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Chung Kuo #2
The Broken Wheel
Seven continents. Seven Chinese kings. A benevolent rule and a stable, sensual, high-tech society. But the T'ang overlords no longer control all three hundred levels of City Earth. Revolution is brewing. As the all-powerful Seven plot the boldest imaginable counterstrike, a plan to control the minds of all humankind, Chung Kuo speeds toward cataclysm, and the final game between East and West, between the privileged Above and the downtrodden Below--a monumental confrontation with forty billion lives in the balance. An epic that draws us into an alternative world so read that we become true denizens of the new Middle Kingdom, touched by tomorrow's longings . . . driven by forces as ancient as the first human breath.
570 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1991
6 people are currently reading
314 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Between 1972 and 1982 he wrote over 300 unpublished short stories and 15 novels.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 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 8, 2009
Where the first book set up the world of Chung Kuo nicely, and set a decent pace for the events that took place, this book just
drags
. I can't describe my level of annoyance and disgust when, for example, getting to the 7/8ths point of the book, I saw story threads for Ben Shepherd just getting started.
Personally, while I like the concept of the world of Chung Kuo, I feel that a goodly portion could have been trimmed back. There are a lot of characters to deal with, and a large, involved story line, and in the right hands, something this large could be quite astounding (George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice is one such example), but I'm not convinced David Wingrove has reached such a level yet.
Will I continue on to read the third book in the series? I'm not sure, though I don't know if it's because this book is so interminably long, or if it's because my interests are shifting towards different subject matter at the moment.
Personally, while I like the concept of the world of Chung Kuo, I feel that a goodly portion could have been trimmed back. There are a lot of characters to deal with, and a large, involved story line, and in the right hands, something this large could be quite astounding (George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice is one such example), but I'm not convinced David Wingrove has reached such a level yet.
Will I continue on to read the third book in the series? I'm not sure, though I don't know if it's because this book is so interminably long, or if it's because my interests are shifting towards different subject matter at the moment.
May 27, 2010
Go references: pp. xxxii-xxxvi,3,63,104,119,246,250-1,320,395-6,409-13,544,557-8. [US paperback:]
June 23, 2019
Picking up 5 years after "The Middle Kingdom" the war between the Seven and the Dispersonists is coming to an end. The Seven victorious though not unbloodied. Howard DeVore still plots against the Seven from the shadows forming an alliance with the Ping Tiao, terrorists who have risen to prominence in the wars wake, well the unity of the Seven is shaken when the T'ang of City Africa is murdered and supplanted by his own son. A young Prince moves forward with a plan to eliminate free will in the populace well his wife betrays him to another man, the T'ang of West Asia. Hans Ebert falls under suspicion well Karr, Chen and Haaviko seek to find a connection between the corporate heir and Devore, and at Oxford a young Ben Shepherd pursues his vision of a new art form well learning further truths about his own hidden origins...
Bounces around a lot, but does immerse one in the world of Chung Kuo. Did feel a bit slower than its predecessor and there seems to be a dearth of brilliant socially awkward men in prominent roles here...that or they're out and out sadists. Still an intriguing world to visit even if the jumping between plot lines can leave things feeling a tad unfocused and the end point feels rather arbitrary.
Bounces around a lot, but does immerse one in the world of Chung Kuo. Did feel a bit slower than its predecessor and there seems to be a dearth of brilliant socially awkward men in prominent roles here...that or they're out and out sadists. Still an intriguing world to visit even if the jumping between plot lines can leave things feeling a tad unfocused and the end point feels rather arbitrary.
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October 23, 2025Seven continents. Seven Chinese kings. A benevolent rule and a stable, sensual, high-tech society. But the T'ang overlords no longer control all three hundred levels of City Earth. Revolution is brewing. As the all-powerful Seven plot the boldest imaginable counterstrike, a plan to control the minds of all humankind, Chung Kuo speeds toward cataclysm, and the final game between East and West, between the privileged Above and the downtrodden Below--a monumental confrontation with forty billion lives in the balance. An epic that draws us into an alternative world so read that we become true denizens of the new Middle Kingdom, touched by tomorrow's longings . . . driven by forces as ancient as the first human breath.
September 23, 2017
Powerful and dangerous
August 18, 2025
Everyone is so damn horny, but this is such a fun political drama
December 9, 2012
This is a very slow starter - but once Wingrove ditches the dry intrigues and let himself start to love the characters, it turns into a page turner. I even had a bit of a weep. Wingrove is an uneven writer - but his good bits are worth skimming through the bad.
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August 25, 2010BOOK 2 IN THE 8 BOOK SERIES.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews