Rating: 
Summary: More of an outline
Review: First, it's more of an outline for a series of novels (with interpolated scenes) than an actual _novel_. The scenes are often very good, but they're isolated.Second, while nobody can actually say how an alternate history would turn out, and while granting the turbo-Black-Death McGuffin, the plausibility factor is low. The Scientific and Industrial revolutions were extremely low-probability accidents; they've each happened exactly once in human history -- with a near-miss among the ancient Greeks. This is, as the saying goes, "no accident". They required a whole confluence of extremely unlikely historical accidents, in areas ranging from theology (the victory of Aquinina theology) to politics (the lack of a unifying Imperial state in Europe)and on to economics -- the triumph of early capitalism in Western culture. Absent the West, it's extremely unlikely that "science" would have ever advanced beyond the quasi-Aristotelian level reached by medieval Islam. And while some technologies would still have spread -- gunpowder, paper, the compas -- it's also vanishingly unlikely that anything like an Industrial Revolution would have occurred between the 14th century and now. In other words, the ox-drawn plow would still be civilized humanity's most characteristic technology, half of all infants would die before age 5, and they'd still be cutting out hearts down Mexico way.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific what-if-ing . . .
Review: This is one of the best alternative history novels I've read in quite some time. We've seen the premise before -- what if the Black Death that struck Europe in the 14th century wiped out 99.9% of the population instead of "only" one-third? -- but it's what Stan does with it that makes this a book to read slowly and then re-read. The first section is about Bold, a common soldier in the Golden Horde, who is one of the first to discover the desolation of the Magyar Plain and the emptiness of the lands to the west of it. He has his own adventures, though, being sold into slavery and ending up working in a restaurant in Hangzhou, and then becoming a groom for the emperor. When Bold meets his unexpected end, we discover one of the principal themes behind the book: What happens in the bardo, the anteroom to the reincarnative process. Then we meet Kokila, a low-caste Indian girl who tends to take matters into her own hands. (Back to the bardo.) Bistami is a young Sufi who meets a friendly tiger, then becomes a confident of the Emperor Akbar, then finds himself in Mecca, and then journeys to al-Andalus (what used to be Spain) where he becomes part of the Moslem resettlement of Europe. This is one of the best sections of the book. A few centuries later, Admiral Kheim leads a Chinese invasion fleet against Japan, but they get blown far to the east and discover the New World. What's more, they make it back home and this opens the way for China to take the exploitative role in America that Spain took in our own history. Later, in Samarqand, a failed alchemist and a Tibetan glassblower kick-start the Age of Science -- and much good it does them in the short run. (Back to the bardo, of course.) The scene shifts briefly to the Onondaga and their League, and to a charismatic samurai who comes among them, but then it's back to China. The book goes on this way, mostly alternating narratives with different sets of characters who are mostly the same people recycled, to see if they can get things right this time around. And there are revolts against the gods when the reincarnated finally have had enough. One of my other favorite sections is about the Kerala of Travancore and the foundation of the Indian League, which is also the beginning of decline for Islamic civilization. The description of the Travancori soldiers dancing in ranks is marvelous. Actually, I didn't find the last quarter of the book so appealing, with its sixty-seven-year "Long War," and what comes after, but that's just me. The story ends in what would be the mid-21st century in our history -- but even with his closing sentence, Stan reminds us that the bardo is always there.
Rating: 
Summary: The good news: made me think. The bad news: goes on and on.
Review: I'm a big fan of the Robinson Mars books -- although sometimes they do seem to go on and on. Although Robinson is always an interesting writer, this one also seems like it sometimes could have used a good editor. However, the premise is interesting. Sometime, probably around C1400, a plague killed off Western culture. This is an alternative universe seen through the eyes of a karass of continually reincarnitaing characters (if you've read any of the other reviews, you'll probably know that each character shares an initial of the name each time they are born anew). The good news: made me think. The bad news: goes on and on.
Rating:
Summary: Think Again
Review: Imagine a world without Christianity, a religion (one among many) that asks its adherents to accept it as the one true path to salvation and everlasting life. Hmmmm.... could have happened. No moderating impact of Euro-American culture. Voids develop and are filled with different ideas and human activities. THIS IS LIFE - and I think that KSR has made a fine addition to his growing set of works. We are enjoying a Grand Master in the making, so savor every word. No idea one set of ideas is sacrosanct, yet all ideas have merit. This book is full of the harsh realities of being human and living on this Earth. It is also full of hope and an inside look at how people might work together in exciting ways to create a better world/univsere. I particularly enjoy "cafe chatter" and description of gatherings of thinking people, hammering out new ideas and ways of living - KSR style - let's hope he puts a little of this in all his works. Read this book, and think again. Maybe there are infinite paths to better living in the now (and then?).
Rating:
Summary: An Alternate History And More
Review: This new novel, THE YEARS OF RICE AND SALT, by Kim Stanley Robinson is colossal in more ways than one. Aside from its length, it is also like many books by James A. Michner in the scope of time the story covers and accordingly the number of characters. One difference with Michner is the setting, in Robinson's novel events occur in locations around the world. Back to the Michner comparison, there are a few powerful descriptions of human violence on par with Michner's tale of the leper colony in the novel HAWAII. What a timely work this is, albeit this is a work of fiction, as it is packed with ideas, philosophy and information about Eastern religions, especially Islam and Buddhism. With the current war against terrorism centered in Afghanistan and the Trade Center bombings likely acts of Jihad, there is an educational component to reading this book. Robinson is an award winning science fiction writer, garnering Hugos and Novas for his Mars trilogy in particular. However I confess to having read just one other of his novels, THE GOLD COAST (1988), and also reading the published version of his 1982 thesis, THE NOVELS OF PHILIP K. DICK. My recollection of reading THE GOLD COAST is that it took some effort to get through it. In contrast, THE YEARS OF RICE AND SALT was easy to complete and at times I found it a real page-turner. One thing I am sure that Robinson and I would agree upon is that Philip K. Dick was one of the great science fiction novelists of the 20th century. Another of Dick's short stories, "The Minority Report", is the basis for a forthcoming blockbuster movie. Robinson pays homage to Dick in his new work. I'll bet that there are many more than three references to Dick themes; this could be an entertaining game for like-minded readers. Three I observed were: an alternate reality as a result of a fundamental change in history (as in Dick's THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE), a specific out of place use of the word "simulacra" on page 238 (simulacra is a device commonly used by Dick in many of his books, including coincidentally one titled THE SIMULCRA), and the mass extinction of everyday or common animals (one of the plots in DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP, also published as BLADERUNNER). Let me be clear though, I do not see Robinson as a clone of Dick or Robinson's works as knock-offs of Dick's. Their styles seem quit different. Dick tends to action and a quick pace sometimes with Dick's view or philosophy tossed in (though there's much more philosophy in his later works). Robinson's novel in contrast is academic. The turns of events are fewer and less dramatic in Robinson's novel, but he is almost Dick's equal in generally dark humor! Perhaps I haven't said enough about the book. To me THE YEARS OF RICE AND SALT is not what I'd characterize as science fiction, and definitely not fantasy. To put a label on this novel: it is speculative fiction, and very good speculative fiction. Where history starts to deviate is at an outbreak of the black plague in the early middle ages. This is a fictitious chronicle of many centuries of life on Earth without Europeans. It is a story about a group of related individuals and how they survive. There's an ebb and flow to the action and the revealing of information to the reader. That's what makes this an interesting read. Like all written history Robinson explains (accurately I think) it is subjective, open to reinterpretation and will never be fully complete. As I have tried to say there are educational components to this book, whether the reader is consciously aware of it or not - so watch out, your perspective on the world may be affected!
Rating:
Summary: History Repeats Itself
Review: When I heard about this book the first time, I was very intrigued on what it may offer. Boy, did this book meet my expectations! The whole premise of the novel is that during the Middle Ages Europe was ravaged with the Plague, killing off 99% of the population on the continent! It leaves the Islamic nations and China free from European imperialists, making the Islamic nations and China the imperialists themselves! There are many parallels between Years of Rice and Salt and reality, such as the age old clashes between cultures and technological developement. The author uses a very nice way of spanning the whole book through the centuries with only a few main characters, you'll know what I'm talking about if you read it. Bottom line, this is a must read if you are intrigued by a world that is not ours, but could have been. This is a book that gives an alternative on humanities journey toward "modern" times.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Promise
Review: I loved the idea as presented, an alternative history, what if the Black Plague had caused a 99% mortality rate? What would happen in Asia, Arabia, Europe and the New World? A fascinating premise that at times lives up to its promise, but it is inconsistent. Mr Robinson brings contemporary views to many of the scenarios and sometimes that is interesting and insightful, other times not at all. Get ready for a lot of death (of course a history of world would contain a lot) and endlessly repeating cycles (hmmm, sounds a lot like history?) yes the book had great promise but for me it failed to deliver on it. Long, convoluted passages. I repeat, long convoluted passages and when you are done, you still don't really know anyone very well. Wait for the paperback
Rating:
Summary: Robinson's World
Review: Kim Stanley Robinson has done it again. This is a beautifully conceived and written book, with charm,
humor, and considerable depth. The reviews, including the editorial review, give too much information
- it is best approached as a blank slate, and that includes not looking to closely at the material
on the dust jacket. Nonetheless, if you would like to know more: Kim Stanley Robinson revisits the history of the last six hundred years, and rewrites it, fusing Tibetan
buddhism with a classic "what-if" scenario. For the sake of simplicity he does not allow his alternate
history to diverge too radically from our own, all the way up through World War I. There is however a
sentimental streak in Robinson, and he allows common sense just a little more scope at the end than has
actually prevailed in the modern world. I did wonder, reading this, who the audience would be. Not everyone who was taken with the
Mars Trilogy or the Three Californias would necessarily want to swim in these depths.
Robinson does supply a detailed time-line on page 1, and the main calendar in use is the Islamic one,
beginning in our 622 A.D.
(Though it is a lunar calendar, simply adding 622 to the Islamic date gives a fair approximation to the
Christian calendar - and one can always consult the time-line on the first page.) From this point on I'll allow myself some "spoiler" remarks, so if you want to read the book fresh, stop here. The premise is that the European plague of 1347-1349 mutated and wiped out the bulk of Europe half
a century later. The history that follows on this is both political and
intellectual/scientific/technological, and the latter seems to drive the former. To take a specific
example: the Galilean discoveries obviously don't take place in Europe. Instead, they occur in Samarqand,
at about the same period. This is an interesting choice, and indicative of Robinson's method.
He refers to the observatory at Samarqand, founded by Ulugh Beg. This was in fact a major scientific
center; indeed, it was the birthplace back in the fourteenth century of the system of decimal fractions we all
use today. What this illustrates is that Robinson has in general taken small details of our
own history and transferred them intact to his parallel history, while transposing the main political and scientific events substantially. Robinson has crafted his history very thoroughly. He is excellent on the relationship of Quran and hadith,
which has the same consequences in his world it has had in ours. Scientific terminology is reinvented -
since electricity is a Chinese discovery in his world, it has a Chinese name, rather than the "elektron"
of the Greeks. And so on. The net result is that the reader will probably want to pay closer attention to the details than was
necessary in the case of the Mars Trilogy. But the story has a great deal of charm - notably the episodes
in the Tibetan after-life (oops: between-lives!). Tracking the individual characters through their
incarnations is a game I did not pay much attention to, but it's certainly one that the author invites
you to play, among others. Kim Stanley Robinson has gone from chronicles of the near future in his California series, to the distant
future in Mars RBG, and now to our imaginary but well-remembered past. He's had a tendency in his writings
to have an unsatisfying and superficial view of history, along the lines of "It can't be known"
(Icehenge, some of the Mars episodes), and a highly romanticized view of human political relationships.
That sentimental streak is still present - particularly in the history of the New World - but his alternate
history is about as plausible as our own (which, admittedly, is not very plausible). KSR does not want to be trapped in a genre, it seems. More power to him.
A must read for his fans, at least, as well as for history buffs.
Rating:
Summary: A challenging and awesome work
Review: This work is challenging on many fronts, not the least of which is that there are many long-winded and dry descriptive passages that span many pages. But it is a history! Most of the challenge comes in the dramatic paradigm this work uses as a premise. I enjoyed the way the book challenged me to view the world from the Eastern philosophies, and the premise to continue to bring back the same characters in each era was truly enjoyable. If you enjoy history, philosophy or the work of KSR, it's worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting but Flawed Book
Review: This book is interesting, but flawed. The premise, that Christian Europe was wiped out in Tne Black Death and the world became dominated by Muslim and Buddhist culture make it fasinatong. Each segment can stand up on it's own as a story. Each has a different style and the convention of reincarnation as a thread throughout the book give it some continuity. So, in these areas the book has much to offer in terms of philosophy and theology. However, the book has two flaws that make it a bit hard to read.
One, is the lack of developement on the new world, America as we know it. Perhaps Robinson plans more in another book, but, the lack of developement makes it feel like something is missing. Second, the lack of a good timeline to correlate events taking place in our Christian calender made for slow reading. I know that this is Alternative History, But, unless you are a real history buff, when things are happening would become confused here. By the way, the leaps into time would be easier to take with a time line. When did the Modern era begin and how? So while I think there is a lot to reccomend in this book, make sure you have a good time line and a sense of imagination. Wthout them, you may get a little lost.
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