4.5 rounded up!

I feel like I will never have better words to describe MDZS as Kali Wallace did here (with minor spoilers).

From the 3 series just published in English, MDZS is the one I knew most about. I've watched the Untamed a bit after it was recommended to me by a friend, but never went further then a few episodes, still in the whole flashback of the Cloud Recess learning session. I liked it but I was a bit too confused by stuff I felt like I should have understood better. I also started reading a fan translation online, but stopped when I heard there was this official one being published in December 2021.

With this little knowledge, I knew I would like reading the original material. That why I was very surprised after about half of the book to feel like I was having fun, but not as much as I was expecting. I was astonished to think that maybe I would liked SVSSS more. But then something nice happened: I started reading things I knew nothing about and it was AWESOME. The turning point for me happened around the time the 2 main characters go on their mystery quest in "present days". I feel also that the book really takes off at that point, since before that, even though there's still action and stuff happening, it is kind of a long exposition where the characters interract with each other but are not fully being themselves towards one another yet. That being said, it could entirely be something that I only experienced since I knew already most of the plot until that point.

Reading the book is exactly the exprience I was looking for in regards to understanding what's going on more. Even though the live-action series is good, I feel like the book really helps you piece everything together. That being said, I found that it was sometimes hard for me to understand who was who in relation to whom. I'm sure it's partially because I'm not Chinese and don't know Chinese enough to easily recognize the names. The name glossary at the end really helped me put everything back together however, and I think I'm set for the next volume.

What makes MDZS so awesome? I would say, without a doubt, the characters. SVSSS is also the same way, but the tone of the narration play a bigger role. Here, it's not exactly the same on that regard. The narration is less expressive or flamboyant. Wei Wuxian is all that. His relationship with the other character is what guides the story, and it's through him (and also a bit through Lang Wangji) that the ambience and the emotions of the story are brought to the reader. It's not the same for SVSSS, and it's also not exactly the same for Heaven Official's Blessing (which I started just after finishing MDZS).

Now, as a whole, I feel like even though I loved this volume a lot, I cannot exaclty give it a 5 out of 5.
- Part of it is because of the publishing work: I'm not into the style of the illustrations inside the book compared to the 2 others first volumes we just got from Seven Seas. I also think the glossary for words and expression lacked a few things compared to the other 2. On top of that, I feel like I would have liked hardcovers, because my paperback copy, even though it's beautiful, is already having issue with the bending.
- Part of it is because I also feel like the first half of the book is a bit slow. And even though I'm not bothered by this usually, this time, it affected my enjoyement of the book at first. But this last part is entirely personal and I also think it's probably because of my history with the adaptation.

I urge you to try this experience. I think MDZS is a very important work in literature of our era and that it's a most read for anyone who is remotely interested in books, fiction and writing fiction.