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Chung Kuo #4
The Stone Within
Wingrove's grandiose epic of high technology combined with ancient Chinese culture continues in this fourth Chung Kuo novel. The warning comes through a dying man's the prediction of a storm so deadly, it can destroy a world. And not one of the great ruling T'ang can predict its direction. Dell.
575 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1993
3 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
About the author
David Wingrove
50 books165 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Between 1972 and 1982 he wrote over 300 unpublished short stories and 15 novels.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Between 1972 and 1982 he wrote over 300 unpublished short stories and 15 novels.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 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 3, 2019
The War of Two Directions seems to have ended. The Seven believe themselves triumphant even as internal division grows within the Council. Kim Ward seeks to make his place in the world so that he may mary the woman he loves even as she is exiled to Saturns Moon Titan and he to Sohm Abyss in the harsh Atlantic. Emily Ascher seeks to resist the T'angs rule even as her husband Michael Lever is drawn into conflict with his father who seeks immortality. Distracted by Family and Council Li Yuan does not realize the War has yet to be won, as Stefan Lehmann seizes City Europes underworld and lays waist the ancient Triads that rule there.
Your in or your out by this point in the series. Good to see some familiar faces, if some are missing (such as Karr, Chen or DeVore), the action picks up as the Sevens Tyranny continues to crumble. Despite all the pretense we get to see the T'ang for what they are uber control freaks ready to destroy and notion of free will in order to maintain their power and privilege, whatever the flimsy "justification" for it. All except for Wang, T'ang of City Africa, who's one dream is to kill everyone and everything. That this system allows him to flourish is damning.
All in all I'm still in on the series and look forward to the T'ang getting what they deserve.
Your in or your out by this point in the series. Good to see some familiar faces, if some are missing (such as Karr, Chen or DeVore), the action picks up as the Sevens Tyranny continues to crumble. Despite all the pretense we get to see the T'ang for what they are uber control freaks ready to destroy and notion of free will in order to maintain their power and privilege, whatever the flimsy "justification" for it. All except for Wang, T'ang of City Africa, who's one dream is to kill everyone and everything. That this system allows him to flourish is damning.
All in all I'm still in on the series and look forward to the T'ang getting what they deserve.
May 27, 2010
In my opinion, this is where the series started to go sideways. What had been a giant scale tale of political and bureaucratic intrigue, with the personalities and local dramas illuminating the larger picture, became both more personal and more shoot-em-up. From comments over the years on science fiction discussion sites, most readers didn't like the later volumes as much. Reasonable folks can differ as to how much of the unfavorable reaction was because of an actual drop in quality and how much was simply that many ardent fans of the early volumes [including myself:] simply weren't as enamored of the style and genre of the later ones. It is sorta like getting to volume three of the Foundation series and finding a Lucky Starr novel; or perhaps a sequel to Advise and Consent that reads like one of the Jason Bourne tales. In each case the later novels might be as good and appeal to as many people, but they won't generally be the Same people, and the reviews from fans of the original series will reflect that.
Of course, for me personally, a puzzling change in this book is the fact that in a series replete with go references, this book has only one, a brief note on page 177 [of the US paperback edition:].
Of course, for me personally, a puzzling change in this book is the fact that in a series replete with go references, this book has only one, a brief note on page 177 [of the US paperback edition:].
March 17, 2020
I always enjoyed Wingrove's series, but stopped about twenty years ago and have now picked it up again; and, now, it seems that the books are a gedankenexperiment spiced with pulp tropes. The characters all relate via traditional roles and attitudes, which gives a view that these are default positions which we will return to in the future. Yet, with its layers and Sinocentric perspective, difference is achieved within a Wellsian paradigm that remains a specialism of English sf.
And I still don't understand why troglodytes would speak Cornish.
And I still don't understand why troglodytes would speak Cornish.
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October 23, 2025Wingrove's grandiose epic of high technology combined with ancient Chinese culture continues in this fourth Chung Kuo novel. The warning comes through a dying man's dreams: the prediction of a storm so deadly, it can destroy a world. And not one of the great ruling T'ang can predict its direction. TP: Dell.
September 22, 2017
A scary series that demands reading simply because it is so close to tipping that way... what we must avoid at all costs
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June 17, 2019Finito nel 01/gen/1970 00:00:00
September 8, 2012
I've written a number of reviews of Chung Kuo books. Most of what I say in those apply to this one.
The short version is this:
If you like epic political shenanigans, go read this series.
Not this review. This series. NOW.
It's that good.
The short version is this:
If you like epic political shenanigans, go read this series.
Not this review. This series. NOW.
It's that good.
December 24, 2012
Well... the story goes on and on.
I'm getting a little bored with all the Chinese anachronism mixed in this series. The author dropped the endless Go analogies, but maybe that's because De Vore is not here.
I'm giving this series a break, and may pick up the next one later.
I'm getting a little bored with all the Chinese anachronism mixed in this series. The author dropped the endless Go analogies, but maybe that's because De Vore is not here.
I'm giving this series a break, and may pick up the next one later.
December 21, 2012
This has turned into a soap populated by Mary Sus and Gary Stus.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews