The Stone Within (Chung Kuo, Book 4)
Fourth of Wingrove's Chung Kuo series of yarns (The White Mountain, 1992, etc.)--a vast epic of revolution and war in a relatively low-tech, overpopulated medium-future ruled by seven Chinese overlords, or T'angs. This time out, in 2209, the albino Dispersionist leader Stefan Lehmann gains control of the criminal gangs--the tongs and Triads--that order the existence of society's lower echelons. In North America, meanwhile, the House of Representatives begins to flex its political muscles; Europe also challenges the rule of the T'angs. And divisions between the T'angs themselves also grow deeper, as some progressives push for a relaxation of the Edict of Technological Control, and positive action to deal with the chronic overpopulation problem. More of the same: those already hooked on Chung Kuo will want to continue their acquaintance; the merely curious would do better to start with volume one--this is a heavy, tortuous series with a cast of thousands, and isolated installments are not readily intelligible. --Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.