The Years Of Rice And Salt
From The Kim Stanley Robinson Encyclopedia
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| Title | The Years Of Rice And Salt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genre | Alternate History | ||||
| Release | 2002 | ||||
| Publisher | Bantam Spectra (US) | ||||
| ISBN# | 0553580078 (US paperback) | ||||
| Page Count | 763 (US paperback) | ||||
| Preceded by | Vinland The Dream (2001) | ||||
| Followed by | Forty Signs Of Rain (2004) | ||||
| Notes | Cover artwork by Alan Ayers | ||||
The Years Of Rice And Salt is an alternative history novel written by Kim Stanley Robinson, published in 2002. With the working title "A World Without Europe", it explores the shape the world would have taken if 99% of the European population had been wiped out by a 14th Century plague. It follows 700 years of human toil and development unto a time where world civilization is one step ahead of our own. The Buddhist and Islamic religions take a prominent role; the civilizations that shape the world are the Chinese, Arab, Indian and Hodenosaunee (Native American). Through monologues, discussions between characters and parallels with our world, the novel explores the way history is made and discusses ideas on the evolution of history and the purpose of civilization (if any).
Contents |
Structure
More than a collection of short stories, the narrative follows a group of souls that are reincarnated into people that keep certain similar character traits and temperaments. The novel is divided into ten Books, each focusing on one (or sometimes more) incarnation of the main characters. It is written in the third person, with each Book roughly seen from a particular character’s perspective. Through the ages, a character’s name keeps the same initial letter so that the reader can identify him/her. Small chapters in the bardo, the Buddhist afterlife where souls meet between incarnations, occasionally serve as links between stories. Each Book has its own style, roughly following the style of the historical period or culture it depicts (most prominent in Books I, VI, VIII).
Ten Books
Book 1 : Awake To Emptiness
From a Europe deserted by plague to Africa to China, the journeys of a Mongol warrior who meets an African boy who plans to kill the Chinese Emperor.
Book 2 : The Haj In The Heart
One incarnation in rural Mughal India; then the journeys of a Sufi scholar from Mughal India to Akbar's court to Mecca to Europe being repopulated by Muslims.
Book 3 : Ocean Continents
Circumstances bring a Chinese war fleet to land in America; Indian Americans end up contracting illnesses, and Incas end up getting shot at by the gold-thirsty Chinese.
Book 4 : The Alchemist
Between the Khan's demands and their own inclinations, Samarqandi scientists make a series of discoveries and inventions that amount to an Islamic Renaissance.
Book 5 : Warp And Weft
A ronin that escaped Chinese invasion of Nippon rises the more democratically-inclined Native Americans (Hodenosaunee league) against the Chinese and Muslim colonists.
Book 6 : Widow Kang
Against the backdrop of civil unrest and war between Muslims and Chinese at the chinese border, two souls' discussions spawn a multitude of books on history, comparative religion, poetry and philosophy.
Book 7 : The Age Of Great Progress
Industrialization leads the South Indian League to large conquests, wealth and knowledge; against the great forces of Islam and China, Travancore seeks allies in the Hodenosaunee and the Japanese Americans.
Book 8 : War Of The Asuras
During the Long World War and the military campaigns in China and India, three Chinese officers wonder whether this is the real world or the bardo.
Book 9 : Nsara
In a Firanja still recovering from the Long War and in great social crisis, especially in women's rights, two women fight for the formation of an impartial scientific council that could save the world.
Book 10 : The First Years
Following the Chinese revolution towards more equity, a Chinese wanders across continents, wonders at history and grows old in a world where Justice starts becoming a reality.
Recurring Characters
- B the believer
- K the rebel
- I the scientist
- S the complacent
- P
- Z
- D
(to include short descriptions of character traits and temperament)
