Asian Themed Post Apocalyptic Fantasy

[oscarrob]

What I recall was Asian royalty living with space and privilege while cities were super crowded and couldn't be left. I think some part of the story revolved around discovery of what was beyond/under the city. This was a very long time ago, maybe more than 40 years that I read at least one of the series and its all very vague. An odd symbol on the front of the book and I want to say the author last name began with a W, but I can't be sure.

Comments

[kinetikatrue]

So, I knew what you meant immediately, though I couldn't recall the author's name, either - but a little googling got me there! Anyway, I'm pretty sure the series you mean is Chung Kuo/The Middle Kingdom, by David Wingrove. It ticks pretty much every single one of the things you mentioned, aside from publication date, and I've got to say that, for anyone reading fantasy in the 80s and 90s, that cover stood out (or at least it did for me).

[oscarrob]

That's it! Amazing. Thanks so much. Also, I think my original hardback from back then had just the symbol on it (I probably took the dust jacket off).