Stars of Chaos: Sha Po Lang (Novel) Vol. 1

Stars of Chaos is Chinese BL fantasy set in a slightly more modern alt-history Empire than the other books in the genre I’ve read. Westerners (spearheaded by the Pope!) have established trading and diplomatic relations with the Empire, and there’s new, exciting steam technology powered by violet gold. There are airships—with kites instead of balloons—and automatons among other things. The army especially makes use of these inventions, keeping the Empire powerful. But everyone covets the violet gold, making it worth wars and treachery.Chang Geng is thirteen when barbaric northerners invade his small rural town, breaking a peace that’s lasted fourteen years, to stop the Empire draining their huge reserves of violet gold. But their presence in his town isn’t random: they want Chang Geng.Turns out, Chang Geng’s life has been a lie, and he’s a more important person than he thought. Not that he believes a word of it, a great cause of internal conflict for him. But even worse is to learn that his godfather—so elected because he once saved Chang Geng’s life—isn’t who he’s claimed to be either.Chang Geng is whisked off to the Empire’s capital to live with his godfather there. The story follows the pair trying to come to terms with their new life as a family. Gu Yuo is utterly unsuitable for a father figure; he’s too young and selfish, and he’s mostly absent with the army anyway. But when, at fifteen, Chang Geng tests his limits by setting off to see the world, Gu You follows, only for the pair to stumble on a coup.The story is advertised as a boylove romance, and it’ll likely head there eventually. In this first volume, Chang Geng rather abruptly becomes aware of his feelings for his godfather, a cause of great agony for him. Gu Yuo, however, sees him only as a child, and isn’t interested in men anyway. He has his own troubles to deal with, issues that he hasn’t shared with Chang Geng, making the boy mistrust him.Chang Geng and Gu Yuo were interesting characters, more nuanced than in average web novels. The side characters were fun and had a proper role in the story. Narrative was more coherent too, with no internal inconsistencies that so often plague these stories. Either it’s written as a novel and not serialised first, or it’s been properly edited for a book.I don’t know how many volumes there are in the story, but if each take only a couple of years of their lives, it’ll be a long time before it reaches the romance part. But I’m here for it.

This is a wonderfully built story, full of war, historical basis/ steampunk descriptive; romance intertwined. It’s lgbtq+. I fell in love with this story online a few years ago & now am purchasing the books. Absolutely recommend. ❤️

This is the first volume in a five-volume series translated from Chinese. The edition I read was beautifully produced, including a short color art gallery at the start and occasional full-page black-and-white illustrations during the book. It's set in a secondary world based on ancient China, but with a resource called violet gold that fuels steam-powered machines. I very much enjoyed the setting, except that the extreme power granted by advanced violet-gold military devices is too unbalancing for my preferences.I stayed up an extra hour, jet-lagged, to finish volume 1, having earlier read a sizable part on an overnight flight, so I won't try to sort out all my thoughts. Overall, I found it a fun read, increasingly so as it went on. Yet it seemed a little too overdone to fully capture me. (Overdone isn't quite the right word, but cartoonish is too harsh, and I am tired.)Call it three and a half out of five violet-gold stars. I plan to read volume 2 sometime in the next couple of months.About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).

I think this will definitely be one of my new favorite series, I absolutely loved reading this book! I love how sci-fi is mixed with Chinese history, it’s a bit like Iron Widow only not entirely the same level of modernness.I also love the story it was really interesting and the characters are likable. I sense that the romance will be amazing when it finally happens. Can’t wait to read the next book!

That 115 pages prologue really almost had me throwing the towel with this one. Those first 60+ pages tested me, but once it picked up, I couldn't put this book down. Chan Geng had me pulling at my hair both because of how bad I felt for him and because he's stubbornly silent. Gu Yun also had me at my limit, much like CG, because he truly needs a class in how to communicate because even his good intentions get lost in the bs he pulls in a effort to not convey any sort of feeling. I understand both, and they make the perfect combo for major miscommunication, but, unlike other stories, it makes sense given both of their tumultuous upbringings and the curse CG has to endure. The political aspects are well developed and easy to follow even if we don't have all the pieces yet. I'm sensing a big separation and snakes poisoning CG's ear in the future.I really can't wait to see how Chan Geng and Gu Yun's relationship develops and where all this political intrigue leads.

Not only the story, but the translation of the book is also excellent. It reads easily and flows well. With the illustration, glossaries, pronunciation guides, etc, I could sense that the publisher put a great amount of effort in delivery of the book.

It arrived in excellent condition! Honestly, for now, that's what I'm happy about based on some photos here. As for the story, we shall see!

Another reader commented that this was a slow build up to reach the intrigue then it’s time to jump to the next book in the series. When you start getting to the meat if this read you’ll reach out trying to help mediate the miscommunication and lack of transparency in the characters. It’s at this point you’re hooked and can’t stop reading. I gave this four outta five stars because of the very slow beginning.