First novel. Winner of the 1993 James Tiptree Jr Memorial Award, the Lambda Literary Award, the Locus Award for Best First Novel, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a 1992 Nebula Nominee, and a 1992 Hugo Nominee.
"'I am Zhang, alone with my light, and in that light I think for a moment that I am free'.
"Imagine a world: a sinocentric world where Chinese Marxism has vanquished the values of capitalism and Lenin is the prophet of choice. A cybernetic world where the new charioteers are flyers, human-powered kites dancing in the skies over New York in a brief grab at glory. A world where the opulence of Beijing marks a new cultural imperialism, as wealthy urbanites flirt with interactive death in illegal speakeasies, and where Arctic research stations and communes on Mars are haunted by their own fragile dangers.
"A world of fear and hope, of global disaster and slow healing, where progress can only be found in the cracks of a crumbling hegemony.
"The world of Zhang. An anti-hero who's still finding his way, treading a path through a totalitarian order -- a path that just might make a difference." [jacket blurb, UK pbk, 1995]
