The Years of Rice and Salt

Taking place in an alternate history where the Black Death killed 99% of Europe’s population, The Years of Rice and Salt tells the story of a world without Europe.

With 99% of Europe’s population dead, history is instead dominated by China and the Muslim world, with Christianity becoming an obscure historical footnote. Through 10 novellas, the book follows a group of souls who keep reincarnating together through a history that might have been.

With each separate story being between 80 and 100 pages long, The Years of Rice and Salt manages to break what would otherwise be a very daunting novel into a manageable format. Each story transitions to the next with the main characters ending up in the Bardo, the afterlife, where they are reincarnated. Everything about this novel is masterfully done.

I found the novel to be very well done and enjoyed it tremendously.  Even if Alternate History isn’t your thing, The Years of Rice and Salt is worth checking out. I highly recommend it.

Book Review by Maxwell J.