The Dragon and the Stars
Derwin Mak and Eric Choi, editors
DAW
Fiction, Anthology/Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Themes: Alternate Earths, Creative Power, Cross-Genre, Diversity, Fables, Faeries and Kin, Ghosts and Spirits, Locations with Character, Magic Workers, Myth-Based Stories, Robots, Space Stories, Twists and Updates
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Description
In an alternate America, a group of friends heads to exotic Anglotown for a celebratory dinner... the Man in the Moon comes to Earth in search of his future bride... an artist crafting clay sculptures for the emperor's tomb finds an unexpected love and more unexpected talent... a dying North Canadian town's future hinges on a methane-powered orbital craft... These and other stories appear in this anthology of Chinese-themed speculative fiction tales.
Review
For many years, science fiction and fantasy have generally been dominated by white, often male voices, despite the great wealth of material and history to be explored
around the world. More recently, the balance has been shifting, with a welcome spread of diverse settings, characters, and authors appearing on the shelves. This anthology
turns to China and (generally) Chinese authors for its stories.
Like many anthologies, I found the contents a mixed bag. A few lacked cultural context and left me a little lost. Some (and I find this in several anthologies) never quite
came to a point, or felt either too long or too short. I didn't consider any outright terrible, though "Going Down to Anglotown" had an ugly darkness about it - which I
suspect was quite deliberate, if rather heavy-handed, considering the stereotypes endured by Asian Americans. If you're looking to expand your cultural horizons and explore
new authors, this is a decent choice. (The title and cover, though, have little to do with any of the stories presented - a minor enough irritant, but there it is. It's
also a "Western" dragon.)