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prusikOn one hand, terrific world building. Great sense of wonder. A point-of-view character with an interesting voice who behaves exactly as you'd expect her to behave (including her blunders). She doesn't do a whole lot in the story, but the quantity of her actions is not the point. The fascination idea at the core and the story works out it nicely.
On the other hand, inscrutable Asian villain. This is especially unfortunate since the (likely unintentional) evocation of the stereotype undermines the theme of the story.
The inscrutability is literal. The story (for world building and plot purposes) harps on how the main character can not read his thoughts or feelings, or even his existence. He is a "hole" in her awareness. Whereas she knows what everyone else is feeling or thinking, she literally can not know his motivations.
Technically speaking, he is an American. (Thus, we get the stereotype of the crass American conqueror too.) However, he's tagged as "Chinese" by his name, his "flat" accent and a long physical description that emphasizes his otherness. (Thank you, Steve Eley, for not affecting any sort of Chinese accent. The reading, as a whole, is his usual wonderful.)
(For whatever reason, in fiction, Chinese-Americans are not allowed to have names that tag them as American or to speak with an American accent. Oh, wait. How could I forget? We're Perpetual Foreigners, apparently unable to conceive or give birth within the boundaries of the United States. Spanning planets via a shared consciousness? Utterly believable. A Chinese-American named George who speaks like he's from Iowa? That's crazy talk. It would drop everyone right out of the story.)
Finally, he's the villain. The story needs one. Somebody had to be the villain, so he's it. And villains tend not to be fleshed out as well as anyone else. I'm not inclined to harp on this too much except that it's Yet Another One. The torture at the end is a bit much though. At least he get a few scenes where he behaves like a human being. Thank you, Lavie Tidhar.
I'm not saying that fiction should have only positive portrayals of Asians. I'm saying that I'd like some balance. It's a bit disheartening when almost every Chinese character I read or hear in genre is some embodiment of The Other out to ruin your way of life. IOW, no one complains about white villains because the canon is replete with white heroes. When there are as many Chinese heroes, you go right ahead and employ the symmetry argument. It's times like this when I'm thankful for Aliette de Bodard among others.
I'm also saying that I'm really sick of the Inscrutable Asian Villain and would like to see something else. We've done this to death. We have other possibilities to explore.
Yes, I'm miffed because an author had chosen to create a Chinese character. I realize this is an odd place for me to be. If the character had been white, his villainy wouldn't raise nearly the fuss. We'd just have the "crass American conqueror" stereotype left, but there are lots of instances of the positive Americans in genre to counterbalance that. It's ridiculous to think that you can make a character Chinese without simultaneously evoking the cultural baggage that comes with it, such as the stereotype of the Inscrutable Asian Villain. Lavie Tidhar probably stumbled into it unintentionally.
On the whole, it's actually a terrific story. It's just unfortunate that it also inspires me to write something that's been said too many times and I wish never needed to be said again... *sigh*
[Oh, while I'm here, Podcastle has an awesome story by Cat Rambo this week. I don't have much to say about it. Too dazzled by its sheer awesomeness...]
On the other hand, inscrutable Asian villain. This is especially unfortunate since the (likely unintentional) evocation of the stereotype undermines the theme of the story.
The inscrutability is literal. The story (for world building and plot purposes) harps on how the main character can not read his thoughts or feelings, or even his existence. He is a "hole" in her awareness. Whereas she knows what everyone else is feeling or thinking, she literally can not know his motivations.
Technically speaking, he is an American. (Thus, we get the stereotype of the crass American conqueror too.) However, he's tagged as "Chinese" by his name, his "flat" accent and a long physical description that emphasizes his otherness. (Thank you, Steve Eley, for not affecting any sort of Chinese accent. The reading, as a whole, is his usual wonderful.)
(For whatever reason, in fiction, Chinese-Americans are not allowed to have names that tag them as American or to speak with an American accent. Oh, wait. How could I forget? We're Perpetual Foreigners, apparently unable to conceive or give birth within the boundaries of the United States. Spanning planets via a shared consciousness? Utterly believable. A Chinese-American named George who speaks like he's from Iowa? That's crazy talk. It would drop everyone right out of the story.)
Finally, he's the villain. The story needs one. Somebody had to be the villain, so he's it. And villains tend not to be fleshed out as well as anyone else. I'm not inclined to harp on this too much except that it's Yet Another One. The torture at the end is a bit much though. At least he get a few scenes where he behaves like a human being. Thank you, Lavie Tidhar.
I'm not saying that fiction should have only positive portrayals of Asians. I'm saying that I'd like some balance. It's a bit disheartening when almost every Chinese character I read or hear in genre is some embodiment of The Other out to ruin your way of life. IOW, no one complains about white villains because the canon is replete with white heroes. When there are as many Chinese heroes, you go right ahead and employ the symmetry argument. It's times like this when I'm thankful for Aliette de Bodard among others.
I'm also saying that I'm really sick of the Inscrutable Asian Villain and would like to see something else. We've done this to death. We have other possibilities to explore.
Yes, I'm miffed because an author had chosen to create a Chinese character. I realize this is an odd place for me to be. If the character had been white, his villainy wouldn't raise nearly the fuss. We'd just have the "crass American conqueror" stereotype left, but there are lots of instances of the positive Americans in genre to counterbalance that. It's ridiculous to think that you can make a character Chinese without simultaneously evoking the cultural baggage that comes with it, such as the stereotype of the Inscrutable Asian Villain. Lavie Tidhar probably stumbled into it unintentionally.
On the whole, it's actually a terrific story. It's just unfortunate that it also inspires me to write something that's been said too many times and I wish never needed to be said again... *sigh*
[Oh, while I'm here, Podcastle has an awesome story by Cat Rambo this week. I don't have much to say about it. Too dazzled by its sheer awesomeness...]
