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Chung Kuo Recast #5
The Art of War
The Council of Seven ruled Chung Kuo with an iron authority, their boast that they had ended Change and stopped the Great Wheel turning. But war, famine and political instability, thought to be things of the past, had returned to Chung Kuo with a vengeance
A new generation of powerful young merchants – Dispersionists – challenged the authority of the Seven, leading to what became known as ‘the War-That-Wasn’t-A-War’ – a nasty, guerrilla form of warfare fought in the claustrophobic levels of the Cities. A brutal war without rules. A war the Seven ultimately won. But only just.
And now the Seven find themselves vulnerable as the forces against them continue to grow.
A new generation of powerful young merchants – Dispersionists – challenged the authority of the Seven, leading to what became known as ‘the War-That-Wasn’t-A-War’ – a nasty, guerrilla form of warfare fought in the claustrophobic levels of the Cities. A brutal war without rules. A war the Seven ultimately won. But only just.
And now the Seven find themselves vulnerable as the forces against them continue to grow.
278 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2013
36 people are currently reading
205 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Between 1972 and 1982 he wrote over 300 unpublished short stories and 15 novels.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 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 10, 2013
The fifth novel in the reconceived Chung Kuo saga, “The Art of War” reads very much like a transitional piece. That makes a certain amount of sense, given that it was originally just the first half or so of “The Broken Wheel” (the original saga’s second volume), but it also means that it doesn’t stand particularly well as a story in and of itself. It is only meaningful within the larger context of Chung Kuo.
There is a central theme, however, as put forward by Howard DeVore, the main antagonist of the story, is positioning upon the wei chi board. DeVore is a master of the game, cold and calculating, and all too willing to use anyone and everyone in his war against the Seven. Enter the Ping Tiao, a terrorist group big on ambition but mostly small on vision. DeVore uses the assumption that his Dispersionist movement has died to reshape his strategy.
Meanwhile, the Seven are dealing with an unexpected amount of turmoil among their own ranks. Three of their members are new and inexperienced, and one of them has been manipulating his way into power since the end of the war. His machinations and own demands for change, against all tradition, are set against the early days of the unconventional marriage between Li Yuan, son of Europe’s ruler, and Fei Yen. Fei Yen turns out to be quite adept at her own schemes, which involve wrapping Li Yuan around her little finger.
These plot threads, while not quite intertwining, comprise a large part of this volume, as subtle movements have vast implications over time. Because it is all about small decisions and actions, there’s not a lot of resolution to anything that is started in this phase of the story. It’s aftermath and prelude all at once.
The final third of the volume shifts perspective to the Domain, the idyllic valley in England where the “descendants” of the City’s architect, the only ones granted immunity by the Seven and the right to live outside, live out their unusual lives. Ben Shepherd is now in his late teens, and his mildly schizophrenic perspective is leading him to seek out a new way to experience reality. He’s also fallen in love with his “sister”, Meg. This sounds rather odd, but given that Ben is really a clone of sorts of original Shepherd, it’s not quite as it seems.
Ben’s experiments in “art” are a bit unusual, and involve a form of virtual reality that is more and more closely connected to direct access to human consciousness and sensory awareness. He recognizes that he can’t stay in the Domain and find the answers to his questions, and that friction between his apparent calling and his growing relationship with Meg is surprisingly engaging. Unfortunately, it also stops before it can progress to the logical next step.
Because of the way that the original material is being re-edited and revised into smaller works, this sort of transitional volume was going to come sooner or later. Knowing that doesn’t change the fact that there is only the most tenuous of themes throughout this book. All of this is building to something much bigger, and if it wasn’t for the author’s “sizzle reel” of the events to take place in Book 6, “An Inch of Ashes”, it might feel like the story was already spinning its wheels. That said, knowing that the story will expand in unexpected ways gives me enough reason to be patient.
There is a central theme, however, as put forward by Howard DeVore, the main antagonist of the story, is positioning upon the wei chi board. DeVore is a master of the game, cold and calculating, and all too willing to use anyone and everyone in his war against the Seven. Enter the Ping Tiao, a terrorist group big on ambition but mostly small on vision. DeVore uses the assumption that his Dispersionist movement has died to reshape his strategy.
Meanwhile, the Seven are dealing with an unexpected amount of turmoil among their own ranks. Three of their members are new and inexperienced, and one of them has been manipulating his way into power since the end of the war. His machinations and own demands for change, against all tradition, are set against the early days of the unconventional marriage between Li Yuan, son of Europe’s ruler, and Fei Yen. Fei Yen turns out to be quite adept at her own schemes, which involve wrapping Li Yuan around her little finger.
These plot threads, while not quite intertwining, comprise a large part of this volume, as subtle movements have vast implications over time. Because it is all about small decisions and actions, there’s not a lot of resolution to anything that is started in this phase of the story. It’s aftermath and prelude all at once.
The final third of the volume shifts perspective to the Domain, the idyllic valley in England where the “descendants” of the City’s architect, the only ones granted immunity by the Seven and the right to live outside, live out their unusual lives. Ben Shepherd is now in his late teens, and his mildly schizophrenic perspective is leading him to seek out a new way to experience reality. He’s also fallen in love with his “sister”, Meg. This sounds rather odd, but given that Ben is really a clone of sorts of original Shepherd, it’s not quite as it seems.
Ben’s experiments in “art” are a bit unusual, and involve a form of virtual reality that is more and more closely connected to direct access to human consciousness and sensory awareness. He recognizes that he can’t stay in the Domain and find the answers to his questions, and that friction between his apparent calling and his growing relationship with Meg is surprisingly engaging. Unfortunately, it also stops before it can progress to the logical next step.
Because of the way that the original material is being re-edited and revised into smaller works, this sort of transitional volume was going to come sooner or later. Knowing that doesn’t change the fact that there is only the most tenuous of themes throughout this book. All of this is building to something much bigger, and if it wasn’t for the author’s “sizzle reel” of the events to take place in Book 6, “An Inch of Ashes”, it might feel like the story was already spinning its wheels. That said, knowing that the story will expand in unexpected ways gives me enough reason to be patient.
March 11, 2017
Summer, 2206. The great war is winding down. The Dispersionists, those citizens of the great world-girdling city of Chung Kuo who have argued in favour of change and technological advancement, have been defeated by the forces of the T'ang, the Seven, the guardians of stasis and the status quo. All that remains is for the T'ang to distribute the wealth they stole from their foes and return to ruling the world in peace. But things have changed too much for that. DeVore, most infamous of the Dispersionists, remains at large and now plots to restart the war with the help of some new allies.
The Art of War is the fifth volume in this recasting of David Wingrove's epic Chung Kuo series. It opens five years after the events of Ice and Fire. Those hoping to see the War of Two Directions (or, more accurately, its opening moves) in all its glory will be disappointed as Wingrove skips most of the conflict to concentrate on the aftermath and the attempts by Howard DeVore to keep the struggle going through other means. The Art of War disdains the sprawling morass of plots of the previous couple of volumes in favour of a tighter focus on DeVore's plans, the machinations of the redoubtable Hans Ebert and the development of Ben Shepherd as he tries to realise his destiny. A few other chapters concentrate in short bursts on other characters as they get into position for the next stage of the conflict, most notably on the T'ang themselves. Several of the T'ang have fallen and their replacements may not quite have the same respect for precedent, honour and tradition their forebears possessed.
The Art of War is nicely paced and opens with an effective series of chapters catching us up with what the major characters have been up to. For those comparing the new version of the series with the original, The Art of War makes up the first third or so of the original second volume, The Broken Wheel. This has the advantage of easing us in (relatively) gently to a new era in the history of Chung Kuo, but has the major problem that the book just stops in mid-flow rather than climaxing (unless you count the fact that the book ends with a rather inexplicable incestuous sex scene). Lots of pieces are put on the table in this volume, lots of characters start getting into position to do things, but it's mostly all set-up and no pay-off (though we do get a couple of effective action sequences along the way). Most of these plotlines should evolve through the next two volumes An Inch of Ashes and The Broken Wheel, but it's still somewhat frustrating for those reading along this series as it is released.
On the plus side, more of Wingrove's vision is unveiled here as DeVore's plans become a bit more apparent and Ben Shepherd begins the construction of the Shell, a device that will revolutionise the idea of entertainment in Chung Kuo. Wingrove's prose also improves noticeably in various dream sequences, where his writing takes a more poetic quality than the straightforward, prosaic writing used elsewhere.
The Art of War (****) is a very solid instalment in this ongoing (and lengthy) series.
The Art of War is the fifth volume in this recasting of David Wingrove's epic Chung Kuo series. It opens five years after the events of Ice and Fire. Those hoping to see the War of Two Directions (or, more accurately, its opening moves) in all its glory will be disappointed as Wingrove skips most of the conflict to concentrate on the aftermath and the attempts by Howard DeVore to keep the struggle going through other means. The Art of War disdains the sprawling morass of plots of the previous couple of volumes in favour of a tighter focus on DeVore's plans, the machinations of the redoubtable Hans Ebert and the development of Ben Shepherd as he tries to realise his destiny. A few other chapters concentrate in short bursts on other characters as they get into position for the next stage of the conflict, most notably on the T'ang themselves. Several of the T'ang have fallen and their replacements may not quite have the same respect for precedent, honour and tradition their forebears possessed.
The Art of War is nicely paced and opens with an effective series of chapters catching us up with what the major characters have been up to. For those comparing the new version of the series with the original, The Art of War makes up the first third or so of the original second volume, The Broken Wheel. This has the advantage of easing us in (relatively) gently to a new era in the history of Chung Kuo, but has the major problem that the book just stops in mid-flow rather than climaxing (unless you count the fact that the book ends with a rather inexplicable incestuous sex scene). Lots of pieces are put on the table in this volume, lots of characters start getting into position to do things, but it's mostly all set-up and no pay-off (though we do get a couple of effective action sequences along the way). Most of these plotlines should evolve through the next two volumes An Inch of Ashes and The Broken Wheel, but it's still somewhat frustrating for those reading along this series as it is released.
On the plus side, more of Wingrove's vision is unveiled here as DeVore's plans become a bit more apparent and Ben Shepherd begins the construction of the Shell, a device that will revolutionise the idea of entertainment in Chung Kuo. Wingrove's prose also improves noticeably in various dream sequences, where his writing takes a more poetic quality than the straightforward, prosaic writing used elsewhere.
The Art of War (****) is a very solid instalment in this ongoing (and lengthy) series.
December 17, 2018
Almost nothing happens in this book. This is more a introduction to a new story line than a actual sequel. Still interesting world and character building, but after reading all other 4 books of the series , there is nothing new. Finally i understand why this "recast" series was canceled. I must try to find the older books to read.
June 5, 2019
Not quite as good as the previous books but still very good. Seems like it ended suddenly and didn’t quite satisfy any of the major plot points. I guess I’ll move forward to the next installment..
April 8, 2013
This is a weird book to review, since it's book 5 of 20 of the new releases of Chung Kuo. It's also the first half of book 3 of the old releases, and more than any of the new versions to date, it really, suffers from that fact.
To be clear, this isn't a bad book by any means. It's quite good. But it's really unsatisfying. So far even though the previous volumes have been split in two, enough has happened in each book that I didn't really care (plus there was lots of new stuff). The Art of War however really suffers from the fact that the series is fully underway, and there are a lot of characters we don't get to see.
Mostly however, my complaint is just that not a whole lot of consequence happens in this book. There are major events that are going to happen, but because this is only 1/2 of the original novel, we have to wait a few more months to get to them.
Not helping things is that a fairly large chunk of this book focuses on Ben, a character that serves as an outlet for some of Wingrove's worst tendencies. Wingrove can't write a child for the life of him (a major failing of this series as a whole) but Ben is the most brilliant and irritating 17 year old who ever lived. He's a genius, he's athletic, he's a brilliant artist, he's an inventor...he's unbelievable on every page. He's like an even more irritating Ender Wiggin. Oh, and he also .
If you're reading Chung Kuo, as I am, none of this will bother you much. It's just frustrating, particularly when the publishing schedule in the United States is so erratic. Better books are ahead, so just get through this one and wait for the next to come out.
To be clear, this isn't a bad book by any means. It's quite good. But it's really unsatisfying. So far even though the previous volumes have been split in two, enough has happened in each book that I didn't really care (plus there was lots of new stuff). The Art of War however really suffers from the fact that the series is fully underway, and there are a lot of characters we don't get to see.
Mostly however, my complaint is just that not a whole lot of consequence happens in this book. There are major events that are going to happen, but because this is only 1/2 of the original novel, we have to wait a few more months to get to them.
Not helping things is that a fairly large chunk of this book focuses on Ben, a character that serves as an outlet for some of Wingrove's worst tendencies. Wingrove can't write a child for the life of him (a major failing of this series as a whole) but Ben is the most brilliant and irritating 17 year old who ever lived. He's a genius, he's athletic, he's a brilliant artist, he's an inventor...he's unbelievable on every page. He's like an even more irritating Ender Wiggin. Oh, and he also .
If you're reading Chung Kuo, as I am, none of this will bother you much. It's just frustrating, particularly when the publishing schedule in the United States is so erratic. Better books are ahead, so just get through this one and wait for the next to come out.
March 9, 2013
You'd think if he was redoing the series he'd have cut down the Ben shepherd chapters and certainly not finished the book with them. I FUCKING HATE BEN SHEPHERD MORE THAN ANY OTHER CHARACTER IN THE HISTORY OF FICTION >_<
June 14, 2014
All right, with Book Five complete, I'm officially one-quarter of the way through the Chung Kuo Recast series. I wonder if there's a special word or phrase for a 20 book series? I'm going to go with "Double Dekology."
September 24, 2017
Aftermath of War... Beginning of the new threat...
January 16, 2018
The pacing slows to a crawl in this fifth book. The war between the Dispersionists and the Seven barely moves forward - it’s at about the same point on page 1 and on page 278. Also, some of the characters spend too much time in boring inner monologues. Only City Africa kept me reading on.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews