Hey everyone, it's Aran here - translator of Prodigies War and the Imperial God Emperor.
I'm here today to talk about somethign I rarely do - another Chinese translated novel that I've been completely hooked on lately on Wuxiaworld: Beastmaster of the Ages (or BOTA, as most of us call it). This is an absolute monster of a binge read, currently sitting at over 4,300 chapters.
Before we jump into the story, I really want to give a massive shout-out to the translator, Wei. He's also a veteran translator - he's been translating BOTA since 2020 (6+ years!) Wei also works with another great translator called Ryogawa who they work together in helping bring BOTA to the masses.
Now onto the novel:
"Even in his dreams, Li Tianming can’t stop himself from laughing! Why? Because, his family pets are all the Primordial Chaos Beasts of myth!
That teeny weeny little chick over there is actually the Aeternal Infernal Phoenix that eats suns! His black cat is the Genesis Chaos Thunderfiend that refines worlds with its lightning. The cockroach, well, it’s the Myriad Worlds Deathless Beast that possesses trillions of undying clones…
Followed by his menagerie of pets, Li Tianming begins his ascension to become the number one beastmaster of the ages. He journeys across the many worlds, only one thing remaining constant. No one is ever ready for the likes of his pets! After all, who's ever prepared to fight a chicken and its fellows..."
If you’re tired of the exact same generic cultivation tropes, this book will hopefully give you something new.
Weak to strong: Li Tianming starts at absolute rock bottom. He’s betrayed, his cultivation is completely ruined, and he's left with nothing. Watching him claw his way back from being a broken nobody to an absolute powerhouse is something I'll never get tired of.
OP MC: Once things click, Tianming becomes an absolute menace. He isn’t just strong, he's calculative and ruthless.
Companion beasts: The cultivation system relies on bonds between Tianming and his lifebound beasts. Instead of mindless pets, these creatures have distinct personalities - the interactions between the MC and these creatures are one of the highlight of the novel!
Beyond just the awesome plot and character dynamics, I really want to draw attention to the excellent translation skills on display here. Beastmaster of the Ages, like all chinese novels, can be difficult to translate at times. As a translator, I know how tough it is to translate a piece of work like this. And as a fluent reader of Chinese, I nearly always prefer to read the raws - but the translation quality of this novel made it just as good as the original text for me!
TLDR; go read BOTA!!!
Aran