Oh boy, Qi Peijia's back at it again, with hopefully another banger.The quality of writing is generally really good these first 40 chapters. The conflict with the MC's family at the start, and the way society and familial relationships have changed (as briefly described by the author) feels really nice- it's always felt to me that in the far future, where lifespan is less of an issue, emotional ties would inevitably get weaker and people would become more liberal. This is probably the first novel I've read which encapsulates this idea, where the third son is sacrificed for the greater good. The dialogue itself is pretty good, and the English names are not that bad, unlike a lot of other Chinese novels.I was excited with LotM-esque acting/synchronisation with apostles, but that's barely been mentioned or reared its head.Here come the complaints.I may be biased because I just do not like novels which come under the theme of "MC travelling to experience other worlds for the sake of enriching their own". It's great for an author who can write well, because they essentially get access to multiple different settings in one novel. The issue is that in most other novels, these worlds do not intersect with the main one, character interactions are never invested in, and therefore never effect the MC in any particular way. I've a feeling it'll be different this time, with the first two apostles being sent to the same world, but the issue with character development remains- those side characters who the MC meets in Terra are pretty 2D. They aren't interesting at all, and the world background there is also really basic. The death of Will, who they only knew for a week, was overreacted- nobody would feel that sort of exaggerated emotional connection, regardless of what they'd done for you in that time in comparison to other characters who they'd lived and fought aside for much longer, like Dean. (Though Baron/Barong's reaction was more realistic, grieving for the loss of talent rather than Will himself).I fundamentally disagree with the way Terrans treat strangers in the alt world, and also the methods of the hunters. You'd expect an experienced hunter, who's spent their entire life fighting monsters and subterraneans, to be capable of devising early warning systems, or other methods to combat ambushes etc. Apparently not. Second, the author says they trust easily to unite against common enemies, which is just untrue no matter how you mince this matter. Wherever there's power, there's politics and therefore conflict. This is always true, regardless of sophistication. Enough said.Lastly, the character change and adaptation for the MC is too abrupt. Either the author rushed the change, or he didn't explain the MC's original feelings towards his family that well. I'm inclined towards the former. Firstly, no matter how gifted your "battle instincts" are, it just seems far to unrealistic to immediately be capable of fighting a mutant monster straight from nightmares on your first experience. Instincts are also not Matrix-esque powers, but reflex movements made WITHOUT and BEFORE thinking, good instincts do NOT allow you to see things in eagle-eye vision in slow motion. That's a different superpower all together. Next, one week's time is not enough time for a character's behaviour and personality to undergo a complete change, to the point where his own family would not recognise him. This is rushed, and I'm a little dissapointed.To be honest, the way the MC acts is pretty similar to Old Driver Xiao, from TLM, I don't really have an issue with that, due to the familiarity, but I thought it was worth putting out here.Anyway, that's all for now. Despite my criticisms, I really hope this novel improves (and is selected), it's far better than the other trash in this queue despite its flaws, which I also hope it can improve upon.I also have a hunch that Peijia is going to put a twist on this genre that's been nothing but failures from its conception, so stay tuned, I s'pose.~Jezza.
