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Chung Kuo: The Middle Kingdom: Book 1 Mass Market Paperback – January 5, 1991

by David Wingrove (Author)

52 customer reviews

Book 1 of 8 in the Chung Kuo Series

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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!

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Editorial Reviews

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Mass Market Paperback: 704 pages
Publisher: Dell (January 5, 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0440207614
ISBN-13: 978-0440207610
Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
Average Customer Review: 52 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #474,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #30152 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

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morton

I liked it better 15 years ago

October 19, 2012

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

I read the Chung Kuo series a long time ago and thought they were great, but I lost them during a cross-country move a few years ago. When I found the first two books on Amazon, I got excited and started reading them again. I guess my standards have changed because I found the writing self-absorbed this time around. There were long meanderings that hammered certain plot points to death and then there was the overuse of some words like "shiver." Warning, there are graphic scenes of sex and brutality that effectively illustrate the culture, but could have made the point with less excruciating detail. Yet . . . the plot continues to enthrall. The futuristic setting of a restored Chinese Empire that now rules the entire earth is gripping, and the characters are deep and well-drawn, like living people. Now that I'm grown up, yeah, I'm still reading them, but I'll be skimming through some passages.

3 people found this helpful

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Aquaegrannus

A series that lasts forever...all good.

January 14, 2016

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

Longtime fan of the series. Wish it was all available digitally.

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Amazon Customer

Brilliant Reimagining

January 10, 2017

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

Brilliant re-imagining of a future earth under Chinese dynastic rule.

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July 28, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

good series

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AkuumaX

fiction or possibility?

April 19, 2009

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I have read the whole series except for the new one coming out per wikipedia.
It is extremely engrossing and involving.
Has just the right amount of detail to draw you in and leave you hungry for more.
And as with some other fiction books has intriguing lessons hidden within the fantasy.
I read it about ten or eleven years ago and wondered what if?
None of the characters are one sided. Even the 'bad guys' have noble sides and motivations that explain their actions.

To the easily offended or timid some of the stronger subjects may be too much, but to a seeker like myself it only enriches the story.
It is a gritty storytale macrocosm of human life in reality.
Much better than these so called reality shows that bombard us daily.

One of the best books I have EVER had the honor and pleasure of reading.
Not strange that they are somewhat hard to come by.

2 people found this helpful

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David Crane

Interesting but untimately confusing read.

December 10, 2013

Format: Paperback

I read this book and the six other books in the series back in the 1990's. The novel presented an interesting futuristic world of the twenty second century dominated by the Chinese culture. Ambitious in scope, the novel presents a fascinating glimpse into the author's imagination. New Imperial Chine rules the world. Everyone understands and speaks Mandarin and everyone seemingly enjoys the benefits of a society based on the Confucian principles. The world religions and governments are gone, replaced by the council of seven Chinese kings ruling over the five continents of earth. The dominant feature of the global imperial China is the city of 300 levels built from Ice, a super strong substance based on nanotechnology. The higher you rise on the social ladder, the higher you live. The Chinese imperial elite rules from high above, while the Ice wall dominates the ruins of western civilization below.

The strongest point of the book and the following novels in the series is a strange, fascinating and bizarre world of the global Chinese empire that ruthlessly crushed the old world in order to attain a world harmony. While the author never describes the compelling reasons why and how the world submitted to the Chinese rule, he presents us with an interesting futuristic alternative based on the question what if? In this global Chinese empire, the only boundary is outer space. Those who wish to be free, live beyond earth in semiautonomous space colonies. In New Imperial China itself, the world of the seven dictators is rocked by multiple social, economic and religious uprisings that ultimately bring the empire to its knees. The novel's main weaknesses include too many characters and too many subplots that often confuse the reader. Overall, the novel is interesting to read, but as the series continue, the reader ultimately gets lost in the sheer scope of this unusual literary creation.

David Crane, Author of Planet of Gods, Planet of Men, Swordpoint and Die To Live Again

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A customer

If you thought DUNE was a 10, this is a 9.5.

May 31, 1996

Format: Mass Market Paperback

The Gushing

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The first book in, what I hope, is a series without end. It's that good! Author David Wingrove has created a world as rich as Frank Herbert's DUNE series, with as many (or more!) characters and plot twists (many don't seem to be yet resolved after 5 books). The writing is careful and tight, again reminiscent of Herbert (or Herbert in his younger days, as the harsher critics of the DUNE series might say)
What DUNE is to questions of metaphysics, spirituality, messianic traditions, and heroic individualism, Wingrove's series is to questions of politics, class warfare, cultural tradition, and sociology of the masses.
The characters are multi-dimensional. Moral ambiguity pervades the plot. There is neither a good side nor bad side. There are good and evil people on both sides. And sometimes good slide into evil and evil return from the dark side.
The Plot

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In the not-too-distant future, a vastly over populated Earth is dominated by the culture and politics of ancient China. Seven Chinese kings rule the world. One king rules each continent as an absolute monarch. Each continent is actually a massive city state. Most of a continent's open areas have been swallowed up by a multi-level city (built from a strong but light substance called "ice"). Few citizens ever see the light of day. A rich elite -- business owners and nobility -- live on the top levels while a huge peasant class live in incredible poverty in the lower levels. The series examines the personal and social dynamics of warehousing a huge population in "caves of steel" and how a "master race", descendants of the ancient Chinese, can control a population through a combination of big-brother technology, a secret police force, and an edict that carefully limits advances in science. However, as history has shown, even a caged population cannot be stopped from eventually demanding freedom...
The Criticism

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The first three books contain a high degree of very twisted sexua

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