From /tmp/sf.4146 Tue Aug 9 01:56:14 1994 Path: liuida!sunic!pipex!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!cyber2.cyberstore.ca!nwnexus!krel.iea.com!connected.com!news.sprintlink.net!dg-rtp!sheol!dont-reply-to-paths From: cash@convex.com (Peter Cash) Organization: The Instrumentality Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: BENEATH THE TREE OF HEAVEN: Chung Kuo V Summary: Things get worse Keywords: chinoiserie Approved: sfr%sheol@concert.net (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Message-ID: <2on74o$6if@lovecraft.convex.com> Date: Sat, 16 Apr 1994 16:49:59 GMT Lines: 138 Book Review: BENEATH THE TREE OF HEAVEN, by David Wingrove (Book V of the Chung Kuo septalogy) For those who have been following David Wingrove's exposition of a future Earth ruled by a renascent Chinese culture, BENEATH THE TREE OF HEAVEN--the fifth book of a projected seven--is a welcome new glimpse into this strange world (called Chung Kuo) and the people who inhabit it. If you've never read a Chung Kuo book, however, don't bother with this one--you have to start with the first book, THE MIDDLE KINGDOM. (I should mention that BENEATH THE TREE OF HEAVEN has so far been published only in hardcover in England; I know nothing of the publisher's plans for the USA.) One problem with a septalogy (will Wingrove really be able to stop at seven?) is that it obviates the usual dramatic architecture of buildup and climax that one finds in single novels or even trilogies. Thus, Book V really doesn't offer any dramatic crescendoes or surprising fireworks that stand out from the other books--Book V is just another pane in a stained glass window that shows the grand design. As usual, the writing is of a very high caliber. Wingrove likes to cut rapidly between scenes, creating a sort of montage effect--this works very well for him, heightening suspense and speeding things along. One thing I noted was that this book continues a trend I had noticed in the last couple of Chung Kuo books--there has been a steady dimunition of a feature that has caused some to be repelled by these books--sexual sadism. Perhaps Wingrove has himself come to regret some of the excesses in the earlier books, or perhaps he sees no dramatic necessity for such scenes at this point in the series. The latter view may be the correct one; Wingrove seems to use such sadistic scenes to give moral coloration to his characters. He uses them to signal that a certain character is indeed a _very_ bad man in a world where all inhabitants seem to be a fairly dark shade of grey. At this point, the moral nature of each character has been firmly established. One might remark that an author could choose a less repugnant way to signal the moral nature of a character. Still, the miasma of sadism seems to be at the heart of Chung Kuo; this is a dark and cruel world. If Wingrove eliminated these scenes, then he would be writing about a different world. Warning--spoilers follow. Don't read if finding out particulars will ruin the book for you! In Book V, the world of Chung Kuo is brought another step closer to what is beginning to look like assured complete destruction. By the end of the book, one of the continent-cities has been destroyed, another is ravaged by war, and the Seven are now Four. Some of the characters undergo profound change--for example, Chen chooses to retire from the Tang's service and goes to live on a plantation with his family. (This is the outgrowth, presumably, of his experiences at White Mountain.) His friend Karr continues in the imperial service, but is beset by increasing doubts as to the morality of what he is commanded to do. One of the insights offered in Book V seems to be that Chung Kuo is a "yang" society--it is a social structure exclusively male in outlook. That does seem to be on the mark. Women are treated pretty much as they were in the old China--as possessions that men may dispose of as they wish. A feminine viewpoint is altogether lacking from Chung Kuo--and this is one of the factors that makes this world so harsh and merciless. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this installment of Chung Kuo. I do feel compelled, though, to make some criticisms. My disappointments with Book V center more on what the book is _not_ about, than on what happens in it. This is an unfair sort of criticism, of course--perhaps the most unfair one that can be made of an author. I had hoped that the next book would focus on Jelka Tolonen, and on her relationship with Kim Ward. In Book IV, Marshal Tolonen had exiled Jelka to keep her from continuing her relationship with the brilliant but vulnerable Kim. And indeed, Book V starts out promising exactly this: we have Jelka appearing on Mars only to be ensnared by the supernally evil DeVore. But this thread is--to my mind--resolved awfully quickly; the damsel in distress is easily rescued, and never reappears during the rest of the book. This despite the fact that she presumably has crucial intelligence for her father and the Tang--that DeVore is well and alive on Mars. I had hoped that Jelka would serve to strengthen Kim, who always seems to get his legs kicked out from under him when he manages to stand up. It seems to me that Kim and Jelka together could be a powerful force for good in Chung Kuo. Perhaps Wingrove will pick up this thread in a later book. In Book IV, there were also hints that some sort of transformation was about to occur within Hans Ebert, who flees to Mars after his fall from power and wealth. Indeed, in Book V, Ebert appears transformed. And that is precisely the trouble--he simply appears on the stage as a new man. We see very little of the internal struggle that caused Ebert's transformation; instead, we see only the outcome of this transformation--he now regrets his previous evil deeds, assumes a simple life as a member of a group of Bedouin-like Martian exiles, and acts in every respect like a perfect gentleman. Moreover, the part he plays in Book V is rather small; it's as though the new, "good" Hans Ebert is not nearly as interesting to Wingrove as the evil one was. Perhaps this is a doubly unjust criticism, for that very paragon of Evil--Howard DeVore--is himself only a bit player in Book V. Perhaps he is acting behind the scenes, and is responsible for some of the apparently natural disasters that occur during the course of Book V--but that is only supposition. Certainly, DeVore (or The Devourer, as I like to call him) has all the makings of an elemental force. Perhaps he has grown too large for the stage to contain him--if Wingrove were to loose the Devil on his world, only an appearance by God himself could save it from an all too abrupt dissolution. Still, it may be that Wingrove is only saving DeVore for Armageddon--due, perhaps, to occur at the end of Book VII. Some of the most interesting characters inhabiting Chung Kuo do not appear at all in the fifth book. For example, Lehmann is referred to only in passing--his underground empire is burgeoning in City Europe, but he himself never puts in an appearance. Shepherd comes onstage only in one puzzling scene near the end, where he urges Li Yuan to "embrace the darkness". This seems to me to be odd advice, since Yuan has already embraced more than his share of darkness (e.g., the "wiring" scheme)--but then his own sister has come to see that Shepherd is insane in (I think) book IV. %T BENEATH THE TREE OF HEAVEN %A David Wingrove %I New English Library %C London %D 1993 %O hard bound %G ISBN 0-450-56415-0 %P 409 pp %K science fiction -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | Die Welt ist alles, was Zerfall ist. | Peter Cash | (apologies to Ludwig Wittgenstein) |cash@convex.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~