Astrolabe Rebirth by Fei Tian Ye Xiang: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Astrolabe Rebirth by Fei Tian Ye Xiang

I’ve read a couple of books by Fei Tian Ye Xiang and they’ve been a hit and miss with me. Astrolabe Rebirth is more of a hit. It’s a stand-alone sci-fi set in a unique world of Astrolabe. The City of Steel is a dystopian place for humans, enslaved by Father, an AI that rules the city with camera surveillance, robots and human clones. It’s a miserable, polluted place, where humans are likely to meet an untimely end for violating strict rules.

A-Ka is 16 and has just begun working as a technician mending robots and clones, a job he has unique aptitude for, but he dreams of freedom. He’s found his way out of the city, and is building a mecha for himself in secret to escape. One day, he rescues a man from the sea, preserved in a sleeping pod. He has no memories, so A-Ka names him Heishi.

The two mean to go their separate ways, but fate intervenes in the form of a clone uprisal, and the two are swept along with it. They find themselves outside the city, fleeing with humans and clones to the other side of the continent where free people live.

As Heishi regains his memories, he remembers his purpose: rebooting Astrolabe to remove everything that has gone wrong with the system since it was initiated. But Father has the same command system, and may get there first, rebooting the system to its liking. Humans and clones must work together to help Heishi to shut down Father before the AI destroys everything. But the reboot requires a special human component, and that’s A-Ka, the only human Heishi has learned to love.

This was a good story. It was hasty, the world-building was shoddy, and descriptions were confusing if they existed, but the core story was interesting. It wasn’t much of a romance, but A-Ka and Heishi learned to love each other through their hardships. It has some sad moments that were slightly weakened through miraculous twists, but the ending was very good.

A-Ka was a great protagonist, downtrodden but resourceful and resilient. He gained a miraculous ability, but it wasn’t overused. Heishi remained distant, but as he gained his memories and learned about humans, he became more interesting. There were some good side characters too, with proper purpose for the story. I would’ve wished for more romance, but the story was satisfying as it was.

Riverbay Road Men's Dormitory vol. 1 Fei Tian Ye Xiang: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Riverbay Road Men's Dormitory by Fei Tian Ye Xiang

Riverbay Road Men's Dormitory is a contemporary BL novel by Fei Tian Ye Xiang, the author of historical xianxia BLs, of which I’ve started Dinghai Fusheng Records and Legend of Exorcism. It’s set in a large Chinese city and focuses on lives of five men that come together by chance.

Zhang Yuwen is a wealthy man in his late twenties who for some reason that isn’t really understandable decides to abandon a career on a rise as a film director and become an author, for which it turns out he has no true skill. His publisher tells him directly that his characters are not realistic.

He comes up with a brilliant idea. Since he owns a large mansion where he lives alone, he decides to rent out four rooms cheaply and observe his lodgers in order to learn about real people. He chooses only gay men, being gay himself. He thinks he’s chosen them carefully, but he mostly went with their looks. Turns out, all of them have something to hide.

The biggest lie is told by Zhang Yuwen himself. He doesn’t want to disclose he’s rich, so he tells the house belongs to someone else and he’s only a caretaker. He goes to great lengths to maintain the lie.

Yan Jun is an office worker with a fairly steady income. He tells Zhang Yuwen he occasionally needs to take care of his baby niece, hiding the fact that that he’s her guardian and the child lives with him permanently. Obviously, Zhang Yuwen soon finds out the truth.

Zheng Weize is the youngest of the lot at 22. He tells Zhang Yuwen he’s a college student, but he’s never attended and he supports himself, unsuccessfully, with live streaming. He’s in constant need of money and caring attention.

Chen Hong is 29 and moments away from having to close his gym business, but he doesn’t disclose his financial troubles. For him too, cheap housing comes as a saving. Last tenant is Chang Jinxing, a photographer without a steady income. He’s the most handsome of the lot and knows it himself. He pretends to be successful and educated and is neither.

Because of the lies, it takes a while for the group to become comfortable with each other. But Chen Hong is good at forming groups by activating them. He takes them laser tagging and hiking and very soon they start to become a family. A family who needs love and sex and lusts after each other and eventually falls for one or more of them.

Zhang Yuwen has forbidden them from hooking up with one another. But that doesn’t stop emotions from forming. Most of them fall for Zhang Yuwen or Chang Jinxing. Things change though, when a straight guy the group meets in one of their outings, Huo Sichen, turns out to be gay and he and Zhang Yuwen hook up. Drama starts to climax during a New Year’s stay at a resort, but the book ends before we learn what comes of it.

This was a good start to a series. It’s told from several points of view, so we get a good understanding of everyone. The characters with their lies and needs were interesting and easy to root for, even Chang Jinxing. I wanted all of them to find their love and each man seemed to suit everyone else, one way or another. But I think the pairings that began to form here are only the beginning, and everything will change several times during the story.

Author’s views of relationships and sex, gay and straight, were rather odd, based on stereotypes and stiff traditions. These views were repeated and rehashed constantly throughout the story and they were rather annoying, something that would get the story trashed by readers if it was written by a western author. It lessened my enjoyment of the story a little, but not so much that I would abandon it. I have to know what will become of all characters and if they will find their happily ever afters.