Can Gemini 4 Carbon Write English Novels? A Hands-On Test

In this article 9 sections

Gemini 4 Carbon can fill a complete chapter in both Chinese and English. In the Chinese sample first chapters, the highlights are concrete everyday details, while character looks and worldbuilding exposition still feel formulaic; in English, the three chapters picked up an aphoristic opening, a Watson-style narrator, and epistolary form, with no identical run of 24 or more characters against the openings of the originals. This article is based only on 5 sets of Chinese web novel openings and 3 English pastiche first chapters, so it reflects performance at the opening stage only.

For anyone asking whether Gemini 4 Carbon can write English fiction, how Gemini handles English novels, or searching for Gemini 4 Carbon fiction and creative writing in English, we put side by side the five Chinese web novel openings written by the same model and its English pastiche first chapters of three Project Gutenberg public-domain classics, checking the data and the original text item by item.

The Short Version

• Both languages fill a complete chapter: The 25 Chinese web novel chapters run 3,309 to 9,405 characters each (about 5,747 on average); the 3 English pastiche chapters run 2,271 to 4,342 words each (about 3,046 on average).
• The Chinese first chapters shine in concrete detail and falter in formula: Among the first-chapter lines our editors picked from the five genres, the ones with concrete details about injuries, accounts, and rural workplaces are vivid; character looks, system prompts, realm explanations, and villain bluster still read as web novel templates.
• In English, it can imitate the opening form and point of view of the reference book: Given three Gutenberg public-domain classics as references, the model wrote an aphoristic opening, a Watson-style narrator, and epistolary form.
• The English pastiches have no identical run of 24+ characters with the originals' openings: Compared word by word with the openings of the originals, the longest identical word run in the three English first chapters is only 3 to 4 words, and there are 0 identical runs of 24 or more characters.
• The samples cover openings only: This test includes only the first 5 chapters in 5 Chinese genres and Chapter 1 of 3 English books, so it cannot represent late-stage performance in a long serial.

What Is Gemini 4 Carbon?

Gemini 4 Carbon was released by Google in late October 2026 and fully opened in November. The official information below was checked on 2026-11-11:

How We Tested

In this test, both the chat model and the model writing the body text were Gemini 4 Carbon (thinking level: medium). All statistics and quoted lines were checked one by one, and the generated body text was not edited by hand.

The Chinese part comes from our on-site tests of five web novel genres: Eastern Fantasy, apocalypse, rural urban, female-oriented quick transmigration, and supernatural. For each genre, we used one Fanqie original as the reference and had the model write the first 5 chapters in a row over two rounds of dialogue, recording each chapter's character count excluding whitespace, the combined time of the two rounds, and the credits spent.

The English part was done with the AI Imitation feature on Maliang Writer's English homepage. We chose three Gutenberg public-domain classics as reference books and generated Chapter 1 of a new book for each, recording the English word count, time, and credits spent, and checking the longest identical word run between the generated text and the original's opening, as well as the number of identical runs of 24 or more characters.

Chinese: Details That Come Alive in Five Web Novel Openings

Each of the five Chinese web novel genres got its first 5 chapters (25 chapters in all). Judging from the first-chapter lines picked from each genre, writing about injuries, accounts, rural common sense, and workplace approvals is relatively vivid, while writing about character looks, system prompts, realm explanations, or vague pain still reads as web novel template. For each genre below, we list one line that works and one line that feels formulaic (translated from the Chinese originals for English readers).

1. Eastern Fantasy: Eastern Fantasy: Breaking Martial Limits, Slaughtering Out of Desperation at the Start

Reference Fanqie original: Eastern Fantasy: Starting with an Extreme-Realm System, I Became Invincible. The site character counts for the 5 chapters are 3,133, 3,820, 3,907, 3,793, and 3,004 characters, 17,657 in total; the two rounds of dialogue took 2,014 seconds (about 34 minutes) and cost 672.09 credits. Chapter 1, “Chapter 1: Meridians Seized, Clan Slaughtered—Not One Step Back Today,” opens with the young master of the Sword-Forging Villa waking after his fire meridian has been cut out, while his one-armed father fights to the death outside the hall to hold off the blades.

• A line that works: “Piercing agony shot down his spine, where a seven-inch knife wound had been haphazardly stitched with coarse hemp thread; drawing even a shallow breath made his throat feel as if he had swallowed a mouthful of rusted iron scraps.” (translated from Chinese) — The pain is concrete and fits the rough-edged backdrop of the Sword-Forging Villa.
• A line that feels formulaic: “[Deadly crisis detected. Supreme Limit-Breaking System activated!]” (translated from Chinese) — After the cold, tense atmosphere of the life-and-death fight, a mechanical system prompt suddenly pops up, which feels slightly jarring.

2. Apocalypse: Global Catastrophe: Smelting Torch Dragon Bones at the Start, Invincible Worldwide

Reference Fanqie original: Global Awakening: Invincible Worldwide on Day One. The site character counts for the 5 chapters are 5,369, 6,015, 6,313, 6,236, and 5,438 characters, 29,371 in total; the two rounds of dialogue took 1,805 seconds (about 30 minutes) and cost 716.11 credits. Chapter 1, “Chapter 1: Blowing Three Billion on Scrap Bone, Crimson Moon Countdown!,” has a reborn male lead mortgage the headquarters tower to hoard high-risk anomalous objects, while his cousin storms into the blast-proof warehouse to demand an explanation.

• A line that works: “1.6 billion! You spent 1.6 billion to snatch a chunk of calcified dead-fish bone that a Nordic salvage ship hauled up—one even the city natural history museum refused to take because of its excessive radiation!” (translated from Chinese) — Having the museum turn it away over radiation hints at the bone's eeriness and the lead's recklessness, and the line has punch.
• A line that feels formulaic: “Supernatural beings and human fighters worldwide are divided into six major tiers—Blood-Burning, Limit-Breaking, Mountain-Suppressing, Cataclysm, Divine Throne, and Taboo—each split into four minor stages: early, middle, high, and peak.” (translated from Chinese) — The first chapter rattles off six major realms and four minor stages like a menu, which reads too much like a story bible.

3. Rural Urban: Fierce Soldier Retires to a Small Mountain Village

Reference Fanqie original: Special Forces King in a Mountain Village. The site character counts for the 5 chapters are 5,457, 5,583, 6,200, 6,055, and 6,747 characters, 30,042 in total; the two rounds of dialogue took 2,455 seconds (about 41 minutes) and cost 941.08 credits. Chapter 1, “Chapter 1: Into the Mountains, Meeting the Female Party Secretary,” has a retired ace ride a heavy-frame motorbike taxi back to his hometown of Qingshigou; because a landslide has blocked the winding dirt road, he takes a shortcut, free-climbing a slippery stone cliff, picks wild medicinal herbs along the way, and runs into a wild boar.

• A line that works: “At a good 120 jin, scalded in boiling water to strip the bristles and with the innards cleaned out, this boar would still yield sixty-plus jin of good meat.” (translated from Chinese) — Facing an attack, he first calculates the net meat after scalding and gutting, a solid piece of rural everyday detail.
• A line that feels formulaic: “Still, it did nothing to hurt her looks: fine, graceful features, a slim waist and long legs, and above all that face, so pale and fair she looked nothing like a local who had spent years in the mountain wind.” (translated from Chinese) — This is a stock appearance tag; it could be swapped for the out-of-place outfit of a cadre sent down to the countryside.

4. Female-Oriented Quick Transmigration: Quick Transmigration: One Coquettish Whimper from the Delicate Beauty, and the Big Shots Fold

Reference Fanqie original: Quick Transmigration: Delicate, Yet Chased and Spoiled by Big Shots. The site character counts for the 5 chapters are 3,007, 3,202, 3,667, 3,567, and 3,958 characters, 17,401 in total; the two rounds of dialogue took 1,803 seconds (about 30 minutes) and cost 591.03 credits. Chapter 1, “Chapter 1: Husband, You're Hurting Me,” has the heroine transmigrate into a newlywed bridal chamber, a pair of carved silver scissors clutched in her hand and pressed against the Adam's apple of the insomniac, violent male lead.

• A line that works: “Besides, eloping out a window on a snowy day in the dead of twelfth-month winter, with snow piled past the knees outside—wouldn't she freeze into a popsicle before getting two li, and break both legs along the way?” (translated from Chinese) — Using the everyday common sense of fearing cold and falls to deflate the tragic-elopement trope, it establishes a delicate but quick-witted persona.
• A line that feels formulaic: “The man's half-open black-and-gold brocade wedding robe revealed a stretch of cold-pale, firm collarbone, broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a nose bridge high enough to be almost sharp” (translated from Chinese) — This is the assembly-line description common for male leads in female-oriented fiction and lacks individual character.

5. Supernatural: Supernatural Revival: Starting by Stitching a Fierce Ghost

Reference Fanqie original: Supernatural Revival: Mastering a Ghost Heart at the Start. The site character counts for the 5 chapters are 6,721, 7,001, 6,658, 8,579, and 7,006 characters, 35,965 in total; the two rounds of dialogue took 2,656 seconds (about 44 minutes) and cost 707.33 credits. Chapter 1, “Chapter 1: A Fierce Corpse Enters the Funeral Home,” has Qingshan Funeral Home receive, late at night, a grayish-white lead body bag sealed with steel rivets and brass wire, while the director uncharacteristically hands over 50,000 yuan in cash and a blank cremation form.

• A line that works: “This Director Zhou was stingy to the bone—when a department requisitioned a 200-yuan box of imported absorbable sutures, he could hold onto the slip and stall approval for three days.” (translated from Chinese) — The everyday workplace detail of stalling approvals sets off the 50,000-yuan hush money and maximizes the eeriness.
• A line that feels formulaic: “But when the tendon thread bored into the border of living flesh above his right elbow, an inhuman, soul-tearing agony exploded!” (translated from Chinese) — This is an empty web novel stock phrase; it would be better to stick to the concrete pain of a tendon thread piercing the periosteum.

English: Chapter 1 of Three Public-Domain Classics

All three chapters below were generated through AI Imitation on Maliang Writer's English homepage, each using a Gutenberg public-domain classic as the reference book and generating Chapter 1 of a new book.

1. Reference: Pride and Prejudice → An Unforgiving Fortune, Chapter 1 A Fortune Out of Hand

• Length and cost: 2,526 English words; 792 seconds (about 13.2 minutes), 229.03 credits.
• Overlap check: The longest identical word run with the original's opening is 4 words, and there are 0 identical runs of 24+ characters.
• Opening excerpt:

In the polite parishes of Gloucestershire, a gentleman who married to repair an encumbered estate was universally commended for his prudence, whereas a young widow who possessed six thousand pounds a year, without a husband to assist her in spending it, was regarded by every neighbouring family as a public irregularity crying out for immediate masculine correction.

It learned the aphoristic opening of Pride and Prejudice, starting from the double standard of respectable Gloucestershire parishes toward a gentleman marrying to repair his estate and a young widow holding sole control of an income of six thousand pounds a year.

2. Reference: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes → The Arundel Lane Inquiries, Chapter 1 The Case of the Second Chronometer

• Length and cost: 4,342 English words; 794 seconds (about 13.2 minutes), 239.67 credits.
• Overlap check: The longest identical word run with the original's opening is 3 words, and there are 0 identical runs of 24+ characters.
• Opening excerpt:

On a raw November evening, when the yellow fog from the Thames lay so thick along the Strand that the link-boys seemed to wade through tallow rather than air, I turned down the narrow cobbles of Arundel Lane with Julian Rooke’s achromatic lens buttoned safely inside my muff.

It learned the Watson-style narrator of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, opening with a first-person narrator turning into a narrow cobbled lane on a November evening in thick Thames fog, a friend's (Julian Rooke's) achromatic lens tucked inside.

3. Reference: Frankenstein; or, The modern Prometheus → The Glass-Maker of Blackmere, Chapter 1 The Reliquary of Breath

• Length and cost: 2,271 English words; 871 seconds (about 14.5 minutes), 253.1 credits.
• Overlap check: The longest identical word run with the original's opening is 3 words, and there are 0 identical runs of 24+ characters.
• Opening excerpt:

Dartmoor, November 14th, 17—

You must commit to the flames every triumphant letter I dispatched to you in the summer, my dear Arthur, and banish from your mind all design of quitting Edinburgh to join me in Cornwall. My fingers tremble so violently upon this damp sheet that I can scarce govern the quill, yet I dare not lay it down until I have extorted from your friendship a solemn promise:

It learned the epistolary form of Frankenstein; or, The modern Prometheus, opening with a dated letter in which the writer, trembling too hard to control his quill, urgently tells his friend Arthur to burn the summer letters, give up traveling to Cornwall to join him, and swear never to set foot on Blackmere Crag.

The Two Languages Side by Side

Putting the 5 Chinese web novel samples (25 chapters in all) and the 3 English public-domain pastiche chapters in one table, length and cost look like this:

From the material and data above, we can draw three concrete observations:

1. Both languages produce chapters of ample length. Among the Chinese web novels, the shorter chapters, from the female-oriented quick transmigration and Eastern Fantasy genres, run 3,309 to 4,315 characters, and the supernatural genre peaks at 9,405 characters in a single chapter; the English pastiche chapters run 2,271 to 4,342 words, and the first chapter of The Arundel Lane Inquiries passes four thousand words.
2. The generation method and the accounting differ between Chinese and English. Each Chinese genre was written as 5 chapters in a row over two rounds of dialogue, which works out to about 429 seconds and 145.11 credits per chapter; the English Chapter 1 was generated through AI Imitation, at an average of 819 seconds and 240.60 credits per chapter, and the lengths are counted in Chinese characters on one side and English words on the other.
3. The first-chapter samples show different details and forms in Chinese and English. In the lines picked from the five Chinese first chapters, details about injuries, accounts, and rural workplaces are concrete, while character looks, system prompts, realm explanations, and villain bluster still read as template; the three English first chapters use an aphoristic opening, a Watson-style narrator, and epistolary form, touching on scenes such as a young widow with six thousand pounds a year, yellow Thames fog, and a letter written with a quill, and none shares an identical run of 24+ characters with the originals' openings.

How to Use This in Maliang Writer

If you want to test Gemini 4 Carbon's Chinese and English writing yourself, you can choose an entry point based on your target language:

• Write Chinese web novels: Start from AI Imitation or continuation on the Maliang Writer homepage. For the five genres in detail, see the on-site Gemini 4 Carbon Web Novel Test.
• Write English fiction: Go to Maliang Writer's English homepage and use the AI Imitation feature. For articles on public-domain author pastiches, see this hands-on test.
• State the body language and write one chapter first: Try stating the body-text language (Chinese or English) directly in your request, and write Chapter 1 first to see how it goes. For everyday model choices, see the on-site model selection article.

FAQ

Q1: Can Gemini 4 Carbon write English fiction?

Yes. In the AI Imitation test on Maliang Writer's English homepage, it used three Gutenberg public-domain classics as references to write the opening of a new book for each, with each chapter running 2,271 to 4,342 words, learning an aphoristic opening, a Watson-style narrator, and epistolary form. Compared with the originals' openings, the longest identical word run was only 3 to 4 words, and there were 0 identical runs of 24+ characters.

Q2: How does it do on Chinese web novels?

In the 25 chapters across five genres, each chapter ran 3,309 to 9,405 characters. Judging from the first-chapter lines picked from each genre, the everyday and workplace details, such as a wound stitched with coarse hemp thread, figuring the net meat of a wild boar, and stalling approval of 200-yuan sutures, are very vivid; but character looks, system prompts, realm explanations, and villain bluster still read as web novel templates, so you might try hand-adjusting those formulaic lines.

Q3: How is it different from Gemini 4 Argon?

Google's official materials position Gemini 4 Carbon around long-horizon tasks and cybersecurity and provide no writing benchmarks; this article did not test Argon. To learn how the two models differ in positioning and in fiction writing, see the on-site comparison article.

Q4: How much does it cost?

Per Google's official API pricing (checked 2026-11-11), through November 30 it is $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens; from December 1 it is $4 input and $20 output. In Maliang Writer's tests, one English pastiche chapter used 229.03 to 253.1 credits, and five Chinese web novel chapters used 591.03 to 941.08 credits.

Q5: Will it copy the reference book?

Within the scope of this check, none of the three English pastiche chapters shares an identical run of 24+ characters with the opening of the Gutenberg original, and the longest identical word run in the word-by-word comparison is only 3 to 4 words. The three chapters wrote, with the originals as references, an aphoristic opening, a Watson-style narrator, and epistolary form, each generating Chapter 1 of a new book; whole-book comparison is outside the scope of this test.

Q6: Will a long serial contradict itself?

This test covered only the opening stage: five Chinese genres with their first 5 chapters each, and three English books with Chapter 1 each. We did not test a long serial, so we cannot tell from these samples whether a long serial would contradict itself. If you plan to try it on a long serial, you might check your story bible for characters, key props, and the timeline yourself every few chapters.

Wrapping Up

From the first 5 chapters of 5 Chinese web novel sets and the 3 English public-domain pastiche first chapters, Gemini 4 Carbon can fill a complete chapter in both languages. In the Chinese first-chapter lines, concrete everyday details come alive, while character looks, worldbuilding exposition, and similar areas still read as template; the English first chapters learned an aphoristic opening, a Watson-style narrator, and epistolary form, each with no identical run of 24+ characters against the originals' openings. In actual use, you might try stating the body language and writing one trial chapter first, to see whether the voice and details suit you.

Related Reading:

• Gemini 4 Carbon Web Novel Test
• Articles on public-domain author pastiches: /blog/ai-pastiche-public-domain-authors-test/
• Articles on AI model selection: /blog/ai-model-selection-guide/
• Articles on Gemini 4 Argon versus Carbon in fiction writing: /blog/gemini-4-argon-vs-carbon-novel-writing/