“Blade Runner meets Cradle.”
Falling under the umbrella of progression fantasy, the cultivation subgenre (also known as xianxia) has risen in popularity through Chinese webnovels. Centered around the concept of “cultivating” or developing energy for supernatural combat powers. Though they may have once taken place in ancient temples and bamboo forests, newer stories have explored contemporary and futuristic settings.
One of the most prolific translators of xianxia is Jeremy “Deathblade” Bai, whose credits include the highly popular I Shall Seal the Heavens series. His own The Heretic Peacekeeper joins a growing library of English-original xianxia stories, which, like the webnovels coming out of China, are now experimenting with new takes on settings. In Deathblade’s case, it’s a mashup of cyberpunk and xianxia.
The Heretic Peacekeeper has a gritty, noir feel to it, similar to the original Blade Runner. The titular character, Wang Fan, is a detective with the Glorious Peacekeepers, sent with his partner Jakobe Liu, to take in a murder scene. Their investigation leads them to Elena.
Elena’s a Cultivator, a practitioner of superhuman martial techniques—illegal practices make them the target of the Peacekeeper’s special division, The Black Corps. When Wang Fan gets caught between the Cultivators and Black Corps, he’s framed as an accomplice and forced to clear his name.
What really stood out to me was the worldbuilding and Deathblade’s vision of the future. It’s a dystopia taking place sometime in the future (it’s 916 NE), with some advanced technologies like flying cars and guns that fire on nerve impulses; but they also share the world with everyday kitchen appliances, briefcases, and paper files. Facts we readers will take for granted (like cigarettes being unhealthy), are considered conspiracy theories. So clearly, something happened between now and then. Humans’ ethnicities and languages have evolved; Eurosynths are a mix of Caucasians, Japkor are likely Japanese-Korean, Sinese likely Chinese; and there’s a mix of languages.
Most interestingly, all these people live on different layers of the world, separated by social class and forcefields, it gives rise to the series name, the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. It reminded me of David Wingrove’s Chung Kuo series, where China has taken over a layered world, divided by social class.
The Heretic Peacekeeper’s plot moves along at a quick pace, with several tense confrontations interspersed with downtime where we learn more about the world. There are hints at deeper secrets and conspiracies, as well as long-game mysteries such as the circumstances surrounding the death of Wang Fan’s sister.
The unembellished writing style fits the atmosphere of the story well, while breathing life into memorable characters. Overall, the closest comparison I’ve read is SPFBO6 Finalist The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin.
With its intricate worldbuilding and engaging plot, I rate The Heretic Peacekeeper 8.5 out of 10 stars.
Author’s Note: I read about halfway through the story until the audiobook came out. The narrator, Travis Baldree is well-known for his work in the cultivation subgenre, having worked on Will Wight’s Cradle series, Tao Wong’s Thousand Li series, and Sarah Lin’s Street Cultivation. His top-notch narrating skills made the story even more enjoyable for me.
Julia Kitvaria Sarene
Jennie Ivins