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Son Of Heaven (Chung Kuo Recast #1)

3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 · rating details · 263 ratings · 55 reviews

The year is 2085, two decades after the great economic collapse that destroyed Western civilization. With its power broken and its cities ruined, life in the West continues in scattered communities. In rural Dorset Jake Reed lives with his 14-year-old son and memories of the great collapse. Back in '43, Jake was a rich, young futures broker, immersed in the datascape of th...more

Hardcover, 375 pages

Published March 1st 2011 by Corvus (first published February 1st 2011)

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Jan 06, 2013 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(Originally reviewed on Otherwhere Gazette)

If you were reading science fiction in the 1990s, you might remember the Chung Kuo series by David Wingrove. I do, and I remember it as a magnificent masterpiece of worldbuilding and characterization, where the good guys and the bad guys weren’t all white or black, but shades of grey. The problem is, the series ended very poorly, which is probably explained by the publisher pushing Wingrove to finish before he was ready, so he had to cram the ending int...more (Originally reviewed on Otherwhere Gazette)

If you were reading science fiction in the 1990s, you might remember the Chung Kuo series by David Wingrove. I do, and I remember it as a magnificent masterpiece of worldbuilding and characterization, where the good guys and the bad guys weren’t all white or black, but shades of grey. The problem is, the series ended very poorly, which is probably explained by the publisher pushing Wingrove to finish before he was ready, so he had to cram the ending into fewer books than he’d planned on.

I’m pleased to announce (if you haven’t read it anywhere else on the web yet, and you might have) that Wingrove has started rewriting and expanding Chung Kuo. Please note, he’s not, as far as I’ve heard, re-imagining it. The core story of the War of Two Directions will be the same, but he’s adding new material to the same story. The first book in the new series, Son of Heaven, is part of the new material, being the first of two prequels that explain how the world of Chung Kuo came to be. In it, we follow one of the survivors of The Collapse, as the crash of the global computer system that handles the world’s finances is called, as he experiences the world both before and after The Collapse, and the coming of the Chinese to England to take over.

The War of Two Directions I mentioned before is the core of the entire series, but it doesn’t appear much in Son of Heaven, since this prequel is set before the War really begins. It’s a cold war, being fought mostly with politics, policies, and the occasional sabotage or assassination. At its heart is the conflict between the Chinese (or Han) desire for absolute stability, or as some say, stasis, and the Western (or Hung Mao) desire for progress and change.

In order to achieve that stability, the Han build continent-spanning cities a mile high (just glimpsed being constructed in Son of Heaven), where status is determined by where one lives and vice versa. There are four major demarcations, called The World Of Levels. The Above, where the elite live, The Lowers, where lower classes live, Below The Net, where criminals are exiled to keep them from “contaminating” the higher levels, and The Clay, which is underneath the city on the actual surface of the earth, where believe it or not some people still live. Within each section are multiple floors where the people live and work, most of them never seeing the world outside the huge cities.

The original Chung Kuo series was praised by many as being a masterpiece of science fiction, with comparisons made to James Clavell’s Shogun and Frank Herbert’s Dune, among others. He’s kept all the ingredients that made the original Chung Kuo so fascinating intact in Son of Heaven, including characters that are believable in their humanity and frailty, people who agonize over the hard decisions life hands them, but try to make the best of what they’re given.

If you like stories of wars being fought in the shadows; of political intrigue with people who think they’re all doing the right thing, but have very different ideas of what is “right”; and stories showing the lives of people at all levels (literally!) of society and how they shape and are shaped by the shadow war, Son of Heaven is very definitely for you. Heck, if you just want an absorbing read that makes you reach for the next book just to find out what happens next, I still strongly recommend Son of Heaven.(less)

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Dec 09, 2012 Graham Crawford rated it 2 of 5 stars

Wingrove is an extremely inconsistent writer. Some parts of this book are chilling and other sections are puerile. I didn't know how this was going to work as a prequel because we all know it ends so badly, but the feeling of doom worked quite well for me as time ran out for all the little people. I also liked the most of the structure of this book with the cyberpunk flashback. Such a pity he couldn't keep it going till the end - and what a terribly dumb ending it is. Perhaps the worst final sce...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Jenni rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, library

yyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. That's a tone of doubt by the way. I really liked the post-apocalypse starting point of the story, and I quite liked the cyberpunk bit in the middle (though it did go all very James Bond there at the denouement, which I don't at all buy). The last bit is kinda dodgy I think.
(view spoiler)...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is a reimagining of an old series first seen in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. Originally a series of eight novels, it is now ambitiously proposed as a rewritten series of twenty.
David’s Chung Kuo series was first published in 1989 with The Middle Kingdom, and finished (rather ignobly) in 1996 with The Marriage of the Living Dark. The series told of an Earth and Mars dominated by China, living in a tiered hierarchical series of global cities, and how their world collapsed. Touted as ‘Shog...more This book is a reimagining of an old series first seen in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. Originally a series of eight novels, it is now ambitiously proposed as a rewritten series of twenty.
David’s Chung Kuo series was first published in 1989 with The Middle Kingdom, and finished (rather ignobly) in 1996 with The Marriage of the Living Dark. The series told of an Earth and Mars dominated by China, living in a tiered hierarchical series of global cities, and how their world collapsed. Touted as ‘Shogun meets Blade Runner’ it was quite a series, though the ending was troubled and dissatisfied many readers.

Son of Heaven is a completely new prelude to the series and begins to set up scenarios for the rest of the series.

Overall, the book focuses on one main character, Jake Reed, at different times before the Chinese invade England (Ying Kuo). The first part of the book is set in Autumn 2065, subtitled ‘The Last Year of the Old World’ and deals with Jake’s life in rural Dorset, twenty years after the global upheaval known as ‘the Collapse’. It is an odd combination of unchanging rural idyll, steeped in history and tradition but with a contemporary survivalist mentality. Strangers are viewed with suspicion, and when raids occur, shot. This was reminiscent to me of John Christopher’s The Death of Grass.

The second part, ‘The East is Red’, suddenly changes tack and goes back earlier to Spring 2043, the time of ‘the Collapse’, when Jake was a young and talented futures broker, a ‘web-dancer’. He is a fast-tracker in London with a good quality of life, friends and a great fiancée. Things are looking good. However the sudden collapse of the Western economy is precipitated by a Chinese coup, which destroys key companies in the ‘datscape’, assassinates key players and takes over the Market. Jake is one of those who are targeted. His friends and family are killed and Jake goes into hiding in rural Dorset.

In the third section, the tale ‘When China Comes’ is rather self-explanatory. Returning to Autumn 2065, the tale continues where it ended in the first part but is told more from the perspective of Jiang Lei, a Han General given the responsibility of bringing this area of England (to submission for Emperor Tsao Ch’un. It also suggests a rich and complicated cultural background which supplants the English one, though the politics of Chinese culture and the social positioning of some of Jiang’s subordinates is something that is nothing particularly new. Jake and the other characters we met in the first third of the book are dealt with swiftly and brutally as the land is covered by the construction of a huge white city: the City of Levels. The story ends as we realise that Jake’s life enters a new phase in the Chung Kuo saga.

For the sake of clarity I will admit that when I read the original (twenty years or so ago!) I was impressed. The books were new, exciting and well thought out (at the beginning, anyway.) They were quite adult and pleasingly complex.

However, times have changed since they were first written. The use of China as a future world-power was seen as something relatively new and unusual in the 1980’s. These days, with Ian McDonald’s The Dervish House, River of Gods and Brasyl, Paulo Bacliupi’s Windup Girl, not to mention Lavie Tadhar’s Apex Book of World SF or even Guy Gavriel Kay’s alternate history, Under Heaven, things in the genre are more cosmopolitan. Generally, we are more worldly-wise in many areas.

So, to revisit an old series and try and update to the near-future can be a risky business. In the old days of ‘fix-ups’, such things were commonplace. However the unusual background to the writing of the book has led to a strange novel. It is both pleasingly contemporary in some ways and harshly dated in others. Whilst the new tale talks of the changes since the 1990’s - the global growth of China, social networks such as Facebook, and a Gibson-esque ‘datscape’ - in contrast, the tone of some aspects are jarringly behind the times. The initial scenes bring to mind a scene from a rural soap opera but combined with a melancholic wistfulness for the past. Women are dealt with fairly roughly and vary in context wildly from rampant sexual partners to oppressed homemakers. Musical tastes go back to Spirit and Coldplay. (Surely, for a book set in thirty years time, it should be something a little more contemporary to now?)

In particular, the sex scenes are quite unsettling, both in their lack of subtlety and their *cough* performance. Whilst clearly important and that they may be here as a means of showing a harder, rougher, tougher world, I felt that they were, at times, overwrought and overplayed, here more for shock effect rather than for purpose.

These aspects could be deal-breakers for some readers. However, overall I did enjoy my read of this new beginning for the Chung Kuo series. There was enough developing for me to be interested in the next book. I’m going to be interested in reading how they cumulatively form a tale that grew in the telling.

(less)

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Nov 26, 2011 Simon rated it 4 of 5 stars

The story is simple yet frighteningly haunting: it's the future and China has taken over the entire world. I'm sure anyone who pays attention to the news recently has got to know the state our world is in. To many people, they no longer feel that the United States possess the power they once did in the past. The balance of powers is shifting and guess whose right on the heels to take over? Yups, China. The Chung Kuo (literally translates to "China" in Mandarin) series hauntingly tells the tale o...more The story is simple yet frighteningly haunting: it's the future and China has taken over the entire world. I'm sure anyone who pays attention to the news recently has got to know the state our world is in. To many people, they no longer feel that the United States possess the power they once did in the past. The balance of powers is shifting and guess whose right on the heels to take over? Yups, China. The Chung Kuo (literally translates to "China" in Mandarin) series hauntingly tells the tale of a future where China devises a plan to knock the United States and all other countries to their knees. Interestingly, China themselves are not spared. How? The stock market. I don't want to spoil the story but that's basically what happens. Of course this being a science fiction work, you'll get elements such as virtual worlds and large air crafts that can engulf entire cities. Son of Heaven and the next in the series, Daylight on Iron Mountain, actually serves as prequels to the original works by the author.

Son of Heaven starts of real slow and you'll need a whole lot of patience to see things through to the next section, which will get a lot better. In the beginning, you have no idea of what's going on other than the fact that the world is not what it used to be. The author does not attempt to give any type of explanation into things until way further into the book. The problem is, some readers might not make it to that point.

My main disappointment with Son of Heaven is the cardboard characters. They're just not that interesting to read about. Jake Reed, the main protagonist, is the typical guy who tries to do right in a world gone awry but wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in you if he found out you did something to hurt his clan of brothers and sisters. The most interesting character in the story doesn't come until way later. Jiang Li, a general in the Chinese army, is an honest fellow in a dishonest world. He doesn't like his job but knows that if not him, someone much more brutal will take his place. For some reason, it's just much more intriguing to read about Jiang Li and his internal struggle for sanity than Jake Reed and the survival of his family. That feels wrong kind of wrong because this is a book about survival in a future world taken over by the Chinese and so I'm hoping something more interesting happens with Jake in the next book.

Like I said in the beginning, I'm not a huge fan of science fiction but Son of Heaven definitely is captivating even with the flaws I've written about. You really need to open your imagination a bit because some parts will definitely tax your mind. All in all, I think the author did a fairly good job with the writing, especially when retelling the story of Jake Reed prior to the Collapse because all hell breaks loose after that. I'm not sure how I really feel about reading a 20 book series but the good news is that it is projected to finish in 2015. In my opinion that's not too bad. That's about 4 books every year, give or take? However, only two books have been released so far in 2011. After reading Son of Heaven, I am definitely going to continue on with the series but I can't guarantee that I am willing to see it to its end.(less)

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Dec 27, 2012 Cyron Macey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi

I first started reading this series as a teenager, but couldn't get my hands on the last few books in the series, so never got to finish it.

The series always stuck in my mind though as I enjoyed what I was able to read.

Come 2012 and whilst attempting to see if ebook versions of the series have been released, I discover that the original series ended on a bad note due to publishers demands for a quick wrap up of the series. Disappointed, I had given up on the idea of putting in the effort to fin...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: asian, dystopian, english, fiction

I suppose I must start by saying that I enjoyed this book but I must also add that I found it strangely old-fashioned. I wouldn't have been surprised to find that it was really written by John Christopher - it had that sort of feel about it. The book is the first in a long series (which I'm not sure I'm going to actually chase up) but can stand alone. The series appears to be a more modern rewrite of the originals produced in the 80s.
The story is in three parts; the ruralistic, slightly dangerou...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Lianne Burwell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf

Back in the late eighties, I picked up a book that was the first in a series called Chung Kuo: The Middle Kingdom. It was a science fiction series about a world controlled by the Chinese, where many races have been wiped out, and the majority of humanity live in a giant, world-spanning city of many layers, where the level you live in indicates your position.

I followed the series, but mid-way through, the book releases became erratic, and more difficult to find. And apparently the author was push...more Back in the late eighties, I picked up a book that was the first in a series called Chung Kuo: The Middle Kingdom. It was a science fiction series about a world controlled by the Chinese, where many races have been wiped out, and the majority of humanity live in a giant, world-spanning city of many layers, where the level you live in indicates your position.

I followed the series, but mid-way through, the book releases became erratic, and more difficult to find. And apparently the author was pushed to merge the last two books, since the publisher wanted it done with.

Flash forward to this year, and the surprise I felt at seeing a new Chung Kuo novel on the shelf. A little research finds that the original series is being expanded and recut, with two prequels added, to make the original 8 books into a total of 20 books to be released over the next while.

Son of Heaven is the first of the prequels, primarily from the point of view of Jake Reed. In 2043, he was a brilliant 'Login' working for a London firm, going into the datastream of the global market to identify financial opportunities. He's just been licensed to marry his girlfriend and have children. Everything is wonderful. Only, there's signs of danger, that quickly escalates to complete collapse. With Chinese assassins trying to kill him, he ends up running as the world burns.

In 2065, Jake is living in a small rural community that has adjusted to the new world, grieving his dead wife, raising his teenaged son, and worry about the future. And his worries are coming true as the Chinese arrive.

The original version of the series caught me with its world-building. In this book (and the next volume that concludes the prequel), we actually get to see how this world came to be. We get a view of a world post-oil bust, where the Americas have merged into a single country, and China went through a boom, a bust, and is now climbing again. In England, people are divided into Citizens and Unprotecteds (unregistered people). I found the technology of The Market a little hard to believe, but it made for a very visual section.

After the collapse, England has collapsed into something a little more medieval in tone, with trading and farming being life. The cities are home to scavengers, but something is driving them out into the countryside in the hundreds.

I can't wait to read the next book, and the ones that follow. Hopefully the publisher will keep up with the ambitious publishing schedule they have for the series.(less)

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Nov 13, 2012 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

I never read the original Chungkuo series. There were 8 books released from 1989-1999. Apparently, in true Lucasfilm form, Wingrove was not content with the original series and has expanded the series and is now in the process of releasing the remastered Chungkuo edition. Over half a million words in twenty books to be released by June, 2015.

Son of Heaven clearly sets the stage for what’s to come. It’s a well-balanced mix of introduction to the characters and the near-future. Wingrove’s imagined...more

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Nov 20, 2011 Ken rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interest prequel to the Chung Kuo series.

We start the book 20 years after the collapse, we meet Jake Reed and friends living the agrarian lifestyle. Everyone has a feeling of foreboding, then they witness a strange flying ship with Chinese markings on it. Flashback 20 years. Jake Reed is the foremost login. A person who directly links to the internet. He basically a fancy stock broker. He witnesses a strange new hack that is destroying the stock market, it eventually destroys it all and Jake is...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Tarran rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a good book but very confusing to start off with. I felt that the writing was a little fragmented and hard to understand. Then when you get your mind around the concepts that the author is trying to get across, you start to enjoy it. I wanted to find out more about the world Jake lives in and how it collapsed.

The author has a good grasp of descriptive language. It brought the book alive with some of the things the characters smelled, tasted and saw.

You get to see the good and the bad si...more

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Jun 23, 2012 Mark rated it 1 of 5 stars

To sum it all up, this book bored me. Perhaps it was the style of writing, which reminded me of a jerky camera, desperately swinging around in an attempt to capture every moment but mostly leaving you confused. I found myself starting to skim, finding it hard to believe that these were people who were living in a collapsed society. There was no tension, no feel of desperation or even depression. Even the completely random romance triangle seemed like nothing more than a source of drama, adding l...more

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May 21, 2013 Sean Brennan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf, sf-challenge

This is a truly prophetic when one considers the rise and rise of China in recent years.

FACT America has $3 trillion debt national debt

FACT China has $2 trillion cash surplus

FACT China plans in decades, not for the length of a particular administration,

So China, end up ruling the world in a series of continent spanning enclosed cities. But this is not a tale of West/good, East/bad it is a lot more complicated than that, in the series, one is never sure, who in fact are the good/bad guys. Of what...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Zeke Chase rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, apocalyptic

Rating: 8.8 / 10

David Wingrove's Chung Kuo series is a rather unique situation wherein it's actually two series, the second a “recast” of the first, divided separately with different endings and a new prequel. This confused the hell out of me when I first stumbled across this series, so let me clarify things for everyone right off the hop. From 1989 through 1999, Wingrove released Chung Kuo as a series of long, roughly 500-800 page (a piece) novels chronicling the rise of a neofeudal dynastic gl...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-books, read-2012

Interesting concept. Set in the future, the World is a very different place, having suffered a digital apocalype destroying online commercial trading and killing off all the business leaders. The book is in 3 parts. Part one introduces us to the main character, living in Post-apocalyptic Dorset. Small community, trading with larger towns for crops and essentials. Part 2, flashback to how the apocalypse came about. Part 3 World now under threat again with Chinese forces advancing. Capturing peopl...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Nathan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I haven't read the original series, so these prequels introduce a new story for me.

I was amused to read on Wikipedia how people at the time (of the original series) felt that Wingrove's vision of the future was too farfetched. Reading these books now seems extremely feasible; an almost likely future in some respects, based on current activities in China and the US.

Wingrove's world is comprehensive and credible; his characters are well sketched and engaging and the plot progresses well, although...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Matthew Dowd rated it 1 of 5 stars

This was a novel that ventures so close to being racist, sexist, and fear-mongering that I absolutely could not enjoy it at all. You could say that it goes over the line, and I wouldn't necessarily argue. Surely, Mr. Wingrove himself is not necessarily a person who can be described in those ways: I've never met him. Perhaps he is of the most liberal character. He still wrote a novel with a featureless protagonist and a premise that is fairly ridiculous, plus the aforementioned issues. The rest o...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Victoria Laskowski rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read several books in the Chung Kuo series during the 90's and I found them fascinating and addictive. So when I heard that they were reformatting the series and adding this prequel, i was thrilled. And this is a terrific book. It does a great job setting the context for the series - this was missing in the previous series. I love the characters and the settings. And the counterpoint between the agrarian culture of Dorset and the encroaching invasion of the Chinese is downright heartbreaking....more

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Jul 07, 2012 Raphael rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book and it's probably because of the setting. Don't get me wrong, the characters were great too but I always love future-past settings in which time has moved forward many years into the future but technology has actually regressed and societies are forced into a simpler way of life. Set in a post-apocalyptic future in which global economy has been destroyed and China has risen up to basically rule the world. It's a what-if scenario that is a little ominous given how groun...more

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Dec 18, 2012 Alex Molitor rated it 5 of 5 stars

I started reading this series back in the late 1990's when I picked up the original first 2 books in the series. Through the years I have reread them multiple times as it would take months to find a copy of #3 -#7.

When I found that they would be re-released along with a prequel and sequel I was stoked and waited to get my on my LG Optimus Android phone using the Kindle app! I read it in a weekend, didn't get much sleep!

This sci-fi series is more about social, economic and personal freedoms. But...more

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Apr 01, 2013 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

David Wingrove’s Chung Kuo originally appeared spread over eight large volumes between 1989 and 1997. Now he is revising and recasting the series into twenty not quite so large volumes, with publication scheduled to be completed during 2015. The first two of the new books, Son of Heaven and Daylight on Iron Mountain, form a sort of prologue to the main sequence, setting the scene and introducing characters.

In basic terms Chung Kuo depicts a near-future Earth (with its Solar System colonies) fall...more David Wingrove’s Chung Kuo originally appeared spread over eight large volumes between 1989 and 1997. Now he is revising and recasting the series into twenty not quite so large volumes, with publication scheduled to be completed during 2015. The first two of the new books, Son of Heaven and Daylight on Iron Mountain, form a sort of prologue to the main sequence, setting the scene and introducing characters.

In basic terms Chung Kuo depicts a near-future Earth (with its Solar System colonies) falling under Chinese domination which quickly becomes rule. In 2043 a catastrophic economic collapse causes the already fractured societies of the West to finally fall apart. And there is reason to believe that elements in China were manipulating things behind the scenes, ready to step in and pick up the pieces – on their own terms.

A little over twenty years later rumours solidify into fact as Chinese aircraft appear in the skies of a balkanised England, and a strange and vast white structure, like a glacier, starts to loom on the horizon. The new ruler of China, Tsao Ch’un, asserts absolute control over Asia and Europe. Japan and the Middle East are obliterated, and the statelets that once formed the USA are being conquered one by one. In 2087 Tsao loses his grip and a new clique assumes power in a short but bloody war.

As the twenty-second century is about to dawn the bulk of the world’s population lives in colossal pre-fabricated stack cities nearly a mile high, rising and falling through their hundreds of levels depending on their positioning in the new society. The rulers aim for a world moving forward into a future of peace and stability – achieved through wiping out all traces of the past, rewriting history, and strengthening their iron controlling grip on all aspects of everyone’s life.

It seems that nothing can withstand the weight of the new order. Son of Heaven and Daylight on Iron Mountain move at a cracking pace, with concepts old and new thrown into a lively mixture of the alien and commonplace, the brutal and often sentimental. The scale ranges from the tremendous and remote to the intimate and deeply personal. But Wingrove always makes sure the story is about people. It’s still too early to tell how this version of the Chung Kuo future history will turn out, but right now it seems to be well worth staying with.

(Originally reviewed on the British Fantasy Society website)(less)

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Feb 04, 2012 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book, science-fiction

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

I guess I was up for a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel, because I devoured this one. Was it really that good? Actually, it was that good.

The scene of the action shifts between two times set twenty years apart: post-collapse England, where survivors of the rioting and war that consumed the western world after the markets and all online systems failed live in small country villages, wary of roaming strangers and bandits; pre-collapse London, where Jake Reed works in...more

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Nov 24, 2011 Derek Allen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, epics, fantasy

I have read the Chung Kuo series the entire eight books on its original release. In fact I remember waiting for months for the last two installments to come out. Wingrove's last book "Marriage of the Living Dark" was, as many have said, a disappointment to many readers including myself. Yet I have been doing some research on the new re-release of this Epic series. It seems that not only are they releasing these two prequels, and making the volumes a bit more digestible (the original series had 8...more I have read the Chung Kuo series the entire eight books on its original release. In fact I remember waiting for months for the last two installments to come out. Wingrove's last book "Marriage of the Living Dark" was, as many have said, a disappointment to many readers including myself. Yet I have been doing some research on the new re-release of this Epic series. It seems that not only are they releasing these two prequels, and making the volumes a bit more digestible (the original series had 8 books with well over 700 pages, sometimes over 800 pages) they are cutting that amount in half by breaking each of the eight into two or more volumes. But the best and most anticipated news, I have been looking for some kind of conclusion to one of my favorite Epics of all time. Yet on the web site David Wingrove says that he has rewritten the ending, and gave his fans a reason for the lackluster ending in the original series.

Within the series as a whole we are told briefly about the events told to us in these prequels. As I begin the second of these tales of how the world of levels begins in "Daylight on Iron Mountain" some events, and characters we learn about in the series at large are introduced to us in full color.

The truth of the matter was that I have been listening to audio books via "Audible.com" for the past two years and I have been seeking this story in that format, but to no avail. This re-release is the reason I believe. Yet just before I began to listen to novels, this was the last series I was reading, I tried to interest a few friends in the series as well at that time, and now that I have 'had it easy' and rested my old eyes. This is the series I have returned to 'reading' by, the Epic has come back and I shall enjoy reading of my old friends and enemies from this series once more. Now if I can just get them all for my Kindle then we can blend the future and the present once more.

I only hope you will all enjoy this wonderful story now almost a decade old now in its fresh new light.(less)

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Apr 18, 2011 Laurie Jenkins rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: action, adventure, dystopian, fiction, fantasy, science-fiction

A dystopian look at a possible future Earth about fifty years hence, this book is the first in a planned series of twenty. I absolutely devoured this huge book because once I started I just hated to put it aside, even for short periods. I got so wrapped up in Jake’s story and the lives of people struggling to survive twenty some odd years after the total collapse of the world economy and infrastructure. Told in a very easy to read, straight-forward, yet positively mesmerizing style I felt as if...more A dystopian look at a possible future Earth about fifty years hence, this book is the first in a planned series of twenty. I absolutely devoured this huge book because once I started I just hated to put it aside, even for short periods. I got so wrapped up in Jake’s story and the lives of people struggling to survive twenty some odd years after the total collapse of the world economy and infrastructure. Told in a very easy to read, straight-forward, yet positively mesmerizing style I felt as if I were there, sharing the experience, celebrating the small triumphs, mourning the losses, but mostly, fearful of the uncertain future barreling down upon us.

In this alternate future Earth, the Chinese, under the leadership of one brilliant and capricious man, successfully set the Information Age back hundreds of years. Lawlessness abounds and small communities band together for mutual protection and trade. There are three distinct parts. The story opens in 2065, in rural Dorset, England. Twenty-two years after the collapse, tensions are, once again, mounting, as rumors fly across the land and an unnatural, huge, white structure can be barely discerned on the edge of the horizon. The second part delves backwards in time as details of the economic crisis and ultimate collapse are relayed. It is in this part we discover the role Jake played and relive those harrowing days with him. Then finally, in the third section, the invading force arrives with superior numbers and high-tech weapons, this relentless force seems to be unstoppable and determined to “process” every last living soul.

For anyone who loves science-fiction, dystopian literature, this is surely a must read. I found this book to be exceptionally well-written, totally engrossing and, for the most part, complete within itself. I most certainly do want to read the next book in the series, titled Daylight on Iron Mountain. Whether I will remain enchanted enough to follow through on the entire series remains to be seen as I, usually, prefer series to be no longer than three or four books. This series, may easily become the exception, however, if the writing remains as impressive and original as it was in this first book.

Laurie-J
Reviewer for Night Owl Reviews

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Jan 11, 2013 Kevin Catarino rated it 3 of 5 stars

Too much survivalist libertard wet dream bullshit. I read the original series so I want it to get right into the political intrigue, which it does not until the end. Book 2 however is already better. Book 3 is the original book 1. This is a great series and I am very glad he rereleased it on kindle, since the original paperbacks were hard to find over the past 10 years, and I foolishly loaned my copies out in high school and never got em back...

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Jan 28, 2013 Bob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Slow to start but worth pushing through. Especially, knowing what is to come. Read the series years ago and remember enjoying the hell out of it despite the disappointing last volume that Wingrove was forced to compromise by the publisher. Excited that Wingrove was able to revamp the series including this new first of two prequels. Looking forward to reading the next book and the rest of the series again.

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Sep 16, 2012 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi

I read the Chung Kuo series by David Wingrove in the late 80's and early 90's, so I had high expectations for this prequel. It was good, but perhaps my expectations were too high. I will probably read the next prequel book though and I am looking forward to re-reading the series when and if the 'recasted' series is released in the Kindle format.

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Feb 13, 2011 Doug rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a prequel to the Chung Kuo series by David Wingrove. It provides back story to the cities in the series and explains how the Chinese came to be in control of the Earth. This book stands on it's own as an excellent read, well worth the readers time spent on it. Great storyline and the pace of the book moves well. It is set in our close future.

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Jan 16, 2012 John Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars

This has to be one of the best intro books to a series I have ever read. Taking me, the reader, from the world we know, as seen through the eyes of survivors and thrivers, and seamlessly transitioning into the distopian world of the conquerors, I found brilliant. Really, one of the best I have read. Heartily recommend this series!!

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Mar 12, 2011 David rated it 1 of 5 stars

Does not stand on its own - its just a very long introduction that has no story of its own. Very unrealistic depiction of a post-crash rural society. I find it hard to believe Mr Wingrove has every lived on a non-mechanized farm - particularly in a place completely isolated by 20 years from industrial resupply. The main character, who was a born in a dense urban ultra-tech rich society and lived as basically a financial manager, immediately transforms to James Bond during the week of the crash,...more

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About David Wingrove

David Wingrove (born September 1954 in North Battersea, London) is a British science fiction writer. He is well-known as the author of the "Chung Kuo" novels (eight in total). He is also the co-author (with Rand and Robyn Miller) of the three "Myst" novels.

Wingrove worked in the banking industry for 7 years until he became fed up with it. He then attended the University of Kent, Canterbury, where...more

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Son Of Heaven (Chung Kuo Recast #1)

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