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Chung Kuo Recast #6
An Inch of Ashes
A Restless Peace
It is 2206. As Chung Kuo's population continues to swell, the Seven - the ruling T'angs - are forced make further concessions; laws must be relaxed and the House at Weinmar reopened. Change is coming, whether the Seven like it or not.
A Secret War
The tides of unrest unleashed by earlier wars grow faster even than the population. DeVore secretly allies with newly appointed general, Hans Ebert. It seems that DeVore's plans are coming to fruition. But Ebert has his own schemes and plots - he intends to depose the Seven and control the whole of Chung Kuo.
A Time for Change
It is 2206. As Chung Kuo's population continues to swell, the Seven - the ruling T'angs - are forced make further concessions; laws must be relaxed and the House at Weinmar reopened. Change is coming, whether the Seven like it or not.
A Secret War
The tides of unrest unleashed by earlier wars grow faster even than the population. DeVore secretly allies with newly appointed general, Hans Ebert. It seems that DeVore's plans are coming to fruition. But Ebert has his own schemes and plots - he intends to depose the Seven and control the whole of Chung Kuo.
A Time for Change
210 pages, ebook
First published July 4, 2013
36 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
David Wingrove
50 books164 followersDavid 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 he read English and American Literature.
He is married and, with his wife Susan, has four daughters Jessica, Amy, Georgia, and Francesca.
Between 1972 and 1982 he wrote over 300 unpublished short stories and 15 novels.
He started work on a new fictional project called A Perfect Art. Between 1984 and 1988, when it was first submitted, the title was changed twice, becoming first A Spring Day at the Edge of the World and then finally Chung Kuo, under which title it was sold to 18 publishers throughout the world.
A prequel to the Chung Kuo series, called When China Comes, was released in May 2009 by Quercus Publishing, which also re-released the entire series: "The series has been recast in nineteen volumes, including a new prequel and a new final volume. After a series launch in May 2009, Quercus will embark on an ambitious publishing programme that will see all nineteen volumes available by the end of 2012."
He has plans for a further a novels, a a first person character novel called Dawn in Stone City and three very different novels: The Beast with Two Backs, Heaven's Bright Sun, and Roads to Moscow.
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 he read English and American Literature.
He is married and, with his wife Susan, has four daughters Jessica, Amy, Georgia, and Francesca.
Between 1972 and 1982 he wrote over 300 unpublished short stories and 15 novels.
He started work on a new fictional project called A Perfect Art. Between 1984 and 1988, when it was first submitted, the title was changed twice, becoming first A Spring Day at the Edge of the World and then finally Chung Kuo, under which title it was sold to 18 publishers throughout the world.
A prequel to the Chung Kuo series, called When China Comes, was released in May 2009 by Quercus Publishing, which also re-released the entire series: "The series has been recast in nineteen volumes, including a new prequel and a new final volume. After a series launch in May 2009, Quercus will embark on an ambitious publishing programme that will see all nineteen volumes available by the end of 2012."
He has plans for a further a novels, a a first person character novel called Dawn in Stone City and three very different novels: The Beast with Two Backs, Heaven's Bright Sun, and Roads to Moscow.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 1, 2014
An Inch of Ashes by David Wingrove is the 6th installment of his remade Chung Kuo series. While the series is highly addicting, I'm starting to feel a bit lost due to the sheer length and characters of the story. I definitely praise the author for this series but it just feel so hard to keep up at times. There's a bit of a stretch from one book to the next and so you can't blame me when I"m having a hard time remembering just what the heck happened and I'm not just talking about the previous book! There are so many characters and so many events that you need to keep up with. With that being said, I still have to say that I had a decent time overall with An Inch of Ashes, though this one was the least enjoyable book so far out of the series.
Honestly, I don't even know where to start when it comes to the overall story! Certain characters get their own section of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Li Yuan and Fei Yen, although some parts were a bit predictable. Where these two are concerned, you just know that something big is going to happen in the future. Well, to think about it, that could be said for pretty much every story development in this series! The next enjoyable section deals with the story of Haavikko and his guilt of what he thinks he has done. I think this was one of the only sections that got me on the edge of my seat. Next, we get to read about Kim Ward. In my opinion, Kim feels like a non-issue in this book and just a filler. Finally we round up on Ben Shepard. This part actually threw me off the most. It was a bit weird and I just couldn't for the life of me remember how it is that he came to this place nor what happened to him in the previous book! His story captured me the least although I'm sure his character will play a much bigger role in the books to come.
At the end of every book I read in a series, I always ask myself if I will be continuing on. With the Chung Kuo series, I've answered that question seven times so far and I'm not even halfway through! But yes, I will be continuing on. However, I will not miss this book and was quite glad that it concluded. I thought I had ways more to go but turns out they were just notes from the author and of the characters. This book at times feel like a filler but there's still some important things detailed here to make it feel as not. For the first time ever, I feel as if I should keep a book of notes of this series as I read along just so that I don't get lost later on!
Honestly, I don't even know where to start when it comes to the overall story! Certain characters get their own section of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Li Yuan and Fei Yen, although some parts were a bit predictable. Where these two are concerned, you just know that something big is going to happen in the future. Well, to think about it, that could be said for pretty much every story development in this series! The next enjoyable section deals with the story of Haavikko and his guilt of what he thinks he has done. I think this was one of the only sections that got me on the edge of my seat. Next, we get to read about Kim Ward. In my opinion, Kim feels like a non-issue in this book and just a filler. Finally we round up on Ben Shepard. This part actually threw me off the most. It was a bit weird and I just couldn't for the life of me remember how it is that he came to this place nor what happened to him in the previous book! His story captured me the least although I'm sure his character will play a much bigger role in the books to come.
At the end of every book I read in a series, I always ask myself if I will be continuing on. With the Chung Kuo series, I've answered that question seven times so far and I'm not even halfway through! But yes, I will be continuing on. However, I will not miss this book and was quite glad that it concluded. I thought I had ways more to go but turns out they were just notes from the author and of the characters. This book at times feel like a filler but there's still some important things detailed here to make it feel as not. For the first time ever, I feel as if I should keep a book of notes of this series as I read along just so that I don't get lost later on!
July 8, 2019
Another great book in the Chung Kuo series. I believe this is the farthest I’ve gone into the new edits and rerelease of the series.
May 14, 2015
So, so disappointing. This series has become an exercise in frustration-- so many neat ideas crushed under an inability to write: write women, write intelligent leaders, write descriptions of this horrible dystopia.
Then again, maybe this is the point: this is a dystopia, and the people in it are twisted, petty, stupid, even the leaders and the supposed master tacticians. Unfortunately, that leaves us with the uncomfortable truth-- why should we wish to read that?
Then again, maybe this is the point: this is a dystopia, and the people in it are twisted, petty, stupid, even the leaders and the supposed master tacticians. Unfortunately, that leaves us with the uncomfortable truth-- why should we wish to read that?
October 16, 2014
A new installment in the great Chung Kuo series. Wingrove is very thorough in depicting his version of the future, every image, every action carefully orchestrated to fit into the grand scheme. It reminds me of ballet: graceful, delicate balance crafted on strong, mercilessly trained muscles.
October 8, 2013
Meh. I'm beginning to think that chopping this series into 19 or 20 sections was not a good idea. Nothing happened in this book.
June 11, 2014
Borrrrring. Still hate Ben shepherd
October 10, 2017
Captivating
Epic story of Chung Kuo continues. It may seems it is not so fast-paced as previous book, but it is a foreboding for things to come...
Epic story of Chung Kuo continues. It may seems it is not so fast-paced as previous book, but it is a foreboding for things to come...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews