‘I love you,’ he said softly, looking down at her. ‘You know that.’
‘Yes,’ she said, closing her eyes, shuddering as he pressed down into her. ‘I know...’
And yet it wasn’t enough. For him it would never be enough.
IN TIMES TO COME…
Chung Kuo: The Art of War is the fifth volume of a vast dynastic saga that covers more than half a century of this vividly realized future world. In the fifteen volumes that follow, the Great Wheel of fate turns through a full historical cycle, transforming the social climate of Chung Kuo utterly. Chung Kuo is the portrait of these turbulent – and often apocalyptic – times and the people who lived through them.
In Chung Kuo: An Inch of Ashes, as the population continues to grow, the Seven find they must make further concessions. The great Edict of Technological Control – the means by which the Seven have kept Change at bay for more than a century – is to be relaxed, the House at Weimar re-opened, in return for guarantees of population controls. For the first time, the Seven are forced to tackle the problems of their world, facing up to the necessity for limited change. But is it too late? Are the great tides of unrest unleashed by earlier wars about to overwhelm them?
It certainly seems to, and when DeVore manages to persuade Li Yuan’s newly appointed general, Hans Ebert, to secretly ally with him, the writing seems to be on the wall. Handsome, strong and intelligent, Ebert is heir to genetics and pharmaceuticals company GenSyn, Chung Kuo’s largest manufacturing concern. He’s also a vain, amoral young man, a cold-blooded ‘hero’ with the secret ambition of deposing the Seven and becoming ‘King of the World’.
Having married his brother’s wife, the beautiful Fei Yen (‘Flying Swallow’), Prince Li Yuan has settled to his new role as his father’s helper. He loves the work, only the task requires long hours, and Fei Yen feels neglected by her husband. Consumed by passion, she has a brief, clandestine affair with his cousin, the handsome young T’ang of East Asia, Tsu Ma; one which, if disclosed, would destroy the Seven. Tsu Ma ends the affair, but has the damage been done?
Kim Ward, rescued as a child from the Clay – that dark and hostile land beneath the City’s foundations – has fulfilled his early promise and proved something of a scientific genius. Scouts from the great Companies look to buy his services. Even the great T’ang, Li Shai Tung, is interested in the boy’s talent. But there are others who seek to destroy him, so no one else can use him. As for Ben Shepherd, he has gone to college, in ‘Oxford’. Or at least the place that calls itself that these days. His failure to fit in drives him home again, but not before he falls in love for the first time, with his future wife, Christine, and gets his first glimpse – in the Oven Man’s ash-painted picture of the Feast of the Dead – of where his own art ought to be heading.
CHARACTER LISTING
MAJOR CHARACTERS
Ascher, Emily
Trained as an economist, she joined the Ping Tiao revolutionary party at the turn of the century, becoming one of its policy-formulating ‘Council of Five’. A passionate fighter for social justice, she was also once the lover of the Ping Tiao’s unofficial leader, Bent Gesell.
DeVore, Howard
A one-time major in the T’ang’s Security forces, he has become the leading figure in the struggle against the Seven. A highly intelligent and coldly logical man, he is the puppetmaster behind the scenes as the great ‘War of the Two Directions’ takes a new turn.
Ebert, Hans
Son of Klaus Ebert and heir to the vast GenSyn Corporation, he is a captain in the Security forces, admired and trusted by his superiors. Ebert is a complex young man: a brave and intelligent officer, he also has a selfish, dissolute and rather cruel streak.
Fei Yen
Daughter of Yin Tsu, one of the heads of the ‘Twenty-Nine’, the minor aristocratic families of Chung Kuo. The classically beautiful ‘Flying Swallow’, her marriage to the murdered Prince Li Han Ch’in nullified, is set to marry Han’s brother, the young Prince Li Yuan. Fragile in appearance, she is surprisingly strong-willed and fiery.
Haavikko, Axel
Smeared by the false accusations of his fellow officers, Lieutenant Haavikko has spent the best part of a decade in debauchery and self-negation. At core, however, he is a good, honest man, and circumstances will raise him from the pit into which he has fallen.
Kao Chen
Once an assassin from the Net, the lowest levels of the great City, Chen has raised himself from his humble beginnings to become an officer in the T’ang’s Security forces. As friend and helper to Karr, he is one of the foot-soldiers in the War against DeVore.
Karr, Gregor
A major in the Security forces, he was recruited by Marshal Tolonen from the Net. In his youth he was an athlete and, later, a ‘blood’ – a to-the-death combat fighter. A giant of a man, he is to become the ‘hawk’ Li Shai Tung flies against his adversary, DeVore.
Lehmann, Stefan
Albino son of the former Dispersionist leader, Pietr Lehmann, he has become a lieutenant to DeVore. A cold, unnaturally dispassionate man, he seems to be the very archetype of nihilism, his only aim to bring down the Seven and their great City.
Li Shai Tung
T’ang of City Europe and one of the Seven, the ruling Council of Chung Kuo, Li Shai Tung is now entering his eighties. For many years he was the fulcrum of the Council and unofficial spokesman for the Seven, but the murder of his heir, Han Ch’in, has weakened him, undermining his once strong determination to prevent Change at all costs.
Li Yuan
Second son of Li Shai Tung, he becomes heir to City Europe after the murder of his elder brother. Thought old before his time, his cold, thoughtful manner conceals a passionate nature, expressed in his wooing of his dead brother’s wife, Fei Yen.
Shepherd, Ben
Son of Hal Shepherd, the T’ang’s chief advisor, and great-great-grandson of City Earth’s Architect. Shepherd is born and brought up in the Domain, an idyllic valley in the south-west of England where, deciding not to follow in his father’s footsteps and become advisor to Li Yuan, he pursues instead his calling as an artist, developing a whole new art form, the Shell, which will eventually have a cataclysmic effect on Chung Kuo’s society.
Tolonen, Jelka
Daughter of Marshal Tolonen, Jelka has been brought up in a very masculine environment, lacking a mother’s influence. However, her genuine interest in martial arts and in weaponry and strategy mask a very different side to her nature, a side brought out by violent circumstances.
Tolonen, Knut
Marshal of the Council of Generals and one-time General to Li Shai Tung, Tolonen is a big, granite-jawed man and the staunchest supporter of the values and ideals of the Seven. Possessed of a fiery, fearless nature, he will stop at nothing to protect his masters, yet after long years of war even his belief in the necessity of stasis has been shaken.
Tsu Ma
T’ang of West Asia and one of the Seven, the ruling Council of Chung Kuo, Tsu Ma has thrown off his former dissolute ways as a result of his father’s death and become one of Li Shai Tung’s greatest supporters in Council. A strong, handsome man, he has still, however, a weakness in his nature: one that is almost his undoing.
Wang Sau-leyan
Fourth and youngest son of Wang Hsien, T’ang of Africa, the murder of his two eldest brothers has placed him closer to the centre of political events. Thought of as a wastrel, he is, in fact, a shrewd and highly capable political being who is set – through circumstances of his own devising – to become the harbinger of Change inside the Council of the Seven.
Ward, Kim
Born in the Clay, that dark wasteland beneath the great City’s foundations, Kim has a quick and unusual bent of mind. His vision of a giant web, formulated in the darkness, has driven him up into the light of the Above. However, after a traumatic fight and a long period of personality reconstruction, he has returned to things not quite the person he was. Or so it seems, for Kim has lost none of the
sharpness that has made him the most promising young scientist in the whole of Chung Kuo.
THE SEVEN AND THE FAMILIES
An Liang-chou
Minor Family prince
An Sheng
head of the An family (one of the ‘Twenty-Nine’ Minor Families)
Chi Hsing
T’ang of the Australias
Chun Wu-chi
head of the Chun family (one of the ‘Twenty-Nine’ Minor Families)
Fu Ti Chang
Minor Family princess
Hou Tung-po
T’ang of South America
Hsiang K’ai Fan
Minor Family prince
Hsiang Shao-erh
head of the Hsiang family (one of the ‘Twenty-Nine’ Minor Families) and father of Hsiang K’ai Fan and Hsiang Wang
Hsiang Wang
Minor Family prince
Lai Shi
Minor Family princess
Li Ch’i Chan
brother and advisor to Li Shai Tung
Li Feng Chiang
brother and advisor to Li Shai Tung
Li Shai Tung
T’ang of Europe
Li Yuan
second son of Li Shai Tung and heir to City Europe
Li Yun Ti
brother and advisor to Li Shai Tung
Mien Shan
Minor Family princess
Pei Chao Yang
son and heir of Pei Ro-hen
Pei Ro-hen
head of the Pei family (one of the ‘Twenty-Nine’ Minor Families)
Tsu Ma
T’ang of West Asia
Tsu Tao Chu
third son of Tsuchang, deceased first son of Tsu Tiao
Wang Hsien
T’ang of Africa
Wang Sau-leyan
fourth son of Wang Hsien
Wang Ta-hung
third son of Wang Hsien and heir to City Africa
Wei Chan Yin
eldest son of Wei Feng and heir to City East Asia
Wei Feng
T’ang of East Asia
Wu Shih
T’ang of North America
Yi Shan-ch’i
Minor Family prince
Yin Chang
Minor Family prince; son of Yin Tsu and elder brother to Fei Yen
Yin Fei Yen
‘Flying Swallow’, Minor Family princess; daughter of Yin Tsu; widow of Li Han Ch’in
Yin Sung
Minor Family prince; elder brother of Fei Yen and son and heir of Yin Tsu
Yin Tsu
head of Yin family (one of the ‘Twenty-Nine’ Minor Families)
Yin Wei
younger brother of Fei Yen
Yin Wu Tsai
Minor Family princess and cousin of Fei Yen
FRIENDS AND RETAINERS OF THE SEVEN
Auden, William
captain in Security
Chai
servant to Wang Hsien
Chang Li
Chief Surgeon to Li Shai Tung
Chang Shih-sen
personal secretary to Li Yuan
Ch’in Tao Fan
Chancellor of East Asia
Chu Ta Yun
Minister of Education for City Europe
Chuang Ming
Minister to Li Shai Tung
Chung Hu-Yan
Chancellor to Li Shai Tung
Ebert, Berta
wife of Klaus Ebert
Ebert, Hans
major in Security and heir to GenSyn
Ebert, Klaus Stefan
head of GenSyn (Genetic Synthetics) and advisor to Li Shai Tung
Erkki
guard to Jelka Tolonen
Fan Liang-wei
painter to the court of Li Shai Tung
Fest, Edgar
captain in Security
Fischer, Otto
head of Personal Security at Wang Hsien’s palace in Alexandria
Fu
servant to Wang Hsien
Haavikko, Axel
lieutenant in Security
Haavikko, Vesa
sister of Axel Haavikko
Helm
general in Security, City South America
Heng Yu
Son of Heng Fan and nephew of Heng Chi-Po
Hoffmann
major in Security
Hua
personal surgeon to Li Shai Tung
Hung Feng-chan
Chief Groom at Tongjiang
Hung Mien-lo
advisor to Wang Ta-hung; Chancellor of City Africa
Kao Chen
captain in Security
Karr, Gregor
‘blood’, and, later, major in Security
Lautner, Wolfgang
captain in Security Personnel at Bremen
Little Bee
Maid to Wang Hsien
Lung Mei Ho
secretary to Tsu Ma
Mi Feng
see ‘Little Bee’
Nan Ho
Li Yuan’s Master of the Inner Chambers
Nocenzi, Vittorio
General of Security, City Europe
Panshin, Anton
colonel in Security
Pearl Heart
maid to Li Yuan
Rahn, Wolf
lieutenant in Security, City Africa
Russ
captain in Security
Sanders
captain of Security at Helmstadt Armoury
Scott
captain of Security
Shepherd, Ben
son of Hal Shepherd
Shepherd, Beth
wife of Hal Shepherd
Shepherd, Hal
advisor to Li Shai Tung and head of the Shepherd family
Shepherd, Meg
daughter of Hal Shepherd
Stifel
alias of Otto Fischer
Sun Li Hua
Wang Hsien’s Master of the Inner Chambers
Sweet Rain
maid to Wang Hsien
Sweet Rose
maid to Li Yuan
Tender Willow
maid to Wang Hsien
Tolonen, Helga
aunt of Jelka Tolonen
Tolonen, Jelka
daughter of Knut Tolonen
Tolonen, Jon
brother of Knut Tolonen
Tolonen, Knut
Marshal of the Council of Generals and father of Jelka Tolonen
Wang Ta Chuan
Li Shai Tung’s Master of the Inner Palace at Tongjiang
Wen
captain of Security on Mars
Wu Ming
servant to Wang Ta-hung
Ying Chai
assistant to Sun Li Hua
Ying Fu
assistant to Sun Li Hua
Yu
surgeon to Li Yuan
DISPERSIONISTS
Barrow, Chao
Representative of the House in Weimar
Berdichev, Soren
head of SimFic (Simulated Fictions) and leader of the Dispersionists
Berdichev, Ylva
wife of Soren Berdichev
Blake, Peter