The Years of Rice and Salt

Title: The Years of Rice and Salt
Author: Kim Stanley Robinson
Genre: Fiction, Alternate History, Drama

I had a tough time with this book. It's beautifully written, and the prose really lights up the movie playing in my head. It's an alternate history starting with the Black Death and centered (mostly) in various Asian locations. You kind of hopscotch through history written by the Buddhists, Daoists, and Muslims who survived the plague (which is fitting because this was supposed to be for last year's book challenge topic "about a plague"). It's fascinating and complex and full of new ideas to explore.

However, it's difficult for me to read books that don't have a "true" ending. I'm too American in that way, I suppose. Conclude, wrap the story up, and if there must be a lingering "What happened?", then let it be just one. This novel left me with so many questions that I'm still mentally grumbling about it two days later, and I haven't been able to start my next book very successfully. 

Other than that, this was enjoyable read. Let me know what you think of it.