Recommendations Kingdom building.

Discussion in 'I'm Looking For...' started by Aqualistic, Jan 14, 2021.

  1. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    步步生莲
    大争之世
    Both of these books are proper historical novels where the protagonist has to face very tough obstacles. They don't even start off with their kingdoms so they end up having to do a ton of work to even get started. These books have great writing and some of the best dialogue you'll come across. What's even more unusual is that they are harem novels where a lot of care is put into the female characters and they end up having some of the best stories.

    Interestingly, I find that the the best kingdom building novels are ones where the protagonist is not the highest ranking leader. This generally allows for more types of stories to develop and for a greater variety in story lines. Also these books are easier to be engrossed in when there is little or no supernatural powers at play.

    Is it a historical novel though? Doesn't it take place in a different world?
     
  2. Aqualistic

    Aqualistic Well-Known Member

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    That's true but I get annoyed when an MC is tossed around by nobles and those in power with novels that are 1000+ chapters. I think what I currently want to read are MC uses their brain to overcome obstacles and be a person who's in control of his fate - since it's a historically maybe someone who could easily overthrow a dynasty, fiction so not 100% realistic

    Yes it is historical.
    the other one enjoy was The System Force me to be the Emperor. Antagonists and order characters are well written compare to most rebirth historical novels. The Antagonist can be really scheming to.
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2021
  3. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    See, the difficulty with having to navigate established power systems is one of the things I like about this kind of book! It makes these stories more grounded and gives them a strong social aspect. There's just a very strong sense of action to reaction to escalation; with many layers of consequence to add yet more flavor to the whole thing.

    In books where the protagonist is the ruler a lot of this goes away and there's a tendency to make them too much of a wish fulfillment so they just tend to feel less meaty. Examples of this are the aforementioned "King of Mercenaries" and "地中海霸主之路". There's just less friction in these books than I'd like and so the characters don't feel as much like real people as I'd like.

    What dynasty does it take place in?
     
  4. Aqualistic

    Aqualistic Well-Known Member

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    Okay nvm, I checked its a parallel world. Read too many historical novels, So everything is the same before 3 kingdoms and MC transmigrated to the Kingdom of Great Yu. I don't mind wish-fulfillment as long as the novels are interesting and not dumb where MC basically get anything without putting the effort and brain in.

    can you give me minors spoilers to the two novels you mentioned?
     
  5. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    I find that the difference between full blown historical novels and fake historical novels is that writers tackle the latter when they don't have the guts to write the former. I don't entirely blame them because writing historical novels requires the writer know a lot of historical detail. In the West, writers can get away with faking it a bit, but Chinese readers will pick up on the slightest error (at least when it comes to Chinese history) and make make the writer feel miserable.

    However, with this risk comes with a lot of advantages. The biggest one is that it effectively gives the writer a premade world that's a hundred times more detailed than any fantasy world can be; with tons of premade characters and stories ready to use. And all of it is all the more believable because it's about things that actually happened. (And these books tend to be great for having a bunch of cute old guys in them!)

    步步生莲
    This story takes place in early Song Dynasty, around 975 CE. The protagonist starts off as a servant in a rice merchant household but gets driven out. He ends up inadvertently building a small power base in the northwestern frontier and eventually builds it up in the face of all neighboring enemies. The protagonist in this story is really smart and he constantly comes up with fantastic plans. But what's really great is how some of these long term plans get flipped on their head and the plot transforms from the established story line to become something completely different.

    大争之世
    The protagonist in this story is the crown prince of the Kingdom of Wu in 515 BCE. The story begins right after his father is assassinated and his uncle seizes the throne. He moves to a neighboring kingdom and has to navigate the complex politics of the era so that he can build an army that can retake his kingdom. This book has a ton of notable historical figures including the like of Confucius and Sun-tzu.

    The problem with these books is that they're written in an older style of Chinese, and with a ton of specialized terms, so they're probably not going to MTL very well.
     
  6. Aqualistic

    Aqualistic Well-Known Member

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    Rip, I can only MTL lol
     
  7. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    How well does "Iron Dynasty" work in MTL?
     
  8. Aqualistic

    Aqualistic Well-Known Member

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    I had no problem
     
  9. apsisodia

    apsisodia Well-Known Member

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    Is Iron Dynasty that good? There's lots of comments on mtlnovel that the novel contains racism and extreme nationalism. I want to read good Kingdom Building novel. should i read it?
     
  10. Aqualistic

    Aqualistic Well-Known Member

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    Just give it a go. If you really really really detest nationalism just drop it before MC begin world conquest. I already read so far so i skips bits and pieces to finish reading.
    Nationalism is why i barely read any modern CN novels authors always freaking ruins it by portraying Chinese as a superior race while the rest are racist, psychopaths or something disgusting when their government is literally no different from dictatorship. Plus the authors main villains where always Chinese so their arguments weren’t really convincing
     
  11. Hanada

    Hanada Well-Known Member

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    Is there a site where I can read
    The System Forces Me to Be the Emperor translated?
     
  12. Aqualistic

    Aqualistic Well-Known Member

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    I usually download raw txt and translate them with google and then transfer them to my reading app. But I think you can read them onlihne at MTLNovel
     
  13. FIEND

    FIEND i eat crayons

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    Kingdoms bloodline
     
  14. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    If that's the case you can probably give the other books a shot. I spot checked "Iron Dynasty" and the writing isn't that different. They're probably quite different from each other though as "Iron Dynasty" seems to be more interested in management and powering up whereas my books are more about the adventure and interpersonal sides of things.
     
  15. Aqualistic

    Aqualistic Well-Known Member

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    I probably wont then. Recommend me novels if you have somethign similar to Iron Dynasty or The system force me to be the emperor. Historical with little to no xianxia bullshit - I guess wuxia/fantasy is fine. Good world-building too not like those "I have billion points ***" where MC keep progress with lightning speed, you barely know where he's at and the next chpater he's already advancing to diffrent location.
     
  16. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    If that's your criteria, then those books would be fine. They don't have superpowers or anything like that. Instead they concentrate on rock-solid world building and strong characterization. They differ from "Iron Dynasty" in how they go about telling the story more than what kind of story it is.
     
  17. Sora26467

    Sora26467 Active Member

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    Lord Wants To Be An Emperor - 想当皇帝的领主

    Its a good book, of kingdom building
     
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