...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
The Years of Rice and Salt
- 192 statements
- 36 feature instances
- 19 referencing feature instances
The Years of Rice and Salt | type |
TVTItem | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | label |
The Years of Rice and Salt | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | page |
TheYearsOfRiceAndSalt | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | comment |
The Years of Rice and Salt is a an Alternate History novel by 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 killing 90% of the European population.With Europe out of the game, the two civilizations that grow into global superpowers in the following centuries are the Islamic world and China. Eventually, their geopolitical rivalry escalates into total war.The story is told from the perspective of a small group of characters, who get reincarnated into new but recognizable selves from generation to generation. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | fetched |
2023-06-19T17:58:12Z | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | parsed |
2023-06-19T17:58:12Z | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | processingComment |
Dropped link to AvertedTrope: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | processingComment |
Dropped link to Candide: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | processingComment |
Dropped link to HistoricalDomainCharacter: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | processingComment |
Dropped link to ThePlague: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_1439161f | type |
Heroic BSoD | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_1439161f | comment |
Heroic BSoD: All characters after The Alchemist. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_1439161f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_1439161f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_1439161f | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_2d4fa515 | type |
Ax-Crazy | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_2d4fa515 | comment |
Ax-Crazy: The K Character frequently has shades of this throughout their different lives (though usually for good reason). In particular, Kyu, the African firebug eunuch, though to be fair, the slave traders just sort of sprung the whole "eunuch" thing on him without his consent. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_2d4fa515 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_2d4fa515 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_2d4fa515 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_2f5b9954 | type |
Alphabetical Theme Naming | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_2f5b9954 | comment |
Alphabetical Theme Naming: To help us keep track of who was who in a past life, all reincarnations of a character always keep the same first letter in their names. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_2f5b9954 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_2f5b9954 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_2f5b9954 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_36e63b81 | type |
Rule of Cool | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_36e63b81 | comment |
Rule of Cool: During the Long War, Dar-al-Islam uses long-range artillery to blow the top off of Mount Everest, making K2 (within their borders) the tallest mountain in the world. A tactic with no military value, and arguably minimal effect on enemy morale. At the end of the book, a more heartwarming variation, as mountain climbers bring bricks with them, rebuilding the summit piece-by-piece. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_36e63b81 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_36e63b81 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_36e63b81 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_47fea76b | type |
Butt-Monkey | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_47fea76b | comment |
Butt-Monkey: K goes through a rather shocking amount of pain and indignity over the course of their many lifetimes, being (among other things) castrated by Chinese slavers, caught in a tree snare, captured and nearly sacrificed by hostile Incans, and having a hand chopped off by the Khan of the Samarkand. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_47fea76b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_47fea76b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_47fea76b | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_4921aad7 | type |
Expanded States of America | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_4921aad7 | comment |
Expanded States of America: An odd, allohistorical example. By the time the reader first meets them, the Hodenosaunee federation (which partly serves as an analogue for the U.S. in this timeline) has already expanded beyond the six tribes that it comprised in real-world history. It adopts additional members (ostensibly with their consent) over the course of the story, and ends up governing much of North and Central America by the "present day." | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_4921aad7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_4921aad7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_4921aad7 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_49d59be9 | type |
Scenery Porn | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_49d59be9 | comment |
Scenery Porn: Vibrant descriptions of the settings are frequent. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_49d59be9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_49d59be9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_49d59be9 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_50b05d30 | type |
Disproportionate Retribution | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_50b05d30 | comment |
Disproportionate Retribution: Kokila is reincarnated into a tiger because she poisoned a guy who seduced her best friend, got her pregnant and abandoned her to die. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_50b05d30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_50b05d30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_50b05d30 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_50f5dabe | type |
Reincarnation | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_50f5dabe | comment |
Reincarnation: The entire cast is reincarnated together repeatedly. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_50f5dabe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_50f5dabe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_50f5dabe | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_53f88d36 | type |
Reincarnation-Identifying Trait | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_53f88d36 | comment |
Reincarnation-Identifying Trait: The continuously reincarnating characters are identified by their shared initials, such as Kyu and Kokila. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_53f88d36 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_53f88d36 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_53f88d36 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_547b632 | type |
Space-Filling Empire | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_547b632 | comment |
Space-Filling Empire: Dar al Islam, China, and the Hodenosaunee League. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_547b632 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_547b632 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_547b632 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_5b9cf82b | type |
Education Mama | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_5b9cf82b | comment |
Education Mama: Widow Kang mercilessly drills her youngest son in the Confucian classics in order to make a proper scholar out of him. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_5b9cf82b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_5b9cf82b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_5b9cf82b | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_5eb8a669 | type |
"Angry Black Man" Stereotype | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_5eb8a669 | comment |
"Angry Black Man" Stereotype: 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. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_5eb8a669 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_5eb8a669 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_5eb8a669 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_60b166be | type |
Reformed Criminal | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_60b166be | comment |
Reformed Criminal: 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 military advances. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_60b166be | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_60b166be | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_60b166be | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_6b4f4350 | type |
Zeppelins from Another World | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_6b4f4350 | comment |
Zeppelins from Another World: Airplanes remain limited to military use, while civilian air flight is accomplished mostly by airship (and later, "space planes"!). | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_6b4f4350 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_6b4f4350 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_6b4f4350 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_79fa704c | type |
Training the Peaceful Villagers | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_79fa704c | comment |
Training the Peaceful Villagers: When 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 colonizers on the West Coast and the Islamic ones on the East Coast. Centuries later, the Hodenosaunee League survives as a major world power. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_79fa704c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_79fa704c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_79fa704c | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_82b1fd4f | type |
WorldHalfFull | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_82b1fd4f | comment |
World Half Full: Eventually. The list of challenges facing the world after the Long War (which one character helpfully lays out for the reader) is daunting, but humanity has plenty of hope and potential to meet them. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_82b1fd4f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_82b1fd4f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_82b1fd4f | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_8411ab92 | type |
Red Oni, Blue Oni | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_8411ab92 | comment |
Red Oni, Blue Oni: K is very much the red to B's blue. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_8411ab92 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_8411ab92 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_8411ab92 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a65288e2 | type |
Ascended Extra | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a65288e2 | comment |
Ascended Extra: In a couple stories, the P character (see Theme Naming below) plays an unusually large role. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a65288e2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a65288e2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a65288e2 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a70223 | type |
Karma Houdini | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a70223 | comment |
Karma Houdini: Remember Shastri, that guy Kokila killed? While she came back as a tiger, he reincarnated as a prince. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a70223 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a70223 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a70223 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a86069f | type |
Alternate History | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a86069f | comment |
Alternate History: One where Europe is taken out of the picture and it ripples from thereon out. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a86069f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a86069f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_a86069f | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b0ae741 | type |
The Black Death | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b0ae741 | comment |
The Black Death: In this world, it was much more virulent, killing off 90% of the European population. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b0ae741 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b0ae741 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b0ae741 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b593baf1 | type |
Author Filibuster | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b593baf1 | comment |
Author Filibuster: Particularly in the Widow Kang section. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b593baf1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b593baf1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b593baf1 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b82ca416 | type |
Rage Against the Heavens | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b82ca416 | comment |
Rage Against the Heavens: K often does this in the Bardo. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b82ca416 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b82ca416 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b82ca416 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b8cbdffb | type |
Celestial Bureaucracy | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b8cbdffb | comment |
Celestial Bureaucracy: Every time they die, the characters find themselves in the Bardo, where the souls of the dead await reincarnation according to Tibetan Buddhism. As China grows in power in the world of the living, the Bardo falls under the influence of the Chinese Celestial Bureaucracy. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b8cbdffb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b8cbdffb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_b8cbdffb | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_bbd25056 | type |
Eunuchs Are Evil | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_bbd25056 | comment |
Eunuchs Are Evil: Kyu, though not so much evil insomuch as he's Ax-Crazy and pissed off. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_bbd25056 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_bbd25056 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_bbd25056 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: The first chapter is written in a style that imitates Journey to the West. The last chapter has a shout out to Candide. Two characters in the "Age of Great Progress" chapter are named Kiyoaki (one of the protagonists of Yukio Mishima's The Sea of Fertility cycle, in which the same person is reincarnated in each book) and Tagomi (a character in The Man in the High Castle, another very famous alternate history novel). The last chapter references the real-life historiographical scholarship of Hayden White, attributed to one "Scholar White" in the alternate-timeline present day. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_c75df49a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_c75df49a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_c75df49a | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e26f04b4 | type |
Last of His Kind | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e26f04b4 | comment |
Last of His Kind: The English fisherman who shares his campfire with Bold in the opening chapters. It's significant that the only English dialogue in the entire book is the word "dead;" naturally Bold doesn't know what it means, but he can guess. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e26f04b4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e26f04b4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e26f04b4 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e2ccee25 | type |
Animal Motifs | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e2ccee25 | comment |
Animal Motifs: K and tigers. They even get reincarnated as one in "The Haj in the Heart". | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e2ccee25 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e2ccee25 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e2ccee25 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e8cae797 | type |
Freudian Trio | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e8cae797 | comment |
Freudian Trio: B, K and I, with the rest of the jati spinning around them. K as The Id, B as The Ego and I as The Superego. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e8cae797 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e8cae797 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_e8cae797 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_ee9877ea | type |
Too Good for This Sinful Earth | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_ee9877ea | comment |
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Butterfly and Bihari. Averted in the fact that all characters eventually die. And come back. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_ee9877ea | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_ee9877ea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_ee9877ea | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_f1d6144a | type |
War Is Hell | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_f1d6144a | comment |
War Is Hell: The Long War can best be described as being like World War One leading directly into World War II without a pause. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_f1d6144a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_f1d6144a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_f1d6144a | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_f9c17447 | type |
The Remnant | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_f9c17447 | comment |
The Remnant: Although Western civilization is all but destroyed, a few fragments remain such as Georgia and New Norway. Some extremely isolated communities on the far peripheries of Europe (e.g. the Orkney and Shetland islands) turn out to have survived the plague, although by "modern" times they're little more than a curiosity. There are brief mentions of Ethiopia as the home of one of the last remaining Christian cultures (perhaps the last). | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_f9c17447 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_f9c17447 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_f9c17447 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_fbb54ba6 | type |
Forever War | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_fbb54ba6 | comment |
Forever War: 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. China wins. Or, rather, Dar-al-Islam loses. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_fbb54ba6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_fbb54ba6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_fbb54ba6 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_ffad4e9f | type |
Shown Their Work | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_ffad4e9f | comment |
Shown Their Work: Events shared with our timeline are handled in very great detail. | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_ffad4e9f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_ffad4e9f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_ffad4e9f | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_name | comment |
||
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Years of Rice and Salt | hasFeature |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_name | |
The Years of Rice and Salt / int_name | itemName |
The Years of Rice and Salt |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.