Finished heaven officialâs blessing and I really enjoyed writing an analysis on helluva boss I want to make this a regular thing because itâs fun so hereâs my thoughts on
Heaven Officialâs Blessing
I think itâs incredibly impressive when someone can make an overarching narrative in which different seemingly disjointed events are significant without A) putting a giant exclamation mark on top saying âREMEMBER THIS IT WILL BE IMPORTANT LATERâ and B) Significantly over or under emphasizing the importance of the scene in the moment. Each event stood on its own and I liked that.
There were several janky sentences and word choices but thatâs a translation issue, this writer clearly knows what sheâs doing.
Characters were a lot of fun and distinct, my favorites were Feng Xin, Pei Ming, Qi Ying, and Ling Wen whenever they were on the page I was like Ah yes, these pages are gonna be enjoyable and I was right, theyâre all delightful (cept the brocade immortal stuff, but like I donât care, Google assistant is fun) Xie Lian and San Lang are delightful, love them, and San Lang is so effed in the head itâs enjoyable to try and imagine what unhinged thing heâll do next
Tbh there isnât much plot breakdown I want to do with this series because it knows what it is, itâs a fanfic ass book with good times, trauma, gay fluff, and fights. Need I say more? Thatâs not a detractor, itâs a strength. Be what you are and own it because a house with a houseâs foundation is a great house but slap a building on that houseâs foundation and it fails in both regards.
The only aspect Iâm going to analyze is the narrative voice the books are written in because holy crap is it super impressive. Xie Lian is a super mature (or ditzy, depending on your point of view) character, he doesnât dwell on things, doesnât hold grudges, doesnât really care that much about peopleâs histories or even their present, doesnât focus much on externals and it comes through in the way the book is written. I noticed this when throughout the books San Lang would do fucked up stuff like make it rain blood and kill a pitâs worth of people and Xie Lian kinda didnât really seem to care and at first it pissed me off, why isnât the author letting consequences occur because of these peoplesâ actions, but then as it held consistently throughout the book and other people kept being super concerned about stuff, like Pei Constantly asking after Shi Qingxuan (I donât know how to spell their name, itâs so hard to keep track Iâm so sorry) or people bringing up Banue, I realized this is just Xie Lian, other people in the book are regular people like me, this one guy is just experiencing things, going âWell, ainât that somethingâ and then just moving on. Honestly iconic, but also I was halfway through book six when I realized. Especially since whenever they do flashbacks Xie Lian does all normal stuff. He describes settings heâs in, he mentions events that happened a few pages ago, he tells the reader how he feels, itâs after he experiences all his shit he goes through that this all kinda slips away. In âpresentâ scenes heâll reference things as they come up but like in the flashback after Mu Qing leaves they talk about it a few times and I find that aspect of acknowledgment to be noticeably absent in the âpresentâ scenes. After the black water arc there is a complete lack of discussion about the frankly trauma inducing event that just transpired but sure Cie Lian, you and San Lang have to not hold hands for the billionth time. At first I thought is this author high but then I realized what shes doing is characterizing through prose which is IMPRESSIVE AS HELL. This may be a point I noticed and am now misremembering the entire series just to bolster my take and if thatâs the case then I shall sheepishly shrug and say Iâm sorry. Iâm not rereading 8 books to write a tumblr review. Maybe if I ever start a YouTube channel
I donât know, I just find it to be an incredible feat of actually good writing when a story is being told through the lens of the main character and you can characterize that character by simply reading the story and seeing how itâs written, not even through dialogue and action. Itâs kinda like the Great Gatsby or a Separate Peace, and itâs super cool that a book like this can accomplish the same thing that makes those classics great. There isnât as much symbolism or analytical potential but those books wouldnât be nearly as impactful as they were without great execution, which this book pulled off in spades.