Science Fiction from China

This fine anthology of eight stories by six authors shows that, while years behind the west in terms of maturity of the genre, China is catching up as fast as the state will allow. Editor Dingbo Wu's excellent introduction gives a historical overview of SF in China, while detailing the fluctuations of political acceptability during the past decade. If the plots are generally familiar, the stories convey the freshness with which the authors approached them, making each one more than just another variation on an old theme. Wei Yahua's ``Conjugal Happiness in the Arms of Morpheus'' finds a new way to bring a robot to life. ``The Mysterious Wave'' by Wang Xiaoda and ``Death Ray on a Coral Island'' by Tong Enzheng are both classic gadget stories. Conversely, Ye Yonglie's ``Corrosion'' is mostly concerned with the moral dilemma of desired fame vs. livable self-image. The chronological bibliography of Chinese SF is a valuable resource. (Oct.)