Very clever. ( )

Laurent Binet’s Civilizations is an exercise in alternate history, or if you like, counterfactual history, beginning with a reimagined settlement of the New World by a band of Vikings. The narrative is clear and logical, but it is not really a novel. It sees events from 20 thousand feet and never gets us particularly close to any of its characters.
The story begins with a voyage by Eric the Red’s daughter and her encounter with Mesoamerican Indians. The Vikings enrich their new home with iron-working, draft animals, and wheeled vehicles. Columbus’s trip west ends badly, leaving the hulks of two of his ships weathering on the beach. The Mayan leader, Atahualpa, reverse engineers them and launches a transatlantic expedition to Europe. He arrives in Lisbon in time to capture Charles V, head of the Holy Roman Empire, and conquer a disorganized Europe—at least until the Aztecs show up.
The book ends with an account of the early adventures of Miguel Cervantes and his encounter with the essayist Michele de Montaigne. It is the most stylish part of the narrative, deftly parodying the styles of both writers. It could be read as a standalone sketch. ( )

I have been meaning to read Laurent Binet for a while now! I LOVED the idea, the concept behind this book. What would have happened if the events of certain historical visitors went slightly differently? Everything as a butterfly effect. Unfortunately, I am not a history buff so this sort of writing style gets very dense as a minefield of things I don't know. So it doesn't hit as well as it probably could have, if I knew my world history better. My fault! I was really hoping I would enjoy this more. There are probably a ton of fun historical easter eggs here, if you can spot them. History buffs can get more mileage out of this, I suppose. This very much reminded me of the book 'Sudden Death' by Alvaro Enrique. ( )

Fantasiosa y con poco interes. Lo unico curioso es la idea original que sostiene la trama. ( )

Well, that was lots of fun. A 'what if' of history retold. The Vikings went further than Newfoundland and reached the Caribbean, Columbus set sail but never returned to Europe with his discovery of the New World. In fact the 'New World' turned out to be Europe itself discovered by a small band of armed Incas. The conquistadors-in-reverse took on and conquered the continent. The emperor Atahualpa leading them. All the main characters of European history appear including Pedro Pizarro in a very different role, Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor, Queen Isabella, Henry VIII, Luther, Erasmus, Barbarossa, Michelangelo, Titian, Cervantes, El Greco and many others. Written in a very apposite, folkloric, simple style as well as being highly amusing it highlights some of the absurdities of European history of the time. Atahualpa himself is a very worthy hero. What if indeed. ( )