Swallowed Star — I Eat Tomatoes' novel
At a glanceover 1,500 chapters · completed
Swallowed Star adapts Tunshi Xingkong (吞噬星空), the sixth novel by I Eat Tomatoes (我吃西红柿), serialized on Qidian in the early 2010s. On an Earth ravaged by a disaster that mutated animals into giant monsters, young Luo Feng becomes a "warrior" tasked with protecting human cities, before setting out to conquer the universe.
Origins and publication
I Eat Tomatoes, whose real name is Zhu Hongzhi, is one of the most famous names on Qidian. Before Swallowed Star he had already written Coiling Dragon (盘龙) and Stellar Transformations (星辰变), two classics translated into many languages. With this sixth novel he changed settings: no more fantasy worlds, but a future Earth, genetics, armour and interstellar travel, while keeping the tiered progression xianxia readers love.
The novel runs to about 1,500 chapters and was published in 14 volumes by Hubei Juvenile and Children's Publishing. A sequel, Swallowed Star 2: Origin Continent (吞噬星空2 起源大陆), was launched by the author much later.
How it differs from the donghua
Sparkly Key's donghua, airing since November 2020, respects the plot but changes its timescale. The novel spends many chapters on Luo Feng's life on Earth, his family and his combat school, before the story goes cosmic. The animation speeds through these beginnings to reach the beast fights sooner. The novel also explains the world's rules in more detail: warrior levels, genetic resources and the economy of weapons.
Reception and success
Swallowed Star is one of Qidian's biggest hits and is often presented as I Eat Tomatoes' best novel. Its mix of science fiction and cultivation has inspired many authors. The donghua introduced the novel to a younger audience and is among Tencent Video's most-watched 3D series.
Trivia
- The title Tunshi Xingkong literally means "devouring the starry sky".
- Luo Feng ends up possessing the body of a star-devouring beast, inside which he cultivates a human clone. That idea gives the novel its title.
- I Eat Tomatoes chose his pen name because he liked eating tomatoes. Fans call him "Fanqie" (番茄, tomato).
- Coiling Dragon, by the same author, was one of the very first Chinese web novels translated into English, in 2014.
My take
Swallowed Star is a very effective novel that reads like an action series. The first part on Earth is the most endearing, with a real sense of danger and a family you want to protect. After that, the cosmic scale impresses but becomes repetitive, and side characters fade away. It is an excellent novel for anyone after pace rather than subtlety.
Who is it for?Science fiction and action fans, and anyone who wants xianxia without sects or mountains.
— Spidermas, for Donghua Fan
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The authorI Eat Tomatoes 我吃西红柿The author who won over the West