The authors and creators of donghua
The author who won over the WestZhu Hongzhi, known as I Eat Tomatoes (or simply "Tomato"), is the author of Swallowed Star and of Coiling Dragon, the novel that introduced Chinese web fiction to English-speaking readers.
Career
A "platinum" Qidian author, I Eat Tomatoes first published Xing Feng Chuan Shuo (星峰传说) and Cun Mang (寸芒), then found success with Stellar Transformations (星辰变) and Coiling Dragon (盘龙).
Hit followed hit: Jiu Ding Ji (九鼎记), Swallowed Star (吞噬星空), Desolate Era (莽荒纪), Lord Xue Ying (雪鹰领主), Fei Jian Wen Dao (飞剑问道) and The Demon Hunter (沧元图).
In 2017 he received the China Literature Foundation's young talent award for online literature, associated with the name of Mao Dun. In 2018 he was voted "king of web fiction" at the Chenggua awards.
Style and themes
I Eat Tomatoes builds clear worlds and highly structured progressions. Swallowed Star blends science fiction and martial arts on an Earth ravaged by monsters; Coiling Dragon follows a young mage in a Western-style fantasy world. His heroes are hard-working and thoughtful, and the fights are always easy to follow.
Their works on Donghua Fan
The donghua adapted from I Eat Tomatoes's novels, with their guides, characters and watch orders.
Other works
- Stellar Transformations (星辰变)
- Coiling Dragon (盘龙)
- Desolate Era (莽荒纪)
- Lord Xue Ying (雪鹰领主)
Trivia
- The English-language site Wuxiaworld was founded in December 2014 by RWX, the translator of Coiling Dragon.
- His readers simply call him "Tomato" (番茄).
- Stellar Transformations has been adapted into an online game and a donghua.
Donghua Fan's take
Without Coiling Dragon, Chinese web novels might never have found an audience in the West. I Eat Tomatoes is a solid, generous author, and Swallowed Star is one of his best stories.
— Spidermas, for Donghua Fan