Despite a virtual lack of plot or action, and despite the constant change of location, I thoroughly enjoyed Maureen F. McHugh's vision of the future. The homophobia of Communist regimes and other oppressive mind-sets helped create the dramatic tension for Zhang's character. This is imaginative writing from an author who obviously cares more about language and character than about writing something that most creative writing classes would use as a model for "proper" novel structure. I cared deeply about these characters, perhaps even more for the sympathetic and mistreated San-xiang than for the narrator, but certainly for him as well.