The First Step, blurb
Long Wu Ying never expected to join a Sect or become a real cultivator. His days were spent studying, planting rice on the family farm and spending time with his friends. Fate, however, has different plans for Wu Ying and when the army arrives at his village, he and many other members of the village are conscripted. Given the opportunity to join the Verdant Green Waters Sect, Wu Ying must decide between his pedestrian, common life and the exciting, blood soaked life of a cultivator.
Join Wu Ying as he takes his first step on his Thousand Li journey to become an immortal cultivator.
The First Step, review
Before picking up The First Step, I’d never read a Xianxia story. To be honest, I hadn’t really heard of the genre before. For those of you who haven’t either, Xianxia (translated literally as “immortal heroes”) is a genre of Chinese-inspired fantasy fiction. It usually involves magic, demons, and immortals, draws heavily from Chinese folklore, and will involve a main character trying to reach the pinnacle of strength through cultivating Qi — the vital energy that exists within all things.
From those definitions, I assume that The First Step is somewhat of a “lighter” Xianxia novel. The story centers around Long Wu Ying — a young farm-boy who is conscripted into the army. Through a series of events, Wu Ying ends up in the equivalent of a military school, where he must train in the art of Cultivation to be accepted into the Verdant Green Waters Sect. There’s an almost LitRPG element to this, where Wu Ying must work his way up through the levels to more effectively control his Qi.
There’s a bit of class commentary, too. A young nobleman from Wu Ying’s village is also training to be accepted into the sect, and resents that Wu Ying has lucked into the same opportunity. In fact, all of the nobles seem to share this resentment, and so Wu Ying faces an unfair amount of opposition. He is questioned when other people are not, has vital information purposefully withheld from him, and is given life-threatening tasks seemingly beyond his capabilities. It’s a form of systemic oppression that he has to continually fight against in order to succeed.
While the actions of these nobles could verge on cartoonishly antagonistic at points, I found that I was enjoying myself. But then, this kind of thing is among my favourite tropes. It helps that Wu Ying is not some overconfident, cocky genius with grand and selfish ambitions. His motivations are small-scale and relatable. He’s driven mostly by curiosity and a desire to improve himself. He recognizes that he has lucked into a unique opportunity. Recognizes that he is far from the strongest, smartest, or most skilled person in the room. And so he resolves to work as hard as he can in order to make the most of the hand he has been dealt.
I found this sort of refreshing, in a way. The First Step is about one person’s journey, and so while I wouldn’t describe it as “low stakes”, it has a more relaxed feel to it. Part of this is that the writing style is very matter-of-fact. It isn’t flowery, and it can feel a little jerky in places (with a few typos), but I felt that this simplistic style suited the main character. However, others may feel that it leans too far towards “telling” rather than “showing”, so keep that in mind if you’re a big prose buff.
Were there some things I wished we had seen more of? Sure. I wish that some of Wu Ying’s friendships had been explored a bit more. I wish the dialogue was less melodramatic. I wish that we’d seen a bit more of the world, too. There’s some really cool stuff like fire-breathing hogs and magical snakes that make brief appearances, but we only see glimpses of these. For the most part, it’s just studying martial arts and fighting.
As a result, I wouldn’t recommend The First Step to those looking for a “deep” book. A lot of the character development and commentary is fairly surface-level. However, those who enjoy books that have a chill vibe, though still with some combat action and a sense of progression, might really appreciate this one.
(Note: definitions of Xianxia and Qi taken from the Immortal Mountain glossary)
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. However, I did also purchase an audio copy of this book in the interests of getting to this review sooner.
Thank you so much for your review. Your commentary is more than fair and I’m happy you enjoyed the series. The first few books do veer more towards wuxia than xianxia, with the truly fantastic elements only peeking around the edges on purpose. As the series progresses, more and more fantastical elements will be introduced along with the world.