Nifty cover...

[jolantru]

... and it's the anthology for ethnic Chinese SFF writers... but should the dragon be an Oriental dragon?: Dragon - no?.

I liked the cover at first, but went "No Chinese dragon?" when I thought about it further.

EDIT: Is "an Oriental dragon" "potentially offensive"? *blink*

Comments

[jolantru]

The book is on my "To Get" list. ;)

But yeah, it should be a Chinese dragon, not some Western winged dragon. But I don't think having a Chinese dragon on an anthology of writers from the Chinese diaspora is "too Chinese". :P

[ladyqkat]

I would like to get this too. Now I just have to remember it.

[fantasyecho]

It has the skinniness but not the right facial features.

Maybe it's mixed-race.

[jolantru]

Maybe. You might be right: it seems mixed-race. Mmmm.

[fantasyecho]

Clearly someone has to write about mixed-race dragons.

[jolantru]

Now that's an idea... No wait, my writery plate is already full.

You write? ;)

[ladyqkat]

To me it looks like someone tried to Orientalize (is that even a word?) a Welsh dragon.

It is not really a Welsh dragon because the body is too slender, and not at all Chinese because the body is too round, the head and neck are just not the right shape for a Chinese dragon and the wings are bat wings, not dragon wings.

Hey, it's an alien dragon!

[jolantru]

Hehe, alien dragon. Oh wait, that just opens a whole can of worms...

[ladyqkat]

Well, since the Welsh also refer to dragons as 'worms', maybe it is a can o' dragons. *g,d,r*

[jolantru]

Hehe. :)

[haikujaguar]

Completely aside from race issues, that's bad marketing. People who'd be fascinated by Asian-themed anything won't notice it to pick it up and so the audience who'd be most enthusiastic about it will probably never read it; people who might not be open to Asian-themed anything will and will more likely be irritated than have their horizons expanded. :P

[jolantru]

*nods* True. I really hope they change the cover asap.

[oldcharliebrown]

I'd be surprised if they did. By this time the marketing materials already are going out, including the cover flats, with that design.

[jolantru]

I was hoping that the cover was actually a mock-up... but nooooo... :(

Well, I still have a faint hope that they change the cover...

[jarandhel]

In Asia, is the image of the eastern dragon much associated with speculative fiction?

[fantasyecho]

Mostly mythology and prosperity, but that's no reason to NOT associate it with spec fic.

[jolantru]

Ditto.

Did you see the comment regarding "an Oriental dragon"? Not understanding the defensive tone there.

[jarandhel]

I did, and I can see both sides, but I suspect the decision simply comes down to marketing: the image of the western dragon is more universally associated with sci-fi and fantasy than the image of the eastern dragon. In a book store, sci-fi/famtasy geeks will be able to see it from across the store and instantly know that it's a book they might be interested in, even if it's in the New Releases or Foreign Language sections rather than in the main sci-fi/fantasy section. If an eastern dragon were on the cover, that's much less of a given... it could be a historical text, a book on eastern philosophy or martial arts, or any of quite a few other options.

I'm not saying this is necessarily right, but I strongly suspect that is the basis upon which the decision was made.