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Chung Kuo #6
White Moon, Red Dragon
Chung Kuo VI: White Moon, Red Dragon sees the reign of the Seven T'ang in a time of great, bloody upheaval. The rebel leader DeVore, thought dead by his enemies, has returned and is readying a terrifying flotilla to fight against the T'ang, the dictators of Earth. On Mars, another rebel, the long-exiled Hans Ebert, is formulating an audacious plan to bring a lost African tribe home again, and on Earth, the continental mega-cities of the T'ang begin to crumble as war ripples across the planet.
It is a time of endings and beginnings, when the last of the T'ang, Li Yuan, will make a terrifying alliance...when chaos will strike in the form of human-looking androids programmed to kill...and when Emily Ascher, a woman dedicated to liberty for the billions the T'ang have kept in chains, will see her vision blossom in blood red.
It is a time of endings and beginnings, when the last of the T'ang, Li Yuan, will make a terrifying alliance...when chaos will strike in the form of human-looking androids programmed to kill...and when Emily Ascher, a woman dedicated to liberty for the billions the T'ang have kept in chains, will see her vision blossom in blood red.
720 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
255 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Between 1972 and 1982 he wrote over 300 unpublished short stories and 15 novels.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 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 18, 2020
I was going through the new series, but I just couldn't wait and see how would Wingrove change this book. I will still buy the new versions and look for the changes, as White Moon, Red Dragon turned out to be something of a hit and miss for me. In fact, I can't get over the "battle" of 40 million clones against the 8 Osu". I didn't get it. I will re-read it and see if that helps. And then again... I didn't even get how is that 40 million matters on a planet with 40 billions (well, before the collapse of North America and Africa, I don't know what happened to Australia.
Other than my confusion - it's epic. Yet there is plenty of forgotten plot lines, and I can't help but feel sorry for missing them. Also one particular death that was so... between the lines, when I was expecting a lot more details about the character we followed through so many books.
Other than my confusion - it's epic. Yet there is plenty of forgotten plot lines, and I can't help but feel sorry for missing them. Also one particular death that was so... between the lines, when I was expecting a lot more details about the character we followed through so many books.
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October 23, 2025Chung Kuo VI: White Moon, Red Dragon sees the reign of the Seven T'ang in a time of great, bloody upheaval. The rebel leader DeVore, thought dead by his enemies, has returned and is readying a terrifying flotilla to fight against the T'ang, the dictators of Earth. On Mars, another rebel, the long-exiled Hans Ebert, is formulating an audacious plan to bring a lost African tribe home again, and on Earth, the continental mega-cities of the T'ang begin to crumble as war ripples across the planet.It is a time of endings and beginnings, when the last of the T'ang, Li Yuan, will make a terrifying alliance...when chaos will strike in the form of human-looking androids programmed to kill...and when Emily Ascher, a woman dedicated to liberty for the billions the T'ang have kept in chains, will see her vision blossom in blood red.
April 14, 2020
This is the book where the author's vision of determinism and fate finally overwhelmed the internal plausibility of the series (the smidgen that was left) and started introducing an increasingly odd series of unfortunate events and deus ex machina. An army of 40 million clones here, an asteroid there. These started in the last book but reached a crescendo here; events moving the narrative along in lieu of a plot!
August 1, 2018
I likef the boom, but as the story continues, it get confusing and characters get lost.
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June 17, 2019Finito nel 01/gen/1970 00:00:00
January 29, 2023
I moved to StoryGraph! Find me -> quietly_killing_thyme
December 29, 2012
Yesterday I read an interesting article on io9 - a collection of quotes from George Martin, where he talks about what makes a good writer. He says writers are either "Architects" or "Gardeners". Martin sees himself as a gardener, he plants the seeds of his characters and watches them grow, never quite sure what they will turn into. That's the mark of a good writer. Gardeners are good.
( Great Quotes about Writing from Game of Thrones Author George R.R. Martin )
David Wingrove is an architect. He has sketched out the (city scale) structure of this enormous saga and feels duty-bound to pad it out with words. Alas his words are mostly dross. His characters never grow - They simply spring into new symbolic roles between book titles (Ebert's "transformation" from nasty villain to repentant student sage, Jelka from feisty teenage ninja to demure wife and mother).
Wingrove slaps us in the face with his "grand design" ...the wei chi board metaphor over and over again until we have little doubt his characters are merely ciphers for chessboard figures, their moves as dry and arbitrary. Chess figures and go stones are a curiously mixed metaphor for a series that labors its Orientalism. We have our artist and scientist as bishops, we have our knights and queens, two quaint castles on the outside and lots of interesting pawns trying to advance across the board. Pity the baddies are just not as individual. The White Tang was always a bit confused about which team he was playing for.
I really have to try to say something nice about this series - as I am obviously wading through it, leaving a trail of bad reviews as I go. Well it works as a soap. The clayborn finally gets his girl and lives happily ever after. The Kim and Jelka story is quite a good yarn - I could take a big Chinese cleaver and hack of all the rest of the fat and make one neat little portion of a book out of that. I don't really need to read the next sequel soap - "Son of Kim and Jelka" - although it would be nice if there was a bit of teenage gay telepathetic romantic action going on with the Shepherd boy (those Shepherd boys do> have to top their brother\dads in the perversity stakes...so maybe). Somehow I doubt it though. Wingrove is just too heterosexist (to the point of misogyny) to give me some boy on boy action in the "Sons of..." sequels. I said I was going to be nice. It's so hard!
Wingrove does capture a little bit of the feeling one finds in the 5 Chinese classics (just the surfaces, no substances....sorry .... nice...) At times Li Yuan reminded me of Baoyu in "Dream of the Red Chamber" swanning about in his Chinese garden, screwing maids, quoting poetry, doing a spot of calligraphy, playing dress ups - Aiya. Kim (occasionally) reminded me of the brilliant Zhuge Liang in the "Romance of the three Kingdoms", who was always coming up with cunning plans to unite the heroes and foil the evil tyrant Tsao Tsao - actually Kim doesn't really do anything except get the girl, it's a sorry fate to be the most brilliant scientist of all time in a "science fiction" novel with no science. (play nice).
This series could have worked really well as a comic book. I can imagine all the pretty dragon costumes (7 visible - and one hidden ...how would you draw that? ...damn needs a caption). The pretty Cornish village with the androids, The Battle of the Rift filled with kick arse mecha and BIG GUNZ - YEAH. Devour, sorry DeVore (surely not that obvious) hiding out in his evil genius lair under the mountain with his white pussies and chained up girlfriend cloned from the pinkie of the woman who spurned him all those year ago.
Needs more pictures - that'll give it some depth. (If a graphic artist reads this please don't take me literally - Traditional Chinese costumes take ages to draw correctly, you'll just give yourself RSI and it's not nice to steal from other peoples cultures just for the sake of adding a bit of ethnic colour to your story).
( Great Quotes about Writing from Game of Thrones Author George R.R. Martin )
David Wingrove is an architect. He has sketched out the (city scale) structure of this enormous saga and feels duty-bound to pad it out with words. Alas his words are mostly dross. His characters never grow - They simply spring into new symbolic roles between book titles (Ebert's "transformation" from nasty villain to repentant student sage, Jelka from feisty teenage ninja to demure wife and mother).
Wingrove slaps us in the face with his "grand design" ...the wei chi board metaphor over and over again until we have little doubt his characters are merely ciphers for chessboard figures, their moves as dry and arbitrary. Chess figures and go stones are a curiously mixed metaphor for a series that labors its Orientalism. We have our artist and scientist as bishops, we have our knights and queens, two quaint castles on the outside and lots of interesting pawns trying to advance across the board. Pity the baddies are just not as individual. The White Tang was always a bit confused about which team he was playing for.
I really have to try to say something nice about this series - as I am obviously wading through it, leaving a trail of bad reviews as I go. Well it works as a soap. The clayborn finally gets his girl and lives happily ever after. The Kim and Jelka story is quite a good yarn - I could take a big Chinese cleaver and hack of all the rest of the fat and make one neat little portion of a book out of that. I don't really need to read the next sequel soap - "Son of Kim and Jelka" - although it would be nice if there was a bit of teenage gay telepathetic romantic action going on with the Shepherd boy (those Shepherd boys do> have to top their brother\dads in the perversity stakes...so maybe). Somehow I doubt it though. Wingrove is just too heterosexist (to the point of misogyny) to give me some boy on boy action in the "Sons of..." sequels. I said I was going to be nice. It's so hard!
Wingrove does capture a little bit of the feeling one finds in the 5 Chinese classics (just the surfaces, no substances....sorry .... nice...) At times Li Yuan reminded me of Baoyu in "Dream of the Red Chamber" swanning about in his Chinese garden, screwing maids, quoting poetry, doing a spot of calligraphy, playing dress ups - Aiya. Kim (occasionally) reminded me of the brilliant Zhuge Liang in the "Romance of the three Kingdoms", who was always coming up with cunning plans to unite the heroes and foil the evil tyrant Tsao Tsao - actually Kim doesn't really do anything except get the girl, it's a sorry fate to be the most brilliant scientist of all time in a "science fiction" novel with no science. (play nice).
This series could have worked really well as a comic book. I can imagine all the pretty dragon costumes (7 visible - and one hidden ...how would you draw that? ...damn needs a caption). The pretty Cornish village with the androids, The Battle of the Rift filled with kick arse mecha and BIG GUNZ - YEAH. Devour, sorry DeVore (surely not that obvious) hiding out in his evil genius lair under the mountain with his white pussies and chained up girlfriend cloned from the pinkie of the woman who spurned him all those year ago.
Needs more pictures - that'll give it some depth. (If a graphic artist reads this please don't take me literally - Traditional Chinese costumes take ages to draw correctly, you'll just give yourself RSI and it's not nice to steal from other peoples cultures just for the sake of adding a bit of ethnic colour to your story).
February 25, 2011
The Chung Kuo series had started as a grand sweeping narrative of political intrigue mixed with adventure thriller. It also included psychological studies nd romance, all adding pieces to the overall intrigue. By the end it became a confused mess. This volume, #6 of 9 [as planned] or of 8 [as actually published], illustrates the gradual devolution. Many parts, mostly those involving the plots surrounding Emily Ascher, hark back to what made the first three volumes great. Others, especially the Mars Attacks stuff, seem tossed in as a sort of plot element salad, and lead into the vertigo-inducing changes in genre and style in the last two books.
Go references: 11,14,48,197,199,293-297,417-418,518,559,567,569,579,587. [UK editions:]
Go references: 11,14,48,197,199,293-297,417-418,518,559,567,569,579,587. [UK editions:]
March 26, 2012
Picking this book up where I left off, back in the mists of time, the characters and situations flew back to me as they appeared and I renewed my alliances and distrusts. Wingrove has woven a tapestry of many parts and they all begin to come together here. The ending was of a somewhat fortuitous nature but I forgive this indiscretion as it brings us to the next stage of the epic. Maybe one day I'll read all the books in swift succession so I don't "forget" some of the impotant developments. Books 7 and 8 now await and will be finished before the year is out!!
August 12, 2013
The vision was grand but the execution was poor. The series continued to chart a course without a rudder. Technically brilliant but the book didn't gel for me and the ending was ridiculous. For a few years it didn't see like this series would even be continued but I'm happy to see that it has. Maybe we'll have the old David Windgrove magic back in the next volume.
March 7, 2016
I enjoyed the change in perspective in regards to the Clay, but the books still feel like a collection of vignettes instead of a clear narrative. I enjoy it, but sometimes the plotting gets a bit listless. Taking a break for now, but will return to finish the series soon.
March 2, 2013
Chung Kuo is a wonderful series. This is opera at its best.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews