The White Mountain — David Wingrove

THE EMPIRE FACES THE TEST OF WAR. FOR CENTURIES THE SEVEN HAVE RULED IN BENEVOLENCE BUT NOW THE TIME FOR MERCY HAS PASSED.

A towering world-city covers almost every acre of every continent. Seven high-tech fiefdoms, ruled by seven lords united in unimaginable power. But now the wheel is broken. The Seven are divided at last. Armed rebellion has broken out in Chung Kuo's few remaining open spaces: on the vast grain farms, within the chilly Mars colony. . . and along the proud spine of the mountain chains, where hardy guerrillas scoff at the gunships of the T'ang. In desperation, the Seven plot their final solution in secret council, a gambit that could ensure peace... at a terrible price.

An epic that drives us into an alternative world so real that we become true denizens of the new Middle Kingdom, touched by tomorrow's longings. . .driven by forces as ancient as man's first breath.