Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2002 19:15:16 -0500
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Non political
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

Publishers Weekly has a daily email service of new & reviews for the =
industry.   For today, this was one of the items:

Tasty: Kim Stanley Robinson's 'The Years of Rice and Salt'

Popular science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars
Trilogy and winner of every major award in the field, this time offers a
monumental, thought-provoking alternate history. The basic premise of
The Years of Rice and Salt (Bantam, $25.95): the black plague of the
14th century wipes out the entire population of Europe, and the world is
dominated by Islam and China (Buddhism). Unending religious war ensues;
civilizations rise and fall and scientific advances occur mainly as an
offshoot of military needs. The New World is explored from the West
Coast by the Chinese, who encounter a unified, matriarchal Native
society that itself becomes a force in world affairs.

Each of the book's 10 sections (which could almost stand as separate
novellas) is linked by a group of reincarnated characters who appear in
many different guises--warriors, slaves, historians, leaders, alchemists
and scientists (very often women)--in each. Though their relationships
to each other change as they progress spiritually, their personalities
are more or less the same each time, and their names always begin with
the same letter, so readers will be able to recognize them easily (even
if they don't always recognize each other). They meet again and again in
the bardo, the Buddhist afterlife, before they return to the world for
another go-round.

Though it's described as an alternate history, the book is much more
than that. As PW's review said: "Robinson...has created a novel of ideas
of the best sort, filled to overflowing with philosophy, theology and
scientific theory." Especially interesting is the feminist aspect of
Robinson's opus* in fact, the title refers to the stage of a woman's
life devoted to the practicalities of raising children and keeping
house--and could also mean the 700-year span covered in Robinson's
challenging book. And while the book is dense in ideas and detail, a wry
humor is present--at one point the characters disparage a "reincarnation
compendium" by the anthologist Old Red Ink that sounds suspiciously like
The Years of Rice and Salt.

In an interview in the January 2002 issue of Locus, Robinson describes
himself as a utopian, and that perspective is evident here: as the
narrative extends beyond what would be our own time period, the outlook
is hopeful. A small group of people, as part of their own spiritual
journey, can affect the world in positive ways.

There's an interesting interview with the author on the Booksense site,
at http://article.publishersweekly.com/UM/T.ASP?A12.56.813.4.570653052
Lenz