China Mountain Zhang in The Alternative Worlds

Feb 24, 2010 Brad rated it it was amazing

Shelves: about-life, exceeded-my-expectations, marxist, sci-fi, novel-in-short-stories, to-read-again, revolution, queer-lit, reading-journal

***WARNING*** This is a reading journal rather than a review, so it will be riddled with unmarked spoilers. You have been warned.

China Mountain -- Zhang:- So far, Zhang is nothing like I expected, neither the character nor the book. I expected a cyber-punky action thriller, and it may still become that, but this first chapter offers no signs that a change is going to come. At this point it is a study of two characters: Zhang and San-xiang; the former is our gay half-ABC (American Born Chinese) ...more

26 likes · Like · see review

Jun 27, 2008 Michelle rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, 1001-books, dystopia, award_winner, lit_fic

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 look purely as ...more

14 likes · Like · see review

Dec 28, 2012 Daniel Roy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: wwe-wogf, sf, dystopia, world-china, abandoned

I always feel guilty when I quit a book halfway through, and I don't think I've ever felt guiltier than with this novel. Everything about it sounds like I would absolutely love it. But yet as I made my way through the pages, I found myself dreading my reading sessions more and more, until I just decided it was time to move on.

That's not to say I don't recognize the book's strengths, and there are many. The idea of a futuristic world where China has taken over the United States is brilliant, and ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

May 15, 2008 Wealhtheow rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, queer-characters

Zhang is a young queer man who works construction and hopes for a brighter future in an alternate world where communist China overtook the US as the global power. This book blew me away. I read it in a single sitting, instead of sleeping.

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Apr 23, 2009 Nicky rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: speculative-fiction, queer

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, given the set ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 16, 2021 Richard rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, ebook, sffbc, sffbc-challenge-8

A good slice of life from multiple but loosely interconnected viewpoints of a plausible not too distant future. Interesting and well done sociological SF.

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