Rating: 
Summary: A band-aid patch to wrap up the story
Review: David writes another fabulous tale, but seems to have quickened the pace to bring the second-age of Chung Kuo to the forefront. The Tang's great cities have crumbled, Ben Shepherd's China on the Rhine experiment is doomed, DeVore returns again with yet another way of destroying the world. Kim makes rockets out of planets. I almost want to say "STOP! TOO MUCH!" This book could have been two. Contrary to popular belief(and as is written at the end of 'Days'), David's 8th book 'The Marriage of the Living Dark' is available in Great Britain.
Rating: 
Summary: A failing ending to a great series
Review: Don't bother reading this book. Just end Chung Kuo with book 6 and be done with it. This book was done so poorly that I can't believe that Wingrove actually wrote it. It is weak, wishy washy and slow, as opposed to his gutsy, intelligent efforts in the first six Chung Kuo books. Don't bother with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother
Review: Don't bother with this book or its sequels. David Wingrove started out great with this series, but he got lost somewhere. By the end of this opus the author blatantly uses a "deus ex machina" . I felt betrayed because of all the time I spent reading the last 3 books.
Rating: 
Summary: Days of Bitter Strength (Chung kuo/David Wingrove,Bk 7)
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A hollow shell
Review: Having read Chung Kwo series, I feel as if each books' ratings are somewhat bound to the healthiness of the T'ang's dominion it in turn describes. We know it is science fiction, but to many rabbits are popped out of the hats of its magicians (De Vore, Machine etc). And particularly in Book Seven, too many matters are over-simplified, with a story-line to far off-track. The only thing I appreciated about "The Days of Bitter Strength" is that it's truly the first real page turner of all seven books.
Rating:
Summary: Bit of a let down
Review: I discovered this series in 1993, I devoured the first five books and absolutely loved every page of them. It was exciting, original, fun, and interesting. Then I read Days of Bitter Strength and abosolutely hated it. I felt the author completely lost his way and I really did not enjoy where he took this once-promising series. It was one of the biggest literary letdowns I have ever been dealt.
Rating: 
Summary: Tamer than usual Wingrove fare
Review: I found the hexalogy from 'Middle Kingdom' to 'White Moon, Red Dragon' very well constructed and full of solid, believable plot. Occasional tangents from the apparent storyline were seen, but I was always pleased when they returned to the straight and narrow. Indeed it did give me 'a sense of destiny being fulfilled' (Tom Hutchinson). I especially enjoyed the continuity from the first book to the sixth of the Shepherd family, the raising of Stefan Lehmann, and the sudden return(s) of DeVore. Even little, almost cliched details delighted me ("flames, dancing in a glass" are the first words of Book 1, the last of Book 3, and recur throughout). All this was spoiled by Days of Bitter Strength. It seemed to me that all of David Wingrove's previous careful planning had not prepared him for this, and this novel makes many, many assumptions which we are not told about before. Basically put, the change from 6 to 7 is too great! Various characters die in the background (Nan Ho), many more are almost unrecognizable from 6 (Pei Kung), and most irritatingly of all, the 'China of the Rhine' seems little different from the 'City of Levels' before. Whilst I accept that there is very good ground for making a point of humanity's evil core, I still felt extremely misled by the end of 6: the arch-villian DeVore was defeated by a technology present from Book 1 (very good), the anti-hero Lehmann was thwarted in his misguided crusade (tragic, lots of pathos and a catharsis), and the Emperor swore in his darkest hour to give up his power and rule justly (also very good--except that it's a barefaced lie). Perhaps I am being impatient in passing judgment before reading 8 as there are many unresolved story leads, but I cannot help feeling that this seventh book is the average child in what is otherwise a family of geniuses.
Rating:
Summary: Good... but not great
Review: I liked the way this book was done. Once again the Chung Kuo series manages to capture my attention. However, i feel that David Wingrove lost something in writting this, and the end of the last book. Some aspect of realism or such was lost.
Rating:
Summary: I was left wanting more
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Keep it coming!
Review: 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
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