This is a book that will take your breathe away. What if instead of the Plague killing 33% of the population in the 14th century, 99% are killed? The entirety of Europe, and all of Christianity, is decimated, leaving Buddhism and Islam as the most influential of the practiced religions.

I have to say I loved this book, every step of the way Robinson created a believable, possible history with the same family of souls telling their collective story again and again, each time with a little more progress on their journey.

The end was a disappointment to me at first, yet, the more I have time to dwell on it, the more appropriate it is. ( )

Recommended for those interested in: eastern religions, Chinese, Indian and Middle Eastern history, Islam, Buddhism AND enjoy long reads.

Compare to "Ghostwritten" by David Mitchell to which I gave 4 1/2 stars:: The Years of Rice and Salt is longer, more languid. I enjoyed the stories about technological development, the Buddhism and Islam sophistry, less so. The transmigration-of-souls angle of the book is also entertaining and helps pacing when that jati is in the bardo, but I agree with other reviewers that the lack of continuity and placement of these souls to new bodies inhibits flow.

For my own enjoyment, I rate this book 2.8. ( )

I couldn't get into it, in spite of the fact that I made it two thirds of the way through. I didn't like Robinson's device for moving forward through history. ( )

Round and round and round we go, from this life to another through the bardo. I suspect those who believe in reincarnation may enjoy this book more than those who don't, for whom the whole reincarnation thing is just a literary device to allow the author to follow an alternate history down through the centuries using the same characters. Some of my favorite bits were in the bardo with regard to the characters' experience of "Oh no! Not again!". Funny on a simply comic level, but also inviting deeper reflection on the question of just what are the mistakes the characters make in their lives again and again that keep them so stubbornly stuck in the eternal cycle of birth and death. Ultimately they represent us, and their mistakes are ours. ( )

I really enjoyed this novel of an alternate history. All the Europeans are killed by the Plague (or some other disease) leaving the world to the Chinese and Muslims. How is it changed? How is it the same? The book contains about ten episodes, each one concerning a different set of characters at a different place along the timeline. All but the final episode were fascinating to me. The last chapter had too much speculation and philosophy and not enough plot. ( )