- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz (May 1993)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575055405
- ISBN-13: 978-0575055407
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.6 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,889,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The Aztec Empire has been growing ever since Cortez changed sides in the 16th century. They already control great areas of the world and now it's 20th-century Britain's turn to submit to Aztec rule. This story of war, politics, intrigue and romance is narrated by a daughter of the British monarch.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The premise is that - in a universe once identical to our own - the Spanish who discovered the Americas brought back with them a plague to which the Aztecs were immune. Europe, decimated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was not able to fully exploit the new continent, leaving the Aztecs to learn from the Spanish and thus evolve into a superpower. By the end of the twentieth century, the Aztec Empire, already in control of China and most of North and South America, are ready to invade Europe.
The narrator and hero comes in the unlikely form of Princess Catherine, sister to Victoria, and to Richard, the nice-but-dim heir to the throne of the United Kingdom. It's exciting and fast-paced from the outset, and is certainly a fascinating and enjoyable read, if it is at some points let down by the Aztecs' rather unlikely level of scientific development which seems both fantastic and rather too incredible a feat to have achieved by 1993.
However, the book is very subtle in its examination of the warring cultures and political systems and despite the exciting and chilling denouement one finds oneself seeing the resistance - of which Princess Catherine feels she is a part even if working mostly alone - as behaving just as badly, if not worse, than the occupying forces.
On the other hand, as we are seeing this world through Catherine's eyes, one could argue that we. along with Catherine, are being seduced by Aztec propaganda and misinformation.
An intriguing character is Bevan, who is employed as Catherine's 'sidekick' throughout. A Welsh militant and an anti-Royalist, he neveretheless appears to be working with Princess Catherine against the Aztecs. His true role is never fully revealed and it is left to the reader to decide for themselves for which side Bevan was batting.
The novel works extremely well simply because of this ambivalence, not only with Bevan, but with other characters such as Extepan, heir to the Aztec Empire who may, throughout the novel, have been working with the best of motives, but from a different cultural perspective.
There is also Mia, Extepan's 'handmaiden' whose enigmatic presence arouses the suspicions of both Catherine and Extepan's first wife. The most important question Evans raises is whether a United Earth under the Aztecs would be altogether a bad thing. The world would be culturally unified for the first time which would lower the probability of war between nations.
Compared to our own world of international squabbles and terrorism, being part of the seemingly altruistic Aztec Empire seems reasonably attractive.
Ultimately and quite ingeniously, Evans once more leaves it to the reader to decide who, if anyone, did the right thing.
The narrator and hero comes in the unlikely form of Princess Catherine, sister to Victoria, and to Richard, the nice-but-dim heir to the throne of the United Kingdom. It's exciting and fast-paced from the outset, and is certainly a fascinating and enjoyable read, if it is at some points let down by the Aztecs' rather unlikely level of scientific development which seems both fantastic and rather too incredible a feat to have achieved by 1993.
However, the book is very subtle in its examination of the warring cultures and political systems and despite the exciting and chilling denouement one finds oneself seeing the resistance - of which Princess Catherine feels she is a part even if working mostly alone - as behaving just as badly, if not worse, than the occupying forces.
On the other hand, as we are seeing this world through Catherine's eyes, one could argue that we. along with Catherine, are being seduced by Aztec propaganda and misinformation.
An intriguing character is Bevan, who is employed as Catherine's 'sidekick' throughout. A Welsh militant and an anti-Royalist, he neveretheless appears to be working with Princess Catherine against the Aztecs. His true role is never fully revealed and it is left to the reader to decide for themselves for which side Bevan was batting.
The novel works extremely well simply because of this ambivalence, not only with Bevan, but with other characters such as Extepan, heir to the Aztec Empire who may, throughout the novel, have been working with the best of motives, but from a different cultural perspective.
There is also Mia, Extepan's 'handmaiden' whose enigmatic presence arouses the suspicions of both Catherine and Extepan's first wife. The most important question Evans raises is whether a United Earth under the Aztecs would be altogether a bad thing. The world would be culturally unified for the first time which would lower the probability of war between nations.
Compared to our own world of international squabbles and terrorism, being part of the seemingly altruistic Aztec Empire seems reasonably attractive.
Ultimately and quite ingeniously, Evans once more leaves it to the reader to decide who, if anyone, did the right thing.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Good, but not good enough
2 Feb 2006
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I searched for this book for years, and finally broke down and payed the outrageous sum of $30+ for it on Amazon, for a badly used copy, no less.
Was it worth it? Yes and no.
There is no doubt that Evans knows how to tell a story - his descriptions and dialogues flow well, and the story never bogs down. The characters are sympathetic and the major one are well-portrayed.
The negative points:
This is an alternate history, a world where Cortez went over to the Aztecs and helped bootstrap them up the technological ladder. Additionally, a 'New World Plague' akin to smallpox decimates Europe, further helping Aztec survival. However, there's only so many advantages you can give a culture before you enter the realm of the ridiculous. An Aztec Empire that controls more than three quarters of the globe in less than a century of conquest? I just don't see it.
Another sticking point for me was the too-similar similarity to our own world. I mean, this is an alternate earth that diverged from ours in the 15th century - how likely is it that there will be a New York, a Virginia? Or a Canada and New England? Granted, Evans doesn't dwell on _any_ of these cultures with great detail (or even less than great detail), so there's no way to tell exactly how similar or different they are. Even Britain, where the bulk of the story is set (after it is conquered by the Aztecs), is given only a cursory examination of its history.
Aztec culture is explored in greater detail, and the descriptions of the great capital of Tenochtitlan are amazing, but we don't get to Mexico until the last quarter of the book, and it seems rushed.
Another gripe was how the character of Bevan was dealt with. Bevan is a Welshman who becomes the manservant of Britain's Princess Catherine (the book's narrator). It is never clear if he is working with the underground, if he is an Aztec spy, or if he is playing some game of his own. Throughout the story, events seem to be building up to reveal his true nature, but at the end the reader is left as confused as to his identity as he was ten pages in.
So overall, I give Aztec Century 4 stars for the sheer coolness of the idea, but only 2 stars for overall execution.
3 stars.
Was it worth it? Yes and no.
There is no doubt that Evans knows how to tell a story - his descriptions and dialogues flow well, and the story never bogs down. The characters are sympathetic and the major one are well-portrayed.
The negative points:
This is an alternate history, a world where Cortez went over to the Aztecs and helped bootstrap them up the technological ladder. Additionally, a 'New World Plague' akin to smallpox decimates Europe, further helping Aztec survival. However, there's only so many advantages you can give a culture before you enter the realm of the ridiculous. An Aztec Empire that controls more than three quarters of the globe in less than a century of conquest? I just don't see it.
Another sticking point for me was the too-similar similarity to our own world. I mean, this is an alternate earth that diverged from ours in the 15th century - how likely is it that there will be a New York, a Virginia? Or a Canada and New England? Granted, Evans doesn't dwell on _any_ of these cultures with great detail (or even less than great detail), so there's no way to tell exactly how similar or different they are. Even Britain, where the bulk of the story is set (after it is conquered by the Aztecs), is given only a cursory examination of its history.
Aztec culture is explored in greater detail, and the descriptions of the great capital of Tenochtitlan are amazing, but we don't get to Mexico until the last quarter of the book, and it seems rushed.
Another gripe was how the character of Bevan was dealt with. Bevan is a Welshman who becomes the manservant of Britain's Princess Catherine (the book's narrator). It is never clear if he is working with the underground, if he is an Aztec spy, or if he is playing some game of his own. Throughout the story, events seem to be building up to reveal his true nature, but at the end the reader is left as confused as to his identity as he was ten pages in.
So overall, I give Aztec Century 4 stars for the sheer coolness of the idea, but only 2 stars for overall execution.
3 stars.
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