6.6 KiB
Good cultivation or power up fiction
-
Author: u/user19911506 *
-
URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/8uciyw/good_cultivation_or_power_up_fiction/
-
Score: 8
-
Created: 2018-06-27T19:22:33
Post:
[removed]
Comments:
u/DangerouslyUnstable [+12] (23 minutes later)
Assuming you mean Will Wight's Cradle series, while I enjoy it a lot, I would in no way call it rational fiction. There are no clearly defined rules (e.g. basically anything is possible through some special technique, with no clear limits or restrictions), the protagonist manages to skip a ton of the hard work through deus ex style interventions, bad guys frequently carry the idiot ball, and a lot of stuff seemingly only happens because the plot demands it.
All that being said, check out Worth the Candle. It's a SI portal fantasy where the protagonist is dropped into a world based on the tabletop universes he created on earth. He seemingly has a character sheet that he can view and progresses through the story while leveling up and gaining new skills. This is a terrible description but basically it's really well written, has great characters, and includes the kind of power up mechanic you are asking about (although it's more a slow burn and not the constant crazy ratcheting of power levels seen in things like Cradle)
u/XxChronOblivionxX [+6] (an hour later)
The only xianxia story I've ever really liked is the forum quest Forge of Destiny. Ling Qi definitely does receive a fair amount of good fortune, but it is to a lesser extent than most xianxia, and she works damn hard to climb from the very bottom, supported by a voterbase that does a lot of careful planning and math to ensure optimal resource usage. Very well-written too. Great setting.
Seconding Worth the Candle and White Collar Cultivator, they are both good.
u/WeirdWhirl [+3] (an hour later)
I like The Storm King, a slow burning and western take on cultivation.
There's lots of others I want to recommend, but a lack of rational-ness or the existance of 'grandpa's in rings' disqualifies them.
So I'll talk about my own story, the Dao of Magic for a bit. The main character is thrown onto a medieval dungeon and dragons world after his ascension into a higher realm is blocked. Each artifact - except for a spatial ring containing some food - is built by his own hands and the tennants of science. Lot's of pseudo science, I'm sure, but least I try to reason out all that mystical mumbo jumbo instead of blaming 'endless streams of unfathomable power with an ancient air' without explaining what's really going on.
EDIT: No epubs, but I'm working on an endited version, it should come out soon™-ish.
u/LimeDog [+1] (an hour later)
Thanks for responding to the call, I always enjoyed your work.
I was wondering, with all the experimentation in different cultivation systems, I'm surprised you haven't added Face Cultivators, they are a hallmark of the wuxia genre.
u/None [+1] (3 hours later)
[deleted]
u/abcd_z [+1] (4 hours later)
A reference to the xianxia novel Coiling Dragon, where as a child the protagonist accidentally unlocks a ring that contains the ghost of a very powerful cultivator, who in turn teaches the protagonist. The cultivator calls himself Grandpa Doehring.
I think a few other xianxia novels may have also borrowed this plot point.
u/None [+1] (5 hours later)
[deleted]
u/abcd_z [+2] (8 hours later)
Survival. He got his butt kicked by two other cultivators and bound his soul into the ring to avoid death.
u/LimeDog [+2] (28 minutes later)
White Collar Cultivator (Hiatus)
Dao of Magic (ongoing)
u/user19911506 [+1] (29 minutes later)
Hey, can you briefly describe what you like about them ?
u/LimeDog [+2] (38 minutes later)
WCC is a forum quest style story. Protagonist is isekaied into a cultivator world to perform roles as a desk jockey, and tends to poke fun at the genre in general through desconstion habits. Great way of having non-cultivation readers and season readers introduced to cultivation tropes and worlds.
DoM is more a rational protagonist, applying a rational lens to cultivation. Also deconstructive in nature. The author posts them here occasionally. He can probably say something better. /u/WeirdWhirl
u/user19911506 [+1] (an hour later)
And WCC is on hiatus ? I would like to start only those books which have a chance of being completed
u/LimeDog [+2] (an hour later)
He'll be back I'm pretty sure, its just the author has some family issues that came up recently, plus you will really miss out on a unique take on the wuxia genre. Try two posts, see if you like it. It is my preferred option when it comes to rationalist wuxia.
u/elevul [+1] Cyoria Observer (an hour later)
Any epub available by chance
u/LimeDog [+1] (an hour later)
Not that I am aware of. If the DoM author responds to the Batphone, he might have some options for you.
u/WeirdWhirl [+1] (an hour later)
Thanks for the shoutout and the link to WCC, I've been looking for that story but forgot the name.
u/Accord_ [+2] Chaos Legion (3 hours later)
Forty Milenniums of Cultivation : https://www.webnovel.com/book/6838665402001705
As recommended by EY himself
u/MaddoScientisto [+1] (2 hours later)
This is the second time I run into fictions that use the same terms like qi and cultivation, I thought it was an original creation but now I'm not so sure, is this kind of thing based on some real life beliefs or culture?
u/ben_sphynx [+1] (3 hours later)
I found something with a definition:
https://immortalmountain.wordpress.com/glossary/wuxia-xianxia-xuanhuan-terms/#cultivation
u/LimeDog [+1] (8 hours later)
Just a chinese fantasy genre. I think it does have some oral history roots, but they never made it to the western world.
Think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Great Wall, and the huge category of chinese fantasy movies with bad cgi on netflix.
u/MaddoScientisto [+1] (10 hours later)
And here I thought that forty millenniums of cultivation literally meant 40000 years of farming