The Dragon and the Stars – edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi – review

Before I start this review, I want to note something that’s more than a little important to the understanding of this book.  This is an anthology written solely by ethnic Chinese writers who live outside of China proper.  In her introduction Tess Gerritsen explores the fact that growing up, she was immersed in the Chinese culture–its superstitions, cultural beliefs, etc., but as she grew up she felt less “Chinese” and more “American”:  “I believed in science, not superstition.  As my memories of childhood receded…I forgot just how Chinese I am” (pg 1, Tess Gerritsen).  Every story in the anthology (all 18, which is a lucky number in Chinese numerology) is centered around the writers’ growing up Chinese, “…an identity that none of us ever truly escapes, though we may grow up far from the shores of China” (pg. 2, Gerritsen).

I’m thrilled by this notion and was eager and excited for this collection.  I have a not-so-trivial complaint, however.  The cover art.  It’s pretty, to be sure, but that is a Western dragon depicted on the cover, not an Eastern dragon.  Doesn’t matter, a dragon is a dragon, you say?  Think again.  Unlike their Western counterparts, Eastern Dragons were considered to be good luck symbols, wise advisers and revered as sacred because of their ties with the Emperor.  For me this is rather disruptive and irritating.

Onto the stories, however, which in theory, should have made up for the cover art’s lack.

“The Character of the Hound” by Tony Pi
I have never read nor heard of this writer before, but now I want to read more of his writings. Part cautionary tale for traitors, part murder mystery and learning when to compromise, this story was engaging from the first page. Wu Fan is an engineer for the Song Dynasty and is called upon to perform a special service for his country; he is to house a shen (spirit) to help solve a murder and theft. The story moves at an even pace, with Lu Fan and then Lu Fan/Quan Shen (Hound Spirit)’s narratives being distinct, but familiar. Its an interesting concept and one I hope the author explores in another short story or even a longer novel.

And that, my friend, ends what I enjoyed best about this anthology.  The very first story in the collection is the only story I truly wanted to read again.  The other seventeen stories failed to impress me, but more importantly they failed to entertain me.  In William F. Wu’s “Going’ Down to Anglotown” I felt distinctly uncomfortable with the author’s depiction of what would have happened if Asia had more dominance over America than Europe.  By the time I reached “Bargains” by Gabriela Lee (an author I’ve read before in the short story collection By Blood We Live) I was wondering if I had read the back cover correctly.

I have no doubt that the authors included are talented, and I’m likely to even enjoy a couple of them outside of this anthology, but I could not enjoy them this time around.  I know better than to fully trust the backcover blurb on a book–they are rarely ever truly indicative of the book within–but the forward filled me with hope.  I just wish the book had fulfilled that hope better.