Award-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson delivers a thoughtful and powerful examination of cultures and the people who shape them. How might human history be different if 14th-century Europe was utterly wiped out by plague, and Islamic and Buddhist societies emerged as the world's dominant religious and political forces? The Years of Rice and Salt considers this question through the stories of individuals who experience and influence various crucial periods in the seven centuries that follow. The credible alternate history that Robinson constructs becomes the framework for a tapestry of ideas about philosophy, science, theology, and politics.

At the heart of the story are fundamental questions: what is the purpose of life and death? Are we eternal? Do our choices matter? The particular achievement of this book is that it weaves these threads into a story that is both intellectually and emotionally engaging. This is a highly recommended, challenging, and ambitious work. --Roz Genessee


From Publishers Weekly
Having revolutionized the novel of planetary exploration with his Nebula- and Hugo-winning Mars trilogy (Red Mars, etc.), Robinson is attempting to do the same to another genre with this highly realistic and credible alternate history. It's the 14th century, and the Black Death has swept through Europe, killing not 30% or 40% of the population but 99%. With Europeans now no more than a historical curiosity, the empires of China and Islam spread rapidly across the world. India, caught between superpowers, struggles to maintain its independence until, fueled by a scientific renaissance, its forces besiege and conquer the great city that in our world would be called Constantinople. The New World is discovered by the Chinese, who rapidly settle the west coast, while an Islamic fleet lands at the mouth of the Mississippi. Eventually, the enlightened Indian nation of Travancore comes to the aid of the beleaguered native people of the New World. New technologies appear as the centuries go by and, as often as not, are applied to military ends. Adding a mystical balance and a human note to this counterfactual history is a small cast of recurring characters who live through each episode of the book as soldiers, slaves, philosophers and kings. Dying, they spend time in the afterlife, only to be reborn into the next era, generally with no knowledge of their past lives. Robinson, who has previously demonstrated his mastery of alternate history in the classic short story "The Lucky Strike" and his Three Californias sequence, has created a novel of ideas of the best sort, filled to overflowing with philosophy, theology and scientific theory. (Mar. 5)Forecast: The restrained jacket art, not at all typical of SF, suggests the publisher is aiming to attract intelligent mainstream readers as well. Certainly the depiction of how a moderate or even a liberal Islamic state might evolve couldn't be more timely.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-In this alternative version of the history of the modern world, the bubonic plague kills almost all of the Europeans, and the West never recovers. The major world powers are Islam and China, and the major religions are Islam (in various forms) and Buddhism. Many other peoples, including Hindus, Sikhs, Japanese, and Yingzhou (from the New World) also play significant parts. Robinson's story encompasses familiar parallels: the discovery of the Americas, religious strife and cultural breakthroughs, political tyranny and devastating world war, scientific renaissance, technological wonders, and the pursuit of happiness. Though this world is vast and complex, its history is experienced by readers on a human scale, learned through the colorful and vivid tales of individual people. Through the centuries, they live and die in startlingly different ways, yet there is an underlying structure, and the characters remain familiar because they are the same group of souls, reincarnated in different places and times. After death, they meet in the Bardo, where they are judged, and then they are off on other adventures-again struggling to make progress in their "years of rice and salt" on Earth. This is an addictive, surprising, and suspenseful novel about characters and a world whose fate comes to matter considerably to readers.Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
A warrior with the army of Tamarlane turns his back on a plague-infested village in Eastern Europe, a Chinese widow rediscovers a new purpose in her life, and an alchemist risks his life and his reputation in the name of invention. These are just a few of the vignettes that propel this panoramic tale of soldiers, philosophers, emperors, and slaves caught up in a cycle of reincarnation and evolution. Beginning in an alternate 14th century in which the Black Death has wiped out European civilization and left the burden of human progress to the descendants of Islam and Buddhism, Robinson, author of the Mars trilogy, recycles characters and themes while exploring a world without the cornerstones of "Western" culture. Superb storytelling and imaginative historic speculation make this a standout novel and a priority choice for all sf and general fiction collections. Highly recommended. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
This vast, magisterial novel is Robinson's most ambitious effort at alternate history, a work on a scale as large as Harry Turtledove employs. The premise is that a mutating, hypervirulent strain of the fourteenth-century Black Death has wiped out nearly the entire population of Europe, and Islam has moved into Europe, China into North America, and South Asia holds the balance between them, thanks to high military skills and energy. All three parties compete for Africa. The resulting alternate history is recognizably that of the last 650 years in our world, refracted by the ensorcelled lens of a wizard with a doctorate in history and a wicked sense of humor--Robinson. Nor is ensorcelled putting it too strongly--not when one considers that Robinson presents several characters as successive reincarnations of other, earlier ones, which accords with a wheel of karma deriving from both Buddhism and Hinduism. Brilliantly conceived, the book may challenge readers less historically versed, particularly in non-Western cultures, than its author. And perhaps even the historically literate at this moment aren't going to be in the best frame of mind to contemplate a global Islamic superpower. Eventually, this book will probably place high on the list of Robinson's best work, however, so don't let its timing prevent its acquisition. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
PRAISE FOR The Years of Rice and Salt

"Hugo winner Robinson follows three characters over seven centuries on an alternate Earth in which Islam and Buddhism are the dominant religions...Blessed with moments of wry and gentle beauty as friends and antagonists rediscover each other under different guises in exotically dangerous locales."
-Kirkus Reviews

PRAISE FOR KIM STANLEY ROBINSON’S Red Mars WINNER OF THE NEBULA AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

“A tremendous achievement.”
–The Washington Post Book World

“An absorbing novel...a scientifically informed imagination of rare ambition at work.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“Promises to become a classic...This is epic science fiction in the best sense of the term–thoughtful, provoking, and haunting.”
–St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Green Mars WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

“Dense as a diamond and as sharp; it makes even most good novels seem pale and insignificant by comparison.”
–The Washington Post Book World

“Has the breathtaking scope, plausible science and intellectual daring that made Red Mars a hit.”
–Daily News of Los Angeles

Blue Mars WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

“If I had to choose one writer whose work will set the standard for science fiction in the future, it would be KIM STANLEY ROBINSON. Blue Mars represents a breakthrough even from his own consistently high level of achievement....Beautifully written...a landmark in the history of the genre.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“A complex and deeply engaging dramatization of
humanity’s future...exhilarating.”
–The Philadelphia Inquirer


From the Hardcover edition.


Review
PRAISE FOR The Years of Rice and Salt

"Hugo winner Robinson follows three characters over seven centuries on an alternate Earth in which Islam and Buddhism are the dominant religions...Blessed with moments of wry and gentle beauty as friends and antagonists rediscover each other under different guises in exotically dangerous locales."
-Kirkus Reviews

PRAISE FOR KIM STANLEY ROBINSON?S Red Mars WINNER OF THE NEBULA AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

?A tremendous achievement.?
?The Washington Post Book World

?An absorbing novel...a scientifically informed imagination of rare ambition at work.?
?The New York Times Book Review

?Promises to become a classic...This is epic science fiction in the best sense of the term?thoughtful, provoking, and haunting.?
?St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Green Mars WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

?Dense as a diamond and as sharp; it makes even most good novels seem pale and insignificant by comparison.?
?The Washington Post Book World

?Has the breathtaking scope, plausible science and intellectual daring that made Red Mars a hit.?
?Daily News of Los Angeles

Blue Mars WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

?If I had to choose one writer whose work will set the standard for science fiction in the future, it would be KIM STANLEY ROBINSON. Blue Mars represents a breakthrough even from his own consistently high level of achievement....Beautifully written...a landmark in the history of the genre.?
?The New York Times Book Review

?A complex and deeply engaging dramatization of
humanity?s future...exhilarating.?
?The Philadelphia Inquirer

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Kim Stanley Robinson, author of award-winning novels like the Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars), Icehenge, and The Wild Shore, has written one of the most ambitious novels in decades in The Years of Rice and Salt, a book that is breathtaking in scope, chillingly timely, and profoundly powerful. Although it's billed as an alternate history of mankind's last 700 years, it is so much more than that. It's about religion, fate, and the human spirit. It's about the meaning of life. Why are we here? Is there a god? Is the soul eternal? Does it all really matter?

The story begins in the 14th century, as the Black Death is spreading throughout Europe. But instead of killing approximately one-third of the population, this time the plague destroys almost everyone: 99 percent. Civilization is wiped out, and Europe becomes a forgotten wasteland. There is no Renaissance, no Industrial Revolution, and no colonization of the New World by the British and French. Christianity and Judaism are all but forgotten. Buddhism and Islam become the world's two major religions.

Bold Bardash is a Mongol horseman who has witnessed the plague firsthand. Utterly alone and barely able to find enough food to keep himself alive, Bold wanders aimlessly until he is captured by Turkish Muslims and eventually sold as a slave to Chinese traders. While sailing back to China in the largest ship Bold has ever seen, he meets a black slave boy named Kyu. During the trip, the boy is made a eunuch, and only Bold comforts the boy as he struggles to survive the horrific ordeal. Once in China, the two fatefully work together in a busy restaurant, where Bold learns more about local culture and Kyu plots revenge against the entire Chinese Empire.

After Bold and Kyu experience life to the fullest and eventually die, their souls go back to the bardo, where they await reincarnation. The deeds of their past lives help decide who (or what) they return as. In each incarnation, the two try to improve themselves and the world around them, with varying levels of success: Chinese revolutionaries, an elderly widow and a poor monk, a Native American Indian chief and a clan matriarch, a tiger and a pilgrim, a Chinese naval captain and a young island girl from the other side of the world￯﾿ﾽ

The Years of Rice and Salt (a term coined by Chinese women in wealthy households, signifying the busiest times of a women's life: raising children, taking care of elderly family members, managing servants, etc.) is a truly visionary work. Kim Stanley Robinson shows us what could have been, and what could still be. Will humankind ever get it right? Or are we destined to make the same mistakes over and over again? (Paul Goat Allen)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Kim Stanley Robinson imagines an alternate history of the last seven hundred years." "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? What if the plague killed 99 percent of the population instead? How would the world have changed? This is a look at the history that could have been - a history that stretches across centuries, a history that sees dynasties and nations rise and crumble, a history that spans horrible famine and magnificent innovation. These are the years of rice and salt." This is a universe where the first ship to reach the New World travels across the Pacific Ocean from China and colonization spreads from west to east. This is a universe where the Industrial Revolution is triggered by the world's greatest scientific minds - in India. This is a universe where Buddhism and Islam are the most influential and practiced religions and Christianity is merely a historical footnote.

SYNOPSIS

With the incomparable vision and breathtaking detail 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....

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Having revolutionized the novel of planetary exploration with his Nebula- and Hugo-winning Mars trilogy (Red Mars, etc.), Robinson is attempting to do the same to another genre with this highly realistic and credible alternate history. It's the 14th century, and the Black Death has swept through Europe, killing not 30% or 40% of the population but 99%. With Europeans now no more than a historical curiosity, the empires of China and Islam spread rapidly across the world. India, caught between superpowers, struggles to maintain its independence until, fueled by a scientific renaissance, its forces besiege and conquer the great city that in our world would be called Constantinople. The New World is discovered by the Chinese, who rapidly settle the west coast, while an Islamic fleet lands at the mouth of the Mississippi. Eventually, the enlightened Indian nation of Travancore comes to the aid of the beleaguered native people of the New World. New technologies appear as the centuries go by and, as often as not, are applied to military ends. Adding a mystical balance and a human note to this counterfactual history is a small cast of recurring characters who live through each episode of the book as soldiers, slaves, philosophers and kings. Dying, they spend time in the afterlife, only to be reborn into the next era, generally with no knowledge of their past lives. Robinson, who has previously demonstrated his mastery of alternate history in the classic short story "The Lucky Strike" and his Three Californias sequence, has created a novel of ideas of the best sort, filled to overflowing with philosophy, theology and scientific theory. (Mar. 5) Forecast: The restrained jacket art, not at all typical of SF, suggests the publisher is aiming to attract intelligent mainstream readers as well. Certainly the depiction of how a moderate or even a liberal Islamic state might evolve couldn't be more timely. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

A warrior with the army of Tamarlane turns his back on a plague-infested village in Eastern Europe, a Chinese widow rediscovers a new purpose in her life, and an alchemist risks his life and his reputation in the name of invention. These are just a few of the vignettes that propel this panoramic tale of soldiers, philosophers, emperors, and slaves caught up in a cycle of reincarnation and evolution. Beginning in an alternate 14th century in which the Black Death has wiped out European civilization and left the burden of human progress to the descendants of Islam and Buddhism, Robinson, author of the Mars trilogy, recycles characters and themes while exploring a world without the cornerstones of "Western" culture. Superb storytelling and imaginative historic speculation make this a standout novel and a priority choice for all sf and general fiction collections. Highly recommended. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-In this alternative version of the history of the modern world, the bubonic plague kills almost all of the Europeans, and the West never recovers. The major world powers are Islam and China, and the major religions are Islam (in various forms) and Buddhism. Many other peoples, including Hindus, Sikhs, Japanese, and Yingzhou (from the New World) also play significant parts. Robinson's story encompasses familiar parallels: the discovery of the Americas, religious strife and cultural breakthroughs, political tyranny and devastating world war, scientific renaissance, technological wonders, and the pursuit of happiness. Though this world is vast and complex, its history is experienced by readers on a human scale, learned through the colorful and vivid tales of individual people. Through the centuries, they live and die in startlingly different ways, yet there is an underlying structure, and the characters remain familiar because they are the same group of souls, reincarnated in different places and times. After death, they meet in the Bardo, where they are judged, and then they are off on other adventures-again struggling to make progress in their "years of rice and salt" on Earth. This is an addictive, surprising, and suspenseful novel about characters and a world whose fate comes to matter considerably to readers.-Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews