Home » Discussion Forums » Blog Post Discussion » silver phoenix and fury of the phoenix by cindy pon
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| Re: silver phoenix and fury of the phoenix by cindy pon [message #40178 is a reply to message #40174 ] |
Mon, 07 March 2011 23:53   |
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equus_peduus
Messages: 437
Registered: September 2009
Location: France |
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My local Barnes and Noble had a display at the end of the YA section that said, 'if you like Robin McKinley's books, you might like these,' and Silver Phoenix was on it.
So I read it in installments (every week or two, I go to spend an hour or two at the bookstore), since I obviously have to read the books that are on a display like that.
And then Robin McKinley writes about it on her blog. 
I enjoyed it quite a bit, and have been debating buying it. But I'm not actually a big fan of the trade(?) paperbacks (the big ones) because they take up more space than regular paperbacks and mess up the way my shelves are set up.
I think it's at the back of the version I was reading, but there is a note that talks about the food and how she (Pon) hadn't originally intended there to be so much food in the book, but it kind of worked out that way... And yes, it made me hungry.
[Updated on: Mon, 07 March 2011 23:54]
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| Re: silver phoenix and fury of the phoenix by cindy pon [message #40180 is a reply to message #40174 ] |
Tue, 08 March 2011 06:45 |
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 AJLR
Messages: 2566
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK |
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This story sounds great. I loved 'DRAGONEYE', by Alison Goodman, that you reviewed a few months ago (and am looking forward to the next one in that series, due out this summer) and this sounds as if it will be equally engaging.
I enjoy most stories that are set in what one might call a 'variations on China' theme, from the old KAI LUNG series, to the (sadly) few written by Barry Hughart, and so on. The second book (THE THRONE OF JADE) in Naomi Novik's series about the dragon Temeraire was very enjoyable, too.
Mind you, sounds as if it's not a story to be read when hungry, just in case one starts chewing on the pages with food descriptions.
"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."
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| Re: silver phoenix and fury of the phoenix by cindy pon [message #40357 is a reply to message #40216 ] |
Mon, 14 March 2011 20:46 |
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handyhunter
Messages: 61
Registered: October 2008 |
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| megamite wrote on Wed, 09 March 2011 21:44 |
I honestly believed her when she said it was purely an issue of the sort of book covers that sell books, and not a whitewashing issue. Publishing is a business; this was a business decision.
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It's BOTH. It IS a whitewashed cover; I don't see how that part is debatable: Asian markers, including the Asian girl, has been taken out of the new covers and replaced with a white girl not wearing any type of Asian clothing with no Asian architecture in the background.
I understand that book selling is a business and publishers make decisions to appeal to a larger audience -- but the fact that that means a whiter cover is whitewashing and racist; whitewashing is no less racist when it's done deliberately, rather than unthinkingly. The difference between this instance of whitewashing and what happened with Justine Larbaleister's Liar, for example, is that at least Cindy Pon's publishers initially tried to sell the book with an obviously Chinese girl on the cover. But, really, both are indications of a broken, white-dominated/privileged or white-as-default society.
(If you're a feminist, think about it this way: the publisher decided McKinley's books don't sell well because there was a girl-doing-stuff on the cover and replace her with a boy-doing-stuff (instead of, IDK, maybe the fact that Borders, a fairly large chain bookstore (despite its current financial issues) refused to carry it when it was first released -- meaning, perhaps there's more factors at work than simply the cover). And maybe that will sell more copies, but that doesn't erase the sexist culture that makes the boy the 'better' marketing decision. It's kind of like that.)
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| Re: silver phoenix and fury of the phoenix by cindy pon [message #40375 is a reply to message #40174 ] |
Mon, 14 March 2011 22:59 |
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HeiQ
Messages: 78
Registered: February 2011
Location: Canada |
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In my opinion, the girl on the cover looks pretty ambiguous, like she could be white or Asian, or whatever, which I am sure, is the publisher's intent. However, I have another bone to pick about the new cover. I personally liked the look of the older cover MUCH better, but I bought the paperback edition because I had a lot of books I was buying and paperbacks are cheaper. The book came in the mail today (along with all of Robin's books that I didn't own yet... Yay!!!), and not only is the picture on the cover disappointing, the QUALITY of the picture is horrible. It looks really pixel-y, like a poor-quality digital picture blown up too big. I pretty much hate it and wish they hadn't changed it. The cover looks like a poor attempt to copy the art of Tamora Pierce's books Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen. Honestly, with the new cover, I would probably never have even looked twice at the book if it hadn't been recommended to me.
[Updated on: Mon, 14 March 2011 23:00]
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| Re: silver phoenix and fury of the phoenix by cindy pon [message #40382 is a reply to message #40375 ] |
Tue, 15 March 2011 05:52 |
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handyhunter
Messages: 61
Registered: October 2008 |
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| HeiQ wrote on Mon, 14 March 2011 22:59 |
In my opinion, the girl on the cover looks pretty ambiguous, like she could be white or Asian, or whatever, which I am sure, is the publisher's intent.
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Sure, so they can deny they put a white girl on the covers. IMO, 'ambiguous' is not good enough and STILL tends towards whitewashing because god forbid the girl or her surroundings actually be recognizably Chinese.
I also hate the "Lush, exotic and romantic..." blurb by Alyson Noel (which I'd forgotten about until I saw the new covers again). Exotic is not a compliment, except to white people about 'exotics', apparently. But, hey, if it sells books.
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The cover looks like a poor attempt to copy the art of Tamora Pierce's books Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen.
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Or any YA book with vampires or werewolves or 'dark edginess'.
(I may or may not be extra cranky because of this racist youtube video by a current UCLA student [link to an article that talks about it] that popped up recently. That anti-Asian sentiment and the idea that 'Asian fantasy doesn't sell' or that white people won't buy covers with Asians on them is connected...)
with a wide open country in my eyes
and these romantic dreams in my head - No Surrender, Bruce Springsteen
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