Reddit mentions of The Years of Rice and Salt: A Novel

Kim Stanley Robinson - The Years of Rice and Salt

edit - TL;DR: Europe was entirely wiped out by the black plague, so events took an interesting turn

Pastwatch By Orson Scott Card shows the efforts of some time travelers to effect exactly what you're referring to, but only one or two chapters is actually set in the altered timeline.

I second pinguz's offering of The Years of Rice and Salt, but you should be aware that there's some soft sci-fi/mysticism about reincarnation tucked away in it, like in a lot of her work (though I found it quite tasteful).

Not sure if it qualifies as fantasy (as it's an alternative history with some fantasy elements), but:

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson. I really enjoyed it.

The Years of Rice and Salt sort of fits what you're looking for. Very lyrically written, but it's more of a revisionist history. Basically, (no spoilers, this is the premise) imagine if Europe were totally decimated by the Black Plague and all major historical events that happened thereafter were led by Asian cultures (including the conquering of North America).

Cool "what if?" book I've read: The Years of Rice and Salt

Answering "What if the black plague had killed 99% of Europe instead of just 67%?". Asian and Arab cultures sweep in, entire course of history, discovery of Americas, etc. is changed.

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's the most amazing piece of alt-history, based on the premise that Europe was completely wiped out in the Black Death, and how history would proceed to the present without Europe.

People keep telling me about this book with my username. I've never actually read it. My name comes from this. It's in memoriam of a dead friend who liked drugs a little too much.

I'll have to go pick up that book one of these days. People keep telling me about it.

If you ever remember the name of that other book, which sounds like a Chick tract, just tell me the name. I can go fetch it for myself. No need to be buying me stuff, k.

If you like to read, hell yeah, let's talk. My hubs and I are both bookworms to an amazing degree. I just read one called Everything I Never Told You which won some kind of award from Amazon - best new or first book of the year, can't remember. It's a mindfucker.

The only book that ever made me cry was written from the point of view of a family dog. It was made into a movie that completely sucked, but the end of the book had me bawling. I've had to fight to retrieve that book from people I've loaned it to; only one printing, there aren't that many around, so I wasn't able to just let them keep it.

Want to read one from the point of view of a velociraptor? Here you go.

Another mindfucker: Room. Jesus, this one will have your skin crawling and hair standing up on the back of your neck.

My main thing is historical fiction, though. Gotta be well-researched and accurate - and yes, I check. I can go on and on about this, but the best is Edward Rutherfurd. He takes several lineages and follows them throughout history - Sarum starts in prehistory, do that one first - with a ton of detail.

Hubs is into science fiction, favorite author is Neal Stephenson. We both dig Kim Stanley Robinson, though. If you've never read his stuff, try this. If sci-fi is your thing, I can ask him for some recommendations.

When I say that Himself and I are bookworms, I am not kidding. We turned the dining room into a library to contain the overflow. You walk in our front door, and to your right is a wall; to your left, a library. Pretty fucking cool, if you ask me.