Kim Robinson's done some very compelling work with his Mars trilogy (although at times some of those works "drag" a bit).  I read his trilogy and found the first book interesting and then it kind of deteriorated from there for me anyway.  Here, Robinson takes an interesting premise that has been done before, namely a world dominated by non-European powers.  In the book the forces of Islam emerge from the plagues that ravage Europe relatively unscathed and battle the Chinese and Indians for supremacy of the world over the ages.  Already one can see that this is just too much to put into one book.  The main characters all go through a reincarnation process and keep meeting during their lives.  This is meant to create some continuity and also is meant to allow the story to flow from one time period to the next.  The characters are generally used as archetypes and are often extraordinary individuals or simply part of the masses.  Robinson certainly knows a great deal about what he writes about and has done his homework.  He has thoroughly researched the Chinese, Islamic, and Indian civilizations, but he should have focused on some of the more interesting segments and not simply turned the book into a massive saga spanning over 1000 years of history.  It's too much and some of the segments are just downright sleep inducing.  I liked the first segment with the slave boy and the Mongol/Tartar warrior.  The segment about the Muslim feminist Sultana was also well written and interesting but too short.  This is a recurring problem in the book.  The interesting stories are too short as Robinson can't wait to get to the next time period.  The segments with the Central Asian inventors and the war between the Indians and the Ottoman Empire (the Ottoman caliph was particularly lively, but his part comes and goes too quickly, while his dull vizier becomes the focus of the segment) were also interesting but either too short or focused on broad philosophical questions rather than the characters.  The story about the Japanese Samurai Ronin in America hooking up with the Native Americans was also quite interesting.  Now with all of these interesting segments Robinson could have focused more on any or all of them instead of proceeding down the road of trying to philosophize about everything about Islam including the sufis and then discussing how similar sufism is to buddhism and hinduism etc.  Personally, I found it all rather tiresome.  I wanted entertainment, not a retread of my comparative religions class which I took years ago.  He could have just as easily done books about each of the interesting segments as well.  Also, I found it somewhat absurd that the plague specifically wiped out only Europeans and why would remote peoples in Scandanavia be effected and not the Ottomans who were essentially living partially in Europe?  I would have gone with the premise that it wiped out the major powers of France, Germany, Britain, Russia, and northern Spain etc. and left some pockets of people alive to be absorbed into the Islamic fold or something.  The development of the Indians makes no sense either.  How could India develop when they were constantly being invaded by Islamic armies (arguably if not for the British, India would today be either an Islamic state or under Islamic domination in some way I believe).  The Japanese also seem anemic at times and then the Native Americans somehow all learn to fight the invaders from the Old World.  Maybe one group could hold out, but to assume that they would cooperate with the Indians and Japanese to fight a balanced war seems somewhat far-fetched.  Robinson seems to have been intent on the world developing the same technological level that currently exists, but this is absurd because the Europeans were a part of the development of the world.  At the very least without Europe either the world would have developed less by the 21st century or perhaps moreso because it didn't have Europe to contend with, but not the same.  Too much of this book seems rigid in this regard.  It's too bad because some the characters are really interesting and could have used more development.  And I would personally skip the last 2 segments of the book as they involve really weak characters and stories.  I'd read the first half or two-thirds of the book after getting it from the library, because buying it in hardcover is asking wayyyyy too much.
Kim Robinson's done some very compelling work with his Mars trilogy (although at times some of those works "drag" a bit). I read his trilogy and found the first book interesting and then it kind of deteriorated from there for me anyway. Here, Robinson takes an interesting premise that has been done before, namely a world dominated by non-European powers. In the book the forces of Islam emerge from the plagues that ravage Europe relatively unscathed and battle the Chinese and Indians for supremacy of the world over the ages. Already one can see that this is just too much to put into one book. The main characters all go through a reincarnation process and keep meeting during their lives. This is meant to create some continuity and also is meant to allow the story to flow from one time period to the next. The characters are generally used as archetypes and are often extraordinary individuals or simply part of the masses. Robinson certainly knows a great deal about what he writes about and has done his homework. He has thoroughly researched the Chinese, Islamic, and Indian civilizations, but he should have focused on some of the more interesting segments and not simply turned the book into a massive saga spanning over 1000 years of history. It's too much and some of the segments are just downright sleep inducing. I liked the first segment with the slave boy and the Mongol/Tartar warrior. The segment about the Muslim feminist Sultana was also well written and interesting but too short. This is a recurring problem in the book. The interesting stories are too short as Robinson can't wait to get to the next time period. The segments with the Central Asian inventors and the war between the Indians and the Ottoman Empire (the Ottoman caliph was particularly lively, but his part comes and goes too quickly, while his dull vizier becomes the focus of the segment) were also interesting but either too short or focused on broad philosophical questions rather than the characters. The story about the Japanese Samurai Ronin in America hooking up with the Native Americans was also quite interesting. Now with all of these interesting segments Robinson could have focused more on any or all of them instead of proceeding down the road of trying to philosophize about everything about Islam including the sufis and then discussing how similar sufism is to buddhism and hinduism etc. Personally, I found it all rather tiresome. I wanted entertainment, not a retread of my comparative religions class which I took years ago. He could have just as easily done books about each of the interesting segments as well. Also, I found it somewhat absurd that the plague specifically wiped out only Europeans and why would remote peoples in Scandanavia be effected and not the Ottomans who were essentially living partially in Europe? I would have gone with the premise that it wiped out the major powers of France, Germany, Britain, Russia, and northern Spain etc. and left some pockets of people alive to be absorbed into the Islamic fold or something. The development of the Indians makes no sense either. How could India develop when they were constantly being invaded by Islamic armies (arguably if not for the British, India would today be either an Islamic state or under Islamic domination in some way I believe). The Japanese also seem anemic at times and then the Native Americans somehow all learn to fight the invaders from the Old World. Maybe one group could hold out, but to assume that they would cooperate with the Indians and Japanese to fight a balanced war seems somewhat far-fetched. Robinson seems to have been intent on the world developing the same technological level that currently exists, but this is absurd because the Europeans were a part of the development of the world. At the very least without Europe either the world would have developed less by the 21st century or perhaps moreso because it didn't have Europe to contend with, but not the same. Too much of this book seems rigid in this regard. It's too bad because some the characters are really interesting and could have used more development. And I would personally skip the last 2 segments of the book as they involve really weak characters and stories. I'd read the first half or two-thirds of the book after getting it from the library, because buying it in hardcover is asking wayyyyy too much.