What follows is a talk given by David Wingrove regarding his experiences in researching for Chung Kuo – including the scientific aspects of the series and the Chinese cultural aspects. As usual, it’s long but worthy. Full text after the break…
Month: April 2011
The Surrounding Game
With our very own Wei Chi Cafe happening in The Forums, started by contributor uncalledfor9, The Surrounding Game is particularly relevant. This is a recent piece by Mr. Wingrove about “the world’s most elegant game” that was posted to the official Chung Kuo site, but seems to have dropped off the end. Full text after the break…
Check out The Forums!
The Forums have just been updated to aesthetically match this main page (and to remove the old default styles). There’s some great discussion and speculation starting to build there, so if you’re an old school Chung Kuo veteran, or a brand new fan who just picked up Son of Heaven, head on over there and give us your two cents.
Some current topics include tips for those interest in playing wei chi, old sequence vs. new sequence differences, and everyone’s favorite series character. Spoilers abound in those latter two links so beware!
Science Fiction: Tradition and Revolution
Today’s entry into The Vault is a talk given by David Wingrove at the Cheltenham Literary Festival concerning the various currents throughout the history of the science fiction genre, and where Chung Kuo fits in that scheme.
To my knowledge, this hasn’t been published elsewhere. It’s lengthy but well worth a read. Full text after the break…
A View From The Cusp
I’ve got a real treat to post today. What follows is a review of Son of Heaven by Brian Griffin, a close friend of David Wingrove’s and a Chung Kuo insider from its inception (no Family Guy jokes please…). This piece goes into much more depth than most Son of Heaven reviews abound, touching on its place in the grander scheme of sci-fi and its inplications toward the rest of the series. It’s a fine read. Although not written by Wingrove, it’s a treat to have this in The Vault.
Full text after the break…
EXCLUSIVE: Daylight on Iron Mountain cover art
So, I’ve received permission to reveal this, exclusive to this site, as the full size cover art for Daylight on Iron Mountain. I’m told there might be adjustments, but for all intents and purposes, this is the cover of the next Chung Kuo novel in all it’s high-res glory. Click the picture for highest resolution.
The Year So Far…
Here’s a biggie, folks. The Year So Far… is some of Mr. Wingrove’s journal entries from 1993. Evidently scanned and OCR’d from handwritten notes, it’s been a long process to edit this beast (and some of it in the last half was completely indecipherable), but it’s been worth it for the most personal of DW’s writings here in The Vault. Particularly interesting, about halfway down, is his mention of a camping trip to Dorset, not far from Corfe Castle (ring a bell to anyone…?).
The real treat, however, is the last third or so of the text, containing the amazing details of Mr. Wingrove’s first trip to China.
Enjoy the full text after the break…
Daylight on Iron Mountain news!
The Corvus website has now listed listed entries for Daylight on Iron Mountain, Book 2 in the Chung Kuo series.
The Special Edition publication date is listed as October 1, 2011; the hardcover and ebook versions on November 1; and the paperback on June 1, 2012. Looks like it’s going to weigh in at 416 pages, short of SoH‘s 480.
Here’s the marketing text/synopsis:
CHANGE IS ON THE AIR: The generals of the Middle Kingdom await the decision of the emperor.The campaign to secure the border from China to Iraq has reached a strange impasse. Two blood enemies, Arabs and Jews, have united against their common cause. But with the lives of thousands at his whim, the exalted Tsao Ch’un, the Son of Heaven, cannot decide. Destroy the Middle East in one blinding flash? Or take another path?
BUT THE WAY IS UNCLEAR: In the court of Tsao Ch’un, men of power have become smiling lackeys, whose graces conceal their fear, or their ambition. A man that can be trusted absolutely is a rare thing. And so, with his family held hostage by the empire, General Jiang Lei finds himself appointed to a special task: the orchestration of the last great war against the West. The total dominion of America.
WAR APPROACHES: But life in the world of levels continues. No hint of war, or want, or discontent can infiltrate the oppressive, ordered society that replaces the world Jake Reed once knew. Since the first airships rolled over the horizon, nothing has been the same. His new life means new thinking, new customs, a new way of behaving, and with his every move scrutinized, Jake can only serve the bureaucracy of new China. But he is not the only citizen who feels discontent with the anodyne new order.
And here’s the teeny tiny thumbnail of the cover.
For the record…
…I prefer the original series beard. Bring it back, Dave!
