A Counterfeit Glory.
'Gate of Revelation' has a good concept, and it is implemented rather well, specially how the characters are connected to each other.
However, like many Chinese novels, this one, too, suffers from what I call the 'Counterfeit Glory', which means exaggerating and glorifying everything Chinese, and rejecting and shaming other cultures and traditions.
I have never, until now, written a review to diss a novel, this is the first time. The trigger was in Chapter 637, where a character, named Yang Lin says to a Swiss woman that she doesn't know integrity as her country proclaimed to stay neutral while secretly helping the nazis.
So the question that arises is, is China a righteous country ?
We won't go into details and create a debate whether China is a good or bad country - it has no end to it.
No country is righteous, that is one we must accept. It feels so sad to see such biased views in a novel you like reading.
Writers like Dancing, and that of novels like "I'm really a superstar" need to learn from Er Mu, the writer of 'Release That Witch'.
RTW has a mature protagonist, who does not spend his time dissing others, nor is he a loser who acts arrogantly because of some system. and he surely does not show himself off like a superstar after stealing other people's works. RTW also acknowledges and respects homosexuals. Where other authors create vicious jokes on them, Er Mu surprisingly shows us the touching romance and love between two females, Princess Tilly and Ashes. This shows the difference between these authors.
There are two things that I find are present in poor quality novels, like this one - 1) Arrogance 2) Irresponsible and cowardice.
1) A protagonist needs to be strong and still humble. If he is not a good person, and cannot be used as a reference for self improvement, why the hell must we read that novel ? Although Chen Xiaolian acts as a good person, there are many instances where we see his overly arrogant side which is usually unnecessary. The various scenes of discrimination are enough to provide proof.
2) A protagonist is a leader and a winner. There is no use and no reason for us to read a story about a loser- after all, there are many losers while there is only one winner. So it is very irritating to see a protagonist which has strength to act cowardly and selfishly. There is no need for me to write much, a comparison between 'Roland Wimbledon' from Release that Witch and Chen Xiaolian from Gate of Revelation is enough to tell that.
In short, it is a pity to lose such excellent works just because of their author's biased thoughts.
