David Wingrove Books in Order

An investigator from an alternate Earth travels between planets to meet celebrated science fiction writers disguised as their own characters. This illustrated exploration of the genre includes encounters with figures representing Isaac Asimov and George Orwell.

Written with Brian Griffin, this critical study examines Brian Aldiss's fiction and his movement between adventure storytelling and literary experimentation. It explores the continuities, contradictions, and modernist concerns running through his contributions to science fiction.

This reference guide combines science fiction history, recurring themes, and accounts of writers' working methods with author biographies and rated book entries. It also surveys magazines, criticism, and the practical economics of publishing the genre.

Seven Chinese rulers govern a technologically advanced Earth where social rank determines life inside immense cities. Their demand for stability clashes with rebels seeking change, setting the stage for the devastating War of Two Directions.

Revolution spreads through the levels of City Earth as the Seven lose their grip on Chung Kuo. The rulers consider controlling human minds to restore order, while conflict between privileged citizens and the oppressed threatens billions.

New rebel movements gain support in Chung Kuo's lower levels while rivalries divide its seven rulers. Li Yuan struggles with political disloyalty and domestic betrayal, haunted by a vision of the cities reduced to bones.

The struggle between progress and enforced stability reaches North America, where Wu Shih faces challenges to his authority from several directions. Meanwhile, disturbing visions suggest a destructive upheaval that Chung Kuo's rulers cannot fully understand or control.

Civil war engulfs the Martian colony while Chung Kuo's rulers struggle against their own surveillance ministry. Political conspiracy threatens Li Yuan, and an apparent victory for the established order in America brings unforeseen disaster.

DeVore prepares a fleet to attack Earth's rulers while the exiled Hans Ebert plans to bring an African tribe home from Mars. As the great cities crumble, Emily Ascher continues fighting for the freedom of their inhabitants.

A fragile new society emerges from Europe's devastated cities, offering hope after Chung Kuo's upheavals. Warlords, advanced weaponry, and ambitious leaders threaten its survival, while Kim Ward considers how to protect people from the dangers ahead.

Young Atrus learns the D'ni art of writing books that connect to other worlds under his father Gehn's instruction. Exploring those worlds draws him into questions about power, responsibility, and the consequences of his father's ambitions.

Anna becomes the first outsider to enter the underground civilization of D'ni. Her arrival brings love and new possibilities, but entrenched suspicion and Veovis's schemes place the city's future in danger in this Myst prequel.

Atrus and Catherine return to ruined D'ni and search other worlds for survivors of its destruction. Their effort to rebuild the civilization leads them to a hidden book and troubling secrets left by its former masters.

Chung Kuo's great cities have fallen, leaving dictatorships and warlords competing for Earth. Li Yuan lives in American exile, DeVore struggles against a space blockade, and Kim Ward must consider whether to return for another confrontation.

China's expansion continues under Tsao Ch'un, whose imperial ambitions demand further conquest. General Jiang Lei leads a campaign against America with his family held hostage, while Jake Reed serves inside the increasingly troubled bureaucracy of the World of Levels.

Decades after economic collapse, former futures broker Jake Reed sees Chinese airships approach his isolated community. He is drawn into a vast society where elevation determines status and enforced order conceals mounting conflict over humanity's future.

Assassinations and sabotage threaten Chung Kuo's imposed stability as revolutionaries challenge the Seven. A suppressed account of genuine history could expose the regime's foundations, while a proposed starship offers another direction for a society forbidden to change.

The assassination of the Minister of the Edict shakes Chung Kuo's rigidly controlled empire. Powerful merchants secretly seeking change challenge the seven ruling T'ang, bringing the immense cities closer to the War of Two Directions.

Population growth forces Chung Kuo's rulers to relax restrictions and reopen the House at Weimar. Beneath the uneasy peace, Howard DeVore allies himself with ambitious general Hans Ebert, whose plans threaten the authority of the Seven.

The Seven have survived the merchants' covert war, but their victory brings only a fragile peace. Opposition continues gathering strength throughout Chung Kuo's city levels as famine, violence, and political instability threaten to reignite the struggle.

Howard DeVore directs terrorist attacks that undermine the Seven's control, while scientific prodigy Kim Ward becomes both a potential answer and a target. Within the ruling circle, Wang Sau-leyan pursues vengeance that threatens his fellow T'ang.

German time agent Otto Behr battles Russian rivals across thousands of years, altering events to secure his nation's future. Competing versions of history unsettle his memories, while his feelings for a Russian agent complicate his allegiance.

A deadly epidemic strikes supporters of the Seven, prompting Li Yuan to take drastic measures. At the Kwibesi detention camp, guard Kao Chen questions his duty as brutal repression and shifting loyalties deepen Chung Kuo's divisions.

Otto Behr's struggle against Russian time agents carries him from medieval Russia to the Battle of Poltava. The appearance of an unidentified third power transforms the conflict, threatening both sides and the histories they seek to control.

A powerful third faction threatens to overwhelm the German and Russian struggle across time. Otto Behr discovers his own importance to the competing realities and fights to protect his family as history faces destruction or transformation.

Wu Shih's crackdown on powerful men's sons fuels unrest in North America. Elsewhere, Stefan Lehmann rises through Chung Kuo's criminal underworld, while Kim Ward's relationship with Jelka Tolonen confronts the prejudices surrounding his lowly origins.

Rivalry within the Seven intensifies after Wang Sau-leyan attacks Li Yuan's floating palace. Li Yuan considers closer cooperation with two fellow rulers, while Stefan Lehmann pursues control of the criminal powers beneath City Europe.

DeVore prepares a renewed assault from Mars, developing new weapons after an earlier failure. Hans Ebert becomes entangled in his plans, while unrest spreads through the cities and ambitious officials undermine the Seven from inside their own ministry.

Emily Ascher becomes a voice for people in North America's lower levels as competing factions struggle for control. Religious zealots, violent militants, entrenched rulers, and men seeking immortality threaten to pull Chung Kuo into deeper conflict.