***Volumes 1-4 are now available on Kindle Unlimited. All chapters before 234 are only a preview. Thank you for reading!***
After centuries of endless wars, the three greatest nations of the continent have come together in peace. As a symbol of their cooperation, they have worked together to establish the Grand Academy of Spiritual, Martial, and Arcane Arts, a place where the best and brightest of each nation can gather on neutral ground and share knowledge, techniques, and cultures. Can the peace truly last, or is the academy just another proxy for the constant conflicts the three nations face?
None of that matters to Lee Jia, a homeless young girl who's biggest concern is surviving the winter. But when she accidentally stumbles into the academy in search of a new place to stay, her destiny is changed forever. Determined to carve out a new place for herself and make the most of her good fortune, Lee Jia dives head first into the world of magic and martial arts.
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Fates Parallel is my first serious attempt at writing a story, and a personal love letter to Eastern fantasy and xianxia stories. It's heavily inspired by East Asian culture, folklore, and mythology, with what is likely going to be a decidedly Western artistic license. I try to write every day, with a goal of about 45,000 words per month (~1500 per day). Chapter lengths are around 3000 words on average, releasing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Cover art drawn by the incredibly talented Tsuu (TsurotArtistry).
Full art album: https://imgur.com/a/ooQqtWb
All Ko-Fi donations go directly towards new artwork commissions. Patrons get up to 20 chapters in advance.
this is a must read for xianxia and wuxia fan and also to those who love yuri
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Been binging the ever living heck out of this in the past few days. I've sacrificed sleep because I literally can't stop. That's how good this is.
This is not your stereotypical wuxia/xianxia power fantasy. Every character is well developed and has their own place and story in the world (which is built up really good, I might add).
There are a few issues that don't really have to do with prose or grammar, though.
The author has mentioned that one particular arc was badly received. Personally, I think that it does a good job of highlighting all the nuances and tensions in their world. But I'll admit that I did have to put down my phone to take a breather at some point. It isn't completely unbearable, and it really does get a lot better later on. Reception really depends on the reader.
I'm looking forward to more.
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4. Something [Round Up] (Made at Chapter 234)
Surprised I haven't reviewed this earlier... but anyway! Fates Parallel is a damn good story.
I enjoy cultivation stories and this was one of the first English written ones I read. Across the board characters are interesting, main characters unique powers are cool, and bunch of other stuff is really neat!
Of course it is one of those stories which sections get taken off once they are made into proper books, so if you want to read the early volumes you need to look else where. Which I recommend! Cause I enjoy the school parts of the story (which would be the equivalent of the sect arc of other cultivation stories), cause it made the learning process interesting, and the character interactions were neat and it wasn't just x character get offend-> fight -> offend-> fight. But yeah. Its a really good story, that is also a really good cultivation story. If your a fan of the genre give it a try, and if your not... also give it a try? It has good actions, characters, etc. So yeah, have fun.
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1st volume - ★★★★★
Well, I liked the first volume.
The author manages to find some middle ground between classic Xianxia and Xianxia parody. And this is quite an achievement.
Personally, I find this mid ground the most enjoable. Because in classic Xianxia... well, it's a one-time dish for me. You will eat it once, and although it is an interesting experience, you have no desire to repeat it. While most of the parodies are just trying their best to throw in your face the fact that they are parodies.
Probably still want to note that the number of golden fingers could be less. Oh well, I can live with that. Hints about the events of the second volume are slightly alarming. The "hand of the author" becomes too visible and real. Perhaps there will be a logical explanation for this, but so far it creates a bad taste in the mouth. I've never liked all these "Everything was set up by a higher power" thing. Well, I will see
2nd volume - ★★
This... unexpectedly high drop in the quality, isn't it? Well, I was unpleasantly surprised myself.
Everything good that I thought about the first volume has completely gone into the abyss here.
1) The second volume almost completely lacks the aspect of cultivation and everything related to it. Technically, the heroes are in the neck of the bottle for the entire volume. In the first volume, we discovered something new and funny almost every chapter. Here... either nothing, or something useless and forced by the author.
2) Character development has frozen in place. In the first volume, it was interesting to reveal all the layers of caste's personality, but now... nothing. A little self-reflection from MC, but everyone else is forgotten and has become just minions.
3) The final battle and conclusion... this is just a good example of how not to do it. Just a carnival of bad decisions.
I don't think I can bring myself to start the 3rd volume after such an unsatisfactory 2nd.
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I had to stop. There is a HUGE betrayel and the person lives. I've been jumping around trying to see if there is a satisfying confrontation, and either I've missed it or simply hasn't happened yet. And it is not something that just get's forgiven. This was mind rape. I am so mad.
EDIT: The writing is great, the story is good, the characters are portrayed well. It is a testament to the quality of the writing that I got so worked up. The chapters are a good length.
It feels like time can be rather fluid though. It seems like things that should progess within a chapter or two takes four or more. And the time period in those chapters vary from day's to weeks, making it feel like everything is kind of a blur.
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