The Years of Rice and Salt

Rating:
Summary: Good book with cautions...
Review: I have loved KSR's books over the last 10 years+ or so. especially the Mars series and space dance. However, he missed the mark on this one, regardless of how well it is written. And, it is WELL written. My problem is simple. Given the lack of a European culture, I find it difficult to believe that the remaining cultures, fascinatingly well described in details and in their own growth history, would have a timeline very similar to ours in most major scientific developments. How could that be? Given the very different religious and cultural histories (and their attendant baggage) of the rest of Earth, there is no reason that I can see to postulate such similarity. Some things far in advance, yes; others later, yes. However, with all my reading of both history and SF, I can't claim enuff historical knowledge (unknowledge?) to see how the general order foretold here could have happened in that way. Thus, if you have some understanding of "real" history, ignore that history. While the thought line jumps around a bit, it is well written book that is thought-provoking, and worth some of your time.

Rating:
Summary: The most intelligent alternate history yet.
Review: This book starts out with the feel of a great Gary Jennings book, with excellent characters and a story of travel and life changes. The book brings you to the forefront of today's debate regarding religion and culture. It brings Islam, Buddism and Hindiism into focus, without the disruption of Judiaism or Christianity. Very human characters, and the history is nothing but realistic and fasinating. This is a serious work of fiction, don't expect a space ship or an Aztec vs. Roman war. The best the very best a popular author has to offer. Mr. Robinson, get cracking on the next book of this series!

Rating:
Summary: A book to cherish
Review: Consider this a tribute from a new admirer. I was drawn by the title, the cover illustration, and the provocative premise. Once I started reading, I simply forgot to observe how the writer accomplished his ends. With reincarnation as a plot device, I truly forgot that I inhabit a universe in which Christianity ever arose. With the delicacy of a lapidary, the writer has created characters I will miss for the rest of my life. I stood just at Kheim's elbow as he shouted to the Miwok that plague had just come to their world. I grieved for Bistami. This is not a book to be consumed and forgotten. As much as any character in either classical literature or fiction has ever meant to me, these characters mattered to me. In the final pages, a passage I have copied into my journal observes that "teaching is a kind of reincarnation." Writing must be, as well. I think the reader who allows himself the gift of engagement with this book will discover that reading is a kind of reincarnation. These characters will live on in him and he in them.

Rating:
Summary: Alternate history
Review: The concept of this book was very intriguing, so I purchased it. The main idea was that the Black Death in the Middle Ages decimated Western Europe, leaving the world to be divided between the Moslems and the Chinese. I expected a rather straightforward history based upon this premise, so I was rather surprised to get a very long book that dealt with the history almost as an afterthought. The main function seemed to be concentrated on the idea of reincarnation, and various religious and philosophical concepts. There was just too much of that, and too little story to make this work consistently interesting. The last section, for example, I found entirely superfluous. That being said, the writing was very well done, and the characterizations excellent. It's not the book it purports to be, so be warned in advance. You may like it, or you may hate it.

Rating:
Summary: Shame this boring book can't get 0 stars
Review: It's unusual for me not to finish a book, but I'm having a difficult time plodding through this one. It lacks almost everything. It doesn't have continuity of plot, except at a ruinous level of abstraction -- as if a story set in the Roman Empire had the plot "Rome rose and then fell." It doesn't have compelling characters; instead, there are a bunch of cardboard cutouts who go through their paces and, when there is any risk of one becoming interesting, KSR kills everyone off and we go on to the next incarnation. I'm a fast reader, but I've been at this book for almost two weeks, because I keep wandering off to read toothpaste tubes, cereal boxes, almost anything other than this. If I weren't downright stubborn I wouldn't be bothering to finish.

Rating:
Summary: One of the more brilliant books of 2003
Review: While I can see why some found this book boring, and everyone is entitled to his or her own taste, I think that dismissing this book as 'boring' is missing the point.

Though billed as an alternate history, I found Robinson's book to be more about the power of the human spirit to endure and evolve despite itself, and with much more attention to philosophical and theological questions than to plot-driven adventures. I found it inspired me to want to know more about actual history, and about the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

I enjoyed seeing what incarnations the characters were to take on next - Robinson spells it out for you at first but then he gives you less and less and lets you figure things out on your own. I particularly loved the evolution of the 'K' character and at the moment I would have to say my favorite was the Widow Kang, who inspired at the right time by 'I' character Ibrahim goes on a fascinating intellectual journey. I like the fact that the recurring characters do not always relate to each other in the same way in their many lives and inspire each other in different directions.

Robinson presents a sweeping vision which sometimes moves forward as a narrative about two or more recurring characters, other times slows down into philisophical musings. He presents brilliant alternate scenarios of how technological, social, and political movements may have evolved. Yes, the characters always die, but don't we all eventually? I found the ending uplifting because it shows that the cycle goes on. If you're looking for everything to get wrapped up in some whiz-bang conclusion, you will be disappointed. The book is much more sophisticated and subtle than that.

The only thing that saddened me at the end was that the book was over and I almost started from the beginning again (instead I passed the book along to my husband who also enjoyed it greatly).

I don't think Robinson did anything by accident in this book. Some have pointed out that the style and tone changes from chapter to chapter, which I'm sure was deliberate. Some episodes are more plot-driven and others more philosophy-driven. This worked well I think because he was trying to convey so much history and really this is a huge book to get your head around - I feel like the spots where the plot took a break were a chance for the reader to relax and sink into a different groove.

The only real flaw I think was that the author did not include an index of names, places, etc. at the end that one could refer to, because there are so many of them! I would have also liked to see more detailed maps to help better understand exactly where some of the events took place in relation to today's world. I would love to see this in a future edition.

Rating:
Summary: Ultimately Disappointing
Review: I have to admit that I was disappointed by "The Years of Rice and Salt." Ironically, much of my disappointment was due to the book's failure to follow through on its excellent premise and beginning chapters. The book follows (through a long series of incarnations) a small cast of characters struggling to create a just and peaceful world. The angry and aggressive K____, the more spiritual tagalong B_____, the studious and intellectual I_____ and some others reappear throughout the book, each exhibiting the same fundamental character, with differences of culture and situation flavoring their actions.

"The Years of Rice and Salt" is technically an alternate history in which disease wipes out all of Europe and most of Christendom in the late middle ages. Unlike writers such as Turtledove, Robinson doesn't feel compelled to relate everything that happens, but focuses only on certain incarnations of the main characters. This is refreshing, but sometimes makes it difficult to figure out what happened in the world and when (since he uses mainly the lunar Islamic calendar). In the end, this world is remarkably similar to our own, which is somewhat implausible but not fatally so.

Problems begin to appear roughly halfway through the book, however, at which point the plot stalls and seems to lose focus. The characters' quest for justice in buried beneath the details of their lives and geopolitical developments. In one incarnation, K_____ joins an underground organization conspiring to free Japan from Chinese rule. Nothing else happens during that incarnation - he simply joins the organization. In another, all three characters fight in a devastating World War and talk about how it all went wrong. While I can appreciate the Robinson's apparent desire to illustrate the difficulty and contradictions inherent in changing the world by force, I wish he could have done so without halting plot development. The several hundred pages in which little progress is made (in the plot or the world) eventually became downright tedious, despite decent writing throughout.

And so ultimately I was disappointed by "The Years of Rice and Salt," which got off to a wonderful start but then seemed to fall apart. Although the last couple of chapters tried to get the story back on track, it was too little, too late. I was also left cold by the ending: there wasn't one; the cycle of reincarnations just continued. If this book seems interesting, I encourage you to read it, but suggest you consider checking it out from the library.

Rating:
Summary: Boring Story
Review: The Years of Rice and Salt is a sleeping pill in book format. The book is suppose to be an alternate history style book. But alternate history is used as the thinnest veneer for the author to write about religion and metaphysics (he particularlly loves talking about reincarnation). Since the characters keep getting reincarnated they effectively become immortals, but since they never remeber what happened in previous lives they effectively become new characters. None of the characters, no matter how you read it, are developed enough to care about them. Overall a poorly written book, its only good use is if you are having trouble sleeping at night.

Rating:
Summary: Good idea, poor execution
Review: The idea is so intriguing I finished the book, but I ended up disappointed. The alternate history is not enough to carry the book on its own, and the characters' continuity is not enough to keep this from being merely a series of short stories and vignettes. Many of the little stories are good, but the reincarnation theme is not enough to make us believe these are really the same souls, so that in each chapter you are learning new people in a new time.

If the people were more recognizable from life to life, or even if they in fact seemed to grow and learn in the ways they discuss in the between lives Bardo, this might have worked better for me. The book is too long and stories are too variable in quality to succeed as an anthology, and the character continuity issues mean it is not a successful novel.

Rating:
Summary: The Years of Rice and Salt
Review: The underlying concept of Robinson's book intrigued me. What would the world look like if Christian civilization had been extinguished in the early Middle Ages? Unfortunately, Robinson fails to imaginatively capitalize on his premise. He accepts the idea of simultaneous invention, driven by need, and so in his fictional world almost the same technological advances are made at the same time as actually happened - yet in different places, and by different cultures. Yet if culture has little to do with invention, which is instead driven by historical circumstance, then why did not simultaneous invention actually happen? Why didn't Europe invent gunpowder? Or Native Americans the wheel? Or Africans the airplane? More disturbing, however, was the portrayal of a world little effected by the loss of Christian influence, an influence of love and grace and human dignity/individuality that seems to be replaced by Native American, Buddhist, and Indian influences. Yet how is it that the Indian emporer who initiates a renaissance of sorts rejects the caste system? It is mentioned in one sentence that he does so, but no reason or basis for this rejection is given. And how would that rejection permeate into the whole of Indian society, a permeation that would be essential if Indian society were to play the humanizing role posited for it? Ghandi's rejection of caste was based at least in large part on his study of Jesus and the Gospels, and his rejection still has not been universally accepted or implemented. Further, in Robinson's book Indian society is a great force advancing the rights of women, yet no mention is made of the rejection and burning of wives and the discarding of widows - practices ended (in law at least) only by the Christian British. Another point: Christian civilization, especially in the Middle Ages, was most fully embodied in Byzantium. Their influence is nowhere described, even though it was and is enormous. It is instead unrealistically conjectured that the Near Middle East, like Europe, suffered wholesale and complete death via the plague, while neighbors of Byzantium were relatively uneffected. Overall, the concern of Christianity, albeit far from perfect, yet nevertheless powerfully present historically, for the poor, for human rights and individual dignity, for freedom and the value of compassion, grace, and love, is given scant credit for transforming the world. And when Christianity failed its own ideal historically, it has been Christians who reformed it, driven by that ideal. Even if Christianity as an institution/movement did not survive, surely the person of Jesus, recognized by Moslems, would continue as an important factor in history, yet Robinson relegates Jesus to the dustbin of history. What could have been a very imaginative look at a very different world, shaped for good and ill by radically different concepts and foundations, did not develop. Instead, the world as described by Robinson differs little in substance from that which is, making for a boring book in the end.