Days of Bitter Strength (CHUNG KUO)

Wingrove brings us one step closer to the final chapter of Chung Kuo with Book 7. The pace quickens dramatically with this volume, and the true nature of the opposing forces in the universe becomes clearer. I was impressed by the significant development we see in central characters, and the final collapse of the civilization we met in Book 1. At the center of it all, Kim Ward and Ben Shepard continue to be fascinating and clearly opposing characters. Their development over the past six books -- never having met -- and the positions they represent come to an interesting point in this novel. Days of Bitter Strength delivers the promise of this series at its best. I have also just finished Book 8 in the series (in an imported hardcover edition) and believe fans will not be disappointed with the climax of this brilliant series.

I loved the whole series and unfortunatly David Wingrove can't write them as quickly as I can read them. I read the whole series and got to the last book. No. 7 and just couldn't beleive the ending. I was told that was the absolute ending and couldn't believe it. I will be getting the next book as soon as it hits the shelf.

Having been disapointed with bk 7, "White Moon,Red Dragon", "Days of..." provided the apology I had been waiting for. Wingrove seems to have refreshed himself after the ill thought of conclusion to bk 6 , i.e the rash and accelorated death of Stefan Lehmann the quintessential anti-hero ,etc. Wingrove has rejuvinated the saga with the rise of such caracters as EemilyAscher and Kim Ward to the summit of Chung Kuo politics.

To David Wingrove: I saw no mention of Book No. 8. Don't do this to the fans that have lived in Chung Kuo these past seven years

If you're willing to invest the time and effort to read David Wingrove's Chung Kuo series you will not be disappointed. It is one of the true epics of the genre, and his willingness to kill off main characters (along with hundreds of others) makes this series difficult, if not impossible, to predict. This latest volume continues the story of the fall of the old order and the beginning of the rise of the new, with a sense of just what the "War of Two Directions" means finally beginning to emerge. Many familiar characters pop up again, although in some cases they will be hard to recognize, as years have passed since the end of the last book, and new characters whose importance is yet to be determined are introduced as well. Overall this is a fitting continuation to a grand series, with few parallels in the anals of Science Fictio