I really resonated with that, but when I recommended a lot of translated Chinese web novels to my friends, they were turned off immediately by the prose or the cultural knowledge requirements. In these novels, it’s a system of growing more powerful and more connected to the world at the same time, so it’s basically a magic system and a setting centered around progression. A lot of the original concepts come from Taoism. WW: Basically, there’s this whole collection of web novels around “cultivation,” which is kind of the mystical improvement of the self and your relationship to the universe. Is that typically part of xuanhuan, or was it something you worked in intentionally? It reminds me a lot of the new LitRPG genre, where people just like to read about a character “leveling up”. Also, there’s this really satisfying sense of progression in the novel.
I think it was because Lindon is such a relatable character, even though he’s involved in a bunch of activities that I’ve never been involved in. Xuanhuan is not my normal cup-o-tea, but I picked up Unsouled: Cradle 1 and really loved it. It was largely the progression elements that inspired me to write something similar, and my clairvoyant powers tell me that I will be expanding on this answer very soon…ĪC: Ah, xuanhuan. And there’s certainly a lot more than Chinese mythology in there I draw a lot of inspiration from anime and Korean myths and traditions as well.
But genre definitions are always very fluid, so there’s a lot of gray area. WW: Technically I think it would be categorized as xuanhuan, which is a wuxia-adjacent genre that includes a lot of fantasy novels in settings based on Chinese mythology. Cradle is definitely where I recommend new readers start, because it’s my newest and most popular series, and it’s kind of a martial arts fantasy journey.ĪC: This is a bit outside of my field, but your Cradle series is Wuxia, right? (Am I completely wrong about that?) Can you tell us a bit about that genre, and what inspired you to write in it? pirates in a Lovecraftian fantasy setting. Elder Empire has a unique dual novel structure that causes lots of confusion, but besides that it’s ninjas vs. WW: I’ve had nothing but time since you captured me and put me in this cage, but nonetheless it’s great to be here! Traveler’s Gate was my first series, and it’s kind of my standard fantasy action story with swords, monsters, talking dolls, hummingbirds with deep and manly voices, etc. Can you tell us a little bit about each series, and where do you recommend someone new to WW starts? You have the Cradle series, the Traveler’s Gate trilogy, and the Elder Empire series. First off, let’s get a quick overview of your books. AC: Hi Will, thanks for taking the time to chat with us.
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