——Comment on the mushroom urban fantasy novel "Phoenix Mask"
Zhang Ying Representative of "Beijing Literature" magazine
Zhu Tong, the protagonist of "Phoenix Mask", is a charlatan. His life wanders between an invisible world and the real society we know - in the eighth-level world, he is the famous Zhu Tong, a lone wolf with a thousand faces;
In the real world, he is Li Xiang, a gentle and elegant doctor. For the woman he deeply loves, Ye'er, he wants to withdraw from the world, but the right and wrong of the world repeatedly draws him into the whirlpool.
The two identities of the protagonist run two completely different but intersecting worlds. In these two worlds, it is difficult to distinguish the true and false faces of the protagonist, and the false and the true are concealed, so there are several fictions and several masks.
The characteristic of this fantasy novel is that it does not stand above modern life, but is closely connected with modern urban life, creating a wonderful sense of reality. The story is set in Fenghuang, Qingdao, Shanghai and other places familiar to contemporary people in Xiangxi.
It happens in famous places or cities, and the places involved include hospitals, police stations, high-end clubs, and companies. The storyline narrated by the author intentionally or unintentionally presents many dark game rules of modern society, such as overt and covert fights in hospitals, corruption and receiving red envelopes,
The power of the police, the shady secrets in high-end clubs, the relationship between the company's operations and the local government... As a liar, the protagonist has won many battles because most of his defrauding targets or opponents are corruption in modern society.
Corrupt elements are unclean, so scammers can take advantage of them and exploit them. In contrast, scammers are no dirtier than them, and sometimes they even act like a knight, doing some things to help those in need. Such a not-so-negative
To a certain extent, the image of the liar protagonist reflects the author's critical awareness of society. In short, if the fantasy factors are removed, this is a wonderful real society, which can be supported by the author's broad social knowledge and insight into the real society.
He wrote an urban novel with realistic themes.
Another world in the author's writing - the fantasy world is composed of "the first-grade Golden Buddha, the second-grade Taoism, the third-grade blue stone, the fourth-grade red fire, the fifth-grade Qingyang, the sixth-grade Meiyuan, the seventh-grade Zhumen, and the eighth-grade orchid".
Independent Jianghu discourse system, Jianghu characters all have a legal identity in real society. Ma Ye is an elder of the sixth-grade Meiyuan, and a master of traditional Chinese painting in real life; the old liar is a member of the seventh-grade Zhu family, but he traveled far and wide in order to obtain a legal identity.
After crossing the sea, he faked his identity as an overseas Chinese after plastic surgery and returned to China to open a company; Zhu Tong worked hard to become Li Xiang. It can be said that each of them has a mask of reality. When they put on the mask, readers see
What we see is the real world. When they take off their masks, what we see is the rivers and lakes. The fantasy rivers and lakes described by the author are much more virtual. This kind of virtual brushwork makes the rivers and lakes appear more mysterious and ethereal, full of the romantic aftertaste of classical martial arts.
The juxtaposition and intersection of the fantasy world and the real world seems to open up another dimension besides the three-dimensional space we are familiar with, which greatly expands readers' "defamiliarization" imagination of urban space and brings freshness and excitement to readers.
Feeling of pleasure.
The author's writing style is average, and the characters he creates have relatively single characteristics except for the protagonist, but these weaknesses can be covered up by the author's superb storytelling ability. The author is good at foreshadowing the next story in the previous story before the climax is over.
The next story begins. The stories of the little liar defrauding Wang Juefei and saving Ye'er are almost intertwined, and at the same time they pave the way for future stories. The identities and functions of the characters also develop linearly in the novel, rather than
Still, the insignificant little characters in the previous story are very likely to play a major role in the next story. These all show that the author has a relatively complete conception of the novel before telling the story, and has formed a relatively formed image in his mind.
Only by telling the story can the story be told with great undercurrents and great success. This is especially rare for online novels that are updated quickly and are compiled and sold now.
In fact, the story structure told by the author is an excellent urban fable. It can not only have wonderful stories, but also carry more profound things, such as social criticism and human exploration.
"There is nothing but nothingness" - Is the world real or false? Is love true or false? Is love true or false? Is there something or nothing? Is fame and fortune true or false? Is it true or false? It would be better if the novel could think about these questions.
It's just that the author hasn't realized it yet, or the requirements of network updates do not allow him to do such detailed work. Of course, this is also a higher requirement for the author. As far as online novels are concerned, it is already very exciting.
1. The text value is 0.8 points. The writing style is average, the ability to weave stories is very strong, and the story telling is quite exciting.
2. Record value. 0.7 points. Although it is a fantasy novel, it is based on the intricate and entangled relationships between various social strata and various forces, showing the author's deeper insight into society.
3. Marginal academic value. 0.6 points. There is no breakthrough in human nature. The characters are relatively single and one-sided, but the characteristics are obvious and relatively vivid. The marginal academic value is that it opens up a fantasy world in the real urban space and expands the understanding of the city.
Space imagination.
4. Entertainment value. 0.7 points. The dilemma of love story, the unpredictable deception, the fantasy story description, very interesting to watch.