The Savage Chronicles

Shuxia YehuVolumes Publishing Company2009

Rating 4.0
Word count
1.3M words
Chapters
19
Series
The Savage Trilogy
ISBN
9787807595762

Tags

Male-Oriented Fiction Eastern Fantasy ConspiracyPatriotismEpicFantasy NovelOriental FantasyLegendsClassic of Mountains and SeasYouth Reading

Summary

The Savage Chronicles is the second book of Shu Xia Ye Hu's Savage Trilogy and the official sequel to In Search of the Supernatural, regarded by many readers as the high point of the Great Wilderness series. It runs to six volumes (Kunpeng, The Green Emperor, Record of the Mirage Tower, Celestial Origin, The Nine Cauldrons, and A Moment of Youth), totaling about 1.3 million Chinese characters. The story picks up from In Search of the Supernatural: after the Peach Banquet at Kunlun, the five clans split and the world falls into division, and storms once again gather over the Great Wilderness. In October of year 590 of the Great Wilderness, the Yellow Emperor leads a great army against the water demons on the plain of Zhenling, and the Pimu Earth Mound, lost for sixteen years, reappears; meanwhile, on Tanggu Island, the Dragon God's crown prince Tuoba Ye (the reincarnated Green Emperor Chiyou) is about to wed his dragon consort, the Rain Master's Maid, and heroes from across the world come to offer congratulations. The water clan's great deity Zhulong secretly gathers water demons and brews a new plot; on the East Sea, the dragon clan and the water demons meet head-on, and the full-scale war of the Great Wilderness begins. On the eve of the wedding, an uninvited guest visits the dragon consort, drawing out a secret from twenty years past. In the book, figures such as Tuoba Ye, Chiyou, Ji Yuanxuan, and Lie Yan each take the stage, while Chiyou, Xingtian, Zhulong, the Queen Mother of the West, and the Yan Emperor Lie Yan—figures from Chinese myth and legend—all appear, and the plot unfolds layer by layer around the prophecy of the Fuxi Stele, the reincarnation of Nüwa, and the death of the Divine Emperor. Drawing on classical sources such as the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Journey to the West, and Investiture of the Gods, the work retells the primeval age of Chinese civilization's origins in an epic style, combining the grandeur of war, the twists of intrigue, and entangled love and hate. It is a representative long-form work of Chinese new-myth fantasy.

Editor's review

如果只挑一部中文“新神话主义”的代表作，树下野狐的“大荒系列”绕不开，《蛮荒记》又是其中完成度最高的一部。它的野心不在于讲一个人的成长，而在于用小说的方式重建一个完整的洪荒世界：五族地缘、神祇谱系、灵兽奇珍、功法秘术，彼此勾连成可以自洽运转的体系。 这本书最动人的地方，是它把《山海经》里那些只有名字的怪兽与传说，还原成有欲望、有立场、有软肋的角色。拓拔野在情义与责任之间的犹疑，蚩尤的狂傲与悲情，都写得血肉丰满；群雄逐鹿的战争场面铺排阔大，却始终扣着“人如何选择”的问题。 文字上，作者有意保留古典白话的韵味，又照顾现代阅读节奏，读起来既古意盎然又不滞涩。附于书前的“往世书”“前情回顾”，以及书后的“蛮荒笔会”，也为初读的读者补齐了前情与创作脉络。对于想在通俗长篇里找一点中国神话根脉的读者，这是一部值得沉下心读的史诗。

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. 建议先读《搜神记》，再进入本书；书前“前情回顾”也可作补课用。
  2. 按“鲲鹏—青帝—蜃楼志—天元—九鼎—刹那芳华”顺序分册读，中途不停顿效果更好。
  3. 可备一张人物与部族关系表，遇到新登场的神祇、族长随手记录，避免混淆。
  4. 不追求速度，战争与伏笔密集的章节宜放慢节奏，留意谶语与旧事回照。
  5. 读后可回看《山海经》相关条目，体会作者“以小说补神话”的改写方式。

About the publisher

Volumes Publishing Company China · Founded in 2003

Volumes Publishing Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its titles on Chinese classics and literature and the arts. Its publishing covers classical literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, folk literature, foreign literature, and exam preparation books. Judging from the 269 titles in the database, the company emphasizes making classic works accessible to a broad readership. Representative books include Letters from Fu Lei to His Son, The Four Great Classical Novels, Teahouse, The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk, and Camel Xiangzi, with authors including Fu Lei, Cao Xueqin, Luo Guanzhong, Shi Nai'an, Wu Cheng'an, Lao She, Liu Xiang, and Liu Xin. The company has also developed series brands such as the Volumes Studio Chinese Classics and the Science Fiction Library, giving it a distinctive profile in organizing Chinese classics and promoting literary reading. Public information on its other publishing activities is limited.

Contents

  1. Chapter 1 The Eve of the Wedding
  2. Chapter 2 The Uninvited Guest
  3. Chapter 3 The True God of the Ultimate Yang
  4. Chapter 4 New Hatred and Old Grievances
  5. Chapter 5 The Choice and the Decision
  6. Chapter 6 The Azure Dragon Seal
  7. Chapter 7 Broken Mast, Sunken Boat
  8. Chapter 8 Twin Dragons of the Great Wilderness
  9. Chapter 9 Striking the Skull and Blowing the Bone
  10. Chapter 10 The Southern Barbarian Sorceress
  11. Chapter 11 An Unexpected Encounter
  12. Chapter 12 The Pimu Earth Mound
  13. Chapter 13 The Fierce Beast of Earthfire
  14. Chapter 14 Vows of the Sea
  15. Chapter 15 Engraved on the Heart
  16. Chapter 16 The Elixir of Immortality
  17. Chapter 17 The Divine Soil of Xirang
  18. Chapter 18 A Fleeting Glance of Beauty
  19. Chapter 19 Shifting Heaven and Earth

FAQ

《蛮荒记》和《搜神记》是什么关系？ 《蛮荒记》是“蛮荒三部曲”的第二部，也是《搜神记》的正统续篇，故事接续《搜神记》的结局展开，人物与世界观一脉相承。所以先读《搜神记》会顺畅很多；若先读本书，可借助书前的“往世书”“前情回顾”补足背景。
这本书一共有几册？各自叫什么？ 全书共六册，分别是《鲲鹏》《青帝》《蜃楼志》《天元》《九鼎》《刹那芳华》，2006至2009年间由辽宁教育出版社、新星出版社、万卷出版公司先后分册出版，2019年中国华侨出版社又推出了六册合集版。
书里的拓拔野就是蚩尤吗？ 按作品设定，龙神太子拓拔野是转世青帝蚩尤，这也是全书身份与命运纠葛的核心伏笔之一。书中另有“蚩尤”相关的称谓与线索交错出现，阅读时注意区分叙述层面与设定层面，不必一开始就急于对应。
没读过《山海经》会不会看不懂？ 不会。作者使用的是借来的神话元素而非原文考据，书中自有人物关系和世界规则的交代。读过《山海经》能多一层“认出来”的乐趣，但不是理解情节的前提。
这是历史小说吗？ 不是。《蛮荒记》属于东方奇幻、新神话主义创作，背景借用了炎黄、涿鹿、神农等传说框架，但人物关系和情节均为文学虚构，不宜当作历史读物或史实参考。

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Shuxia Yehu Author

Shuxia Yehu is a fairly representative author of fantasy in Chinese online literature, though limited public information is available about him. Ten of his works are included in the collection, among them the Soushen Ji and Manhuang Ji series, as well as Xian Chu, Buzhou Ji, and Yunhai Xianzong. His writing often draws on ancient myths and the legends of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, setting broad Eastern fantasy worlds that blend wuxia and xianxia elements, with attention to both plot development and character portrayal. His works commonly appear in the categories of quality fiction, male-oriented fiction, and quality online writing, and have a certain influence among fantasy readers, with series such as Soushen Ji and Manhuang Ji being especially well known.