Rating: 
Summary: Epic story of mankind
Review: Perfection. Brilliant. All that you want. Spend those hours, days and weeks trapped in your own imagination.
And,... would you not like to have him write more?
What are you doing, David W.Please give me more.
Rating:
Summary: A view of the future?
Review: A remarkable and very different book depicting an all too probable dystopia. It will particularily strike home to those living in places like Vancouver or Seattle where both Western and Asian influences are strong and in many ways a symbiotic culture is already emerging. Very well written with some passages evoking striking images - some of which are quite shocking and thought provoking.
Rating: 
Summary: Han Feizi and All his buddies would be proud
Review: The series, although being criticized for being overly long, complex, and violent, is a vast portrait of how power might operate in the world. Consider the CK series a primer on ways to backstab, meddle, subtly double deal, think 20 moves ahead, and hide cunning.
Wonderfully, there are no simple moral positions that one can take about the characters in the work. The Seven, although nominally good, guide a murderous, oppressive State. The Dispersionists and their successors, all "underdog freedom fighters", also end up compromised, with as much blood staining their hands as the Seven and all the various xiao ren of the books.
Set aside a good chunk of time to complete the 7 or 8 books of the series. At the end you'll be well rewarded with a reading experience that I found more fun than video games or bar hopping (As a college student at the time, these all competed for leisure time.....)
Rating: 
Summary: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Review: Chung Kuo has quite a few faults, indeed. It is violent and graphic in a few places and there is quite a bit of death, language, and explicit sexual themes throughout. Don't expect an incredibly complex set of characters, or beautiful or gripping descriptions. Still I COULD NOT put this book down. Not that it was so good. But the world it purports is almost believable, and it is fairly gripping. It's more or less worth slogging through, but BE WARNED: there are scenes in it, as well as its sequel "The Broken Wheel" (I haven't read any of the ones following) that still nauseate me when I think of them almost a year later (they're that sick). Good but not great. There's way better sci-fi/fantasy books in this vein out there - but if you want depressed, crumbling, revolution, etc, go with Chung Kuo.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent story
Review: I tend to read a lot of books, from sci-fi to literature to hard-boiled crime to Tom Clancy novels. But very, very few of the books I have ever read invoked the level and range of emotions that came from reading David Wingrove's Chung Kuo. From fear (for our future), to sadness (for the way women are dismissed in the Chung Kuo society), to outright revulsion (for the repugnant acts performed), nearly every emotion was covered. The most interesting aspect of the novel, however, is the notion that not everything is black and white like the stones on the wei chi board. Even the characters capable of the most inhuman acts also have their weaknesses. In fact, Mr. Wingrove sculpts each character so exquisitely that I find it impossible to not side with each character's position. Each character is right; each stance and point of view is valid. However, the situation, circumstance and position of every character is so vastly different from their opponents, that the confrontation between them is inevitable. At the end of the novel, who do I side with? There is no easy answer to that question. Chung Kuo is a long novel and it is complex. There are numerous characters, but this complexity is well used. Every character helps elaborate a part of the world, and helps expand our understanding of the world. I reject the notion that it is "pulp" as one reviewer put it (not that I am not a fan of pulp, mind you), because there is simply too much detail, complexity, and subtlety for it to be pulp. If you are up for a 640+ page novel, a list of characters four pages long, and up to five story lines at any one time, then pick up this book. Chung Kuo is certainly a novel worthy of all the praise it has received, and, more importantly, of your time.
Rating:
Summary: Not the greatest series, but it could have been the greatest
Review: Although this series isn't the greatest series of all-time (See Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy for the greatest.), it is the series that could have been the greatest. Unfortunately the series was 8 books instead of 6. Just read the first six books and you'll put it on your list of favorites. Read the last two books and you'll see exactly how to ruin a perfectly good series. Unfortunately, the last two books completely lose the flavor of the Chinese influence on Wingrove's future world which made the first six books so intriging and unique. This series could have been the best series because this series has the best characters of any SciFi series I have read. Ascher, Karr, DeVore, Chen, Lehmann, and the T'angs. You'll find yourself constantly switching alliances as you read the series. The lines between the goodguys and the badguys are constantly changing. The plot unfolds like one of the Godfather movies where there doesn't seem to be anything happening as everyone is orchestrating their plots and then suddenly the action explodes. You should not read this series unless you are the type of person who will read an 8 book series. Also, you should not read this series if you are squeamish when it comes to descriptions of violence and torture. (Some of the characters are evil and thus do extreme evil unto others.) If the above two categories don't exclude you, I highly recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: trashy
Review: I've read a few books of this series. They're somewhat engrossing, but in a trashy way. Yuck, yuck, I feel dirty now.
Rating:
Summary: Pulp on an epic scale.
Review: This is a very entertaining book. Wingrove creates a wonderfully detailed SF world in which China has reverted to an imperial dynasty and taken over the world--building a huge city over all the earth where the level one lives on determines and is determined by his social standing. Tons of characters and overlapping story lines move quickly and deliver great entertainment value. This is not a deep literary work by any means, but as pulp it's a classic.
Rating:
Summary: Boy, Epic is right!
Review: The professional reviewers who fawned over Chung Kuo speak of combinations of Clavell,Herbert,and Star Wars. They left out Stephen King. As in an exhuasting narrative. Well written, yes. thought provoking, yes. But the charactors kept streaming at you. If there were any who I really took to, I might consider reading the next volume. But, it was too wide in scope. Too many plots. Then,it bascially finishes with an old fashioned shoot it up. I can't see investing the time for the rest of the series. Wingrove is obviously a very good writer, but he spreads himself too thin, as if he had too much to say.
Rating:
Summary: Totally Amazing!
Review: I've read the entire series so far, and it's INCREDIBLE! I admit I was a bit skeptical when I picked up the paperback and the cover/reviews of the book compared itself to Blade Runner and Dune; but it is true! The book was so engrossing that I felt like I was actually there! The characters in the whole series are very believable; there isn't really a black and white sence of good and evil (just as in real life).... between all the major characters. I will admit that it will probably be hard for the average American reader to follow all the characters with all of those different yet similar Chinese names and getting used to some of the Chinese dialoge (Just a few words, but I had to keep going to the back of the book where they were thankfully explained.) These were only very minor stumbling blocks for me, and shouldn't prevent the majority of people from enjoying this excellent series!
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