Waste Tide

borgbookcollective reviewed Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan

A beautifully haunting novel

5 stars

Chen Qiufan's "The Waste Tide" is a beautifully haunting novel. A highly recommend read.

Set in the fictitious future city of Silicon Isle -- a depressing nightmare where migrant workers toil night and day to take apart e-waste in an unforgiving filthy, toxic, cancer-inducing environment.

The world-building and characters Chen captures are rich and deep. You feel for Mimi and her unfortunate migrant workers who are treated like worthless dirt by Silicon Isle's affluent & arrogant caste.

And you encounter many gems along the way, such as the fusion of Chinese myths, a spirit-powered mech of death, as well as hilarious and visually entertaining snippets:

"The woman grabbed him by the left leg and dragged the powerless Kaizong into a temporary shed filled with junked prostheses. She pulled a rubber dildo out of the pile and, with astounding arm strength, stretched it into a rope, which she used to tie …

Chen Qiufan's "The Waste Tide" is a beautifully haunting novel. A highly recommend read.

Set in the fictitious future city of Silicon Isle -- a depressing nightmare where migrant workers toil night and day to take apart e-waste in an unforgiving filthy, toxic, cancer-inducing environment.

The world-building and characters Chen captures are rich and deep. You feel for Mimi and her unfortunate migrant workers who are treated like worthless dirt by Silicon Isle's affluent & arrogant caste.

And you encounter many gems along the way, such as the fusion of Chinese myths, a spirit-powered mech of death, as well as hilarious and visually entertaining snippets:

"The woman grabbed him by the left leg and dragged the powerless Kaizong into a temporary shed filled with junked prostheses. She pulled a rubber dildo out of the pile and, with astounding arm strength, stretched it into a rope, which she used to tie Kaizong's hands securely to a water pipe. 'You better learn your lesson. Next time, I'll use your own dick.' The woman cackled..."

Ouch!

moving to outside.ofa.dog reviewed Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan

Review of 'Waste Tide' on 'LibraryThing'

4 stars

A powerful, gripping book, that suffers a little from leaving some of its most potentially interesting characters insufficiently fleshed out.[return][return]It wonderfully subverts typical hero / saviour narratives, and complicates questions about who holds power and who is on the "good" or "bad" side of a conflict. But it still renders its privileged non-heroes a lot more three-dimensional than any of the less privileged people who as a collective this book is largely about.