Reviewed by Michael P. Gallen
Tiger Cage
by Max Brooks
Amazon Original Storie
June 2024, 50 pages, Kindle version, ASIN: B0CSH3L5S6
Max Brooks specializes in creating stories of fantastical events from the perspective of first-hand witnesses. His classic horror novel World War Z depicted a zombie apocalypse through interviews with the survivors, while Devolution recounted a Sasquatch attack on a rural community through recovered documents. His writing examines how society would react to impossible events, making them seem believable.
His new story, “Tiger Chair,” released by Amazon Original Stories for the Kindle, considers a slightly more plausible but still far-fetched scenario: a Chinese invasion and occupation of the western United States. Realistically, such a conflict would probably spiral into a full-scale nuclear exchange within a few hours, wiping out humanity much more effectively than any zombie outbreak. However, in Brooks’s telling, the conflict becomes an extended guerilla war pitting Chinese forces equipped with drones and AI advisors against American insurgents. The story is told from the perspective of a Chinese officer who recently survived an American ambush.
Brooks is still the master of creating a convincing if fantastical world through the eyes of a minor participant. In broad strokes, he paints a compelling picture of a war-torn Los Angeles, particularly Hollywood, an area he has extensive knowledge of as the child of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. For instance, in one scene a firefight erupts near Grauman’s Chinese Theater, which the occupiers have renamed Hengdian Chinese Theater. His depictions of combat are also realistically brutal, as in a scene where the narrator overhears his soldiers dying over the radio after their vehicle is struck by a missile: “A molten-copper cloud forced itself through a hole no bigger than an old fifty-fen coin. We could hear them over the radio, screaming as they burned.” He not only gives a quick, graphic description of how the weapon works, but shows its horrific results. Such visceral detail makes for a gritty, compelling story.
To his credit, Brooks doesn’t depict the Chinese troops as one-dimensional oppressors. While the Chinese occupation is clearly stated to be brutal, using torture devices such as the titular “tiger chair” to punish those who rebel, the majority of the Chinese troops are shown as decent men in a horrible situation. He also goes out of his way to show the Chinese-American community fighting the invaders. However, except for the narrator, there is not much characterization. For instance, Brooks describes two soldiers as being father and son, while two others are identified as farmers. He indicates these are good people, but gives the reader no incentive to care about them. Although it could be argued that Brooks only had so much space in a short story to flesh out characters, it’s worth noting that in World War Z, he developed compelling characters who only appeared in a single chapter, as in the parents who flee with their child into the Canadian wilderness to escape the zombie armies. Readers see the parents struggle with feeding their daughter and keeping her safe, ultimately sacrificing their morals to protect her. The same level of brief but compelling characterization would have made the story much more engaging.
Another issue is the depiction of the American resistance which takes on an implausibly flattering light when you consider the narrator is a Chinese officer whose troops were recently killed by resistance fighters. The narrator admires how Americans unite in the face of the invasion, noting how there is no infighting and no collaboration with the occupiers. While the character opposes the war, it’s hard to imagine he would be so forgiving of the fighters, particularly given he experienced a traumatic ambush with heavy casualties only the day before the story takes place.
At times, this depiction has the feel of World War II propaganda. The Chinese officer claims that none of the celebrities caught behind Chinese lines are willing to collaborate with them, even under the threat of torture or execution. History, unfortunately, suggests that this would not be the case. Consider the number of people in occupied Europe who willingly collaborated with the Nazis, who were far more brutal occupiers than Brooks depicts the Chinese as being. Furthermore, the American resistance is clearly stated to never even chance harming children, when in reality guerilla conflicts tend to be plagued with civilian casualties, including kids. Brooks’s vision of an American guerilla movement hints at American exceptionalism, the idea that America is a more virtuous country and not subject to the ills of other countries. While this idea may play to patriotic sensibilities, it does not lend credibility to the story.
Despite these issues, “Tiger Chair” is a good read. The well-done action scenes and interesting scenario make up for the deficiencies in characterization. Furthermore, its short length means it can be read in under an hour, making it a perfect choice for a morning commute or before you go to bed.