History Literature / TheYearsOfRiceAndSalt

* ThePlague: In this version of history, it led to the near-complete depopulation of the European continent.

* TheRemnant: Although Western civilization is all but destroyed, a few fragments remain such as Georgia and New Norway.

* AngryBlackMan: Kyu, very much Kyu. Interestingly his anger is directed at the Chinese for enslaving him rather than white people, who really aren't in a position to do much of that in this timeline.

* ThePlague: In this version of history, it led to the complete depopulation of the European continent.

* PowerTrio: B, K and I, with the rest of the jati spinning around them.
** Sometimes it takes the form of a FreudianTrio, with K as TheId, B as TheEgo and I as TheSuperego.

''The Years of Rice and Salt'' is a an AlternateHistory novel by writer Creator/KimStanleyRobinson, which depicts world history in an alternate timeline where the Black Plague epidemic that ravaged Europe in the 14th century was even more destructive, and caused the actual extinction of Western civilization.

* TheBlackDeath: In this world, it was much more virulent, killing off just about the entirety of the European population.

* {{Reincarnation}}: The entire cast gets reincarnated repeatedly.

* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: Airplanes remain limited to military use, while civilian airflight is accomplished mostly by airship (and later, "space planes"!).

* AngryBlackMan: Kyu, very much Kyu. Interestingly his anger is directed at the Chinese for enslaving him rather than white people, who really arn't in a position to do much of that in this timeline.

* ThemeNaming: Taken UpToEleven to help us keep track of who was who in a past life, making all reincarnations of a character always keep the same first letter in their names.

* CriticalResearchFailure: It is asserted multiple times that Muslims believe in reincarnation. A few obscure sects do, but for the vast majority of Muslims there is only one life to live before an eternal judgement, as in Chritianity.

* CriticalResearchFailure: It is asserted multiple times that Muslims beleive in reincarnation. A few obscure sects do, but for the vast majority of Muslims there is only one life to live before an eternal judgement, as in Chritianity.

* ShownThierWork: Events shared with our timeline are handled in very great detail.

[[quoteright:331:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/YORAS.jpg]]

''The Years of Rice and Salt'' is a [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness counterfactual]] (or AlternateHistory) novel by SF writer Creator/KimStanleyRobinson, which depicts world history in an alternate timeline where the Black Plague epidemic that ravaged Europe in the 14th century was even more destructive, and caused the actual extinction of Western civilization.

With Europe out of the game, the two civilizations that grow into global superpowers in the following centuries are Islam and China. Eventually, their geopolitical rivalry escalates into total war.

* AlternateHistory: Right from the beginning.
* AscendedExtra: In a couple stories, The P character (see ThemeNaming below) plays an unusually large role.

* AxCrazy: Kyu, the African firebug eunuch. To be fair, the slave traders just sort of sprung the whole "eunuch" thing on him without asking.
** It's a recurring trait of that character throughout the eons, both in the bardo and out. To be completely fair, it's usually for very good reason. Such as the one above.
* TheBlackDeath

* DisproportionateRetribution: Kokila reincarnates as an animal because she poisoned a guy who seduced her best friend, got her pregnant and abandoned her to die.

* EunuchsAreEvil
* ForeverWar: The Long War between China and Dar-al-Islam lasts for over 60 years, at which point hardly anyone remembers or cares what started it in the first place. [[spoiler: China wins. Or, rather, Dar-al-Islam loses.]]

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Kheim in the Bardo.

** Two characters in the "Age of Great Progress" chapter are named Kiyoaki (one of the protagonists of {{Creator/Yukio Mishima}}'s ''The Sea of Fertility'' cycle, in which the same person is reincarnated in each book) and Tagomi (a character in {{Literature/The Man In The High Castle}}, another alternate history novel), respectively.

* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: When [[{{Ronin}} Busho]] is taken in by the Hodenosaunee League, he begins to teach them about modern warfare, agriculture and industry, so that they will be able to withstand the Chinese colonisers on the West Coast; and the Islamic ones on the East Coast. Centuries later, the Hodenosaunee League survives as a major world power.
* WarIsHell: The Long War was like UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne leading directly into UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo without a pause.

* [[TheRemnant The Western Remnant]]: Although Western civilization is all but destroyed, a few fragments remain such as Georgia and New Norway.

* WarIsHell: The Long War was like a WorldWarOne that lasted three generations.
** More like WorldWarOne leading directly into WorldWarTwo without a pause.
* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: Airplanes remain limited to military use, while civilian airflight is accomplished mostly by airship (and later, "space planes"!)

''The Years of Rice and Salt'' is a [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness counterfactual]] (or AlternateHistory) novel by SF writer Kim Stanley Robinson, which depicts world history in an alternate timeline where the Black Plague epidemic that ravaged Europe in the 14th century was even more destructive, and caused the actual extinction of Western civilization.

* ThemeNaming : Taken UpToEleven to help us keep track of who was who in a past life, making all reincarnations of a character always keep the same first letter in their names.

''The Years of Rice and Salt'' is a [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness counterfactual]] (or AlternateHistory) novel by SF writer Creator/KimStanleyRobinson, which depicts world history in an alternate timeline where the Black Plague epidemic that ravaged Europe in the 14th century was even more destructive, and caused the actual extinction of Western civilization.

* AscendedExtra: In a couple stories, The P character (see ThemeNaming below) plays an unusally large role.

''The Years Of Rice And Salt'' is a [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness counterfactual]] (or AlternateHistory) novel by SF writer Creator/KimStanleyRobinson, which depicts world history in an alternate timeline where the Black Plague epidemic that ravaged Europe in the 14th century was even more destructive, and caused the actual extinction of Western civilization.

!!''The Years Of Rice And Salt'' contains examples of:

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!!Contains examples of:

* PowerTrio: B,K and I, with the rest of the jati spinning around them.

* ReformedCriminal: Kheim is a former pirate who ended up an admiral of the Ming fleet. Khalid went from trying to con a Sultan to providing him with scientific militar advances.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Kim Stanley Robinson must ''love'' him some RTS games...

* KarmaHoudini: Remember Shastri, that guy Kokila killed because he was a CompleteMonster? While she came back as a tiger, he reincarnated as a prince.