Chung Kuo, the great globe-spanning City constructed of the super-plastic Ice, enjoys a brief if uneasy peace, which is threatened by the discovery of the Aristotle File. Suppressed by the Ministry, the 'Thousand Eyes', for centuries the document charts the true history of their world and will reveal the dark secret at the heart of Chung Kuo. Cold, cruel and calculating, the villainous Howard DeVore is determined to end the rule of the Seven and make way for his own bid for power. The harbinger for Change, however, is the destruction of the newly built generation starship, The New Hope, forcing the rebel factions into open war with the Seven. A war that neither side can afford to fight. A war of ice and fire that can only result in a weakening of that once-great social structure, Chung Kuo.