F/SF

The White Mountain is the third installment of Wingrove’s epic Chung Kuo series. The premise is that some two hundred years into our future, the Chinese civilization will have come to dominate the Earth. While still very political in scope, this installment shows more of the Sci-Fi aspects of this future world than did the two previous books.

Some readers have likened this series to the Dune series of Frank Herbert. For me, Wingrove’s epic is more into the fantasy realm than any of the Dune books. The first book of the Chung Kuo series awed me with its scope and the possibilities this future world presented. The second one involved more politics and less action than I cared for. This episode did indeed have more action, but I just could not keep the politics straight and towards the end I just did not care who the good guys were. This is where I will probably end my pursuit of the series.

If you like a series offering a complete break from reality, this may be your style. I suggest the series to lovers of political fiction as well. If you see steampunk or cyberpunk visions when you think of the future, this is not your world. Despite my not liking the last two volumes, I will give a lot of credit to Wingrove for staying true to his version of the future and for the writing to be very readable. It is just not a future I’m eager to visit again. ( )