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Liked It “Alternative history, played back 700 years. What if the west had been totally wiped out by plague, and all the scientific discoveries were made in the east? Cool stuff, intricately woven.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “::pulls hair out screaming:: |
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“Alternative history, played back 700 years. What if the west had been totally wiped out by plague, and all the scientific discoveries were made in the east? Cool stuff, intricately woven.”
Jay R wrote this review Saturday, November 14 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“::pulls hair out screaming::
Kerry M wrote this review Wednesday, November 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I haven nothing constructive or even destructive to say about this book.”
“I didn't actually finish this. . . Interesting concept, but it got boring for me.”
bjcubsfan wrote this review Saturday, July 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I'm still hoping to finish this, but I am having trouble slogging through it. I loved this author's Mars trilogy, and this book has some of the same really interesting bits in it--but the book as a whole lacks continuity, or enough to keep me interested. The section titled 'The Widow Kang' was my favorite thus far, I think because it was long enough that I could retain an interest in one character. Otherwise, the main characters keep switching to other incarnations, and I can't yet see the point of why, where they're heading.”
Kathryn K wrote this review Sunday, May 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The book is set between about A.D. 1405 (783 solar years since the Hegira, by the Islamic calendar used in the book), and A.D. 2002 (1423 after Hegira). In the eighth Islamic century, almost 99% of the population of Medieval Europe is wiped out by the Black Death (rather than the approximately 30-60% that died in reality). This sets the stage for a world without Christianity as a major influence.
Wendy B wrote this review Thursday, April 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The novel follows a jāti of three to seven main characters and their reincarnation through the centuries in very different cultural and religious settings. The book features Muslim, Chinese (Buddhist, Daoist, Confucianist), American Indian, and Hindu culture, philosophy and everyday life. It mixes sophisticated knowledge about these cultures in the real world with their imagined global development in a world without Western Christendom.
The main characters, marked by identical first letters throughout their reincarnations, but changing in gender, culture-nationality and so on, struggle for progress in each life. Each chapter has a narrative style which reflects its setting.
Within the novel's re-imagined world, many places are given unfamiliar names, mostly of Chinese or Arabic origin. For example, Europe becomes Firanja, Great Britain and Ireland become the Keltic Sultanate, and Spain becomes al-Andalus; while the Pacific Ocean and Australia are called by Chinese names Dahai (大海) and Aozhou (澳洲), respectively, and North America becomes Yingzhou, a land from Chinese myth.
The ten chapters (theme) are:
Book One - Awake to Emptiness - plague in Christendom; the Golden Horde; Zheng He's explorations and imperial China. This chapter is written in a style reminiscent of the Chinese classic, the Journey to the West.
Book Two - The Haj in the Heart - Mughal India and colonization of empty Europe.
Book Three - Ocean Continents - discovery of the New World by the Chinese military.
Book Four - The Alchemist - Islamic renaissance in Samarqand.
Book Five - Warp and Weft - Native Americans align with Samurai.
Book Six - Widow Kang - the Qing dynasty meets Islam in western China.
Book Seven - The Age of Great Progress - beginnings of industrialism in Southern India; Japanese diaspora to North America.
Book Eight - War of the Asuras - a world-wide Long War, fought with 'modern' weapons.
Book Nine - Nsara - science, urban life and feminism in Islamic Europe's post-war metropolis.
Book Ten - The First Years - globalization and sustainability.
Quite a few historical characters make large and small appearances in this world, including Tamerlane, Chinese explorer Zheng He, Akbar the Great, and Japanese Kampaku and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
In the last chapters the book becomes increasingly reflexive, citing fictional scientists and philosophers introduced in previous chapters as well as referring to Old Red Ink, who wrote a biography about a reincarnating jati group.
At the end of the book, we would get a picture of China finally recovering since the Long War. Everything seems to be in harmony and peace, until the goddess Kali is introduced once more in the final scene, hinting that chaos would return.
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“Wow. A revisionist history: what would happen if Christianity and most of Europe had been wiped out in the plagues? The history is told from the same handful of characters who are reincarnated through time. It is both about their growth and development as humans and also how the world makes the same mistakes and learns new lessons through different world conquerers. Highly recommended.
Boulder Public Library wrote this review Monday, April 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Heather, Circulation”
“Dont find it very entertaining. The storey is kind of like short stories of various character at about the same period (era of Black Plaque, etc.). Fail to see the connection between the different charcacters and the individual stories are not too impressive.”
kenneth b wrote this review Friday, June 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“too much story, not enough interest. this book is HUGE and it is all in what seems like a 10 point font. "too much"
kickinlibrarian wrote this review Sunday, November 9 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I couldn't muster up any care for the characters or the story line...alas, it had to be abandoned :(”
“Unusual book. The author seems to have a strong mastery of history in order to twist is so in this novel. Very cool format and idea. I'd benefit from reading it again but I probably won't. I got a little turned off at the very end as it hits you over the head a bit but overall a great read.”
arobichaud wrote this review Wednesday, August 27 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
