This isn’t a China-calling-in-its-debts scenario, this is China as the last man standing while capitalism collapses in on itself McHugh presents the events leading up to her world only late in the book but they are very plausible, leaving China in the position the US currently occupies: a prestigious place to study, with cultural domination over the rest of the world and the racism/nepotism which goes with that.
The risk with a future-set novel where China dominates the world is that the Yellow Peril will creep in China Mountain Zhang‘s first hurdle is acknowledging and dealing with that risk… something McHugh does admirably. Ask about queer science fiction and China Mountain Zhang will inevitably come up and there’s incredibly good reason for that…
It is a world in which Zhang is still finding his way…įrom the hot new debut to a debut over two decades old, that won three awards, hit two more ballots (not all genre!), and brought its author to light. And a new generation lives in fear and hope. The opulence of Beijing has brought a new cultural imperialism. The new ultimate thrill for wealthy urbanites is to flirt with interactive death in illegal speakeasies. In the world of Zhang, the new charioteers are human-powered kites, racing above New York City in a brief grab at glory.
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