本王在此 The Prince is Here: Book Review

Although Jiu Lu Fei Xiang‘s San Sheng, Death Exists Not At The River of Oblivion is the novel that introduced me to the Chinese Mythology genre (and remains one of my personal favourites to date), the novel I’m introducing today is The Prince Is Here. I’ve read The Prince Is Here sometime ago, but I have nevertheless decided to introduce it anyway due to its awesome content and wonderful male and female leads who are literally near perfection. It’s hard enough to create one awesome and memorable character, so it’s even more mind-blowing that Jiu Lu Fei Xiang managed to create two in a single novel alone!

Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis:

As the Prince Bi Cang who was born with a pearl residing in her mouth, Shen Li’s life was always bright and dazzling. However, with her upcoming thousandth birthday, the demonic claws of a political marriage swiftly stretched towards her, catching her unaware.

The Celestial Emperor residing in the Heavens had given a heavenly edict – The Prince Bi Cang shall be engaged and married to the thirty-third grandson of the Celestial Emperor, Fu Rong.

But Fu Rong was infamous throughout the realms for his Casanova personality. As the Prince who calls the shots in the demonic realm, she has the ability to quell uprisings and end wars with a swing of her silver spear – there was absolutely no way she would marry that flirtatious idiot! She must escape from this marriage!

Shen Li never once thought that during her escape journey, she would meet a man who doesn’t belong to the three realms and the five elements. That man is truly an… oddball.

*T/N: The usage of the title “Prince” here does not mean that Shen Li is related to the King of the Demonic Realm by blood, rather she is granted the aristocratic title “Prince” due to her military prowess.

Review:

This is another Jiu Lu Fei Xiang novel revolving around Immortals and Demons and concerns the romance between the Prince Bi Cang of the Demonic Realm and the God Hang Zhi. It is pertinent to note that in this novel, Jiu Lu Fei Xiang draws a line between Immortals possessing ordinary powers and Gods who possess immense power and are respected and revered by the Immortals.

The beginning is hilarious as both leads meet when they were in terrible states. Then, Shen Li was gravely injured and was reduced to her original form (phoenix). Unfortunately, she was picked up by fellow human hunters who plucked her golden feathers and sold her as a naked chicken. It is then that she meets Hang Zhi in human form, who had previously entered the reincarnation cycle to pass the time. Hang Zhi buys her from the chicken sellers and brings her to his mortal home. As Hang Zhi retains his memories and his knowledge as a God, he could immediately identify Shen Li for what she is (Phoenix Demon). However, he chooses to maintains his pretense of being a normal human and being clueless of her real form so he could disturb and play tricks on Shen Li.

Both leads are lovable – As the Prince of the Demonic Realm who commands legions of armies, Shen Li’s ruthless nature and commanding attitude inevitably causes the Immortals to view her as a man instead of a woman. As such, she has an obvious lack of romantic prospects – that is, until she met the God Hang Zhi. The God Hang Zhi may, at first sight, appear somewhat distant as he always maintains his cool composure and always ensures that others are kept at arm’s length. However, that is not his true nature – rather, the continuous passage of time and the gradual loss of his fellow God companions made him that way. Both Hang Zhi and Shen Li are saddled with huge responsibilities, which is something they both bear in mind despite their love for each other. Thus, although we can feel their attraction for each other, Hang Zhi and Shen Li do not truly get together until the midway point of the book.

Finally, a mild warning is required – this book contains a few pages of sexually explicit content, so those who do not feel comfortable should refrain from reading those parts/ the book. That said, the explicit content is really quite minimal and avoidance of those pages would not really impact one’s understanding of the story in a huge way.