Andiana

You are welcome : ) I'm so glad you loved it. It was hard to move on until I found Golden Stage. I recently finished reading it. Omg words cannot describe how much I love that novel too. A sweet romance that gave me diabetes and a political plot. Its a mix of 70% romance and 30% politics. Do give it a try when you have time.

I'm currently reading Sha Po Lang and it is everything you described above that you love reading. Intriguing plot, politics, schemes, military tactics. It is so addicting I can't put it down. It is a heavier read than Golden Stage. Its a mix of 70% plot and 30% romance. I think you will like this one too. I'm so excited about the live action.

I do read a lot so feel free to PM for other recommendations : ) Let me know how you go with the two above if you decide to read them.

Let me know how you go if you decide to watch Guardian. I think Guardian along with Sha Po Lang is on every BL recommended list I have seen. I may pick up the novel somewhere down the track to see what all the hype is about.

Yes indeed Handsome Siblings was a great production. It definitely has set the bar high and now I use it as a benchmark to measure other wuxia dramas. Probably not a good thing. It is hard to match or surpass.

Yes that is lot of books but I get through them pretty quickly depending how good they are. It will be really interesting to see how the adaptations turn out. All these Priest novels are BL novels but they are removing the BL content? I will PM you because I don't want to spam your LOF review board with unrelated content.

Oh and let me know how you go with The Rebel Princess. It is the only drama that has piqued my interest so far this year. My friend is currently watching it and she has an attention span of a goldfish and fast forward all the dramas she has watched but Rebel Princess has kept her attention from the start. That says a lot.

I'm glad my feedback was helpful for you.

I haven't read Guardian or seen the drama adaptation but I have read comments that the novel started off really strong but turned into a mess towards the latter part of the novel. I heard there were criticism about the adaptation but unsure about the details. Again, could this be a source material issue?

Maybe the LOF team spent most of the budget on making those amazing trailers they neglect to spend money on post production and editing. I do wonder how this drama would have turned out if the team who produced Handsome Siblings done the choreography for LOF. The fight scenes might of resembled the novel but maybe less romance? Who knows...

I thought it was only Winner is King (Sha Po Lang), A Tale of the Wanderers (Faraway Wanderers) and Li Yao (Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect) are being adapted. Now I have just found out The Light in the Night (Silent Reading) and Shan He Biao Li (Of Mountains and Rivers) are also in the works. My Priest reading list has just gotten longer. At this rate, maybe all her novels will get adaptations. Sha Po Lang which I am reading now is slow in the beginning. Maybe it is a Priest thing *sigh*. I will share my thoughts once I'm done.

As always, another perfectly poised and well-rounded review :)

Despite hoping to see most people at the end, I haven't quite reached the end myself. I have watched until episode 32 and then bits and pieces until episode 40. I don't why but I kind of lost interest along the way but I will come back and finish it when I have the time.

To be honest, Bandits isn't one of my favourite novels and I struggled to finish reading the novel and that is never a good thing. In my opinion, the novel has pacing issues. When its good, its really good. When its not, its really boring. The fight scenes and Zhou Fei's growth were done much better in the novel. The romance and chemistry between the leads were done much better in the drama. So from my point of view both source material and drama have their issues.

I came into the drama with an open mind and with little expectations but secretly hoped the drama will fix the issues I had with the novel. First the romance and second, the events after Xie Yun fell into a coma. To my surprise, the drama actually delivered on both fronts.

Anyway, I am definitely more an avid reader than watching dramas. I am currently reading a Priest novel and have a few other Priest novels lined up back to back in anticipation for a couple of drama adaptions that will be released later this year. I am still indifferent about Priest but will make my judgement after reading a few more of her novels.

hehehe that is what I have been trying to tell you

They announced season 2 at the end of episode 11. Production has apparently already commenced but no news of airing date yet or whether it will still be an 11 episode season.

There will be a special episode that will air on 16 February so watch out for that : )

Yes it is out.

https://izfanmade.com/tag/heaven-officials-blessing-3/

I don't recall an in water scene in the novel. It may be an added scene later in the drama. I'm only up to episode 28.

I'm pretty sure the ZF and XY scenes at the end of episode 26 are added scenes to highlight the romance.

I know their chemistry is a divided topic here but for me it has been great so far. Watching their BTS scenes they seem to get along very well.

Oh I see. It has been a while since I read the novel so maybe have missed the details and cut scenes. However, I don't remember him gifting her a carved wooden sword or her wanting to gift him an embroidered pouch or her holding his hands and hugging him as much as she does in the drama.

I feel the drama has added romance in spades compared to the novel so we might even get a direct confession scene.

Thank you! I don't mind the half baldness. I thought Jet Li looked pretty good in his Wong Fei Hung and Fong Sai Yuk days :) I'm a sucker for good fight choreography.

Is that the one with Vincent Zhao? I haven't seen him in a drama since The Master of Tai Chi. I will have to check it out :)

I understand. Maybe you should try a lighter drama to lighten your mood? I usually can't watch too many dramas back to back so I break it up with reading novels to calm the mind. Especially after this drama.

LOL! I'm glad to meet someone who share my same thoughts. I thought I was going insane.

Give me a couple of days to finish drama and I will get back to you on my final thoughts :)

You are not the only one. You have highlighted most of the same issues I have with drama. You're lucky you dropped at episode 26. I'm at episode 40 and most likely will see it to the end as I have invested so much time already. It is so painful to watch.

I'm at episode 40 and seriously asking the same question does it any better? It can't possibly get any worst? I'm trudging through this drama and it's affecting my mental health. In hindsight, I really should of dropped earlier but now I'm so far in my darn OCD needs to see it to the end but your comment doesn't provide me with much hope. Now I just want to get to the end and move on with my life.

I am loving the HOB anime! The manhua is great too. Beautiful art style.

I went into the Untamed blind and only after did I read the novel so I didn't have any expectations. The audio drama is the most faithful adaptation and also my favourite adaptation of that novel.

I think if you have read the novel first it may be a good idea to set your expectations very low and go in with an open mind otherwise you will always be disappointed because the novel will always be better. I did that with Legend of Fei and I'm enjoying the drama.

I can't imagine SVSSS as a live action because of the content but I enjoyed the anime.

I haven't read 2HA only because it hasn't been fully translated so I may go into that blind too and also Faraway Wanderers but Sha Po Lang I may read before the drama airs. I'm thinking of picking up Duoluo Dalu before it airs but the novel has mixed reviews on Novel Updates.

I highly recommend Peerless. Its become my top 3 danmei novels along with HOB and MDZS. It is a perfect story for a live action.

Yes that would be amazing if they are able to cast XZ.

I agree both looks and acting chops are required for the roles. They nailed it with the casting of the Untamed. We hope they also get it right for HOB.

I'm reading a novel at the moment called Peerless. I can imagine XZ in the ML role. He is such a versatile actor and would suit a lot of different roles.

I had exactly the same thought when I read the novel XZ as Xie Lian but I doubt he would take on another BL role. HC is a lot harder to cast and I can't think of anyone yet but hoping they will surprise us. I also think Song Ji Yang would suit Xie Lian too. He has the right look.

Merry Christmas everyone! Nice to meet you all here. It has been a fun ride so far. Hope to see most of you at the end but it looks like some may be checking out early :)