I will have to read 2312 next then. I'm almost finished with Rice and Salt I love the way he worked in characters similar to Da Vinci, MLK, and Marie Curie as souls and eventualities. That just made me think of Isaac Asimovs Foundation Series with the concept of psycohistory. Are you familiar with it?
My only problems with Rice and Salt is his view of Africa. While the same souls doing everything advances the story, that is also pretty insulting. 2312 really only makes sense if you read Mars. There is too much catching up to understand how things are possible.
Agreed, for the same souls bit. Africa following the same line of history makes sense to me though. It wasn't until the colonial era that Europe influenced Africa and China would fulfill the same role as Europe when that time came. There were no clashing cultures to advance sub Sahara Africa as there were in Asia and the Middle East.
I only have a pdf, not even an epub. I'm not sure if this is a character or his opinion, but I thought I read their souls are closer to animals. Why would a book about spiritual growth be racist? I don't mind if Africa's storyline, because I'm a bit of a primativist.