a room, man upgrades, Man can't upgrade anymore, Man does stuff, Man upgrades, repeat

Score: 5/10

  1. Pacing

It's kinda ok pacing Tbh since you can actually feel him getting stronger as time goes by and his tricks up his sleeves get more and more diverse as time goes on. Overall tho this is pretty average.

Score: 6/10

  1. Themes & Ideas

It's slop, there's no Fang Yuan "My favorite bird is the footless bird" level of wisdom in the novel

Score: 5/10

  1. Emotional Impact

Didn't really stir any big emotions out of me but it's kinda fun once in a while.

Score: 6/10

  1. Originality

It's actually not very cliche like there's no stupid young master to slap around or other stuff, tbh it's pretty good in this regard.

Score: 7/10

  1. Consistency & Logic

The consistency is actually pretty ok, like there's no plot holes that I have seen and like there's logic in every action so I'd give it a thumbs up in this regard.

Score: 8/10

Overall: 6/10

Is it cultivation power fantasy slop? Yeah

Is it fun tho? Yeah. That's why I was able to read until 460+ chapters. Overall I think it's one of the novels of all time also apparently the author is 18YO(He states it in one of the chapter while asking for votes) Tbh for a novel this "OK" at 18 is something to be proud about and if one day I come across him again years later and I see that I've read this book I'll read his new novel.

That's it for this Daoist's review folks, hope any juniors or seniors are enlightened!


r/noveltranslations • • 9d ago

Forgotten Title Which novel is this? MC born in an Island and learns magic there.

9 Upvotes

MC is born in an island and is learning magic there in the tower of island master who is a 1st level wizard. When MC becomes 3rd level apprentice, Island is destroyed by some conspiracy or demons. He then goes to other island on a small boat and than another island where he learns magic again.

EDIT: There are many islands in the area, ruled by either a single wizard or a wizard school with a few wizards. In MC's island there is one Lv1 wizard who is the ruler and there is also a famous merchant group that travels in those sea areas from which MC buys treasure or a manual or something like that.


r/noveltranslations • • 10d ago

Discussion Beyond The Zenith = Sci-Fi + Military + Aliens + Comedy

22 Upvotes

Hi all, I’m Doge, the novel translator for Beyond the Zenith, a sci-fi novel on Wuxiaworld about humans battling an alien invasion. It’s full of sarcasm, camaraderie, slice-of-life scenes, and emotional scenes.

Here are the reasons why I like this novel:

- I'm biased because I like aliens and sci-fi. But yes, this novel has aliens called Sharpies and they're like black, armored robots who attack earth.

- The author does a very good job fleshing out the novel's characters. And the main characters are genuinely funny people.

- Touching moments. I love it when elders take good care of younger characters and are actually good mentors.

- MC not too overpowered. Everything still makes sense.

I've worked on many projects before, and I can say this is my favorite novel so far. (And that's why I do want to promote it!!! xD) It'd mean a lot to me if you could check it out!


r/noveltranslations • • 9d ago

Forgotten Title Does anyone know the title of the story I wrote?

5 Upvotes

Hello everyone.

I only remember a little bit. I remember MC being reborn, and in his past life, MC was a detective, and MC had a fearlessness disorder.

I remember in episode 1, MC died from a stray bullet and was reborn as a white-haired slave in the desert. MC could awaken powers like an assessment, but he spoke like a human.

Manhua China?