Abstract:
Coiling Dragon (by I eat Tomatoes) has an almost "unreadable" side for female readers. There are a lot of nameless female characters in the book. A lot of supporting characters, including the woman the main character falls in love with, their romantic relationship, and the woman he marries. Yet, all of them either stand out thanks to their connection with the main character or they don't come out at all. There is almost no part for these female characters, no specific story, or a deep background. Even the love of the main character (Linley) and Dalia (His wife) was written on the male side, while the difficulties and love of the other side are very short and uncomfortably shallow. So, this makes the love story parts boring and meaningless. You might think that in Asian Culture, males are more dominant in the books of genres such as Wuxia and Fantasy and this strangeness is normal. Yet this book isn't like the other similar books in the same genre. It is worse. This issue is the effect of a pen that cares only about the main character of the book and tries to make him a hero and the most important center of everything. While the book, its story, and the whole-world shape the main character so naturally, there is almost no time left for female characters. I can't decide whether that is because the deep-down author sees women below or just the effect of the main character-centered plot. But comparing female characters and male characters in Coiling Dragon highlights this case in this twenty-five-thousand-page book. Inside the book (Coiling Dragon) female characters are only as deep as a household item and almost invisible.
I will explain the results of my research about the I Eat Tomatoes and his possible reasons for ignoring female characters in Coiling Dragon.
Noor, a dancer in the Royal Court of the Al-Yauzhan Empire wants nothing more than to pay off her debts and lead a nice, simple life-but a chance encounter with the crown prince and his brother brings her into the dangerous world of court politics. As Noor and the princes investigate their uncle and cousin's possible treason, she grows closer to the crown prince, but in order to save the kingdom and the person she loves, Noor will have to risk everything...
A romantic adventure set in an imagined Arabic kingdom, THE DANCING GIRL is a story of court intrigues, romantic entanglements, and secret meetings as Noor and her best friend Amir try to help the princes they're falling for expose corrupt court officials with plans to seize the throne. Noor and Amir are close to having everything they've ever dreamed of...now all they need to do is survive.