Conference noted::sf

    Simon,
    
     I glanced briefly at a review in the "ON BOOKs" section in the most
    recent edition of Isaac Asimoves Science Fiction Managazine and this
    was reviewed.  I only skimmed through it but one thing that stood out
    was that this was to be the first of  some 7 volumes dealing with Chung
    Kuo.  The reveiwer seemed to think the world view a little implausible
    but also said that the book was a "high velocity read" i.e he really
    flew through it. 
    
    						- John
    

   Hi Simon,
    
      It caught my eye and I bought the book.  I really enjoyed it,
      but it was bizzare.  I was caught up by the characters.  It was a
      quick read despite its size.  It is about a future world where
      China ended up as the dominant race.

      I can bring in the book and give you a better synopsis if you
      want!!  It has been a while since I read it.

      -Tracy


      

    re .2:  Thanks, Tracy.  A recommendation was all I was looking for.
    After I wrote the topic note, I also saw a softcover version (but large
    format) in the Hong Kong airport, but I didn't buy it then because I
    was in the middle of something else.  I hope I see it again later after
    I return to the US.

    --Simon

       FYI -- I believe the author's name is David Wingrove (or
       something close).
                               -Tracy


           

    I just finished reading the book, and I have to admit that it was really
    fascinating ! The only 'problem': it's part 1 of a cycle.
    As it mentioned, the author spent four years writing volume 1, titled
    "The middle kingdom". Part 2 will be called "The broken wheel".
    My copy is a paperback, edited in 1989. So... 1989 + another 4 years
    gives me 1993. I suppose I will have forgotten the plot and certainly
    the characters.

    If you're interested, I can look for the ISBN number and all necessary
    data and post it here. Anyway, although it's a rather voluminous book,
    it read it in a couple of evenings (and nights). It's one of the best
    SF-books I've ever came upon.

    Luc.

    
    Author	:	David Wingrove
    Title	:	Chung Kuo
    			Book 1
    			The Middle of Kingdom
    Edited	:	New English Library
    			Paperback Edition 1990
    			ISBN 0-450-51610-5
    Printed by	:	Hodder and Stoughton Paperbacks
    			Mill Road,
    			Dunton Green,
    			Sevenoaks,
    			Kent TN13 2YA
    			England.
    	
    Editorial Office:	47 Bedford Square,
    			London WC1B 3DP,
    			England. 			
    

    
    I liked it overall too, but there was some pretty gross violence
    in it.  So if you don't have a strong stomach, don't read it.
      
    jc

  The New English Library paperback edition is list priced at UK �3.95 or
  Australian $10.95, the latter being roughly US$9.00 at the moment.  The
  price in Hongkong is also around US$9.00, $10 and change at the airport. 
  It was seen on display at a number of locations in Hongkong and Australia
  where I was vacationing.  Haven't checked US bookstores since my return.

  Contrary to my first impression (in .0) this isn't an alternate history
  SF novel, but merely set in time future to our present.  However, the
  ruling Han (Chinese) literally rewrote history, such that all anybody
  knew in late 22nd, early 23rd century was that the Han Empire defeated
  the Roman Empire in 97 AD [sic], and the rest was "history."  Right at
  the beginning of the prologue, Mao Tse Tung was referred to as "the first
  Ko Ming Emperor."  Actually, it was the tyrant Tsao Ch'un who conquered
  the world in mid 21st century and established Chung Kuo, the global
  empire.  Although this background placed the Europeans in the position of
  underdog, change is a-brewing as the story develops.

  It is not necessary to know anything about Chinese language or culture to
  enjoy this book; in fact, knowing too much may detract from your enjoy-
  ment.  The author is evidently a Sinophile, but I'm undecided how much of
  a Sinologist he is.  I keep wondering if my grasp of Chinese is lacking
  or if he has made mistakes here and there.

  For example, the term "Chieh Hsia" is used throughout for "Your Majesty."
  In the Glossary of Mandarin Terms, this was explained as meaning "below
  the steps."  That is so.  However, I have always seen and heard "Your
  Majesty" as "Pi Hsia."  It sounds almost as if he back-translated from
  "below the steps."

  I'm also puzzled where he got "T'ang" from, as the title of each of the
  seven Sons of Heaven who ruled the seven Cities of Chung Kuo.  I just
  can't think of a Chinese word "T'ang" that fits the meaning of "ruler."

  Another gross mistake (I wish I could find the place again to make sure I
  didn't misread it) was to make "Yin" positive and male, and "Yang" neg-
  ative and female; it's the other way around in Chinese.  It surprises me
  that a Sinophile would make such a mistake.

  The use of the Wade-Giles system of Romanization of Chinese names and
  terms is debatable.  In the Author's Note he explains that he chose Wade-
  Giles as better serving "to render the softer, more poetic side of the
  original Mandarin."  I think this is subjective.  Nevertheless, Wade-
  Giles probably fits in better with the old imperial setting in which the
  author has put his 22nd century Chung Kuo.

  It's pushing the limit of plausibility that a world-dominating China
  would revert back to the imperial China that came to an end along with
  the 19th century, totally wiping out the cultural changes of the 20th
  century.  While it is true that the Chinese have an inclination towards
  imperialism, it's something else again to have kept the imperial court
  manners as if three centuries haven't gone by, or more to the point, that
  the 20th century Westernization, not to mention the Cultural Revolution,
  had not taken place.

  Despite these flaws, it's a fascinating story to read.  The European
  characters are, to me, somewhat more "real" and the Han characters,
  somewhat unreal, but that may be just my background getting in the way.

  Well, maybe I should say something about the story.  

  Under Han rule, planet Earth has grown to thirty-some billions in
  population.  Much of Earth's land surface is covered by seven continent-
  sized cities, three hundred levels high, and meant to last ten thousand
  years.  Each City is ruled by a T'ang, who is a Han person.  While Han do
  occupy important government posts even in City Europe, many Europeans, or
  Hung Mao as they are called, serve in key posts in throughout the polit-
  ical and military infrastructure.  A great many of the key characters in
  the story are in fact Hung Mao.

  The tyrant Tsao Ch'un founded his empire on his utopian ideal and his
  "Crusade of Purity," and had intended his utopia to last ten thousand
  years.  Change was forbidden.  Although there were colonies on Mars,
  space exploration was forbidden.  Nevertheless, there was a Dispersionist
  faction which wanted change, and some of them plotted against The Seven
  (the T'angs who ruled Chung Kuo amongst them).

  The reader is liable to be undecided, whether to admire the likes of
  Lehmann, DeVore, Berdichev, and Wyatt, the conspirators, or to see them
  as villains because of their methods.  Their plot culminated in the
  assasination of the heir of the T'ang of City Europe at his wedding
  ceremony.  One is also liable to be undecided about the T'ang, Li Shai
  Tung, whether to admire him for the person he is, or dislike him for the
  policies he has to uphold.

  Interwoven in this story of intrigue is the story of the boy Kim, a
  precocious genius who, as it turned out, was the bastard of one of the
  Dispersionist conspirators.  Kim, though, wasn't the only precocious kid
  in the story.  Ben Shepherd, and the Prince Li Yuan, as well as Kim Ward
  will feature in the next book, titled _The_Broken_Wheel_.

  As mentioned in the preceding reply, the story has some sex, sadism and
  other violence.  If it were a movie it'd probably be rated R.

  --Simon

    Though I haven't read this book, it reminds me of an article I read a
    few years ago written by Gore Vidal.  It appeared in the magazine "The 
    Nation".  In this article Vidal speculates that China with its
    tremendous resources and Japan with its technical prowess and
    aggressiveness will ally with eachother and conquer the world.  I can't
    help but think that this book, like Vidal's article, is a racist Westerner's
    nightmare or an ethnocentric Asian's dream.

    The author is an Englishman.  He knows too much Chinese poetry and
    plays Wei Chi ("Go") to be entirely racist; in fact I called him a
    Sinophile in .8.
    
    The plot is complex (I think) and so are the characters.  Neither the
    Hung Mao nor the Han characters are all good or all bad.  If there's
    racism, it's a bit too subtle for me.  But Tsao Ch'un the dictator was
    worse than Hitler -- killed off the Japanese, the Blacks, and the
    Aborigines.  However, that was only a page or so out of 700+.
    
    --Simon
    

    Saw _Chung_Kuo_ in paperback at Booksmith today.  Look for it at your
    favorite bookstore.
    
    --Simon
    

    NOW You Tell Me!!!!!  Right after I spent $13 for the hardcover!

    Book 2: The Broken Wheel, is out (in paperback).  Actually, some other
    reader already tipped me off, but I saw it in the bookstores on my
    afternoon at the mall and picked it up.
    
    --Simon
    

    The third book in this series is out called "The White Mountain."  I
    haven't even finished the first book in this series yet and I just
    bought the second book "The Broken Wheel."  So far I find this book the
    first one anyway slow and tedious to read, hopefully it will pickup
    later.

>    bought the second book "The Broken Wheel."  So far I find this book the
>    first one anyway slow and tedious to read, hopefully it will pickup
>    later.
    
    I haven't noticed any such problem with the first book, possible
    exception may be the first 50-100 pages or so.  "The Broken Wheel"
    moves pretty well for my pace.  Good character development for a
    diverse cast.  Sex and violence in places, as noted previously.
    
>                       -< 3rd book is out in hardcover >-
    
    I also found the second book in hardcover, discounted to $5.95.
    Problem is (and true for other authors like Eddings) I already read
    these books in paperback.
    
    --Simon