China Mountain Zhang

This could have been subtitled, "Everyday Life in a Distopia." The novel consists of a series of related short stories – there's no actual plot, but since I enjoy short stories, this worked well for me. The stories are set about two hundred years after a violent revolution (the details of which are revealed, chillingly casually, in an aside to another discussion: WOW). The protagonist, Zhang is a young man from Brooklyn, an American-Born Chinese, seeking upward mobility in his career progression from engineering tech to engineer. At first he seems ridiculously unambitious, but gradually develops focus. Some of the stories' setting are fascinating: post-revolutionary New York, an Arctic research facility, a goat farm on Mars, Nanjing University in China. Zhang is gay (which is just as problematical in a future distopia as it is in many situations now), and in the course of the book he turns down the opportunity to marry, finds and loses lovers, makes friends, and develops confidence.

It was a compelling read, and I was glad to see it end on a hopeful note. What I didn't like was the way the supporting characters – San -xiang, who he didn't marry; Alexis the goat farmer and his family on Mars, Angel, the professional hang-glider pilot were completely abandoned – I'd become very invested in them as well as in Zhang.