Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Years of Rice and Salt / Kim Stanley Robinson / 672 pages / Asian Setting

Though this book wasn't exactly what I was expecting, I really enjoyed it nonetheless. The premise that the plagues in Europe in the 14th century led to 99% of all Europeans dying, rather than the 33% that actually died is really interesting. The author posits that the world would be divided between two major superpowers, the Chinese and Dar-es-Islam with other powers coming into their own in the 19-21st centuries, Travancore (aka India) and the Haudenosaunee (a league made up of Native American nations).

The story is told with the idea that the same people keep reincarnating over the centuries with the K character being rebellious and often a leader and the B character is usually hopeful and often religious. The biggest thing I did not expect was long discourses about religion, philosophy, and science, but I think the author was really trying to get the whole western European mindset out of our American heads to see how the mindset of Buddhists, Daoists, and Muslims affect how people in the Eastern Hemisphere live, work, love, and learn.

At nearly 700 pages, it's a long book and it took me about 3 weeks to get through it all, with the combination of both reading and listening to the audiobook while commuting to and from work. Pick up this book only if you are in the mood for something really meaty, not something fluffy.

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