#imperfection

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.

whenever you find a badass military general character in danmei, you can be sure they will be the shou most of the time

I mean… Marshal Gu, General Fu, Commander Lin

and then the gong would be puppy eyes specialist

(not that I’m complaining tho)

i was so relieved the day
i realized i’d outgrown
revenge.
even though there may have still been
some self loathing
loitering as echoes in the hallways and
smoking under the streetlamps at night,
there was finally indication of
how
forgiveness may be a strength.
i impressed myself. i felt impressive. 
but i knew even then, that day,
how
feeling impressive
is counter-productive.

Cherish yours