I read this after reading a story of hers in one of Dozois year's best anthologies. A science fiction author who shares my interest in China hurray I thought. After all the only other one I can think of is Cordwainer Smith & he's dead. I didn't know what to make of the book once I read it though. I almost got the feeling I was reading a collection of stories. No problem Foundation, City, Canticle for leibowitz, they were all linked stories. Yet the linkages were so tenuous that I wish I'd read the Martian goat farmer bits & ignored the rest. Don't misunderstand Zhang's life has its moments, but it seemed aimless & I don't know anyone like him. If you live in a big city maybe zhang makes more sense to you. Anyway this reads more like what I expect from mainstream contemporary literary fiction than I expect from Scence Fiction. In some ways that's not a compliment because if I wanted contemporary Literature I would read contemporary Literature. Before radio & television reading wasn't seen as elite the way it is now and books were intelligent without being impenetrable or in this case pointless. Don't misunderstand she's done something I never expected from sf & showed that new directions are still possible for sf in the 90's. An impressive first novel that seemed rather pointless and meandering to me, but oh well. "Smart" people seem to prefer this kind of story, but for me the best way to get a "slice of life" is to live life not read about it. Furthermore for gay/feminist fiction (the Chinese fiction aspect I expected & it does a good job on that score as well; giving great insights into Chinese culture & having a Chinese "feel") I thought it was good because it's not polemical, angst ridden, or in your face. Only a few moment's struck me as AUTHOR MESSAGE, although the part about the woman being raped the instant she became attractive struck me that way. The book had some great moments though even if it seemed pointless by the time I finished. Nevertheless this does deserve to be considered as one of the best first novels in sf & one of the most unusual approaches to sf ever.

Set in a future where Maoism (Chinese Marxism) has taken over as the dominant political force, "China Mountain Zhang" is science fiction extrapolation at its highest. The book follows the eponymous hero as he tries to find peace in this fascinating, if flawed future. Born of an illegal procedure -- (his DNA was mixed so that he will look more Asian in a world of prejugdice), an out of work architech, and a homosexual, Zhang has much to contend with. The story also follows other people -- in first-person narratives -- and their struggles in this society. McHugh's prose is beautiful, and she manages to convey both a sense of wonder (with her almost magical, but scientifically sound technology), and a plausible, thought-out future. There's a hint of sadness, but also a ray of hope, about the strength of the human will. Her characters are real, and will haunt you after the book is over. Slice-of-life sci fi at its best

A number of the reviewers of this book on this site have commented on this novel's lack of plot. This is unfair. It has plot to spare, just not the sort of simple, follow-the-numbers plotline most of today's TV-raised readers seem to need. As a novel, it reads more as a slice of life (or lives) than a self-contained story, and from the perspective of a science fiction reader, this can serve (and does so here) to make the singular impact of this book one of total immersion in a well-thought-out, self-consistent future world. As an example of science fiction as extrapolation from the present, I can think of few works as good as this. As for this novel being an example of "gay and lesbian" fiction, one of the main characters happens to be gay. It is certainly a defining characteristic, especially in the future presented here, where homosexuality is again driven underground. I think we can gain some perspective on comments like this, however, from the fact that although most of the major characters are Chinese, no one has thought to characterize this novel as "Chinese fiction." All in all, China Mountain Zhang is a fine novel, with a narrative voice startlingly well-developed for a first-time novelist. I give this my highest recommendation--not the stuff of science-fiction adventure, but rewarding for those who care about finely crafted fiction.

Seinfeld's show was about "nothing". So was this book. The characters wandered aimlessly, and they weren't interesting to start with. The undersea world was well-realized, though. It's a good thing I got this from the library, or I'd have been very unhappy with it. I hope her next book is better.

After China Mountain Zhang, I wondered whether McHugh could write anything quite as good. But she has. Again, in terms of physical action, nothing much happens, indeed this book is much more enclosed and claustrophobic than Zhang, not least because of its setting in an undersea city. But the real enclosure is not physical but economic and political; most people are unable to leave because they are too poor or somehow unable to obtain the necessary permits. Like CMZ this is a story about the people left behind in sci-fi's glorious visions of the future, and even though David Dai is in some ways much more of a traditional action hero than Zhang (he's a mercenary and bodyguard), his profession is not glamorous, and the heroic potential is further subverted by necessity which forces him into dangerous and tedious construction work. The politics of Half the Day is Night are more overt than CMZ, more immediately about the vast masses of poor and marginalised in our own world, but, hey, what's wrong with that? There are too few politically engaged fiction writers. Another very thoughtful and satisfying book.

"Half the Day Is Night" is not a sequel to her first novel, "China Mountain Zhang," but it seems to take place in the same fully realized future world of the latter work. It is also written in the same matter-of-fact style, with the same day-in-the-life sort of plot, and the same depth of character. This is not a novel for someone interested in typical SF fare--space adventure, science detectives, epic trilogies, and the like. Although the future imagined here has clearly been carefully constructed, at no point does the narrator intrude upon the characters and the events that unfold to explain things. The effect is one of complete immersion in a different reality, but one that (in retrospect) can easily be extrapolated from our own. That, to me, is one definition of great science fiction. This, to me, is a great science fiction novel. Maureen McHugh is the sort of author who deserves a much wider audience; at the same time, she is the sort of author one knows will never command that audience, by the simple criterion that she writes fiction, not novelizations. I can't recommend this book more highly.

I don't know if it's fair to review a book that one has not read completely, but I had to put down Nekropolis despite all the good things I have read about it... The author introduces us to an artificially constructed man, and can't seem to make up her mind whether he has no human emotions, some of them, or all of them. McHugh also confuses us with the idea of jessing, where one is biochemically and emotionally linked to another, then treats such a supposedly strong bond as if it were weak and easily breakable. Also, the romantic story here is forced for the sake of the plot. I put it down before too long, unwilling to suspend my disbelief. Sadly, this story needed another revision before publication.

Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before somebody had to go and write a "deeply moving" love story featuring a human and an AI, while throwing in for good measure the "tough-break" story of a woman's (in general?) lot in life in the world of Islam.

In general, the novel presents a parable of one woman's "jessing" to her master (man in general?) and her struggle to be released from it (the control of her master) in order to "follow her heart " (even if her heart belongs to a life-like AI human replica).

But I am being ungracious here.

Ms. McHugh is obviously a very talented writer: her sparse but incisive prose makes for enjoyable reading even when the plot-line threatens to become hackneyed or the overall symbolism cloying.

Having lived for some time in Egypt, I can sympathize with the humanistic (and gender) issues addressed in this volume. Even so, since I do find these issues of considerable importance, I would prefer to read about them in a more empirical format.

Looking at the author's intentions rather than my own personal preferences, however, it is clear that the social issues raised in this volume are well worth thinking about and are seamlessly incorporated into the story.

As for the issue of love, the novel displays a certain shift from earlier works concerning AI and emotion: rather than focussing on the AI as such, the work concentrates upon the secondary effects of an emotional mismatch as it comes to bear on the human person. The descriptions of the main protagonist's emotional situation are extremely effective, and seemed in places reminiscent of the brilliant prose of Naguib Mafouz.

All in all, a very well-written book.

You may not like the story, or simply have reservations about it, but, unlike many Science Fiction works, this one has substance.

This is the first book I read from this superb author. Not only is the story beautifully crafted, the situations keep you connected and tense until the end. The book is constructed in five chapters, each narrated in first person by one of the main characters. I will not bore the reader explaining what the story is about (read the other previous reviews), but I will say that the author has found a very unusual, touching and profoundly unsettling way to approach delicate issues, such as prejudice, fear of rejection, genetic engineering of beings and its consequences, social stigma, sex and love among different sub-cultures. It's magnificent in every way, the proof that a good sci-fi book doesn't need a huge amount of complicated paraphernalia to be interesting and powerful, or to keep the reader involved. As a matter of fact, it would be extremelly limiting to classify it as a "sci-fi" book; instead, let me just say it is an incredibly well crafted book, by an undeniably gifted author. A must read for book lovers.

This book doesn't come close to how interesting China Mountain Zhang or Half the Day is Night are.

The book is well written, however the story goes nowhere and the ending is totally curt and unsatisfying. I kept waiting for something to exciting to happen, nothing ever did.

Don't waste your time on this book - I'm sorry I did. Read CMZ(5*) or HTDIN(4*) instead. Those books were MUCH more interesting and engaging.

Maureen McHugh is known for the grace and subtlety of her prose. She does not disappoint in this latest journey into the developing heart of a young girl, coming of age amid the chaos of a changing world.

_Mission Child_ explores the world of a pre-industrial child as she begins to cope with the destruction of her secure tribal culture and her exploration of the alien industrial environment in which she must learn to survive.

I gained a new understanding for what it must be like to suddenly find oneself an utter stranger to one's land and even oneself. Jan/Janna is no great hero. She makes terrible mistakes, has good luck and bad, is blown by the winds of her own emotions as much as by the winds of change that sweep her world. But it is the triumph of her sense of self that keeps us rooting for her.

There are no easy answers in this book--no cookie-cutter endings. It was a wonderful story. I enjoyed it very much.

I loved this book, and have been recommending it to friends. I really identified with the main character's tentative but insistent search to form her own unique identity, despite other people helpfully trying to push her one way or the other. I also thoroughly enjoyed the underlying commentary about how people's lives get overturned when two cultures with different technological levels meet. This type of writing is one of McHugh's strengths; illuminating big issues through the very personal story of one character. More, please!