The Years of Rice and Salt Audiobook By Kim Stanley Robinson cover art

The Years of Rice and Salt

Preview

Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends January 21, 2025 at 11:59PM ET.
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Years of Rice and Salt

By: Kim Stanley Robinson
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends January 21, 2025 11:59PM ET. Cancel anytime.

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $23.36

Buy for $23.36

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

It is the 14th century, and one of the most apocalyptic events in human history is set to occur - the coming of the Black Death. History teaches us that a third of Europe's population was destroyed. But what if the plague had killed 99 percent of the population instead? How would the world have changed? This is a look at the history that could have been - a history that stretches across centuries, a history that sees dynasties and nations rise and crumble, a history that spans horrible famine and magnificent innovation. These are the years of rice and salt.

This is a universe where the first ship to reach the New World travels across the Pacific Ocean from China and colonization spreads from west to east. This is a universe where the Industrial Revolution is triggered by the world's greatest scientific minds - in India. This is a universe where Buddhism and Islam are the most influential and practiced religions, and Christianity is merely a historical footnote.

Through the eyes of soldiers and kings, explorers and philosophers, slaves and scholars, Robinson renders an immensely rich tapestry. Rewriting history and probing the most profound questions as only he can, Robinson shines his extraordinary light on the place of religion, culture, power, and even love on such an Earth. From the steppes of Asia to the shores of the Western Hemisphere, from the age of Akbar to the present and beyond, here is the stunning story of the creation of a new world.

©2002 Kim Stanley Robinson (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Adventure Alternate History Historical Fiction World Literature Thought-Provoking Fiction

What listeners say about The Years of Rice and Salt

Highly rated for:

Fascinating Premise Sweeping Narrative Rich World-building Thought-provoking Ideas
Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    481
  • 4 Stars
    274
  • 3 Stars
    142
  • 2 Stars
    72
  • 1 Stars
    55
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    574
  • 4 Stars
    202
  • 3 Stars
    83
  • 2 Stars
    27
  • 1 Stars
    27
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    430
  • 4 Stars
    218
  • 3 Stars
    131
  • 2 Stars
    70
  • 1 Stars
    62

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome.

History, religion, philosophy, science - all brilliantly woven into a stunning meditation in why our world is the way it is.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Engaging novel of alternate world history

Where does The Years of Rice and Salt rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Bronson Pinchot does a great job as narrator of this long novel. The characters re-encarnate: The "B" character is usually the peaceful, enlightened person and the "K" character is a fighter against what they feel are the wrongs of the world. B and K struggle in the world because "B" is enlightenment and "K" is destroying Evil. They meet between chapters in the afterlife to work through what they've learned and to exit into reincarnation again, perhaps this time, they'll "get it right."

A lot of history that many readers are not familiar with (Chinese, Arabic, medieval) is re-written here in an engaging way. However, if you are not familiar with these histories, you may not see the tongue-in-cheek or clever way the author has revised history to postulate what would have happened, had the world exited from the Plague Years in Europe in a different way.

Sometimes, the chapters ("books") get long and the inevitable end (they die) seems a bit confused, and the emergence again with enlightened knowledge doesn't always seem clear. Nor are the scenes in the afterworld that interesting--as pure flights of fancy, they are less successful than the re-imagined historical events in the world.

Still, I enjoyed this novel immensely and the narration with lightly done character voices by Pinchot is masterful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent alternate history

Robinson's imagination and deep knowledge of his subject are real assets for stories like this. Worth the listen, even if the reader's tone is off. Sometimes too whimsical and other times wheedling or whiny.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sweeping scale, compelling details

An engaging trip through time following a knot of souls reincarnated together. Their lives and works, and their subtle impact on humanity are quite moving. Very interesting alternate history, and powerful commentary on “real world” history and current day. Robinson does it again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Thoughtful and Timeless Masterpiece

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this audiobook to friends who love and respect great thinking and fine writing. I would not recommend this work to friends who prefer the audiobook equivalent of fast food.

What did you like best about this story?

I like best the fact that I can read this book every few years and still find new subtleties to relish.

Have you listened to any of Bronson Pinchot’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. I've never heard Bronson Pinchot give a poor performance. He is one of the very best narrators, regardless of the various quality of the materials he is given to work with. In this case, he is as gloriously wonderful as the book itself.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not at all. It is far too good for that, and deserves as much savoring as anyone has to offer.

Any additional comments?


In my view, The Years of Rice and Salt is one of the great books of our times, and it isn't for everybody. So I will do my best to convey why I enjoyed this book so thoroughly, and hope it helps you to decide.
First things first. The inspired choice of a narrator is Bronson Pinchot. And he very wisely chose not to hasten through the journey, but to match it in rhythm and feeling. He speaks in a very clear and flowing cadence, subtly blending with the very rhythm of the story itself as it unfolds over many times and places. He uses his considerable intelligence and talent to help us experience the disparate and highly complex pieces of the story as the unified whole they already are.
With a book as sophisticated, multidimensional, far-flung and intricate as The Years of Rice and Salt, this is a gold standard for great narration.

In reviewing books, the first thing most people naturally do is describe the basic outline of the story. But in this case the book jacket does that well enough. No amount of telling you what The Years of Rice and Salt is "about" will help you much in deciding if you might like it.
If you strongly like or dislike certain topics or types of stories or authors, then the usual publisher's description here will serve very well to steer you toward or away from this book on that basis.

The more important thing to know is that this work is not a comfortable clone of something else, as most books are. It is exactly the opposite.
It is wholly original, soaring, immense, and worthy of the best sustained attention. I think The Years of Rice and Salt is an example of an unusual accomplishment, only widely recognized much later as great literature. Allow me to explain what I mean by that.

The Years of Rice and Salt does not resemble the self-indulgent display of personal subconscious idiosyncrasies some also call literature these days. In other words, it is not at all like the last few books written by Kim Stanley Robinson himself.
No. This is classical literature: wondrous in depth and breadth and vividly original, with fine-grained characterizations and utterly satisfying universal story-telling. And it is directly related to that same enormous, humanity-encompassing and delightfully specific mind which created The Golden Age of Kim Stanley Robinson.

I mean when he was one of the finest story-tellers of his or any other generation.
Back when he wrote science fiction at the level of Doris Lessing's Canopus in Argos, or Dan Simmons at his Hyperion best. When he once dedicated his sublimely imaginative intelligence to telling stories on behalf of the whole human race.

I refer to the Kim Stanley Robinson of world-class grandeur and literary attainments--- before a subconscious imp whispered in his ear that "higher" literary greatness could be achieved by focusing frequently on descriptions of sex. Or through "impressionistic" writing, as if blurry suggestive strokes are superior to classical clarity, vividness and scope. As if Monet was superior to Leonardo, Michelangelo, Bosch, and Bruegel. In other words, I have sorely missed Kim Stanley Robinson's unique gifts- and therefore greet The Years of Rice and Salt audiobook as a dear friend of the mind, returned in a new form.

There are an infinite number of ways to illustrate the journey of human beings through time and space, and one of the best is through science fiction. After all, this Earth is our primary and original Generation Ship- and we are already flying through space.
But this book is not quite that, or anything else either. It is not in a category. And it doesn't matter whether or not you accept the underlying premise. It is so well described that all you need to do is suspend personal beliefs, and let the tale tell itself on its own terms.

Personally, I think a great hidden truth of our life on Earth may very well resemble the general idea behind The Years of Rice and Salt, to one degree or another. And that is partly why I enjoy this story so much. But I would also have enjoyed this book just as much if I thought the premise was utter nonsense. The great beauty of masterful story-telling on this level is that we find some kind of telling reality in it, whether purely symbolic or purely imaginative- or any admixture in between.

My advice to anyone considering buying this book is to think about it, and let all the descriptions sink in. See if you resonate with it or not. I didn't have to think twice, since I have long wished for this particular audiobook during my own long years of rice and salt.





Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Glad when it was over

The concept was interesting, the writing was good, but the book didn't work for me. You know how when you start a book it takes a while before you get to know the characters and the situation and become immersed in the story? With this book, every reincarnation was like that, and as soon as I got oriented and started to enjoy the story, the protagonists died and went on to the next life. The names and places were mostly Chinese or Muslim, so kind of hard to remember and keep straight. Even though they were the same "souls", they couldn't remember (except once, when it about drove them mad) their previous lives, so each story was only peripherally connected to the previous ones. I usually love extremely long books, but with this one, I was just glad when it was over.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

one of my favorites

one of my favorites by a great sf writer, an emotionally powerful ride that teaches and inspires a better world, perfect sf...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well Written and Well Read

This a long story that spans centuries ... and it has well developed characters that extend throughput it... it is an interesting view of a world that took a different path than ours, but with the same universal human nature at it's heart. I feel like I learned something about life and the world after listening to it... but I couldn't tell you what that is. That delights me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An enjoyable ride down a different what-if road

An interesting premise, what if the black plague had completely wiped out European civilization in the mid 1300's rather that just killing 30-60% of the population. The story is broken up into to a number of "books" each dealing with a different era, starting right after the plague and continuing on to modern or possibly post-modern times (the calendar is a little difficult to keep straight). The characters/settings in the book vary, mostly shifting between Chinese-centric/Islam-centric/India-centric with a couple of outliers. There's a frame story dealing with reincarnation & the bardo wherein the characters meet up and reflect on their lives and the world.

It was a pretty good read (listen) though I docked it a star because it seemed like in every "book" there was at least one long dry scene (sometimes more) where a character had to stand up and monologue about history and the current state of the world & religion. There also seemed to be this underlying assumption that nothing notable would happen in the new world, Australia or Africa until either the Chinese, Indians or Islamic people got there and kick started them. In general, Africans in the story only appeared once and then as slaves and afterwards that seemed to be how they were commonly referred to, if at all. The North American natives were depicted as having a highly effective form of government in their Hodenosaunee league but that they were basically savages until the displaced Japanese arrived. No mention of South America aside from the Incans, no mention of Central America at all. Australia was mentioned in passing as a Chinese colony. No sign of the Maori, Polynesian, or Phillipino cultures either

// spoilers below //
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
























I was surprised that by the end wherein there are supposed space planes that carry people around world in just a few hours, that there was no other space-infrastructure mentioned or inferred (no satellites, no space stations, no moon landings). Also that there seemed to be no computers, electronics or mass media.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

ho hum

Bronson Pinchot did a great job but, Kim Robinson has given us another ho hum story. The pretext of a world sans the Christian West sounded interesting but what should have been a great alternative history got lost in a reincarnation story that was, just boring.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!