dpeterfreund has a point about the second cover. While the suggestion of the eye visible beneath the e in 'the' on the cover looks non-Chinese to me, the jawline and mouth are very Maggie Q (Maggie Q herself is half-Vietnamese by extraction, not Chinese, but the face shape is common enough on the mainland), though admittedly with collagen injections. The slight cleft in the chin and the nose on the first of the new covers, though, scream Christina Hendricks, who's about as non-Chinese as you can get.
The costuming gives me the most pause. I haven't read the books, but the excerpts on the internet are Jin Yong-esque medieval Chinese Fantasy. If so, what the heck is the main character doing wearing a low-cut blouse (in the first cover) or a rhinestone-studded dress in the second? I've seen Tang dynasty lingerie with necklines more conservative than the first cover, and as for the second, it's not even trying. Here are a few resources for Ming Dynasty clothing, for comparison.
Errr, that got off topic. But anyway - when a character is so centrally represented on the front of a book, the editors and marketing folks should make sure that they look more or less the way they do inside. If I were in the mood for a book about murder at the High School Prom and picked up book 2 only to find a quest story featuring martial arts, invading barbarians, corrupt local officials, and ancient secrets, I'd be upset.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-08-19 07:29 pm (UTC)The costuming gives me the most pause. I haven't read the books, but the excerpts on the internet are Jin Yong-esque medieval Chinese Fantasy. If so, what the heck is the main character doing wearing a low-cut blouse (in the first cover) or a rhinestone-studded dress in the second? I've seen Tang dynasty lingerie with necklines more conservative than the first cover, and as for the second, it's not even trying. Here are a few resources for Ming Dynasty clothing, for comparison.
Errr, that got off topic. But anyway - when a character is so centrally represented on the front of a book, the editors and marketing folks should make sure that they look more or less the way they do inside. If I were in the mood for a book about murder at the High School Prom and picked up book 2 only to find a quest story featuring martial arts, invading barbarians, corrupt local officials, and ancient secrets, I'd be upset.