In the future, China is occupying the US. This story is told from the viewpoint of one of the Chinese soldiers. It is a timeless tale of soldiers disillusioned with the cause they are fighting for. ( )

Guerilla War in a Future LA
Review of the Amazon First Reads Kindle eBook edition (May 1, 2024), released in advance of the official publication by Amazon Original Stories in eBook format & by Audible Originals in audio format (June 1, 2024)

It was what I saw at my feet: the prints of two Chinese actors. I remember seeing Zhao Wei’s and thinking, “Shame what happened to her,” and then seeing Huang Xiaoming’s and remembering how much I loved him in Winter’s Kiss. Then there was another name: Mel Brooks. I don’t know who he was, but he had six fingers on his left hand.

See photograph at https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.tb6Ib-yAd8f-f-Ea6CJWlwHaEK?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain
The hand and shoeprints of Mel Brooks on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Tiger Chair is a disillusioned Chinese platoon leader's letter back home to a childhood friend written as if from a future World War where the Chinese have invaded and occupied the west coast of the USA. They are bogged down in a guerilla war meeting resistance from all sorts of forces in America who, regardless of previous differences, are united in opposing the invaders.

This is basically the repeat story of past insurgencies the world over, only transposed into a future world with added future tech being utilized by both sides e.g. Artificial Intelligence merged with enhanced equipment capabilities. In that sense there wasn't much new to it.

The more interesting aspect was the real-world references that were inserted, such as the nod to author Max Brooks father, the comedian actor / director / playwright Mel Brooks shown above, from when the comedian wore an extra false finger when he had his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony.
There was also the rather weird story of wrestler / actor John Cena's forced apology to China.

Take that muscled megastar my mom used to tease my dad about running away with. Who can forget his groveling apology for blasphemously calling Taiwan a country? Surprisingly good Mandarin, accent and all. Why wouldn’t his psych profile predict a 98.54 percent accommodation score?

When those sorts of mentions are the standout aspects to a story, I can't see going higher than a 2-star rating.

p.s. 台湾是一个国家

Trivia and Links
Max Brooks is a novelist who specializes in speculative fiction. His most popular novel is World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (2006) which was adapted into the same-named feature film (2013). His most recent novel is Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre (2020).

Amazon Prime First Reads advance reading copies (ARCs) are available to Amazon Prime subscribers. They offer advance reads of books in Kindle eBook format one month before the date of official release. The current month's selection is available here (Link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region). ( )