Well, it was webtoons two years back, and it’s Chinese webnovels now. I wish Japanese and Korean webnovels got as much attention as Chinese webnovels (in free translation sphere that is), but let’s just be happy with what we have.

So, today I thought that since I have been lamenting about how I have got addicted to Chinese webnovels since last year, I could make an introductory post for these after all.

If you have been reading my posts, last year I said that my fascination with the webnovels started after I fell in love with all those tomb raiding dramas I was watching: the lost tomb, mystic nine, etc. While these introduced me to some amazing actors and actresses, they also made me frantically search for webnovels they were based on, since this is C-dramas we are talking about: abrupt endings and no news of new seasons. To my dismay, I couldn’t find the tomb raiding novels, but I did find novels in other genres.

One of the first I read was when a snail falls in love. It’s a detective story and I do have a review prepared for it, I hope I’ll be able to clean it up soon. Anyway, that’s how I got hooked. Waiting for translations of each chapter is similar to waiting for webtoon/ scanlations chapters each week. That’s just talking about websites that are able to release less chapters per week. Websites like Qidian release somewhere between 1-3 chapters per day for almost all novels.

Coming to sources, where you can read those, one of my go to places is webnovel.com (Qidian). You would need to sign up to read the stories and there is a payment system, which, if utilized properly, doesn’t require any form of money out of your pocket.

So basically, to unlock the chapters of some premium novels (read: all popular novels) you need something called spirit stones (SS). You get some as a welcome gift, you can earn some by daily check-ins, watching an ad, voting for the novels etc. With everything, you manage to earn anywhere from 25 to 40 SS per day. If you are not reading that many premium novels, you spend about 3-20 SS per chapter. If you’re still falling behind, you can always invite yourself and make another account. Double the SS, double the fun. Here is my referral just btw: http://wbnv.in/k9FzVG

The problem with Qidian is the sheer amount of similar novels. There are two types there, one is romance novels with super high EQ/ super awesome abilities male-female pair out of which one has to be super rich, even on positions of CEO (if set in modern era) or God/ Emporer (if set in some fantasy would). Other type is fantasy martial arts/ cultivation stuff. A lot of them also involve transmigration of the lead to some other world. One gets really bored after sometime tbh.

Other favorite source of mine is novelupdates.com. This website curates all the translations at one place. It directs you to the respective website, of course, but you are able to keep a track at least. They also have a collection of Japanese fan-translated novels. Which makes it much more awesome for you can find different genres.

The only actual fan-translation group I follow is Meraki translations. They put so much love in their posts and provide really high quality in translation as well as novels themselves. They were the one who actually got me really into all this Chinese webnovel scene.

Any recommendations for first time readers, you ask? Well, I would probably go with “When a Snail Falls in Love” for now, since I haven’t really read that many. Another one that I have finished recently is “Bringing Nation’s Husband Home”. It’s a love story, very frustrating at that, so I wouldn’t really recommend it per se. Honestly, there are so many novels that I feel so frustrated reading but they are insanely popular.

Anyway, they are good for time pass, and you might be able to find real gems. I don’t know how they are written in Chinese, languagewise, but in English translations, the language is rather simple. Anyone with basic English skills can read them easily. Why don’t you guys give them a try and let me know how you found them?

Today’s song: I have gone into song rut and don’t have any new songs after Amber’s playlist. I went into podcast mode and don’t listen to songs at all these days. But I can always go to my previous playlists and so, I’ll post one from this amazing pop-star Jolin Tsai. I love her songs, bold lyrics and bolder MVs. She was on my playlist for 2 months before Amber’s mixtape release.