Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (Novel) Vol. 1 by Mò Xiāng Tóng XiùRATING: 3 STARS
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“If you’re a BL fan, you have heard of this or at least come across the MDZS donghua or the live drama, The Untamed—so when the opportunity arose to read the novel with the official English translation, of course I jumped on the bandwagon. But was the translation up to par? Absolutely not.
The amount of missing lines/paragraphs and mistranslations were absurd. The English did not flow naturally and felt more like a fan translation than anything so I was a bit baffled on why this was published professionally if the translations weren’t 100% accurate. Were there no professional translators or editors hired? And let’s talk about the price. Sure the photos are stunning but for a poor quality novel—not worth the price whatsoever.
Nonetheless, being one of the first BL novels I have ever read, the nostalgia of MDZS brought back a lot of fun memories when it was first fansubbed online years ago. The beautiful imagery, engaging storyline, unique blend of characters, world-building, tradition, etc. will make me come back to this novel eh… more so the donghua/live action drama time and time again.
