Very interesting alternate history book with a very unique story telling style. Follow 4 souls through many ages of humanity and through the Bardo. The nice thing is that Robinson doesn’t take the viewpoint that if Christianity and European/Western civilization did not have the influence that it has in our timeline that it doesn’t mean that we would have a better society.
Dude, the Chinese discover nukes and call it . . . the CHI BOMB!
In all seriousness, what’s great about KSR’s book is that is admits, hey, there would be conflict for whatever reason. The book, as a general treaty, suggests that even though our history is filled with imperialist conflict from Euro/Western influence, if you remove it, people would still compete.
A really companion piece would be “Guns, Germs And Steel.” If you really want to get heady with the concepts.