Pages : 313
Overall Mark : 9/10
After the Second Great Depression and the American Liberation War, the US has been left as a satellite state of China. In this strict world of Communist orthodoxy, young New York construction engineer Zhang Zhongshan must find his way in a worl that disapproves of both his cultural heritage and his sexual identity.
Not everyone can change the world; sometimes, the ultimate challenge is to find a way to live in it...
MAUREEN F. MCHUGH (1959-)
Maureen McHugh’s first story was published in Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone magazine in 1988, and just a handful of stories followed before her first novel, the critically acclaimed China Mountain Zhang, in 1992. She has won the Hugo and Shirley Jackson Award for her short fiction, and the James Tiptree Jr Memorial Award for China Mountain Zhang, her best-known novel, which was also shortlisted for the Hugo and Nebula Award. She lives in Los Angeles.
VERDICT
This was such an interesting character driven piece. The stories are a little disjointed, going back and forth between Zhang and a number of supporting characters who don’t necessarily prove themselves to be of immediate relevance but even from the opening chapter there are some great set pieces and awkward social interactions that only help in expanding on the lead character and showing how he manages to grow as the story progresses towards its conclusion.
