Customer Reviews
Wonderful debut novel - highly recommended - By: Rod Williams, 07 Aug 2007 
Ironically it take a woman to write perhaps the best SF novel of the 20th centuryin which a gay man is the main character. Zhang is not only gay, he is an ABC (American Born Chinese) & is livingin a Socialist States of America, a country still recovering from an ideological pogrom, `The Campaign of Cleansing Winds.'
The title comes from Zhang's other names which which translate as China Mountain, & though they may mean little to Americans, the Chinese recognise them as being those of Zhong Shan. This is a mild embarrassment to Zhang. It as if, he explains, an American had called his child George Washington. Zhang is not even genetically Chinese, as his mother is Spanish & he is a result of gene-splicing techniques. Thus he has many reasons to feel isolated & not completely at home within any culture.
Zhang becomes the victim of his own good nature when he agrees to let his boss's daughter San-xiang stay with him after she argues with her father. The father assumes that Zhang has been sleeping with her & fires him, which is the start of Zhang's adventures. This section is a marvellously constructed portrait of the complex rules of Chinese manners & etiquette, an intricate verbal dance which is designed to minimise embarrassment & `save face'.
Zhang, more by accident than design, gets a temporary assignmentin the Arctic, on Baffin Island, which will allow him to gain enough credits to study engineeringin China itself.
Occasionally, we divert to three other characters & see brief sections of their lives, such as Angel, one of the Kiteracers who gain wealth & glory by risking their lives flying through the skyscraper canyons of New York; & Martine, who produces honey & goats' milkin a domed Martian colony, & San-xiang.
Laterin the novel the tangential connections between Zhang & these `sidebar narratives', as John Clute describes them, become clear & it is probably no coincidence that the three other voices are all women, albeit three very different women who have `unconventional' relationships with men.
McHugh sublimely balances the human stories against a beautiful background of societal & technological development. The science of McHugh's future is not without its drawbacks. Tailored viruses are usedin one instance to cure Zhang (when he first visits China) of an infection, but one which mutates & attacks his system to the extent where an another tailored phage is employed to regrow new kidneys within his body.
Similarly, San-xiang undergoes treatment via another virus which rebuilds the bones of her skull to give her a more attractive appearance. later, however, unused to the effect that her new face might have, she is picked up by charming stranger & raped.
One of Zhang's vices is the kite races, although the danger for the racers themselves (who pilot kits like bats through the canyons of New York's skyscrapers) is the mortality rate, as fliers are often killed. Later,in China, Zhang gets taken to an illegal club & plays a virtual reality gamein which a kind of `Quidditch ping pong' takes placein a virtual reality space. Managing to catch certain balls invokes a heightened sense of erotic pleasure which builds with the number of balls caught. The game is illegal, it transpires, because it is understandably addictive.
This theme of duality, the combination of positive & negative aspects, is echoed throughout the book on various levels, particularlyin Zhang's character, who is gayin a straight society & is a combination of Spanish & Chinese.
Alexi & Martine's systemin the Martian commune provides the domein which they live with oxygen, but has developed a fault & therefore - being a mechanism which gives them life - can also be a bringer of Death.
Hai Tao, Zhang's tutor & loverin China, wears white suits, a colour which, depending whether one is occidental or oriental can symbolise Life or Death. Later Hai Tao goes to elaborate lengths to soften the safety glass of his apartment windows so that he can leap through it to his death.
It's a stunning debut novel from McHugh, one which transcends the genre & works on many levels.
Emotionally perceptive - By: Neil Lewis, 05 Apr 2002 This is a stunning tale of lives livedin alienation. Zhang is marginalised by his mixed race heritage & his sexuality, & the other characters are mostly just as conflicted about the trials of hard lives & expectations of others.
I don't think I've read a sci-fi book where people prevaricate & dissemble so much. Against a background of Martian colonisation, communist Chinese economic dominance & global warming, McHugh gives us a humane tale of survival & adjustment. It left me wanting more.
Absolutely blinding, for SF readers who appreciate subtlety - By: BH, 27 Jun 2000 A beautifully written book, without unnecessary linguistic fireworks. Well defined characters, developed realistically ..in short; a real bookin an SF setting. 'Half the Day is Night' by the same author is also good, but harder to get into.
A good book, but not a Great one - By: , 17 Oct 1999 
When I started reading the book I found it quite appealing, with an interresting story & well defined characters. However it leaves me wanting. It's a very well written account of intertwining lives, but that's it. Nothing revolutionary or intriguing happens, there's no sudden plot twists,in short it's a book about life. So when all is said & done I quite enjoyed the book (except for the oh so cliche pretty-girl-is- misled part), I just didn't find it brilliant.
Good value for money. After a slow start became gripping. - By: , 10 Sep 1999 
The first two chapters are a bit off a puzzle. Because the author writesin a slightly unusual style, the reader has to work at understanding what is going on. Once that is out of the way, by chapter three you're hooked. It's a bit like a softer William Gibson. Better charectarisation & protagonists who you actually care about. The story follows the training of a young American Chinese engineering student with side stories about some of the people he comes into contact with. All round good value for money.
