Discussion Er Gen vs Cocooned Cow vs I Eat Tomatoes vs Mad Snail

All of these authors are absolutely legendary and don't require much of an introduction. I'm pretty sure many readers on Novel Updates has read at least a few of these authors novels.
Of course, for many readers, none of these authors may be their favorite, after all, their novels aren't for everyone. Many of the best novels are made by new/one-novel/other ethnicity authors, but these four are by far the most well-known in the Chinese translation community.

My personal review and decision:
Er Gen: Probably the most well-known out of these authors. He's written novels like Renegade Immortal (Flagship work), ISSTH (Fan favorite), Pursuit of the Truth (Black sheep), and A will Eternal (newest novel, not including A world worth protecting). His novels tend to shift from being somewhat lighthearted (AWE) to very serious (RI). I honestly can't say more than this because I haven't really gone in-depth reading with his novels.

Cocooned Cow: Both of CC's works are fairly similar in nature, with both MW and TMW having somewhat weird pacing, fortunate encounter, etc. MW is essentially the classic xianxia novel, with TMW being little more unique. However, having finished both novels, they are easy to follow and are fairly enjoyable in my opinion.

I Eat Tomatoes: IET has written the most translated novels out of all the authors, ranging from sci-fi (Swallowed Star) to Fantasy Novels (Coiling Dragon). It is worth noting that I don't really feel like his novels are xianxia, rather, following a more xuanhuan/fantasy approach. IET's novels (especially coiling dragon) definitely have more western influences (such as magic academies), deviating from a typical xianxia. Because of this, his novels are definitely more unique than other authors.

Mad Snail: Have not read his novels, so I don't feel confident to make a decision.

Personally, my vote goes to CC, primarily because I'm a sucker for the traditional, "trashy" xianxia novels. It just feels natural.

Edit: I should have added TJSS

 

Hero Jin(Jin Yong), author of Condor Heroes

 

No doubt, Jin Yong is the absolute OG

 

Mad Snail cause the dude knows how ridiculous his stuff his and rolls with it. The other authors always fluff up their stuff with redundant or superfluous terminology that usually just comes out to be my 'fist bigger than yours', and they do it in such a roundabout way it's painful to read after a certain point.

 

I say ‘I Eat Tomatoes’ prob cus I’ve read most from him, tho I have serious fucking issues with him ever touching a romantic relationship or interpersonal relationships(tbh most authors on this list, just don’t do romance or family stories) his stories are very interesting. Tho that one time where he inserted aliens into a cultivation novel and then made someone with the title ‘God’ line up with other gods to do a formation to beat other ‘gods’ fuck dat

 

I think they have their ‘speciality’ and a have the same fcking shit which is romance. The way that they setup is so trash.i’m not gonna talk about mad snail (cuz mad snail is mad snail Pepehands)

 

I do agree to a certain point, that the "big fist" thing is definitely prevalent. However, I would argue that's what gives xianxia novels their charm.

 

Uh, IDK. IET is the easiest to read, Er Gen tends to over-compensate Mad Snail is a personification of himself, and Cocooned Cow likes to re-write the same exact character over and over.

Pick your poison. In all seriousness, each have their own unique flavor, it's all dependent on what you prefer honestly.

 

Can't agree more. IET's romance is crap.

 

Mao Ni

 

Mao Ni is definitely a great author, its just his novels put me off because they're so much smaller in scale (world-wise) than a xianxia novel.

 

Eh, I feel like most xianxia novels lose their original, exotic charm after you read a couple of them. It pretty much becomes the same thing over and over again, just changed and shoved into a different mold. They have the potential to be good, but they throw away the elements that made them interesting and don't really focus on anything beyond the superficial stuff.

 

this is so true, even more when the mc and characters are reaching the end level power in the novel, is like the dao have multiples path that reach the same end and they take this so serious , and this is so shit writing in my opinion. .
at the start multiple times, at least in the good novels, we have differently types of power, abilities, all being graded and in their own category that we read for multiple chapters with a lot of world building but then the mc or other genius character start mixing them up, creating OP stuff with multiple categories that goes complete against everything it was said before, and the worst is that in the end only the characters that does this mix of abilities is worth something, we rarely have that character that took the one and only power-category and trained to pinnacle with it and have his way in the "big league" with the mc or other characters, and most of the time when we have this type of character is for them to be a stepping stone for some other character or the mc who did not follow the "rules" stated at the start.

 

Er Gen>IET>Cocooned Cow>Mad Snail.

 

Out of everyone here, I guess Er Gen is the best. Mad Snail is out of the equation because he never finished anything. IET wrote the same things but different names. Never read Cocooned Cow.

However, Er Gen is also slowly becoming the generic xianxia that I despised, so everyone lost.

 

All authors I read one novel from (Er Gen: ISSTH, IET: CD, Cocooned Cow: MW, Mad Snail: TDG), possibly tried to read a second and ended up dropping it (IET: The Nine Cauldrons, Cocooned Cow: TMW), and decided not to read any others from them. They all suck with romance.

 

I only finished Coiling Dragon and I Shall Seal the Heavens, as much as I have a soft spot for CD, I already have faith in Lord Fifth

 

IET writes a generic novel that almost defines the modern take on the genre. Its not bad but not that inspiring either.
Er Gen novels tend to piss me off for some reason so hes out.
Cocooned Cow has some good parts of his novel but TMW seemed uninspired as well.
Mad snail should be barred from writing if he never finishes his works.

Cocooned Cow wrote my favorite novel out of these(MW) but IET would be my preferred author due to sustained okayness.

 

Mao Ni>Er Gen>Cuttlefish>....