Winner of the James Tiptree, Jr. Memorial Award, the Lambda Literary Award, the Locus Award for Best First Novel, and a Hugo and Nebula Awar...
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Aug 15, 2007
David
rated it: 
I feel pretty confident in saying that this is the best book you've never read. I had the joy of discovering this book when it first came out, almost a decade and a half later, I still feel it is one of the best SF novels I've ever read. The novel is made up of several stories loosely intertwined.
McHugh draws upon her experiences living in China to craft future in which China has become the dominant power, and America has been reduced to a third-world country controlled by China. Chi More...
McHugh draws upon her experiences living in China to craft future in which China has become the dominant power, and America has been reduced to a third-world country controlled by China. Chi More...
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Sep 17, 2007
Bliss
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this book depends more on its exquisite characterizations and fascinating vision of a future where china dominates as the global superpower than on plot, and it totally works. it presents a "slice of life" of zhang, a gay half-chinese american, as he navigates a world in which his sexuality and americanness make him not the ideal. along the way, it also gives glimpses into the worlds of a cyber-kite flyer, martain settlers, and an "ugly" chinese expatriate trying to make her
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Mar 08, 2009
Tatiana
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This book is one of those that sneak into your high regard. It's not flashy or sensational, it's just very real. The author has the knack of writing characters you care about. All the various subplots weave together, touching at points. You find that you care deeply about what happens to each of them, and the story of their struggles, their loves, and their accomplishments makes really good reading. The world is extremely well-built and realistic. I totally do think China will be the world
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Feb 19, 2011
Ian
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When I was reading China Mountain Zhang, I was enthralled by the authenticity of the characters, the believability of their words and actions, and the credibility of the future that McHugh envisions. It was thoughtfully and elegantly written. I truly felt for, and felt with, the characters. I didn't have to suspend disbelief as the storyline was so plausible. It was easy to read. Not "easy" like Shoots and Ladders is easy to play, but easy in the way a beautiful painting (or a beaut
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Jun 14, 2010
Michelle
rated it:
if the plot had been half as interesting as the characters were, or the world they inhabit is, this book would have been fantastic. as it is, only so-so.
basic concept summary: china has come out on top of the political/ideological dogpile, so the world is a (mostly) socialist sino-centric place. the good schools, the quality jobs, the big money, and all the envy & prestige are gazing toward china. enter zhang, who's chinese/hispanic - his parents had him gene spliced as a kiddo to More...
basic concept summary: china has come out on top of the political/ideological dogpile, so the world is a (mostly) socialist sino-centric place. the good schools, the quality jobs, the big money, and all the envy & prestige are gazing toward china. enter zhang, who's chinese/hispanic - his parents had him gene spliced as a kiddo to More...
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Jan 09, 2008
Mat
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I really enjoyed this book. The ending was a little flat, but it was still worth the read. I like some of the political twists. I like that it is critical of statist socialism without stooping to standard red scare stupidness. Although, i did find it frustrating that it stuck with the trope of 'communism = somewhat hostile to deviants and queers'. I like twist on how it was China surpassed everyone economically. All of that and the characters were well drawn with small and fascinating conne
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Jul 25, 2009
Ed
rated it:
Will probably repeat all this at the next scifi book club mtg, but loved:
-that the main character and plot was not centered around some grandiose "change the world as we know it" or "chose one" theme as so often is the case in scifi, but just about someone trying to make their own way through the world. That the person is gay and of mixed race heritage also makes him interesting, but not grandiose.
-that the world is fully realized and feels very fleshed out in a di More...
-that the main character and plot was not centered around some grandiose "change the world as we know it" or "chose one" theme as so often is the case in scifi, but just about someone trying to make their own way through the world. That the person is gay and of mixed race heritage also makes him interesting, but not grandiose.
-that the world is fully realized and feels very fleshed out in a di More...
Jun 02, 2010
Nicole
rated it:
I loved the format of this book, the way it's made up of one long first person narrative broken up by a bunch of other, shorter narratives set in the same universe. I'm not sure I've encountered this exact format anywhere else, but it seems like it would be useful in other science fiction novels.
I thought the characterization was great, especially compared to most science fiction, and I also think the author did a fabulous job integrating the specifics of the fictional universe into More...
I thought the characterization was great, especially compared to most science fiction, and I also think the author did a fabulous job integrating the specifics of the fictional universe into More...
Jun 02, 2011
Anna
rated it:
This was a beautiful book. I liked the somewhat rare impressions given by other people about the main character, who was the narrator in most sections, illustrating the difficulty of perceiving anything objectively about oneself. I'm sure I liked this book so much because I really loved the main character. The author's what-if scenario about the future was thoroughly realized. I think this might be my favorite book so far that I've read for the science fiction book club in which I participate.
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Sep 05, 2011
Sooz
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when i first picked up this book, i assumed it was set in the future, but it doesn't feel like the future so much as it does a slightly altered version of our present. maybe not. maybe it is the future - but it is definitely not the far distant future - as we are already seeing signs that China has the potential to be the next economic world power. As McHugh carefully avoids giving political or historical sign posts, it is hard to really pinpoint the time she has in mind. i think this is a b
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Dec 23, 2009
Molly
rated it:
I surprisingly liked this. It's a future where China is the preeminent power, and the world has become Socialist... I think. Like most science fiction, there were alot of parts that I found hazy, just because I wasn't sure what the author was describing. I mean, you can describe a telephone, and even though I don't know the exact one you're talking about, I have a general idea from my previous experiences with telephones. But when you're describing some futuristic sensory-based sport that yo
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Sep 09, 2011
Zach
rated it:
In which the titular character is a gay American man of Chinese descent living in a future post-collapse/revolution US that has become a state-capitalist satellite of the hegemonic People's Republic of China, starting off as a construction foreman and ending up as a kind of super-architect. I just spoiled the entire plot of this book for you, but if you're a plot-centric person this won't appeal to you anyway. This is getting a little too close to the dreaded bildungsroman for my taste, but McHu
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Sep 01, 2011
Michelle
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Oct 07, 2011
Zorena
rated it:
I'm not sure what I expected from this book but considering all its awards and nominations I was hoping it was legitimately good. I got what I hoped for. While I love space opera and action styled science fiction, I also love a good character driven story. This falls into the latter category.
I gravitate towards the more specific genres of science fiction such as dystopian, post apoc and cyber punk because they are topics that I've put some thought into. So has McHugh. A Chinese domin More...
I gravitate towards the more specific genres of science fiction such as dystopian, post apoc and cyber punk because they are topics that I've put some thought into. So has McHugh. A Chinese domin More...
Aug 21, 2011
The_antichris
rated it:
In some ways, the future this book imagines is getting less and less believable as the US gets more and more xenophobic, but this paragraph is frighteningly apt:
In the early twenty-first century the national debt and the trade deficit of the old United States precipitated the second depression. In effect, the country went bankrupt, and as a result, so did the economy of [nearly] every first-world nation.' D:
But nobody reads near-future SF for the predictions, or at least More...
In the early twenty-first century the national debt and the trade deficit of the old United States precipitated the second depression. In effect, the country went bankrupt, and as a result, so did the economy of [nearly] every first-world nation.' D:
But nobody reads near-future SF for the predictions, or at least More...
Oct 04, 2011
Alice
rated it:
I asked on GoodRead's fruity recommendation system for some obscure, literary dystopias, since I was sick of the feather-light and feather-brained YA books I'd been reading lately, and Riona recommended this.
MINOR SPOILERS
What a GREAT BOOK. It was written in 1992, and it depicts an alternate future where the USSR won the Cold War but China became the dominant world power, economically and otherwise. It takes a while to figure this out, which is one of the pleasures of truly g More...
MINOR SPOILERS
What a GREAT BOOK. It was written in 1992, and it depicts an alternate future where the USSR won the Cold War but China became the dominant world power, economically and otherwise. It takes a while to figure this out, which is one of the pleasures of truly g More...
Nov 12, 2011
thegift
rated it:
This is well written even if not immediately convincing in an sf way, with several first-person narrators, with the sort of aimless, ordinary, non-technical plot, rather like a story one imagines would be written at this time. Politics and society is constant background, few radically different techs, characters not extreme archetypes, hero or anti-hero, just sort of ordinary, sometimes sharp, sometimes funny, always real and complex. It is an interesting future imagined with a dominant China, w
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Aug 31, 2011
David
rated it:
Review originally posted on my blog: http://killie-booktalk.blogspot.com/
The book is set in a future world where China has become the dominant world power and the US had become a poorer communist nation. The majority of the novel is set around the ordinary life of Zhang, a gay half-Chinese American, as he navigates a world in which his sexuality and American identity make him less than perfect in the eyes of the current world order. In addition the novel breaks away from Zhang on sev More...
The book is set in a future world where China has become the dominant world power and the US had become a poorer communist nation. The majority of the novel is set around the ordinary life of Zhang, a gay half-Chinese American, as he navigates a world in which his sexuality and American identity make him less than perfect in the eyes of the current world order. In addition the novel breaks away from Zhang on sev More...
Dec 18, 2011
Jason
rated it: 
I picked up China Mountain Zhang based on the recommendation of Joe Walton's TOR.com blog post. I am not as big a fan of the book as Joe Walton. Still I found it interesting, if not entirely to my taste. I enjoyed seeing the different aspects of the future dominated by China, but I prefer a cohesive narrative. The collage that McHugh presents covers three different characters, whose stories loosely connect. I prefer having a single story with a strong plot.
The system engineering in the More...
The system engineering in the More...
Nov 05, 2011
Fred
rated it:
Read this some years ago - really clever cyberpunkish sci-fi set in a future where China is the utterly dominant power, and we're just an impoverished colonial backwater. The protagonist is half-Chinese, not to mention gay, so has access to but is never fully at home in either ethnic/dominant culture, which makes for an interesting journey. Best thing about it from an architect's point of view are the descriptions of his competitive kite-flying early on, and, more importantly, the description o
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Mar 31, 2009
AT
rated it:
A lovely, really interestingly different soft SF novel. Like some of Le Guin's writing it's ALMOST too slow, but in a way that makes it different and really engages the mind. Great characters too... conflicted and introspective and real. Also, the section on "organic engineering" is amazing.
Just a weird side note for this edition: this is the only novel I can remember that has a credit to the editor on the verso page. Oddly, the novel has some incredibly sloppy errors i More...
Just a weird side note for this edition: this is the only novel I can remember that has a credit to the editor on the verso page. Oddly, the novel has some incredibly sloppy errors i More...
Dec 17, 2009
Juliana
rated it:
It's a quiet sort of read, in that not so much ultimately happens in the book... but it's an interesting journey through the life of interesting characters, in an interesting universe.
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Jul 07, 2010
Ray
rated it:
Excellent. I am not normally a big sci-fan though speculative/alternate history is always cool.
I loved how well written this was. Especially the effective use of alternate point of view story-telling (which so many fail at with their rigid every other chapter voices or telling the story in rounds). The inclusion of more than one voice really enhanced both the plot and the theme rather than being distracting which is the case I think with no many other multiple-narrator stories. More...
I loved how well written this was. Especially the effective use of alternate point of view story-telling (which so many fail at with their rigid every other chapter voices or telling the story in rounds). The inclusion of more than one voice really enhanced both the plot and the theme rather than being distracting which is the case I think with no many other multiple-narrator stories. More...
Aug 06, 2011
Nicholas
rated it:
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1754971.ht...
The story of a gay half-Chinese American in a world where the Chinese have taken over. McHugh takes the pulp sf convention of the heroic engineer and rather subverts it - Zhang is heroic in his private life, in the way he manages his sexuality and his ambigouous racial identity, but through his profession McHugh is able to explore his native New York, China, Mars and other places. (And we also get several short narratives of the lives of other More...
The story of a gay half-Chinese American in a world where the Chinese have taken over. McHugh takes the pulp sf convention of the heroic engineer and rather subverts it - Zhang is heroic in his private life, in the way he manages his sexuality and his ambigouous racial identity, but through his profession McHugh is able to explore his native New York, China, Mars and other places. (And we also get several short narratives of the lives of other More...
Jan 11, 2011
Kyle
rated it:
This book surprised me. It's much more a literary novel set in the future than "science fiction". There are several interesting science fictiony bits (loved the section about organic engineering), but it's definitely not the focus. It's well written in a way that feels effortless (though I'm sure it wasn't), and the characters are developed subtly and come off as very authentic, especially Zhang but I also loved Martine.
I'm guessing it wouldn't be super engaging for everyone, More...
I'm guessing it wouldn't be super engaging for everyone, More...
Jan 16, 2010
reed
rated it:
It's so refreshing to find unconventional science fiction set in a complex, believable world.
In a China-dominated Communist future, Zhang is living in New York and has no real plan for his life. His story, which unfolds episodically, is interspersed with the stories of several other characters whose lives intersect with his. Nothing grand happens to any of them. Zhang does not change the world or become famous. He just navigates his daily life over the years, making the best choices More...
In a China-dominated Communist future, Zhang is living in New York and has no real plan for his life. His story, which unfolds episodically, is interspersed with the stories of several other characters whose lives intersect with his. Nothing grand happens to any of them. Zhang does not change the world or become famous. He just navigates his daily life over the years, making the best choices More...
Feb 05, 2011
Steve
rated it:
I liked this. It was an interesting and unique take on a near future where China has become the dominant first world nation and the US has shifted to a chinese-style socialism/communism and how that would apply to different locales, such as New York (a long time bastion of capitalism), frontier settlements on Mars, a new dust-bowl-esque plains state section and mainland china.
My main problem with the book, however, was that there wasn't really a plot to it. It's more a series of lo More...
My main problem with the book, however, was that there wasn't really a plot to it. It's more a series of lo More...
Nov 08, 2011
Wastrel
rated it:
Not recommended for: those who want action and excitement.
China Mountain Zhang is a very peculiar novel. It is set in the China-dominated near future, showing the lives of several characters, particularly one mixed-race gay engineer. It's hard to know how to feel about it. On the one hand, it has an annoying and boring central protagonist, almost no action, little psychological insight or progression, and a setting too close to the real world to be enthralling. On the other hand, it More...
China Mountain Zhang is a very peculiar novel. It is set in the China-dominated near future, showing the lives of several characters, particularly one mixed-race gay engineer. It's hard to know how to feel about it. On the one hand, it has an annoying and boring central protagonist, almost no action, little psychological insight or progression, and a setting too close to the real world to be enthralling. On the other hand, it More...
May 20, 2011
Caleb
rated it:
China Mountain Zhang is quite the unusual science fiction novel, in part because it’s a tranche de vie/slice-of-life SF novel, which is not a terribly common thing in Western SF. The novel is set in a 22nd century world where the People’s Republic of China has spread its ideology across the world, particularly to America. China Mountain Zhang—and yes, that is his name, a translation of Zhong Shen Zhang—a half-Chinese, half-Hispanic twentysomething, lives in Brooklyn and works as a construction t
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Jul 20, 2009
Nikki
rated it:
The same friend as gave me Blankets insisted that I should read this. Another life-changing book, for him, a book that came at the right time. He told me that it wasn't like a lot of SF, that it didn't have some great big plot, that it was just about people getting on with their lives.
I didn't really get into it at first. The narrative voice feels strange to me, something I had to get used to. It almost felt like I was reading it in translation -- which would be appropriate enough, g More...
I didn't really get into it at first. The narrative voice feels strange to me, something I had to get used to. It almost felt like I was reading it in translation -- which would be appropriate enough, g More...
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