science fiction

The Years of Rice and Salt - Kim Stanley Robinson Book Review

Enter a review
of your own!
Other books by
author Kim Stanley Robinson

"The Years of Rice and Salt"
Message Board
Review Summaries
"This book goes on the premise that the Bubonic Plague has wiped out 99% of the population of Europe after the first wave, leaving the eastern cultures to fill the gap left behind. Islam fills Europe, China discovers the new world by crossing the Pacific Ocean, and colonizes west to east. Taking place over several centuries, we follow the development of the world through the experiences of a family of constantly reincarnated people. A work of philosophy as much as work of speculative fiction."
Ruaidhri, Resident Kim Stanley Robinson Scholar


Click above for the new Obama Girl Parody video!

Overall Review
Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into
dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 50%




Tone of book - sensitive (sigh....)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - alternate history
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Religious overtones? Yes
Cultural problems, alien culture Yes
Intense exploration of society's culture? Yes

Setting
Terrain - Jungle - Desert - Water - Mountains - Forests
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - very explicit references to deaths and torture
scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books by Gordonator ranking
Threads by Nell Gavin
Priestess of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson
Roma Eterna by Robert Silverberg
Apacheria: An Epic of Alternate History by Jake Page
Colonization: Down To Earth by Harry Turtledove





Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
Try our new Star Wars & Star Trek puzzle pictures! Click here

Advertise with us
Feedback
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith plot spoilers
Hobbits
The politics game
The lawyer game

3 Movie search options!
1) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
2) Detailed movie search
(click here)
or

3) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot below!

Animal Story

Clones

Coming of age

Cultural problems, alien culture

Explore/1st contact/ enviro story

Family relations

GIANT monster(s)

Horror story?

Inner Struggle

Lifeform altered?

Mental/magical powers focus

Parody

Political power play

Religious overtones?

Repressive society story

Robots, Computers, VR

Romance

Spying & Investigations

Tech./$$$/Info hunt

Time Travel story?

Training/Apprent.

War or Invasion


Games:
Trivia Masters!

Rescue your favorite
scifi characters from
slavery!


Talk to your favorite
scifi characters!


Eating New Yorkers
Computer Game


Pomeranians

Most recent TV & Movie discussions:

Charmed: Is Piper really a Halliwell? 11/13/2009 11:30:45 AM

Lord of the Rings: Why would Aragorn choose pig lips Arwen Evenstar over Eowyn? 11/12/2009 6:40:39 PM

Xena: 37 reasons why Xena and Gabrielle are... you know.... 11/12/2009 7:23:13 AM

A Boy and His Dog: A Boy and His Dog 11/11/2009 11:48:16 PM

Battlestar Galactica: Was Battlestar Galactica politically conservative? 11/1/2009 9:51:45 AM

Battlestar Galactica: Why were the Cylons so slow and thinking impaired? 10/31/2009 8:36:52 PM

Blade Runner: Blade Runner 10/22/2009 2:43:11 AM

Star Trek Enterprise: Jolene Blalock on T'Pol and Star Trek Enterprise 10/19/2009 2:48:46 PM

Charmed: If Piper Halliwell gets pregnant, can Leo give her an abortion? 10/3/2009 12:29:33 PM

Star Wars: Why did stormtroopers wear armor that didn't work against blasters? 9/30/2009 9:48:47 PM


Newest slaves:
Anthony Hopkins 9:54:10 PM
Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic) 9:53:54 PM
Steven Spielberg 9:53:37 PM
Paris Hilton 9:46:24 PM
Jenny Garth (Beverly Hills 90210) 9:46:24 PM
Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor) 9:44:05 PM
George Lucas 9:43:48 PM
Denzel Washington 9:43:25 PM
John Belushi (Jake Blues Brothers) 9:42:21 PM
Joan Crawford 9:41:22 PM
All slaves
(click here)


Celebrity interviews:
President George W. Bush 6:32:00 PM
Jan-Michael Vincent 2:16:51 PM
Captain Kathryn Janeway 3:47:46 PM
Jack ONeill (Richard Dean Anderson) 1:39:22 PM
Jennifer Aniston (Friends) 5:01:07 PM
All celebrities
(click here)