Review Detail of Kergonan in The Legendary Mechanic

The Legendary Mechanic is the first and apparently the only novel written by Qi Peijia. I came to it after reading and liking the first 20 or so chapters of the manhua adapted from it. So, was I misguided ? The protagonist, Han Xiao (a.k.a Zero, Black Phantom, latter Black Star), is not a nice person. He is shameless, thick-skined, grudge-holding (although not without reasons), greedy and wicked. But he is also courageous, extremely intelligent, a great strategist, tactician and politician, kind to his allies (current and prospective) and determined to reach his long terms (overly good) goals by any practical means, even if it involves working with former or potential enemies. He has a few quirks like being an excellent combat driver/pilot (though his nauseous and vomiting passengers might disagree). In short, he is the perfect anti-hero for the setting of the novel, as I can only compair him to Gargoyles' David Xanatos. The rest of the cast goes from good to excellent. Whether they are friends or foes, they are never black or white, but all exist in shades of grey. Pretty much every named character has its own motivation, personality, merits, flaws and quirks, which conditions its interactions to the others, so that the shift of relationships (from helpful to neutral to antagonistic and vice-versa) feel logical and natural. The main antagonists (like the Germinal leader) have good reasons to be so, sometimes you are even sympathetic to them. Likewise, the allies (like Hila or Kasuyi) don't help Han Xiao out of sheer goodwill, but because their short or long terms goals converge with his or because they feel like them owe him. Also, the "players" characters are well made too, as the author clearly give them psychologies that humans would have if their were playing a MMO. Oh yes, because the setting is a "video game"... although the world is shown the be real when the game is not on... well, I can't tell you what is really going on without MAJOR spoilers. Let's just says this: Han Xiao, great player/pusher in the "Galaxy" MMO, ends up in the universe of the game (in the body of a minor, unknown character), but into the past, even before the first closed beta, and the world is to him as real as his original's was. He then uses his knowledge of the game (both the setting and the system) in order to not only survive the various major crisis, but also strenghten himself and latter his faction (in fact, a good deal of his efforts are made in order to delay, counter and beat one of worst antagonist faction of the setting). In this sense, the background and the plot are those of a great space opera. But there are periods of time during which the players access the game, where they appear as quirky "Immortals" (for their ability to resurrect). Their actions and presence has major effects on the setting, as their avatars get the usual boons (leveling up) and drawbacks (level caps) one has when playing a MMORPG. Plus, the players have their lives around and outside the game, as it is visible in the game's forum. It results into a very original setting with two pretty different moods, as the players don't appear inside the "Galaxy" universe when it "updates", and it results in periods of time when the players aren't present (which are mere days for the MMO's users, but take months, years and even decades for Galaxy's inhabitants). On a side note, Qi Peijia's bias toward Chinese players is pretty obvious, but it does not go (too much) into obnoxious nationalism. Han Xiao takes full advantage of his knowledge of the setting, system and players to move forward in a story rich in cliffhanger and plot twists, but it is no smooth sailing, since the protagonist knows a lot of the background of Galaxy (and makes the most of it), but he does not know everything (in fact he discovers numerous elements which surprise even him). Furthermore, his presence and interventions on an ever greater scale change the History of the setting from his time as a player, first in relatively minor ways but in the end in decisively, often for the better. The power system is well made, divided into two parts: First, it is based on the five MMORPG basic main classes that when maxed open access to stronger evolved classes, as well as a number of various secondary classes which grants more specialized skills, but are less powerful. The five basic classes are Pugilists (Ki using martial artists), Mages (mana spellcasters), Psychics (mental power users), Espers (super-power users, think X-Men or Stormwatch) and Mechanics (machine makers and users). All of them are well-made but we only get a in-depth exposition of the Mechanic class and its evolutions, and only the pure Mechanic branch at that (the others, Mechanical Pugilist and Cannon Master, are set aside), which can be a letdown for the curious. Second, at various level caps, the character goes into a race evolution (influenced both by its inate genetics and external factors), which will raise its overall power, but also grants him a variety of skills depending on the selected evolution branch. The one taken by the protagonist is quite interesting and in fact opens a number of story hooks. Finally, Han Xiao status of transmigratted player offers him quite a few boons, including the player interface, quest prompt, leveling like a player and more (equally relevant) abilities, all of which are related to a major plot of the tale. The translation is good, even very good, but not excellent, as there remain typos, mistranslations and confusions of words even in the last part of the novel. Still, it does not impair the reader understanding of the plot. So, no, I was not misguided. With an excellent main character, an equally awesome cast, a great setting and a very good but incomplete power system, all in the service of a wonderful story generously sprinkled with a healthty dose of good (adult) humor and irony, The Legendary Mechanic is one of the best space opera/MMO novel I've read. Qi Peijia was able to perfectly mix the two genres into a delectable adventure which will keep you on edge until the last chapter. Its only remarkable flaws are the "incomplete" power system and a translation which never breaks into the excellence territory. My final verdict is a 9 out of 10, and a 10 out of 10 if the translation is ever corrected. If the author can keep the same level of quality in his future works, I'll read them with pleasure. Thanks to Qi Peijia for writing this novel and to chickenpau, Chocolion, AtlasStudios and Chuchutrain for translating it.