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.
