2003.10.21
the Chung Kuo novels. David Wingrove.
this will be my second time reading the series. it’s one of the best i’ve read, too. it always shocks me that it’s rarely on scifi fan’s lists of their favorite books! it is certainly on mine. the story arcs are huge and span lifetimes. the basic premise is that in a not so distant future, a chinese tyrant conquers the world. his seven advisers eventually cast him down and set up a society of level in an world encompassing city of levels. good people are promoted or earn their way up, and bad or criminal behaviour is demoted down level. this way each can find their level. after two centuries of this, the seven cities are sitting on a powder keg of intrigue, darkness and light. central to the stories is li yuan, son of li shai tung, t’ang of city europe. with him, often in seperate but intricately linked stories, are ben shepherd, genius artist, and kim ward, genius scientist. i see something of myself in this triad all the time, their struggles, loves, inner darkness and yearning for the light. however these three are far far from the only characters. the beginning of book seven has 12 pages of characters with brief descriptions. by this time, easily half of them are dead in the wars and chaos that engulfs chung kuo. a highly rewarding series on many levels, and should be on any serious science fiction and epic story reader’s lists.
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