The Years of Rice and Salt: A Novel by Kim Stanley Robinson (PDF)

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With the same unique vision that brought his now classic Mars trilogy to vivid life, bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson boldly imagines an alternate history of the last seven hundred years. In his grandest work yet, the acclaimed storyteller constructs a world vastly different from the one we know. . . .“A thoughtful, magisterial alternate history from one of science fiction’s most important writers.”—The New York Times Book Review It is the fourteenth century and one of the most apocalyptic events in human history is set to occur—the coming of the Black Death. History teaches us that a third of Europe’s population was destroyed. But what if the plague had killed 99 percent of the population instead? How would the world have changed? This is a look at the history that could have been—one that stretches across centuries, sees dynasties and nations rise and crumble, and spans horrible famine and magnificent innovation. Through the eyes of soldiers and kings, explorers and philosophers, slaves and scholars, Robinson navigates a world where Buddhism and Islam are the most influential and practiced religions, while Christianity is merely a historical footnote. Probing the most profound questions as only he can, Robinson shines his extraordinary light on the place of religion, culture, power—and even love—in this bold New World.“Exceptional and engrossing.”—New York Post“Ambitious . . . ingenious.”—Newsday

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐THE YEARS OF RICE AND SALT by Kim Stanley RobinsonDecember 8, 2004This was probably the most complex book I’ve read in quite some time. THE YEARS OF RICE AND SALT by Kim Stanley Robinson is the retelling of history, based on the fact that instead of only 33% of Europe succumbing to the plague, it’s now 99%. The book starts from the days of the Black Plague, but because history has been changed, this novel is from the viewpoint of mostly Chinese or Muslim peoples. Reincarnation is an accepted fact, and throughout the book, characters that are telling the tale of this revised history are all reincarnated beings from previous chapters.I felt that Robinson’s theories were pretty good, and made a lot of sense. Since most of the white population has been killed off, the main world powers are now the world of Islam and China, with the Indians a close second. There is an interesting mix between the two cultures, with most people of course speaking Arabic languages as well as Chinese dialects. Great historic figures are either Muslim or Chinese. And of course all of them were reincarnated, some of them even remembering their past lives and recognizing each other in their future lives.I won’t get into the details of the characters and who they were, since there were so many through the centuries. What is important to know is that Robinson followed the progression of history from the Muslim point of view, so the world he created was very Muslim-centered or Chinese-centered, with of course place-names changed to reflect this. There is no such thing as the Americas, since Amerigo Vespucci never existed, plus he’s white. (Caucasians for the most part do not exist, except in a few pockets around the world). It was the Chinese that sought out the new worlds, not knowing that these huge “islands” existed out there in the ocean. South America becomes “Inka”, and North America is now Yingshou, with mostly Chinese and Muslim influence. San Francisco is probably the most celebrated city (but it’s not San Francisco anymore, but the “Gold Gate” exists as it does in the real world). Japanese Snow Monkeys live freely in the trees of what should have been this California city, due to the influence of the nomadic Japanese peoples (China conquered them ages ago and took over the islands of Japan).And so it goes.I found that parts of the book were bogged down with too many details, but I think history fans will get a kick out of this book. I enjoyed the extrapolation that was done in general and thoroughly loved the immersion of Muslim culture of this book. And the most interesting part of all, while the Christians do not even exist, religion does play a big part in world culture, with the Muslims trying to dominate the world, just as the Christians have done in our own. It’s food for thought.I gave this book a 4 star rating, only because I personally did not enjoy the last two sections of the book. For me, the war details were not as interesting as the rest of the history that the author went into, but for anyone reading this book, it is necessary to read it all. I really loved the comedy that took place in the bardo, where one goes before they are reincarnated into the next life. Characters arguing about why they keep getting killed off, and one character constantly telling the other about not “getting it”. There is a pattern here, with the reincarnated characters, that I didn’t’ get until it was pointed out at the very end of the book. But I’m sure it may be obvious to others. Overall, it was an enjoyable read, although a bit too long for me, but I am glad I read it.

⭐This is an interesting book. Before I read it, the only thing I knew was the premise – that it was an alternate history positing what would happen if the black death had been more fatal. Perfect pandemic reading.Thoughts: I was expecting it to be more focused on the empty European continent that it was. Shows how Eurocentric I am.The individual stories are impressive. Robinson had to do this larger world building, but then get more specific about not only the culture but how they might have changed as there was greater divergence in the world as it is and the world as he dreamed it. This does make it a bit hard to read, as you get used to one set of characters and the situation and then it moves on.There is in the world he builds a parallel to the actual world, so there are equivalents to Newton and Einstein and Columbus, but they have different names and native tongues. Were I drafting a paper on this book, that might be the thing I focus on. Is Robinson positing some sort of teleology in technological development?Ultimately as a novel it doesn’t really work because it’s not building to anything narratively, it just cycles and fades. But it’s hard to complain because that’s really history, right? One dang thing after another.There is one story that centers around a kid who is captured and made into a eunuch and that was very troubling and hard to read part. But it did make me do more research on eunuchs, a thing I was not expecting happening from reading this text.

⭐There is no question that what Kim Stanley Robinson has done in The Years Of Rice And Salt is extraordinary.The book begins with an event that is literally world changing; the elimination of European Civilization at the hands of the Black Death, enhanced somehow far beyond the killing power it had in our world, where it killed one-third of the population of Europe. In the book, the plague has destroyed the population of all but a miniscule portion of Christian Europe, and the world is left to China, Islam, India, and, later, the natives of the New World. What follows is Robinson’s story of what that world might have looked like over a 700 year time span, told from the viewpoint of three recurring characters (more on that below)This is alternate history at its best. By eliminating Europe, Robinson forces us to wonder how the world would have been different and shows us what he thinks it might have looked like. How well did he succeed ? Well, none other than Harry Turtledove pointed out in a recent podcast interview that there is no right or wrong when it comes to alternate history, because there is no way to test whether an author’s theory of a world that might have been. The only question is whether the story is plausible and well written.The Years Of Rice And Salt succeeds in both respects.There are elements of Robinson’s story that seem implausible — most notably the reincarnation arc that he uses to tie his 700 year epic together (this is how he is able to have the same characters — B, K, I, and S — become witnesses to 700 years of human history). Another seeming implausibility is the way the technological progress in this world-without-Europe proceeds at almost exactly the same pace, and in nearly the same form, as it did in our world. For the most part, though, the world that Robinson presents is one that very easily could have come into existence. It will be difficult for readers in our world to accept the plausibility of the moderated Islam that Robinson lets unfold, but the idea of an Islamic “Reformation” in a world where Islam is the only monotheistic religion and has spread itself all over the world and been influenced by more than just Arab culture is quite believable. Similarly, the rivalries that unfold between Dar-al-Islam and the rest of the world seem to mirror the situation we face in our world today.The book does fall apart somewhat at the end, most notably in the form of a scientific conference taking place in what would be A.D. 2002 in our world in which scientists from all of the worlds major powers quite simply concoct a plan to ensure that atomic weapons are never developed. This seems somewhat too utopian.Despite these minor quibbles though, the book is exceedingly well-written. One of my favorite parts comes early in the book and begins with the K character paying for his deeds in a previous life by being reincarnated as a tiger. There are also frequent return trips to what was once known as Europe as various characters tell us what it looks and feels like so long after its people died. And, there are a few visits to a North and South America dominated by its native people, though the glimpses of this world are frustratingly few for my taste.This one is definitely worth reading.

⭐Where to start with this epic…”The Years Of Rice and Salt” is another example of the “alternative History” sub-genre of SF/Fantasy – the central idea of playing out a scenario in the real world’s past, where a change in one or more specific events causes a divergence with the true path of history. Notable examples in the field would be:

⭐The Man in the High Castle (Penguin Modern Classics)

⭐by Philip K. Dick (The Axis powers win WW2),

⭐Pavane (S.F. Masterworks)

⭐by Keith Roberts (The Spanish Armada succeed in deposing Queen Elizabeth) and

⭐Bring the Jubilee (Millennium SF Masterworks S.)

⭐by Ward Moore (The Confederacy win the American Civil War); prolific pulp author Harry Turtledove has created a cottage industry out of these “what if” scenarios. As such it’s quite a crowded field for a writer to make his mark. Happily Kim Stanley Robinson has the literary weight, being well respected as an author of “Hard” SF (the “Mars” trilogy), to be taken seriously in any field he chooses to tackle. So how does he do? Pretty well, in the main.The central conceit in this case is as follows: what if, in the 13th and 14th centuries, instead of circa-30% of Europe’s population dying during the Black Death, 99% of them were killed? In other words, what would the last 700 years of Earth history have been like, if you almost entirely remove the influence of White, European (and most crucially) Christian culture? A world without Shakespeare and Hume, Spinoza and Decartes, Newton and Nieztche. Also no Columbus, Cortez or Vasco Da Gama; nor the catastrophes of the Inquisition and Reformation.It wouldn’t be ruining the novel to suggest that you instead fill the vacuum between the other great world religions: Islam and Confucianism/Buddhism. And fill the world they do, with their joint Eastern sensibilities and conflicting ideologies (monotheism versus… polytheism without god? What would you call them?). In this history, the East is the ascendant, all-conquering world force.Okay, so you have your all-encompassing scenario with it’s intriguing premise. The next problem facing the author is: how do you tie together a story that covers 700 years of history without distancing the reader, given that the human lifetimes are so short? Another classic SF novel “Heliconia” faced the same issue and dealt with it by splitting the narrative into 3 distinct phases, each with a focus on a snapshot of time and a small number of characters. “TYORAS” deals with this in a similar way, except with a unique twist. In a nod to the eastern philosophies and themes of reincarnation that permeate the novel, we follow the same loose group of connected “souls” (known as a “jati” in the novel) as they recur in several different lives and cultures (and even species). Each soul can be identified easily by the first letter in their current host’s name (e.g B, K, I, S, P etc,etc.) and they carry with them a similar temperament and personality throughout.Thematically, Robinson appears to have a number of points to make: 1) great ideas tend to have their time 2) The opressed tend to remain oppressed and the rich and powerful tend to say that way too (regardless of who holds the whip) 3) How different world culture would be where the dominant theological and philosophical themes are underlain by a belief in reincarnation and cyclical renewal, rather than original sin, damnation and salvation.Most of which, I ought to say, does resonate. There are a couple of niggles which make it less than perfect. Firstly, it’s quite long and rambling. Some of the passages can tend towards tediousness and there are some deliberate oddities with the narrative which might grate on some. Secondly, the Eastern religious aspect of it can be a little daunting, particularly if, like me, your knowledge of Eastern culture is pretty minimal. Perhaps this is what it’s like for people from the East when they come across Euro-Christian culture and literature and are expected to comprehend the many subtle gospel references. I’d also say that, occasionally, the ambition of creating a new culture from scratch WITHOUT referencing our existing culture sometimes defeats the author – you can see him bending over backwards in order to parallel real advances like Newtonian Mechanics, Nuclear physics and Marxism, rather than conceiving of something completely novel. Consequently, the world ends up looking pretty similar, albeit with an Eastern flavour.Minor criticisms aside, he’s managed to achieve that rare thing in SF/Fantasy/Alternative history – real literary flare, a compelling story well-researched, convincingly plotted and masterfully executed. Recommended!

⭐Kim is obviously a very knowledgeable fellow but not the sort of guy you’d like to get stuck with at a party.There’s some interesting ideas in this book but it really needs the help of a professional editor.In particular, the first book (the main book is split into ten sub books)- you don’t have to end each chapter with, “If you want to know what happened next, read on…”. This isn’t a Choose Your Own Adventure book and most of us learnt how books work about the same time that we learned how to read.The Alchemist book also comes across like the author surfed Wikipedia for significant scientific advances then tried to attribute them all to one guy…Overall: an interesting concept but an uphill slog of a read.

⭐Really enjoyed this – surprised to say it’s probably my favourite KSR to date. Speculative Utopianism with well developed characters and big ideas without being showy or schmalzy. Not easy!

⭐Definitely value for money, I would get this again any day. It was a little damaged but you would get this as its a second-hand book. Not major damage so i wasnt fussed. Definitely recommend

⭐Robinson takes the basic premise of that of Christopher Evans’ `Aztec Century’. There, the plague devastated Europe to the extent that social progress was halted, allowing the Aztec civilisation to progress, explore and develop technologically. In Robinson’s alternate world the plague rampaged through Europe in the 14th Century and wiped out virtually the entire population. This, when the Mongols began exploring from the East, they discovered an empty land.This history, divided into exquisitely written episodes set sometimes hundreds of years apart and in different parts of the world, is a romantic, joyous and uplifting work. Often the tales told are set on the borders between cultures, religions, classes, even between sexes, and profound debates are conducted, often to no great effect, although the point Robinson seems to make is that any examination of the nature of life no matter how trivial has a cumulative effect on the society of the world.There are some interesting social developments in America where the Native Americans, inspired by an adopted Japanese, form a league of Tribes which resists any incursions by Chinese or Japanese invaders.Christianity has all but disappeared, and Europe and Asia are composed of Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs.In his Mars trilogy Robinson managed to create a continuity of narrative over about three hundred years by the device of the longevity serum which kept his main characters alive from the first landing on Mars through its terraforming to its independence and beyond.Here, as a linking thread through the centuries he employs the unconventional device of reincarnation. Souls travel in groups, we are told, and are often reborn in the same area or reconnect in life. The souls here are recognised in the narrative by their initials since they return with names beginning with K, B and I. In the intermissions between chapters they return to `the Bardo’ able, as they were not in the flesh, to recall their past lives. It’s an effective device, as it’s a metaphor for the evolution of the soul of society as a whole.The souls cross the boundaries of gender and race, and even at one point, of species, as when the K soul, having murdered in her last life, is reborn as a tiger.It’s a beautiful and poetic novel, and shows once more Robinson’s versatility and flare for sheer style and characterisation, ending, as always with KSR books it seems, with hope for the future of humanity.

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