TFAI is one of my favorite cultivation debuts in a long time. The sequel was nearly as good. Valentine's prose is top notch for the genre and the world he's building is impressive! Solid review!
Agreed! I was super impressed by the prose on this one. Progression fantasy tends to not emphasize that so much, which made this a real standout for me.
First off great video. I am interested in this book and cultivation fantasy as a whole. Side note I’m getting tired of or phones watching and listening to us 😭. I looked up what is cultivation fantasy in my work computer 1 hour later I get a notification of your video 😂
Like all progression fantasy I don't think it's for everyone for sure. This is absolutely a niche genre, but one that is steadily picking up steam here in the west, part of the reason I wanted to highlight it!
@@Paul_Todkill My issue isn't that it's niche but that it's bad. For the most part cultivation fantasy is nothing more than naked power fantasy. The plots are weak, the characters are card board cutout Mary Sue's and the most offensive part is that they are a waste of time. Like I said there are a couple of exceptions, but if you have watched or read Solo Leveling you have seen or read 99% of progression fantasy. I will say that an example of cultivation fantasy done well is Dragon Heart series by Kirill Klevanski. I am not someone who thinks because I like something it's good, or because I dislike something it's bad. But cultivation fantasy is a trash genre at the moment. Which sucks because there is real potential there. What makes me skeptical of it's future is the fact that I understand the connection cultivation fantasy has with semen retention (and if you think I am kidding I am not). So long as it keeps it's connection to the philosophy cultivation is rooted in and so long as it continues to try and appeal to incels it can't be good. The reason is because that mindset is incapable of creating good art. Which is why there are so few good cultivation novels.
That's the first I've ever heard about semen retention... I think people like them because they're cheap, easy popcorn novels. They're basically dollar store romance novels, but for men. Like most progression fantasy, they're not meant to be high literature, and that's okay! Not everything has to be for everyone.
@@Paul_Todkill please don't mistake me. Some of my favorite reads are junk food novels. But there's junk food (you probably shouldn't eat too much of this) and junk food (this is poisonous and will give you cancer).
TFAI is one of my favorite cultivation debuts in a long time. The sequel was nearly as good. Valentine's prose is top notch for the genre and the world he's building is impressive! Solid review!
Agreed! I was super impressed by the prose on this one. Progression fantasy tends to not emphasize that so much, which made this a real standout for me.
I hope you had a good day today, Paul
I hope you do too!
Sounds worth a shot. Thanks!
First off great video. I am interested in this book and cultivation fantasy as a whole. Side note I’m getting tired of or phones watching and listening to us 😭. I looked up what is cultivation fantasy in my work computer 1 hour later I get a notification of your video 😂
Aha thank you! In Google's defense they do *own* TH-cam so at least it's just trying to be helpful 😭
I'd recommend looking into Lord of the Mysteries webnovel
the best webnovel i have ever read made everything else seem shallow and trash
sounds cool :)
I hate cultivation fantasy so much. There's like 2 I have read that are actually good.
Like all progression fantasy I don't think it's for everyone for sure. This is absolutely a niche genre, but one that is steadily picking up steam here in the west, part of the reason I wanted to highlight it!
@@Paul_Todkill My issue isn't that it's niche but that it's bad. For the most part cultivation fantasy is nothing more than naked power fantasy. The plots are weak, the characters are card board cutout Mary Sue's and the most offensive part is that they are a waste of time. Like I said there are a couple of exceptions, but if you have watched or read Solo Leveling you have seen or read 99% of progression fantasy.
I will say that an example of cultivation fantasy done well is Dragon Heart series by Kirill Klevanski.
I am not someone who thinks because I like something it's good, or because I dislike something it's bad. But cultivation fantasy is a trash genre at the moment. Which sucks because there is real potential there.
What makes me skeptical of it's future is the fact that I understand the connection cultivation fantasy has with semen retention (and if you think I am kidding I am not). So long as it keeps it's connection to the philosophy cultivation is rooted in and so long as it continues to try and appeal to incels it can't be good. The reason is because that mindset is incapable of creating good art.
Which is why there are so few good cultivation novels.
That's the first I've ever heard about semen retention... I think people like them because they're cheap, easy popcorn novels. They're basically dollar store romance novels, but for men. Like most progression fantasy, they're not meant to be high literature, and that's okay! Not everything has to be for everyone.
@@Paul_Todkill please don't mistake me. Some of my favorite reads are junk food novels. But there's junk food (you probably shouldn't eat too much of this) and junk food (this is poisonous and will give you cancer).