Chung Kuo: The Middle Kingdom: Book 1 - Softcover

Wingrove, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440207614 ISBN 13: 9780440207610

Publisher: Dell, 1991

Synopsis

The Year is 2190. China has once again become a  world unto itself and this time its only boundary  is space . . . The world is City Earth, ruled by  the Seven, China's new kings. Beautiful, controlled,  sensual, this high-tech society is rushing toward  war between the forces of West and East, between  the rebels who hunger for change and the overlords  who demand stability, between the very powers of  darkness and light. It will be an era of violent  conflagration destined to expose the basest elements  of human nature . . . and the highest dreams. An  epic that draws us into an alternative world so  real, so complete that we become denizens of the new  Middle Kingdom, touched by longings we never  imagined. . . driven by forces as ancient as man's first  breath. Not since Asminov's  Foundation books and Herbert's Dune  has there been such a majestic and powerful  vision of a believable other world. . . seductive,  chilling, unforgettable!

About this title

From Library Journal:

When a 600-page novel peopled by dozens of characters and complicated by complex layers of intrigue leaves one eager for more, then something very exciting has been created. Wingrove's novel of the 22nd century, in which China rules the world's 39 billion people, is an imaginative, fast-paced exploration of the future. As the Chinese ideals of harmony and order are challenged by the restive Europeans' thirst for change and progress, a rift forms that points the world toward a devastating war. Neatly dovetailed story lines, well-paced plotting, and exotic, intriguing characters are definite pluses. This first novel premieres a planned series of seven. Highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/88.
-Beth Ann Mills, New Rochelle P.L., N.Y.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

The first book in a projected series of seven is set 200 years in the future, when the world's 34 billion people are ruled by a sort of pre-Communist version of China. Monarchs have ruthlessly suppressed all knowledge of pre-Empire conditions and technology, hoping to maintain their fragile control as some Europeans push for the right to build a starship. Court intrigue, propriety and "face" count for more than talent or skill in this clearly evoked, decadent and threatened society. While this first novel from Wingrove, co-author of the Hugo Award-winning Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction , is easy to read, it suffers from cardboard characterizations, indecisive plotting and seemingly arbitrary closing. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dell
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0440207614
• ISBN 13: 9780440207610
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 704