Australian author Alison Goodman is steadily gaining notoriety for her latest novel, The Two Pearls of Wisdom (US, UK, Canada). Of course, the novel has a bit of identity issue – The Two Pearls of Wisdom is the Australian title and aimed at an adult audience, in the US the book is titled Eon: Dragoneye Reborn and aimed at the YA audience, and the same is true of the UK where the title is Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye. However it’s packaged, it’s a pretty good book (my review) and has been nominated for and won a number of awards – including the 2008 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel.Well, on to the Questions Five. Thanks again to Alison for taking the time to answer.
Do you believe that the publishing world is prejudiced against Australian book titles?
AG: Crikey, mate, that’s a cracker of a question. Let me go wrestle a croc then come back with a few tinnies and we’ll have a barby and chew on that thought (and the croc).
Name one thing a pretentious literature professor will hate about The Two Pearls of Wisdom.
AG: The sad lack of footnotes[1].
If The Two Pearls of Wisdom were a fortune cookie, what would its fortune be?
AG: To be cracked open and crumbled into dusty pieces as everyone around the table argues over who ordered the extra Shau Mai, and how much they owe.
Ripped from inside the cookie, however, would be a piece of paper with the following portentous fortune written upon it: Made in China.
If this were your own fortune how would you interpret it?
AG: A huge blockbuster film of The Two Pearls of Wisdom will be shot in China and released to great critical acclaim, and staggering box office returns. I’ve always felt that fortunes found in cookies are open to fairly broad interpretation…
Why should The Two Pearls of Wisdom be the next book that everyone reads?
AG: It has won awards, sold into 12 countries, but the clincher is the scene that brings together a young girl masquerading as a boy, a woman dressed as a man, and a eunuch taking a testosterone tea supplement. Those wacky ancients, hey?
www.alisongoodman.com.au
(The Two Pearls of Wisdom is published as Eon: Dragoneye Reborn in the USA).
[1] A pretentious Literature Professor may also reject the novel’s sensuous Oriental setting, vibrant gender-bending characters, and edge-of-your-seat suspense. The fact that stuff actually happens may create consternation too.
3 comments:
Ah, very fun! I must say, I prefer the title and the cover of the Australian version. Hard to believe they are the same book! And Alison is quite lovely.
Thank you both for a fun Questions Five!
I just got myself a copy of this last week, so excellent timing! This post made me laugh, and made me want to immediately dive into the book!
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