I’m gonna preface this by saying that this is an absolute award-winning masterpiece from Priest and that everyone should read it.
Note(s):
(Very) long post ahead
Contains spoiler
This is my personal review and does not represent the entire audience
Summary:
Long past the Age of Exploration, humans have conquered the space, embracing the Interstellar Union spanning across eight galaxies bonded by the Pledge of Freedom. “Eden”, a supercomputer built by men for men, oversaw and managed the civilization from one’s birth to death. The all-encompassing artificial entity existed to ensure that every individual would live in bliss and have both their physiological and psychological needs fulfilled, leading a worry-free life in a harmonious society.
Yet this seemingly perfect utopia stood upon layers and layers of complications piling beneath its pretty face. Social gap was apparent the further one leaves the prosperous first galaxy; the remote Eight Galaxy eventually became a lawless den of space pirates with the citizens living in poverty for generations. And in a world where one’s life was supposed to be handled by supercomputers, there was a “defect” running through the genes of some people, causing their brain to have low compatibility when connected to AIs, much less the a state-of-the-art technology like Eden. These so-called “defectives” of human beings were looked down upon and eventually were pushed away to the faraway Eight Galaxy.
And this was only the tip of the deep conspiracy buried under the utopia that is the Interstellar Union.
Growing up in the midst of tangled ploys and deceptions, Lin Jingheng made his way to the top after the death of his adoptive father, who was once regarded as a hero but later branded a traitor under suspicious circumstances. Now the leader of the Union’s invincible guardian, the Silver Fortress, Commander Lin relentlessly chased after the faint traces left by his adoptive parents, deceiving the all-seeing eyes of Eden to bid his time in the shadows while plotting to uproot the hidden evil.
But when he found that secret trail of the past, within the bottomless darkness there was a spark of light holding his hand to walk out of the abyss.
Thus begin their journey that would open a new chapter in the history of humanity whose fate ultimately lied in the hands of those deemed to be imperfect and defective.
STORY: 9/10
Can Ci Pin steadily build the plot from the beginning to the end, little by little exposing the core of the problem while unrevealing all the mystery and questions that were hinted at the start. From the big picture first mentioned in the earlier chapters, we could see it slowly taking shape all the way to the final showdown in the last chapters.
The concept of “flawed utopia” itself isn’t something new, and so do the problems and conspiracy stemming from abuse of technology and humans’ greed for power. If we look closely, we can even notice some patterns and tropes here frequently found in Priest’s other works.
However, great delivery is what makes this story appealing and intriguing to follow. Although some twists turned out as how we expected, it still didn’t reduce the excitement in following how it would end up.
Scene placements and transitions are nothing less than perfect. I personally think there was not a single out-of-place scene from Book 1 to Book 7. Instead, everything was in the proper place that the whole story flows seamlessly; the suspense, intense combat, heart-wrenching scenes, plot twists, and conclusions coming nicely one after another.
I personally like that they didn’t drag out the huge issues and make itself into an unnecessarily long drama.
This is especially true for the plot where the Eight Galaxy troops fell trap to the enemy’s plot.
First, Saturday was tricked into revealing their position, which ultimately resulted in a large number of their comrades falling in the battlefield. A lot of stories and games I read/watched/played in the past usually went with character like Saturday leaving his comrades to join the enemy’s side, or became a spy among his friends. But here in Can Ci Pin, the story did not go down this long-winding path because Saturday immediately realized his foolishness and sacrificed his life to make up for it.
Secondly, following that ambush, Lin Jingheng was severely wounded and ended up getting separated from Lu Bixing for 16 years, in which the latter thought that his beloved was killed in action. This was perhaps the most painful part of the whole story, especially when we saw how Lu Bixing fell into despair multiple times in those long years. But the length of this part of the plot was just enough, not too long and not too short. It allows us to “fully experience the pain” to its maximum effect, and pulled us out of it with their reunion before we got bored of it.
The overall story itself also reflects the title perfectly.
The ones who turned the tides against Lin Jingshu in the end was the bunch of vaccuocerebral labeled as “defective human beings” since the start of the story. The universe’s most prosperous place collapsed while the humble Eight Galaxy soared with breakthroughs after breakthroughs in technology, becoming the pillar of strength in the last fight for humanity’s survival.
I’m also quite satisfied with how Zhanlu ended up somewhat “nerfed” in the end, because then their victory truly resulted from the humans’ hands with their own strength, wits, and cooperation instead of relying on supercomputers and machines. It was shown in that last battle that while AIs are superior in every aspect compared to humans, it still cannot win against unprecedented happenstance. Meanwhile, the humans’ instinct and gut feelings became the one that saved them in the last second.
Lastly, I believe Can Ci Pin is the kind of story where you need to pay attention to what is being explained and described since the beginning, because many of the things mentioned earlier would show up again as crucial clues in the latter part of the story.
CHARACTER: 10/10
In an ugly world, there is still love and loyalty to believe in.
Can Ci Pin has a lot of unique and appealing characters, from major to supporting roles. Every character has their place and part in the story, there is no one who received too much or too few spotlight. From the most dependable to the inexperienced and the joker, each of them has their own lovable and unlovable trait. The complex relationships and interactions between all these variety of characters makes for a rich reading experience.
Lin Jingheng and Lu Bixing as the main leads perfectly complement each other. Lin Jingheng is the immovable Commander of the almighty Silver Fortress who have cheated death multiple times, with boundless combat experience and sharp instinct, practically a god-of-war incarnate. He is a badass guy through and through, and one could be certain he would be the most dependable person in difficult situations.
However, the circumstances of his life had frozen his heart so much that he often appear borderline inhuman. His lone-wolf style of fighting makes him prone to setback as he is taking too much burden on his shoulders. And this is where Lu Bixing comes as the balancing factor.
Unlike Lin Jingheng who isn’t good at socializing, Lu Bixing makes friends easily. He is a humanitarian who will strive to find a solution where there would be minimum casualties, regardless of how difficult it is to achieve. He remains optimistic even in the most dire situation, often resulting in him coming up with an idea to bring them out of danger.
But at the same times, this makes him somewhat indecisive. Because he tends to avoid conflict, it becomes inevitable instead to realize that he could never please everyone.
The dynamic between these two opposing characters makes for a perfect dynamic. When Lin Jingheng starts becoming too hard on himself and others, there is Lu Bixing to provide an alternative path. When Lu Bixing becomes too muddled and confused, there is Lin Jingheng to make the decision for him. The growth of their relationship was slow, but wholesome. It’s the kind of relationship where you want them to always be together, at peace, and never get separated because we all know how devastating it would be for one to lose the other.
Lin Jingheng was raised without love, and by the time he did receive love, it was soon taken away from him mercilessly. He becomes someone who would withdraw all his feelings and emotions inside, never letting them out for others to see. But even then, we know that despite his notoriously ruthless public image, he has a soft heart from the way the treats Lu Bixing even before they became lovers, from the way he continuously thinks of his sister even after they become estranged. He is simply someone who never has the opportunity to learn how it is to express affection for others. For someone like him, Lu Bixing is like the warm light of the sun that gently pulls him out of his cold shell.
On the other hand, Lu Bixing grew up in so much pain that even the love he received could barely ease his sufferings. His pleasant personality comes after surviving through immense agony. He is curious by nature and wants to explore the world after having spent all his life locked up in one place. It can be seen from his behavior that he is someone whose mind often wanders all over the place. For him, Lin Jingheng was like the anchor that steadily keeps him in place.
Ironically, they both have a similar way of coping with despair, which was to either to find logic in their actions to justify the outcome or to busy themselves with other things to avoid the shock. But what’s adorable is that they end up becoming a place for each other to come home to. From their meeting, interaction, separation, reunion, and conclusion, the two of them were simply endearing as they could finally heal together and build a family they never get the chance to have before.
Truth be told, Can Ci Pin is not the first danmei I’ve read so far where one of the main characters found out that his lover was “dead”. What makes it a bit different this time was that Lu Bixing didn’t actually witness Lin Jingheng’s death, and neither did the others because at the end of the day, they drew the conclusion of “Lin Jingheng is death” based on circumstantial evidences alone.
Nevertheless, the way Lu Bixing broke down and coped with his loss was perhaps the most powerful and vivid I’ve ever seen. It ultimately forced his character to grow and change through immense pain, and even after they were reunited he didn’t immediately return to how he was before.
In fact, one of the most appealing aspect of their relationship was that they didn’t instantly return to normal even after meeting each other again. It shows that healing a trauma takes a lot of time and patience, but the process of healing itself was what makes Lin Jingheng and Lu Bixing’s relationship wholesome.
Can Ci Pin also shows that sometimes, a villain isn’t born because of they themselves are harboring bad intentions, or because they are born with defective personality. It is a story where the utopia itself was what gives birth to the villains, because if only the ones in power had done a better job, at least two of the major villains in this story would not become the way they were now.
A special mention for the character Zhanlu. I believe this is my favorite character from Can Ci Pin, he is the most adorable AI I’ve ever seen but at the same time the most perfect portrayal of AI I’ve ever encountered. Although all of his speech and action are based on data and previous experience, he managed to turn what was supposed to be a rigid machine into both a dependable ally and an adorable dork who can’t read the atmosphere. The whole story simply won’t be as interesting without him.
TECHNICAL ASPECT: 10/10
Superb world-building, clear introduction and vivid visualization of the setting and universe as if we’re watching a movie instead of reading a book. Combined with perfect pacing, this makes for both an enjoyable and a fascinating story to follow.
The space battle is fantastic. It might be a bit tiring to follow the last battle in Book 7 because very literally the entire book was about resolving that one last obstacle, but that’s where the intensity comes from and the relief that came afterwards was simply worth it.
Explanation and descriptions are evenly spread throughout the story through narrative and dialogues without becoming an info-dump.
Comedy and humors were often slipped into seemingly straightforward narrative in such a comical way that they came unexpectedly, something commonly found in most of Priest’s works.
OVERALL SCORE: 9.6/10
As expected of an award-winning book, this is perhaps the best science fiction work I’ve ever encountered in my life.
Since it’s a very long story spanning across seven books, at first I thought it would be tiring to follow, but I ended up finding myself unable to put it down even for just a second because I was so absorbed in the plot.
I truly hope the donghua would be continued until the end, or perhaps someone will pick it up and make a whole full trilogy of it.
In conclusion, yet another masterpiece from Priest. Well done.
I promised and now I deliver! Welcome to my 2k word Cancipin pitch, adapted from discord rant form for perusal by the general public.
Links to the raws, translations, audio drama, and more can be found here. I would suggest reviewing the content warnings before reading this novel, as it covers many heavy themes.
I promised and now I deliver! Welcome to my 2k word Cancipin pitch, adapted from discord rant form for perusal by the general public.
Links to the raws, translations, audio drama, and more can be found here. I would suggest reviewing the content warnings before reading this novel, as it covers many heavy themes.
Notes and general disclaimers:
Spoilers: I tried to keep things vague but assume a low-lever spoiler warning for this whole pitch, I try to mark anything that gets more specific.
Terminology: I read the raws and have only seen snippets of the English translations on people’s livereads, so the terms I use may not match them 100%.
I think Cancipin is an objectively well-constructed and highly impressive novel, but I am also very biased because priest checked off All my tastes with this one, take that how you will.
Just a personal pet peeve but it deals me 50 psychic damage every time I see CCP and have to disambiguate if people are talking about the priest novel or the Chinese government so I request that people abbreviate the title as C2P if possible!! plz
OKAY NOW LET’S BEGIN
General premise
Cancipin is a sci-fi novel set many millenia in the future, in a society where all 8 inhabited galaxies[1] are united under a central governing body, with only the ‘interstellar pirates’ in the outer regions refusing this authority. Residents of the first 7 galaxies live in a (supposed) utopia, supported by a system called the Garden of Eden that allows humans to interface directly with technology and get all their needs taken care of 24/7. However, the 8th galaxy was recovered from interstellar pirates much later and lags far behind in technology, and the locals and any people in the other galaxies with a condition that prevents them from interfacing with Eden basically get dumped there to rot. (Gotta love that dystopian class inequality!)
[1] They’re probably actually solar systems but the Chinese term 星系 is ambiguous and galaxies sounds better I guess, don’t worry about it too much ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Setting
Minor spoiler warning since a lot of this info is only revealed later on in the novel, but not really a plot spoiler.
Cancipin is set neither in an era where humanity is at the peak of its technological development nor is it fully post-apocalyptic. Instead, several thousand years ago, there was an age of exploration when humanity built out a transportation network to settle greater parts of the universe and achieved breakthroughs in genetic technology to make all humans live to a life expectancy of 300, but later on, a regime of tyranny took over and a lot (though not all) of this progress was lost.
It describes a world where humanity makes active choices to step back from certain technology that is deemed to be too dangerous - further genome editing is banned despite the successes in extending life spans, and because the tyrannical regime used advanced AI technology to stay in control, there are strict rules that AI must not be allowed to operate independently and cannot resemble humans too closely. It’s very interesting to think about what balance a society should reach between allowing research that improves people’s lives and staying away from projects that are too risky to continue. In usual priest fashion, the novel is not about the technology itself so many of these details simply operate in the background, but it paints a thoughtful picture about where humanity might find itself millenia in the future.
Plot premise
Lin Jingheng is a former admiral of the interstellar union. Though he was disillusioned with the union since years ago when his adoptive father Lu Xin was framed and hunted down by powerful people within the system, he continued to fight to defend the union and put on appearances as he secretly planned a revolt. 5 years ago, he put the first part of his plan into action by faking his death and escaping to the 8th galaxy - partly because it would be easier to avoid detection in a place with no Eden, and partly to look for Lu Xin’s long-lost child, who disappeared after his pregnant wife was shot down while attempting to flee.
Through a series of coincidences, the first person he meets there is Lu Bixing, the son of the top weapons dealer in the 8th galaxy who ran away from home to follow his dreams of exploring the 8 galaxies and building a school. Lin Jingheng set a genetic lock on the escape capsule he fled in to only open for Lu Xin’s child, but as Lu Bixing is the sort of mad scientist to find a mysterious capsule floating in space and go “i’m gonna HACK it” and not just leave well enough alone, he was never able to confirm whether he had the right person.
So, both of them end up settling down on the nearby planet Beijing Beta as Lin Jingheng bides his time taking over the local gang/shadow government of the planet and Lu Bixing is happy to have found a sugar daddy generous sponsor to fund his school.
But all of their plans are shattered when the interstellar pirates invade and war breaks out, and the rest of the novel follows the journey of this whole world through turbulent times as they try to find a new order in the ruins of the old.
Major themes of the novel involve faith, the resilience of humanity, and the cyclic nature of history. It tells the story of a broken world putting itself back together, and the importance of standing back up even knowing you’ll fall again.
Characters and relationship dynamic/development
Both of the main characters are shaped by their past. Lin Jingheng and his twin sister Lin Jingshu grew up in a cold, lifeless home with only each other to lean on, only to be separated at a young age when their father died. Lin Jingheng was lucky to be taken in by Lu Xin, one of the few people of the Interstellar Union who truly believed in its Declaration of Freedom, and the admiral who disobeyed orders to recover the Eighth galaxy from the interstellar pirates over a century ago. Though Lin Jingheng would lose this adoptive family too early and get pushed into acting the role of the cold, ruthless, power-hungry bastard by the vortex of First galaxy politics, he never truly gives up on his adoptive father’s influence and his sense of duty towards all the people of the Interstellar Union. And, for all that he acts like a huge bastard to everyone else, he remains a secret romantic and incredibly soft towards the people he cares about.
Lu Bixing, meanwhile, grew up in the Eighth galaxy, witnessing how the Union had abandoned them first-hand. Though he is open-minded, extroverted, and strives to understand people with values unlike his own, his loyalties remain primarily to the Eighth galaxy. Even though he ran away from home, his father, a weapons dealer who goes by Monoeyed Hawk, is one of the most important people in his life (and even if he ends up stuck in the middle of a lot of fights between his ‘sugar daddy’ and his ‘real daddy’). More details about Lu Bixing’s youth get into spoiler territory, but I will note that I consider the 信徒/’Patron’ physical-only extra 100% required reading after the main story. In short, though Lu Bixing gives an initial impression as the sunny, optimistic, maybe even a bit childish type, the optimistic exterior is a side of him that he actively chooses to show to the world. He is more than capable of stepping up and taking responsibility when necessary, and as he says himself, being good-natured doesn’t mean not having a backbone.
In summary~ we have ~ sunny charming extroverted (mad) scientist/school headmaster who gives excellent motivational speeches x stoic cynical serious (but actually a huge mensao) ex-general whose favorite hobby is insulting people with increasingly creative roasts.
As for the development of their relationship, Cancipin is a prime example of what I love about priest’s nianxia[2] novels. Specifically, the way she sketches how two people can go from an uneven relationship between protector and protected, and evolve to become true equals by the end. Even though their romantic relationship begins before the halfway point, their early relationship definitely involved Lin Jingheng treating Lu Bixing as someone to one-sidedly protect and spoil, and Lu Bixing goes through a truly stunning character arc to become someone Lin Jingheng can trust and rely on by the end.
Against the background of a world thrown into turmoil, priest shows us the story of two seemingly different people who undergo and resolve their own crises of faith, find that they are not so different in the end, and choose to fight for a better world hand in hand.
[2] I don’t want to mislead people who specifically enjoy age gap dynamics, so please note that despite the 16-year age gap, that aspect is NOT really prevalent in their relationship, and is also not very remarkable in a setting where people stay young until age 200. The age gap is definitely much less of a factor than it is in Shapolang, Your Distance, etc.
On a lighter note, due to Lin Jingheng’s reputation as a Right Cold Bastard, their relationship is apparently so hilariously baffling to outsiders that priest wrote four whole different scenes of side characters finding out they’re together, and it’s 500% hilarious each time.
NOTE: The following section is going to get more spoilery, and I will allude to some events from both Cancipin and Shapolang more directly! Skip down to the side characters section if you want to avoid spoilers!
Connections to Shapolang and priest’s writing journey
I would highly recommend reading Cancipin sometime after reading Shapolang. The two novels share a number of similarities from a high-level perspective, and knowing what priest disliked about her earlier work, it was interesting to note aspects of Cancipin that appeared to be her making up for some of those regrets and learning from past mistakes to craft a more solid narrative.
She complained that SPL didn’t have sufficient tension because Chang Geng was too OP, but made sure to be absolutely ruthless in Cancipin and make sure fate is never on their side. Most things that could go wrong do go wrong, and she absolutely took the “let’s break this boi like a glowstick and see what happens” approach with Lu Bixing’s growth arc by tearing away his support system and making him step up to take responsibility. In addition, while Changgu could definitely have ended up at odds over their conflicting loyalties and simply didn’t because they got lucky, Lin Jingheng and Lu Bixing have to confront this conflict head-on and actively choose how to compromise on their priorities.
However, being forced to walk this more difficult path means that every single success in Cancipin feels incredibly well-earned because they had to fight for what they want and take initiative to reconcile their differences. Their relationship feels all the stronger for all they had to work for it, and I love them so so much.
Side characters
As usual, priest included quite the interesting and expansive cast of side characters. I won’t go into too much detail as I’ve gone on for quite long already and many details are spoilers, but we have:
Zhanlu, Lin Jingheng’s AI assistant, v cute v babie (I find all the AIs in this novel soooo interesting from an AI alignment perspective but I digress)
Lin Jingshu, Lin Jingheng’s equally hot and scary twin sister, wonder what she’s up to?
Monoeyed Hawk, Lu Bixing’s real daddy, BEST DANMEI DAD 500%, keeps getting in catfights with Lin Jingheng trying to keep him away from his darling son
Admiral Woolf and Professor Harden, older characters who watched the growth of the Union since its founding
Lu Bixing’s students, all cute kids who get a lot of character growth themselves
Elizabeth Turan and Lin Jingheng’s other ex-subordinates, Lin’s circus, pretty much all of them are in love with him (relatable)
And many more!
Action writing
I’m not usually one to gush over action scenes but they deserve a mention because the space battle scenes in this novel are Just. So. Good. In usual priest fashion she didn’t spend too much time giving them a bunch of fancy gadgets, so the battle scenes aren’t too hard to follow, but she uses a certain set of basic maneuvers to build up the most fascinating strategy battles and it’s absolutely mesmerizing to follow.
Sometimes I do get tired when there’s a lot of plot at once but that was absolutely not the case in this novel, I just absolutely couldn’t put it down because the plot, action, and relationship arcs were all just so enthralling.
Anyways, that’s all I’ll say for now, but read Cancipin!! I definitely consider it one of priest’s masterpieces, you won’t regret it!! lulin yyds thanks for your time
Why I’m recommending: I can never turn down a good space opera. Also the donghua is coming out soon, so it’s a good time to read the novel before it starts airing! This novel is so action-packed, I could not put it down. It has such a nice balance of humor, action, sad/emotional scenes, and romance. Priest does an excellent job at writing the battle scenes. The outcome of each ordeal is unpredictable, and the way the plot builds is just fantastic. You won’t be able to look away. If you are a fan of Priest’s writing and stories, I think you’ll find a lot of overlapping themes from her other works in Can Ci Pin. The novel is an excellent exploration of human nature, fate, sacrifice, family, nurture vs. nature, devotion, and more.
Lin Jingheng: The universe’s most attractive commander. He is cold, calculating, arrogant, prickly, and can be a jerk a lot of the time. But he is brilliant and goes through so much character growth throughout the novel. He’s the type of person who I would follow and trust his judgement no matter the situation. Out of the handful of danmei novels I’ve read, he is probably my favorite protagonist.
Li Bixing: The universe’s best teacher you could ever ask for. He is optimistic, bright, compassionate, chaotic, has a good heart, and is easy to like. Bixing really matures as a character over the course of the novel because of the circumstances he is put through. He is the type of character who you just want the best for because of how bright he shines.
Supporting Characters: Zhanlu is an AI who is just so precious, hilarious, and so very lovable. He brings lots of laughs to the story. Lin Jingshu is the twin sister of Lin Jingheng. She’s extremely powerful, smart, and mysterious. Monoeye Hawk is Bixing’s father, and though he might be hard-headed regarding certain matters, he really is such a fantastic and entertaining character. Elizabeth Turan is the awesome captain of the Silver Ninth Squadron. She’s outgoing, dependable, and loyal, but also has a fun and playful side to her.
There are many other side characters who add so much to the story, but I don’t want to take up too much space listing everyone else. Lu Bixing’s students have a special place in my heart because of how much they endured and grew over the course of the novel.
Lulin (Lu Bixing x Lin Jingheng): This is of my favorite character pairings ever. I really appreciate that they had a fair amount of relationship growth throughout the novel. Their relationship is very organic and I loved their getting together. They are so romantic and soft to each other and very much in love, but they had to work for it. They make each other stronger, and the sheer amount of devotion they have for the other makes me cry. I think Lin Jingheng needed someone to brighten up his life, and Li Bixing did that for him. Li Bixing needed a strong foundation and someone he could make a home with, and Lin Jingheng provided that opportunity. And! They are so very domestic. I love it.
(a few) of my favorite scenes below cut - NOT spoiler free! be warned!!
I just finished reading Can Ci Pin recently and it’s become one of my top favorites, I would definitely recommend giving it a try even if you don’t usually read scifi!
