The year is 2215. America has fallen, Mars is in ruin and in Africa a brutal war has devastated a prosperous continent. Chung Kuo, once an unchanged and unchanging world where the Seven Emperors ruled an obedient forty billion, is now in dangerous turmoil, its solitary ruler, Li Yuan, increasingly powerless to act.But there are those who welcome such cataclysmic change. Ben Shepherd, eager for new artistic inspiration, grasps the opportunity to explore the hidden places of the City. Stefan Lehmann, the overlord of a vast criminal underworld, sees the chance to capture the City for himself. From Mars, Hans Ebert prepares to return, transformed from the arrogant youth who once aspired to rule Chung Kuo, while from the icy wastes of Charon, Pluto’s moon, comes Howard DeVore, the greatest of Li Yuan’s enemies, whose mission is not to conquer but to destroy.