As a lover of the dark side, I often find myself more intrigued by the villains of a story than by the heroes. Villains have such complexity of character and face the hardest decisions—not to mention that they tend to have a vastly superior wardrobe and aesthetic. I was delighted, then, when it slowly dawned on me while reading Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao that this book is the origin story of a villain—of one of the most classic of villains, in fact. Set in a fantasy world resembling ancient China, this novel re-imagines the tale of Snow White and gives it a new spin by focusing on the ascent of the woman who will ultimately become the “Evil Queen.” Forest of a Thousand Lanterns is the first book in the Rise of the Empress series. Its sequel, Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix, comes out tomorrow, November 6, so now is the perfect time to hop on the bandwagon! Continue reading Forest of a Thousand Lanterns Review—Rooting for the Villains
Tag: Chinese
Gothic Tropes: The Evil, Exotic East
As Gothic fiction rose to prominence during the height of British imperialism, it should come as no surprise that both fear of and fascination with foreign cultures would seep into the literature of this time period. Orientalism was pretty entrenched in all genres of English literature during this era, but the significance of the Other made it especially appealing to writers of Gothic fiction. The Other is a person whose identity can be defined in opposition to the Self, and is thus a convenient target on which to project fears, taboos, and other unknowns. In this case, the inhabitants of the East (Turks, Arabs, Indians, the Chinese, and others in between) differed from the average English reader in race, in culture, and often also in religion. Set among these differences, unspeakable evil, unknowable magic, and improbable events gained more weight and credulity. What might seem unbelievable in England could very well take place in a faraway land with strange people. In this way, cursed Indian treasures, tyrannical Arabian leaders, and mysterious Eastern mystics became staples of the Gothic genre.
