In 2043 the dream of a united world is seemingly achieved through complete globalization of the financial markets. With the world so interconnected peace would seem to be the only option as every country relies on all the others for continued financial security and prosperity. No one would be mad enough to upset that balance. Right? Son of Heaven Chung Kuo #1 By David Wingrove Atlantic September 2012 Jake Reed is a stock broker unlike anything we currently imagine. He works in the datascape – a place where you can feel, sense, taste and smell every company, their assets, and their financial strength (or weakness). His job is to watch the datascape, observe the markets making real time immediate changes to secure his corporations financial might. Something is up when he starts to see changes that make no sense. Changes that mean the end of the datascape and the global markets. The end of everything. And before the end he sees who is behind it all. Someone just mad enough to succeed. Flash forward. In 2065, Jake is living in the post apocalyptic wasteland of rural used-to-be-England with his 14 year old son in a farming enclave. On a routine trip to market – through highwayman infested lands where a local “king” serves to protect as best he can his loosely connected subjects – Jake sees something that reignites the fears from 23 years ago and sees the face of the evil that destroyed modern civilization and set mankind back hundreds of years. As the new threat advances Jake has decisions to make about how he and his family will live (or not) in this new world order. There are a lot of post apocalyptic or dystopian novels out there but what differentiates this series from those is the sheer depth and realism. Sure a plague or a world war could reduce the world to a wasteland, but Wingrove paints a picture that is far more realistic. Look at the last five years for your proof. When the American economy suffered the world’s economy suffered. And even now when debt limits are under debate the world waits to see if their economies could collapse or be rejuvenated. All because of the globalization of the marketplace; the interconnectedness of financial strength and weakness. Wingrove paints the scariest vision of the apocalypse precisely because it is the most likely to happen. But how the world collapses is but an appetizer. How the world is rebuilt is the main course. [SPOILERS FOLLOW] The madman behind the collapse isn’t as mad as he may seem. The long game played over the course of a lifetime enables Tsao Ch’un of China to destroy the world system and rebuild it in his image. Or at least he hopes as the same control he seeks is sought by others in his new order who seek to wrest it away from the new Emperor. [END SPOILERS] Wingrove writes such a compelling novel, in a world that is so unbelievably deep and realistic that any true fan of science fiction, dystopia, or even literature must read. His work compares favorably to that of Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris or Warbreaker. Both authors create fully completed and fleshed out worlds with realistic characters that operate within character and with pace that builds and complications that arise to keep the reader entranced and avoid simplistic endings (read: “reroute the power we have 2 minutes left in the story”). This novel was a revelation for those of us who were unfamiliar with Wingrove. His work is outstanding. I can’t wait to read the second book and can’t recommend it higher.