Heavenly Demonic is the first book in the Heavenly Demonic series by Nemu Sai. Haise is a young man who is perpetually behind others his age in terms of qi cultivation and talent though he is outstanding at using his qi through his music. When he is attacked while on a walk one day he and his mentor, Hiro, consult a friend to discover what to do about the attacker. To potentially prevent future attacks Haise must travel to an alternate realm and find the true perpetrator behind them. In order to do so though he must travel across the land to find the gate, something which forces Haise to face his past. Along the way he discovers more about the threat but also about someone who is following him in an attempt to protect him. The further he travels the more he learns about what is currently going on but also about the potential mysterious ties it may have to his own past.
This was an interesting read and something that I enjoyed reading as it was different from a lot of what I normally come across. There were however a few things that made it a little difficult to follow at times. One of the big ones was the use of flashbacks. This is not something I typically mind being included in a story but in this one I felt like the flashbacks were dominating the story, so much so that I felt slightly disoriented when they ended and we returned to the main story. It was probably just because of how long they were but I still felt like this was a slight issue, at least for me. In terms of the plot for the story, I was intrigued by it and found myself trying to figure out exactly how their version of magic through the use of qi actually worked. While that could have been better explained it was still explained well enough that the story worked overall in that regard. The one thing I felt wasn’t explained was the differences between the realms and someone going from one to the other and back as that feels like it will be an important plot point in later installments. I liked the character of Haise though and am eager to learn more about his past as I felt like only the relevant parts have been touched on so far. A good book though and I am happy to give it three out of five stars.
This is a good example of a fantasy novel and would probably hold some decent appeal to readers who tend to prefer that genre. It is aimed primarily at adult readers and I would mostly agree with that as it does contain some potentially disturbing content. Some of what Haise faces is a little gruesome and graphic at times. Beyond that it was pretty good though so I have no problems recommending it. If you decide to try it, consider sharing your thoughts in the comments. This book was acquired through the Reedsy Discovery program and you can also find a copy of my review there.