Ghosts of the Heart [Book One: The Mirror which Hides the Truth]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

After five hundred years of peace under the rule of the great clans, a powerful faction of rogue cultivators known as the Nameless plunged the world into war. To put an end to the bloodshed, Song Mingzhen— one of the great clans’ most promising young cultivators— confronted the leader of the Nameless and defeated him.

This victory, though, did not come without a cost. Song Mingzhen was gravely injured during the battle, losing his memories and much of his cultivation and vanishing from the public eye for five years.

Not long after his reemergence, news of an escaped prisoner and a murdered clan leader arrive from the neighboring region. Song Mingzhen must now join forces with the aloof and uptight Ning Feiyun to bring the fugitive to justice.

But when the clues begin to point toward a wider conspiracy, and Song Mingzhen’s forgotten memories begin to resurface, it becomes clear that neither past nor present are quite what they seem…

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2024
Author: Zhuixing Luochen

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 5.0/ 5.0
Followers: 14
Views: 8,767

What readers say about Ghosts of the Heart [Book One: The Mirror which Hides the Truth]

“As you can tell from the title of this, I love Chinese Historical Fantasy. The Dandelion Dynasty is one of my favorite series. So I knew I would like this one. I'm glad I read it. It's a wonderful story that I know will only get better. Style and Grammar: I…”
FireinBloodRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I was kind of skeptical when I first embarked on reading this book. At the time of writing this review, only the first chapter has been published. However once I completed my read of the first chapter I was blownnnn!! The writer has an amazing style and flo…”
Prithak PoudyalRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(3)

FireinBloodRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
As you can tell from the title of this, I love Chinese Historical Fantasy. The Dandelion Dynasty is one of my favorite series. So I knew I would like this one. I'm glad I read it. It's a wonderful story that I know will only get better.
Style and Grammar: I didn't notice any Grammar mistakes 5 stars. the style is beautifully descriptive to where it's not annoying. It's told almost in a historical sense and I love that. Those types of stories are amazing. I was enthralled by the style 5 stars.
Character: Song Minghzen is a good character, but, although I like him, he's not completely fleshed out. As an MC, I feel like I could've known more about him but I didn't. At the beginning, the author tells us his history but we don't know him as a person that well. I would like a little more of that, but I do still like him. 4 stars.
Story: The story here is great. the return of a hero is always an amazing plot and it's utilized very well here. This story has already taken some turns that I did not expect and it's very exciting to be on this journey 5 stars.
Overall, I really loved this. I don't really need to say anymore. This was great, and I'm excited to keep reading. 5 stars
Prithak PoudyalRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I was kind of skeptical when I first embarked on reading this book. At the time of writing this review, only the first chapter has been published. However once I completed my read of the first chapter I was blownnnn!!
The writer has an amazing style and flow of things. Here's a copy of my comment on the first chapter that sums it all up:
1st read:(Story)
Amazing!!
The way you described how a hero can transition into a god was phenomenal with Song Mingzhen's story. I was so captivated and wasn't expecting him to make his return in this very chapter lol.
The transition from Song Mingzhen's story with an amazing hook about the catastrophe that struck Anfeng city to the point where we see our MC and his 'sister' practicing sword art was so well written. My god!! You carefully described the history of the festival and slowly showed the young cultivators, then transitioned to them imitating the arts of the sword and then finally showed our young MC. This kind of a flow is...no less than a masterpiece, I must say.
Their interaction with the woman not only showcased our MC's nature, but was also great at showing A Ying's more naive nature that you'd expect from a child her age. While portraying children people often portray them as either too dumb or too smart. This was just perfect!!!
The dialogues work at roughly giving the idea of the woman with the bamboo hat too. The way she had a soft spot for the children, the way she spoke in a rather cold tone with our MC compared to her interactions with the naive A Ying, and the manner in which she asked the children to stay away from the ruthless world of cultivation all added to the depth of her character in a subtle manner.
I love how the chapter ends with a banger!! A human now turned god, a hero, returns to his people in their time of need, while the woman being portrayed as kinda an iffy character walks away from the scene. Makes me kinda question on whether Song Ming Zhen is the one plotting something behind the scenes whi
WilliamGabriel10Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Ghosts of the Heart is an ongoing storyline set within an area based on Chinese Mythology. One can tell the author has done their research by many offhand references. A great deal of thought has gone into things.
The style does have some issues. Sometimes, the narrative spends too much time telling and not enough showing. There is a common use of the passive voice early on, which undermines tension. I found some parts of the narrative a little hard to follow. The story, meanwhile, moves at a good pace with excellent world-building. Time is taken to develop the world and describe the landscape. It really does feel like this is a society with rules and traditions of its own. And the gradual progression of events is good, too.
I have not detected any serious grammatical errors. Spaces in the wrong places are not a problem, and there was no unnecessary capitalization. The paragraphs are not too long or short and can be read pretty well.
Characters may be the weakest choice, if I'm going to be honest. It is not that the characters are bad; they are actually pretty good. The real issue is that the protagonists don't get a lot of time to show it. In the early chapters, there is not much dialogue. This means we are being told character relationships instead of shown them organically. Being an individual who sometimes uses too much dialogue, I felt this was a major weakness.