Tag: wuxia

  • Invincible Under Heaven is Live on Amazon!

    The unthinkable has finally occurred. Driven mad by the relentless pursuit of power, a martial prodigy turns against the rivers and lakes. Behind him is the Shadow Horde, a group of devil cultivators with immeasurable powers at their command. Hellbent on restoring the Yue Dynasty, they carve a swathe of destruction through the Five States…

  • Fist of Heaven and Earth Chapter 3 Preview!

    Technology. Culture. Relationships. Many Western works explore the tension between them, and how culture and relationships change in response to changing technology. With Saga of the Swordbreaker, I wanted to try something different. I wanted to write a civilization that has retained its traditions and culture, even over centuries and millennia. Its people prioritise strong,…

  • Martialism, Movement, Meditation, Metaphysics

    A punch is a punch. A stance is a stance. A pill is a pill. None of them meet. This is the mindset that gives rise to ordinary cultivation fiction. Each idea is discrete, compartmentatlised, separate from each other. This is how the modern person views the world. This is how Westerners see the world.…

  • The Worldbuilding and Metaphysics of Saga of the Swordbreaker

    Saga of the Swordbreaker is a science fantasy series. Guns and magic are abound. Yet we don’t see much discussion of them up to this point. Why? Because the technology is simply an extension of Chinese metaphysics. By understanding the metaphysics that underpin the universe, you immediately grasp how the higher technology works. A common…

  • Why Pursue the Way of the Fist?

    Everybody knows why cultivators in fiction cultivate: to become more powerful, so they can defeat more powerful cultivators. That’s lame. There’s only so much of such cultivation you can read before you get sick of the repetition. You already know how every conflict will end. The only question is how the characters get there—and the…

  • The Hard Limit of Cultivation Fiction

    Cultivation fantasy, progression fantasy, and similar stories come with a built-in hard limit. The plot is predicated on the main character becoming increasingly stronger. Many stories explicitly call it out as a selling point. Once the MC hits the hard limit imposed by the setting the story must end, or become stagnant. And because the…