The Middle Kingdom by David Wingrove

“The year is 2196. The great Empire of Ice, Chung Kuo, has finally been shaken after more than a century of peace enforced by brutal tyranny. The Minister of the Edict—an official responsible for licensing all technology that could lead to Change—has been assassinated. The seven ruling T'ang struggle to maintain Stasis, even as their mile-high, continent-spanning cities descend into chaos. Amid the chaos, the rebels responsible for the assassination seize the opportunity to effect Change. But the assassination was orchestrated by those far closer to the ruling power and this betrayal, the first of many, will lead them all into the world-shattering War of Two Directions.”

I first read the original version of “The Middle Kingdom” back in the mid-1990s, while at university.  I was immediately hooked on this incredibly detailed, brutal vision of the future.  The original Chung Kuo series was set to last nine huge volumes, but by the time that the seventh volume came out, support for Wingrove’s magnum opus collapsed.  The series came to an abrupt (and very hard to find) conclusion in a rushed eighth volume.

Fast forward 15 years, and things have changed dramatically.  A small publishing house in the UK has been working with Wingrove to resurrect the original vision of Chung Kuo.  Instead of nine large volumes, the story will now sprawl over a total of 20 slightly shorter novels.  Two volumes have already been released (“Son of Heaven” and “Daylight on Iron Mountain”), which were completely new prequels setting the stage for the original starting point of the story.

“The Middle Kingdom” is now technically Book 3, as evidenced by the fact that it starts with Chapter 26, after a short prologue.  Despite being recast as the continuation from the first two novels, this is essentially Wingrove’s revision of the first half of the original.  This wouldn’t be evident to newer readers, though it’s very clear that Wingrove’s writing has improved over the intervening years.

Chung Kuo, as a saga, is not unlike “A Song of Ice and Fire” (the George R.R. Martin’s series that inspired “Game of Thrones”) in that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of characters, constantly moving with and against each other, vying for control over humanity’s future.  The Chinese have taken control of the world, wiping out all of Western civilization in the process and establishing a new “history” for the people.  The main ideal of the Chinese ruling body, the Seven, is to manage change in society to such a degree that the threat of unfettered technology and greed can no longer take hold.  But there are those who remember the “good old days”, and they have chosen to resist.  (If this sounds like the story of “Earth That Was” from “Firefly”, it could easily work as such!)

What’s remarkable about the story is that this does not turn into the Good West vs. Evil East conflict that one would imagine.  Both sides have their good and bad sides, and both sides commit atrocities in the name of the “greater good”.  The author consistently challenges the reader by making most, if not all, of the characters sympathetic to some degree.  Yet the violence escalates slowly but surely, and there’s little doubt that things will get much worse before they get better.

Because of the number of characters and the liberal use of Chinese terms, there is a massive glossary and character guide in the back of the book.  This is invaluable, since there are a ton of Chinese names, and many of them are related in some way, so names can be very similar.  It’s also highly recommended that the first two volumes be read before jumping into this novel.

When it comes to taking the complexities and depths of the best long-form fantasy sagas on the shelves, and applying the same attention to detail to a “hard” science fiction epic, there aren’t many better examples that come to mind.  This would be amazing material for an HBO or Starz adaptation.  Consider it highly recommended!

Price: $9.79 (Kindle version)
Acquisition method: Amazon.com