Cang Wu Bin Bai

Historic romance with a ton of twisty politics and maybe some fictionalization. No wuxia, no one flies standing on a sword, but a fair bit of interesting stuff about China. Fu Shen, illustrious general protecting the northern border of Great Zhou, has been targeted for assassination by the increasingly paranoid Emperor, but survived -- only to be forced into an arranged marriage with the Emperor's Sword, his Imperial Investigator Yan Xiaohan. All the world thinks these two men hate each other, but are loyal to Great Zhou and the Emperor. Fu Shen survives the attempt, but his legs are crippled, seemingly forever, so that the army he commands can now be controlled by the Emperor.

But that's just the surface. Fu Shen and Yan Xiaohan have a history of secrets, love, and betrayal between them. Being forced into a marriage by the Emperor (marriage between men of the noble class is condoned, in part to accept same sex relationships, and in part to control progeny inheritance complications) forces them not only to repair their relationship, but to combine their efforts to protect their nation, as there's a great conspiracy against the Emperor boiling up, carefully hidden,

I love a good slow burn romance, and I love strong characters. I enjoy historical detail, too. All of them combine in this book, which really worked for me. I kept being surprised. The usual tropes got messed with. I kept teasing myself with it, wanting the book to last a while and wanting to finish it all right away.

Caveats -- this is a translation, but a good one. Dialogue attribution is very different in translated Chinese fiction from what most English language readers find normal, and that takes a bit of adjustment. Pronouns tended to get a bit tangled here and there. Other than that, I thought the prose flowed nicely, occasionally quite beautifully.… (altro)

A rather enjoyable historical fiction m/m story focused on political intrigue and two guys who sorta hate each other, sorta love each other. Part 1 gets to be pretty dark at times, including attempted and successful assassination, a literal puppy stabbing, clan erasure up to attempted child murder, abusing disabled people, abusive family dynamics, torture confessions, intentional drug addiction, one of the protagonists forcing someone to have a miscarriage, and a variety of other things I've forgotten. I nearly didn't read this because people kept saying it's the most tooth-rotting fluff they've ever come across, even too much for people who like fluff, and I think that phrase does not mean what people think it means.

In a way this does read as post-canon fanfiction, in the sense that the protagonists do have a long history together and care for each other, and Yan Xiaohan is particularly in love with Fu Shen. But a lot of is them both having to work together to deal with a variety of conspiracies and people aiming for power grabs, both intent on their own goals and protecting specific people and groups. And there is a wonderful tension in Fu Shen and Yan Xiaohan's relationship, where you're not always sure if they'll agree or bite each other to death or something (or in Fu Shen's case, slap Yan Xiaohan to death). I also really enjoyed the way the story tackles living with physical disabilities, how society is often not designed to support the disabled, how much being disabled changes how you have to live, and how very many opportunities there are in a day to be casually ableist towards someone. Fu Shen's frustration and angry determination to live no differently - while we see the ways he suffers - is depressing and feels somehow real. Having had to modify my life to accommodate my disabilities, it spoke to me a lot.

The most difficulty I had with this was that it's only available in English in physical form, and I've struggled to read physical books lately (I prefer e-books). On top of that, I think Peach Flower House's translation has some issues. There were some typos, but also some weird formatting choices that made it difficult at times to figure out who is talking or if there's been a scene transition. All in all, these didn't ruin the story for me. I eventually got through the book and plan to go on to finish volume 2. I just wish there was an ebook version.

The protagonists are sweet but snippy, and the world they live in is rich but incredibly dangerous, and they navigate it as best they can, sometimes not well. It is when they help each other - and accept that help from their partner - that they shine. Looking forward to part 2.… (altro)