I have been waiting on pins and needles for the cover to THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL and it’s here! It’s finally here!
Pretty cool, huh? On first glance, it doesn’t look as shiny as the BUTTERFLY SWORDS cover, but I kind of like the more classic painted look. It definitely looks more like a romance cover.
Now let the cover kibitz begin:
Tang Dynasty clothing – Suyin’s robe is stunning and I approve of her styling with the string of pearls and the off the shoulder look. The hanfu is also a lot prettier than the one from Butterfly Swords, so thumbs up there!
Li Tao’s jacket — Okay, minor point: I know it’s not Tang. The jacket is more Qing in style. Does anyone care? Actually…given that the cover of Butterfly Swords made it on to random Han clothing manufacturers’ blogs in China, people might care. But he’s not the star of the cover anyway.
Background – Does that background look familiar to you? I think it’s the same one used for the previous book, but it’s still very nice.
The headless warlord – Well, he does have a head. I’m actually glad they didn’t show Li Tao’s full face. It’s better to leave a little to the imagination. And Li Tao has grown so big in my head, it’s so hard to measure up. Plus then there’s the question of hair which can be tricky. I would have to object if they depicted him with a Qing-era queue…though I don’t think I actually get to object.
So half-face is a good compromise. 🙂
My favorite part – This is so silly, but I love the building on the back of the cover nestled among the cliffs. It looks just like pictures I’ve seen of parts of the Bamboo Sea in Sichuan. And now there are two books labeled Tang Dynasty. Tee hee. Tee hee hee…
Hero Hotness – The model is handsome enough, but if I had to judge from the bottom part of his face which of the Five Tigers he most resembles, I’d have to go for Kent rather than an Andy or a Michael. (Okay, I just lost about 80% of my audience there, didn’t I? Quick explanation: As a child of the 80s, these five actors were huge in the Hong Kong market so I pretty much cast them (young versions) as characters in my head. One of the tigers is my oft mentioned Tony Leung. Another is Andy Lau.) Kent is not my favorite tiger, but I really shouldn’t complain.
Okay, enough from the picky author. What do you think, really?
