Green monkey syndrome

Times change, and so does human life. The sword that was held in the hands of ancient times has now turned into pistols, airplanes, missiles, armored warships, poison gas, biological weapons, nuclear missiles, satellites, doctrines, propaganda, transnational corporations, international telecommunications companies, online viruses and… who knows how many more there are on this list.

Before us is an alternative history of the competition of a small country against a large neighbor. It is scary to think that some of these stories could become reality in this century.

Taiwanese writer Andrew Ye uses science fiction to voice questions. And first of all, he is interested in the impact of technology, and not only on the course of war, but also on geopolitics and on each individual. What is it like to devote your life to creating weapons? How is a person able to technologically influence the weather and climate? What did humanity face this time: an epidemic, a pandemic, or a biological weapon?

The collection “Green Monkey Syndrome” included science fiction stories that Andrew Ye wrote from 1979 to 1987. In Taiwan, its publication marked the transition to literary science fiction and the return of science fiction concepts from distant cosmic galaxies to Earth.

In 2020, when the book was reprinted for the third time during the pandemic, it no longer seemed just science fiction, but almost prophetic. And now, in 2025, it is even more so.