Janet Chui ([info]marrael) wrote,
2010-01-19 20:16:00
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Even dragons can be whitewashed

DragonFAIL! Check it out:
The Dragon and the Stars via [info]jolantru

(It's not just cover girls anymore! See here.) via [info]rosefox

Srsly, the dragon cover makes me all sorts of sad, because the title and contents are just so evocative. As I commented on [info]rosefox's post (sorry, wasn't intending to hijack it): It frustrates me that a SFF anthology by authors of Chinese descent called The Dragon and the Stars gets a Western dragon on the cover. What the hell? I don't need a cheesy Chinese brushstroke font, or something that goes overboard on the ethnic look, but nothing about the book cover says Chinese culture at all.
Tags: book covers, publishing

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  • 11 comments

[info]jolantru

January 19 2010, 13:11:58 UTC 2 years ago

You know, for the alternate cover (and I really hope they go change the cover asap!), I envision a Chinese dragon in profile, holding spinning stars in one of its fore-claws. Of course, I can't draw for nuts. *lol*

[info]marrael

January 19 2010, 14:06:23 UTC 2 years ago

They probably won't change it. These are the same guys who did Zombie Raccoons & Killer Bunnies (oh, the heart breaks)...

[info]marrael

January 19 2010, 14:06:54 UTC 2 years ago

The publishing house I mean. Not the editors.

[info]jolantru

January 19 2010, 14:26:10 UTC 2 years ago

Ayeeeiiiiieee! *facepalm*

[info]demonsismondo

January 19 2010, 13:48:17 UTC 2 years ago

Oh brother. A Chinese dragon really would have been something of a no-brainer, wouldn't it?

[info]marrael

January 19 2010, 14:08:52 UTC 2 years ago

You've made me wonder now if perhaps they didn't do it that way because it was too easy. Ach.

[info]nojojojo

January 19 2010, 15:21:14 UTC 2 years ago

My only thought, and this was a cynical one, was that they might be trying to signal that most of the authors aren't nationally Chinese (just ethnically), and that there's going to be a Western influence as a result. But I think that's ascribing too much thought to what looks to me like stock art (nice stock art, I rather like it, but still stock art).

[info]marrael

January 20 2010, 02:21:03 UTC 2 years ago

Yep, it is stock art, as Sean Wallace pointed out. I'd just thought stock art was only good for non-fantasy and YA books or books where the heroine has a back tattoo.

[info]ngakmafaery

January 19 2010, 22:40:06 UTC 2 years ago

...I think that IS their feeble effort, with what looks like a whip-thin tail and (on my poor-quality monitor) a longer thinner torso than the western ones usually have....can't see the toes well...but I expect they think they've not used a completely western-tradition form....

[info]marrael

January 20 2010, 02:23:06 UTC 2 years ago

The wings really place it as a non-Chinese dragon though!

[info]wingstodust

January 20 2010, 21:45:38 UTC 2 years ago

Honestly, when I clicked the link and saw the cover, I felt a small urge to cry. WHY is a Western dragon considered representative of an anthology that's supposed to showcase fantasy stories of the Chinese diaspora WHY?

I just, damn. Have no words.

(I say this as a Malaysian-Chinese Canadian, hence Chinese diaspora is very much a personal history for me...)
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