Dragon Raja — Jiang Nan's Long Zu saga
At a glance6 volumes · unfinished
Dragon Raja adapts Long Zu (龙族), Jiang Nan's (江南) contemporary fantasy saga. Lu Mingfei, a mediocre, somewhat hapless Chinese high school student, receives an acceptance letter from Cassell College, a private university hidden near Chicago. There he discovers that dragon blood flows in his veins, and that the college's mission is simple: to slay dragons.
Origins and publication
Jiang Nan was already famous before Long Zu, thanks to the campus novel Ci Jian de Shaonian (此间的少年). He began Long Zu on 1 October 2009 in Manke Xiaoshuohui magazine, then continued it online on QQ Reading and Qidian. The saga mixes teenage humour, melancholy and a dragon mythology drawn from very varied sources, from Norse mythology to Chinese tradition.
The saga is published in several volumes by Changjiang Publishing: Long Zu I, The Blazing Dawn (2010), II, The Mourning Eyes (2011), III, The Black Moon Tide (2013, in three books), then IV, Odin's Abyss (2015). A fifth instalment is still being written, which leaves the saga unfinished.
Volume covers
All 6 volumes of the print edition.
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
How it differs from the donghua
The donghua, launched in August 2022 on Tencent Video, adapts the first volume in a style strongly inspired by Japanese anime. It keeps Lu Mingfei's self-deprecating humour and the atmosphere of Cassell College but heavily condenses the inner monologues that make Jiang Nan's narration so charming. The novel also takes more time to establish Caesar, Chu Zihang and Nono, and to describe Lu Mingfei's life before the college.
Reception and success
Long Zu is a publishing phenomenon in China, selling millions of copies. In 2013 Jiang Nan topped China's ranking of the highest-earning writers, with 25.5 million yuan in royalties. Lu Mingfei, an endearing antihero, has become a cult figure. Readers do, however, criticise the slow publication and the lack of an ending.
Trivia
- In 2013 Jiang Nan became China's highest-paid writer, earning 25.5 million yuan in royalties in a single year.
- Cassell College is located on the outskirts of Chicago, and students reach it by a secret train.
- The third volume, The Black Moon Tide, was published in three books in 2013.
- The Long Zu manhua was drawn for a time by Mi Er, who later created The Outcast.
My take
Long Zu is a saga apart, closer to young adult fiction than to classic web novels. Lu Mingfei is a wonderful hero, funny and touching, and Jiang Nan's narration has real style. The fights are sometimes confusing and waiting for an ending is frustrating. But the first volume remains one of the best entry points into modern Chinese fantasy.
Who is it for?Young adult and urban fantasy readers, and anyone who loves ordinary heroes thrown into the extraordinary.
— Spidermas, for Donghua Fan
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The authorJiang Nan 江南The chemist turned star novelist