The Years of Rice and Salt

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author:	Kim Stanley Robertson

I've been thinking about books for Summer Girl, books I can lend her. Since my library is almost entirely science fiction, and she only likes the more level-headed ones (no men with wings allowed), I've been wondering what to lend her... and it's only recently that I thought how perfect the works of Kim Stanley Robertson are. KSR has to be one of my all-time favourite authors. His characters are easy to identify with, have depth and meaning, and are central to his books in a way which the trashier end of the market would do well to emulate. His science is always level-headed and believable. In fact, I would recommend most of his works, but most especially I have to go for the Mars trilogy, which is utterly brilliant right until the end (the final book in the trilogy still has my favourite last line of any novel); Icehenge, which is short and elegaic (sp?) and beautifully unresolved at the end; and this one, The Years of Rice and Salt.

Briefly, now: this is an alternative history, based on the premise that the Black Death killed off 95% of Europe's population instead of about 30% (is that right?). In this history, Islam and China grow to fill the void, and Europe is relegated to an Islamic backwater of bickering Taifa states (love that word - don't know what it means, think it's a type of rock, but love it anyway). The backbone of the book is a group of characters who are a sort of cosmic family, a jati, who are reincarnated over and over again and always somehow find one another, without really knowing why or who they are. It's a brilliantly told fable. There are a few rare occasions where KSR gets out his broad brush and starts lecturing, but these are truly rare, and for the most part the stories are well told, the characterisation is splendid, and each episode is touching in its own way.

Highly recommended.