Above And Beyond All

Above And Beyond All
Overlooked and underrated novels that are really unique in terms of either characters, world, story or even several at once and don't have glaring faults.

Lots of novels are interesting at first but are destroyed by either insufferable characters or a terrible story. Not these. And if you know others like them, PLEASE let me know!

Bad stories and characters are everywhere, good stories and characters are rare, but truly UNIQUE stories or characters are unforgettable and THAT is what I'm looking for after reading hundreds of titles.

People often complain that many novels' characters are flat and fixed. Well, here they are not just really well written, but grow and change over time.

No reincarnations into tr*shy young masters, no sect branches that have bigger branches behind them with sects behind them with bigger sects behind them, no fighting 10 ranks higher enemies because MC is so special, no repeating the same nonsense again and again for thousands of chapters, no all-knowing MC on a rail to the next key-item, no arranged marriages and no idiots to be killed by MC for a back and forth of revenge with family->sect->kingdom->world againd and again.

I've read many hundreds of the most popular titles and they won't make the list because of mentioned issues, or are new and I don't know of them yet.

I made a second list with titles that didn't make it because of flaws but are still a good read.

Ranked in terms of being well-rounded and polished.
9 3492 5
16 Followers
riida
Created: Jan 30th, 2020, Updated: Jan 5th, 2022
Created Jan 30th, 2020
Updated Jan 5th, 2022
CN (4.2)
571 Chapters Every 10.5 Day(s) 4557 Readers 65 Reviews 10-30-2023
It takes a few dozen chapter until this aspect begins to really shine and it only gets better as you keep reading, but nothing compares to the level and depth of character realism here. Protagonist's decisions can't be anticipated because they're beyond the scope of my imagination, which almost never happens after reading so many chinese novels. Unbelievably refreshing.... more>>
CN (4.6)
21 Chapters Every 179.6 Day(s) 7128 Readers 67 Reviews 11-28-2016
Pace, characters, story, intelligence, style.
CN (4.3)
916 Chapters Every 147.9 Day(s) 13654 Readers 239 Reviews 03-16-2018
Unforgettable. Nights on the roof, listening to the news of the world, watering the fields. Usually slow intros are dull and boring. Not this one.... more>>
CN (3.9)
27 Chapters Every 169.7 Day(s) 3240 Readers 41 Reviews 04-14-2017
It consists of 3 parts. First one playing out on earth and resembling a typical XuanHuan novel. The second is original and the absolute masterpiece... more>>
CN (3.9)
113 Chapters Every 59 Day(s) 5963 Readers 67 Reviews 05-15-2017
If I had to give an example of a character growing mentally by encoutering difficulty and pain, this would be it. By far slowest start... more>>
Comments (9)
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  1. Kyriios188
    Kyriios188· Jan 24, 2023 05:45 PM

    Hey, have you tried The Way of Choices and Death Sutra? I feel like they also stand out.

    Thank you for this list, I've tried Tales of Herding Gods and didn't regret it!

    Reply · 1 Like · ·
    • riida
      riida· Author · Jan 26, 2023 12:53 PM

      Never heard of Death Sutra. Will take a look asap. Thx.

      Did read Ze Tian Ji, but all I remember from it how the protagonist is being kept at disadvantage through bad writing, which continuously creates inconsistencies. The good parts can't make up for the shortcomings. It was frustrating. There are works I have fond memories of, but this is definitely not one of them.

      Reply · ·
  2. Borf
    Borf· Jul 17, 2022 01:10 AM
    Hi, your reviews are really solid and I created this account to thank you for taking the time to write them. As a minor note, sometimes you use abbrevations for other novels when comparing in your reviews which can be confusing if you're not familiar with them.

    Since you read Pursuit of the Truth and liked it, have you read Renegade Immortal? The start is also kind of slow but as the story progresses and the world opens up, the mysteries deepen as well as the complexity of the story. Its been a while since I've read it, but even as it gets more complex the story ties together a lot of things nicely and sometimes you get these "lightbulb" moments as a plot point gets resolved. Which can happen after hundreds of chapters which makes a lot of the story feel meaningful and connected.

    Its a darker type of story with hardships and struggle and can maybe be a bit edgy at times. Its sometimes heavy on philosophical aspects and understanding. Dao type understanding to gain powers but also motivation. Why am I cultivating, who am I doing it for? Which for me is a plus but might not be for everyone.

    Also, the MC is not talented at all which feels fresh after reading endless stories of heavenly geniuses.

    Of course it has its shortcomings as most of the novels on this site, such as the romance/certain relationships and occasional minor plot holes but would still recommend it!

    As a side note, I have not read Pursuit of the Truth but have read A will eternal and I shall seal the heavens, and Renegade immortal is my favourite by far. Will definitely check out Pursuit of the Truth since you gave it 5 stars.

    Also, have you found a completed translation of Tales of Herding Gods or did you read the MTL?
    Reply · 1 Like · ·
    • riida
      riida· Author · Jul 18, 2022 12:08 PM

      I did read Renegade, of course. I felt that it had too many stereotypical elements, though, and didn't stand out too much. Let me put it this way: if you name a title and ask me how many times I experienced an unforgettable impact from either the way relationships between characters were written, or the story opening up from hundreds of chapters ago and filling blind spots and mysteries in mind-blowingly creative ways, or character development progressing in an unexpected and refreshing manner, that I STILL remember YEARS after reading them, I'll tell you off the top of my head: Tales - more than 10, Grandmaster - 3, WoC - 7, RoH - 7, Pursuit - 6, (which is why these five are in this list), then there would be Way of the Devil - 2, Top Tier Providence - 1, My Desciples Are All Villains - 1, Emperor Domination - 2, Against the Gods - 1, Tales Of Demons and Gods - 1, I Shall Seal the Heavens - 2, I Am the Monarch - 1, A Will Eternal - 3, Transcending the Nine Heavens - 1, History's Strongest Senior Brother -1, Stellar Transformation - 4. The quality of those experiences differs and some of these titles have terrible drawbacks, but at least I feel something when I see them when browsing the top 500 on this site. Most of the others are familiar, but I just don't feel anything when I try to remember reading them.

      I either partially or completely read all works of Er Gen and to me personally, once I finished Pursuit, it completely overshadowed all of the others and made them look like cheap knock-offs. I can't overstate how unique the story is, what continuity is has and how well thought out the background of the world there is. Negative comments were either written by people who lack the mental capacity to grasp the very many elements of the huge world building, which takes a while for said reason, or written prematurely (you can imagine someone watching the Matrix, but turning off the TV before Neo is taken out of the virtual world, and then writing a review, saying that the world and story are boring, missing the point that it was just the initial step of the build-up and exposition)

      The "official" translation of Tales is on webnovel behind a paywall, but you can find proper translations of the first 1182 chapters on other websites, plus the rest of the chapters as very well edited MTL on others. You just have to google and compare a lot to find the best available sources at the time.

      Reply · 1 Like · ·
    • Borf
      Borf· Jul 18, 2022 06:21 PM

      @riida

      Thanks for the reply! Renegade immortal was one of the first novels I read from this site which might have influenced my impression of it, but I still think it holds up really well but I can see how you disagree. I started Pursuit of the Truth now and I am really enjoying it so far, even if it's still in the early stages. I must say that the quality of the translation is top notch which really helps with immersion, hopefully it stays the same throughout. I recently read Reincarnator, and the amount of times they used tremendous to describe something made me want to bang my head against a wall. 456 times in 492 chapters to be exact, with most of it during the second half...

      Anyway, I have read all of the proper translation of Tales of Herding Gods about a year ago when it was suddenly dropped, but will check out the edited MTL for the rest of the story. Thanks for the tip!

      Reply · 1 Like · ·
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    • riida
      riida· Author · Jul 18, 2022 08:05 PM

      @Borf  My pleasure. Pursuit is absolutely unique, as it's the only true exploration of the idea, that the higher your birth - the more powerful people will be interested in controlling you and using you in their power plays. Once you understand what the world is where the story starts, who the others are, what state the protagonist is, who he is and what's particular about his birth - it's gonna blow your mind. There are, unfortunately, several interesting concepts that are forgotten over time, because the story was becoming more complex than the author could handle, apparently. The big coherent story revelations between chapters 400 and 800 were just brilliant though.

      Yeah, Reincarnator was torture (for several reasons). Bad translation quality can be infuriating and sometimes even worse than MTL.

      You can try sonicmtl. com for decent MTL of Tales.

      Rise Of Humanity is also very worth the time. Another example of phenomenal world-building and story: The race which humans used to be, what achievements they gave to the universe, how it was used to infiltrate them and how they were decimated, the survivors and the traitors who are still alive and how the universe changed since. Many authors establish some far-fetched background and rattle off stereotypical copy-pasted non-sense, unrelated to the story. Here everything is connected, which requires much more time, planning and effort. There are fewer characters with personal development than in Tales, but those who have it are amazing.

      Reply · 1 Like · ·
    • Borf
      Borf· Jul 18, 2022 09:22 PM
      @riida Awesome, will check out Rise of Humanity after I'm done with Pursuit and the rest of Tales.
      Reply · ·
  3. mowre
    mowre· Nov 12, 2021 04:59 PM

    most of your list novel the same as mine, here i add some spicy :

    1. Chronicles of Primordial Wars  -  never seen unique stories like this

    2. Semi Datte Tensei Sureba Ryuu Ni Naru - unique vanila stories

    3. Emperor Domination? the only novel you found author DARE to change cultivation system on its stories, a revolution!

    and every side character is unique, say litle autum, fan bin, Charcoal(black bull)  etc.
    and the MC style from 1st chapters until now always the same, a onepunchman cheeky brat.

    4. Mushoku Tensei? maybe because its too legend that you exclude this one? no aphrodisiacs use like most chinese novels harem. ATG one example hahaa

    Archean Eon Art is good but new arc too boring the same as record of mortal to immortality.
    tell me if you find another good new novel

    Reply · ·
    • riida
      riida· Author · Jan 28, 2022 11:05 PM

      Thanks for these suggestions,

      I tried number 1 five years ago and there was not a single thing that stood out for me.

      I'll take a look at nr 2. It sounds interesting (although japanese MCs are usually really pathetic whiny weaklings who seem to be fine with s*avery, and very short stories end too quick. It's nice to have a longer story to immerse into)

      I disagree with nr 3. It's by far not the only one to use unorthodox cultivation systems. It's also extremely repetitive and full of filler material. Cultivation realms keep added again and again to prolong the story. Too annoying.

      Nr 4 sounds too juvenile judging by the reviews.

      Nr 5 is written by IET and I hate his every work. A few good ideas destroyed by stereotypical nonsense mixed with lack of logic and believable character behavior (as in, characters are described as intelligent instead of acting intelligent, and that's extremely aggravating)

      Reply · ·