First published 2002
Bold Bardash rides his horse across the Magyar Plain when he finds an entire town filled with corpses. The Black Death has swept through Europe, but this plague kills ninety-nine percent of the population instead of one-third. Da Vinci, Newton, and Shakespeare never exist. Their ancestors lie dead in European towns. Without European influence, the world develops along completely different lines over seven centuries. Chinese ships reach the New World first, sailing east across the Pacific. India becomes the birthplace of industrial revolution. Buddhism and Islam dominate global religion while Christianity fades into obscurity. Robinson follows soldiers, kings, explorers, philosophers, slaves, and scholars as they build this transformed world. Dynasties rise and fall. Famines devastate populations. Scientific breakthroughs reshape society. The story spans from Asian steppes to American shores, from medieval times to the present and beyond. Through their eyes, we see how religion, culture, power, and love operate when history takes a radically different path.
Genres: science-fiction, historical-fiction, epic, alternate-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: epic, historical-fiction
Setting: Europe, China, New World, India, American Shores, Asian Steppes, Magyar Plain
Period: Medieval, Present, Future
658 pages · Hardcover · Bantam