Reading Diary: Qiang Jin Jiu: Ballad of Sword and Wine by Tang Jiu Qing

Here is a synopsis from the publisher:

Shen Zechuan is the eighth son of the traitorous Prince of Jianxing, a man who doomed his cities and people to destruction at the hands of the foreign enemy. As the only surviving member of his reviled line, Shen Zechuan is dragged to the capital in chains. He bears the hatred of the nation, but no one’s hate burns hotter than that of Xiao Chiye, the youngest son of the powerful Prince of Libei.

Xiao Chiye would love nothing more than to see Shen Zechuan dead–but against all odds, he clings to life. Rather than succumb to his family’s disgrace, he becomes a thorn in Xiao Chiye’s side, clawing his way into the cutthroat political world of the capital. Yet as these two bitter enemies beat against the bonds of their fate, they find themselves kindred spirits, unlikely allies…and perhaps something more.

I am branching out in danmei with my first new-to-me story (as in, I haven’t seen an adaptation or read something by the author before), Ballad of Sword and Wine. I finished Stars of Chaos over the winter break and was at Barnes and Noble and bought a few books to try out. This story seems to be a fairly straightforward fantasy novel, with lots of political intrigue — the synopsis quoted above lays it out pretty well. I had a bit of a hard time getting into it at first because i had a hard time keeping track of factions and the provinces (?)/ clans within the Empire, but this is, as the kids say, a skill issue on my part and something I struggle with when I read high fantasy. But I used my good reader skills (and the novel Wiki and map and character lists) and got into the plot.

The main pair is super toxic to start with — this is an enemies-to-lovers story, which isn’t normally something I like, but so far, I feel like the author is putting in strong characterization work to make their relationship development pay off well. From what I’ve read (I have seen a few spoilers as well), Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye become Ride or Die in a sort of Thelma and Louise way (but with a better ending), and I think it will be an enjoyable story to follow.

I’ve gotten more squeamish about violence in fiction as I’ve gotten older, so I was a little nervous going in. I didn’t see anything on content warning lists that really pinged for me, so I decided to go for it and read the book. There are a few YIKES moments as the intrigue unfolds, but they have, so far, been deftly handled and minimally described (or they happen offscreen), similar to the levels in, say, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. There is one instance of animal cruelty in volume one that is awful, but when I realized what was happening, I could skip ahead. It fit the plot but it was also not something I wanted to read the details of.

I was going to wait to start volume 2 until I’d read a few more of the books I bought over break, but I am really interested to see where the characters go, so I got the ebook version to read on my phone when I’m like on the metro or something.

Update (even though I haven’t yet posted as I write this): I zipped through volumes 2 and 3 and now I have to wait until May for volume 4 (and there are 8 volumes in total, I think) — I have played myself.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters. I saw some commentary on Tumblr that posited Shen Zechuan is what Meng Yao could have been if he’d been acknowledged from the start and if he’d had some real support. I can kind of see it. Shen Zechuan is illegitimate but raised in his father’s household until he is seven (although he is definitely neglected and abused by the maids who actually raise him and by his older brothers). When he’s seven, all the illegitimate sons are sent to other places to be actually raised. Shen Zechuan is sent to the Ji family, who actually takes care of him. He has about eight years of a stable, loving upbringing, and then the tragedy that starts the story happens. From fifteen to twenty, he’s a prisoner in the capital, but he’s fortunate that he gets a teacher and that his shifu, Ji Gang, survived the massacre at the beginning of the book, so he’s turned into the weapon he becomes, which fuels a lot of tragedy. Shen Zechuan becomes completely ruthless, and he kills a LOT of people. BUT he still has support throughout, especially once Xiao Chiye shifts from enemy to lover.

And that shift from enemies to lovers is so interesting. There’s a lot of lust at the root, but once they actually start to get to know each other, they see how much their goals — well, they don’t necessarily align but they also don’t conflict each other, because I think Xiao Chiye would have fought Shen Zechuan if he truly decided to get in his way. As it is, their conflict becomes their foreplay, but at a really crucial point in the narrative, they are truly (literally) ride or die.

And now I have to wait to see how the story plays out.

Reading Diary: Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper

The full title didn’t fit in the subject line; it is Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World.

Here is a synopsis from Good Reads:

Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerd” (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. While in the park one morning in May 2020, Cooper was engaged in the birdwatching ritual that had been a part of his life since he was ten years old when what might have been a routine encounter with a dog walker exploded age-old racial tensions. Cooper’s viral video of the incident would send shock waves through the nation.

In Better Living Through Birding, Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life leading up to the now-infamous incident in Central Park and shows how a life spent looking up at the birds prepared him, in the most uncanny of ways, to be a gay, Black man in America today. From sharpened senses that work just as well at a protest as in a park to what a bird like the Common Grackle can teach us about self-acceptance, Better Living Through Birding exults in the pleasures of a life lived in pursuit of the natural world and invites you to discover them yourself.

Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and primer on the art of birding, this is Cooper’s story of learning to claim and defend space for himself and others like him, from his days at Marvel Comics introducing the first gay storylines to vivid and life-changing birding expeditions through Africa, Australia, the Americas, and the Himalayas. Better Living Through Birding recounts Cooper’s journey through the wonderful world of birds and what they can teach us about life, if only we would look and listen.

Like millions of others, I learned about Christian Cooper through the spotlight of this racist incident in Central Park. I’d seen the footage he shot passed around social media and in compilations with titles like “Karens Ruin Their Lives!” Which, yeah. But I’m also a novice birder, so that’s what drew me to this memoir.

This book was very easy to read. Cooper has an engaging voice and has led an interesting life. There is less birding than I hoped for. I think I wanted something more like World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, a collection of autobiographical essays each centered on a plant or animal. However, since I’ve been “reading” that book for about two years now, it’s probably a good thing Cooper’s book is a more linear, straightforward memoir, or I might have found it too easy to put down and leave.

I recommend this book if you want to read about an interesting life. Cooper seems like a cool guy, and I enjoyed spending time with him through this book.