Chung Kuo: The Rise of China — David Wingrove

Two gripping beginnings in one: the first and second instalments in David Wingrove's epic Chung Kuo seriesSon of HeavenIt's 2065, and twenty years after the great economic collapse, Western civilisation struggles on. Jake Reed was one of the lucky ones, now living in rural Dorset with his memories and his 14-year-old son. But Chinese airships are arriving in the skies and a strange, glacial structure has begun to dominate the horizon. A resurgent China is seeking to conquer the world - and Jake will find himself at the heart of the struggle for the future. Daylight on Iron MountainChina is on the verge of world domination, but two blood enemies - Arabs and Jews - have united against their common cause. The exalted Tsao Ch'un, the Son of Heaven, must decide whether to destroy the Middle East in one blinding flash, or take another path. And in the oppressive, ordered society of new China, Jake Reed is not the only one feeling a little rebellious.