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An Aztec priest of the dead tries to solve a murder mystery, and finds that politics may be even more powerful than magic. --Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times
Amid the mud and maize of the Mexica empire, Aliette de Bodard has composed a riveting story of murder, magic and sibling rivalry. --Elizabeth Bear
Part murder mystery, part well-researched historical novel and part fantasy... The fantasy element blends neatly with the other parts. 4****. --SFX Magazine
Amid the mud and maize of the Mexica empire, Aliette de Bodard has composed a riveting story of murder, magic and sibling rivalry. --Elizabeth Bear
Part murder mystery, part well-researched historical novel and part fantasy... The fantasy element blends neatly with the other parts. 4****. --SFX Magazine
Product Description
It is the year one-knife in Tenochitlan - the capital of the Aztecs. The end of the world is kept at bay only by the magic of human sacrifice. A Priestess disappears from an empty room drenched in blood. Acatl, High Priest of the Dead must find her, or break the boundaries between the worlds of th living and the dead. But how do you find someone, living or dead, in a world where blood sacrifices are an everyday occurrence and the very gods stalk the streets?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I first heard about Aliette de Bodard through her short story The Shipmaker which I enjoyed so much that I voted for it in the 2010 BSFA awards (which it won). I bought this book expecting to really enjoy it. Unfortunately the first four pages did not really pull me in and I put this book down for three months.
Moving forwards to last week, and I was wondering what to read next whilst on vacation. I decided to give this book another go. I am bloody glad that I did. I read this book in three days and it would have been less if my wife didn't insist on me actually interacting with people on holiday. Visiting the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and seeing some lovely Central American exhibits helped to capture my imagination even further.
This is a detective story and has all the elements you would expect. The unique flavour of this story is the Aztec setting. I certainly haven't seen another book where the detective is a High Priest of the Dead in an ancient central American culture. There is plenty of action, and the dialogue keeps things moving nicely. The setting was believable and yet I was still able to relate to aspects of such an alien culture.
As usual the lovely people at Angry Robot Books have give us some extra goodies at the back. I particularly enjoyed the author's account of how the book was written, plus all the academic referenced used for source material. For me this was a really interesting insight into the level of research required to produce a work of historical fiction. In my opinion the research time paid off and was an integral part of my enjoyment of this book.
If you enjoy a good mystery and fancy a change from the usual settings then this is a good choice of read. Equally, if you enjoy historical novels or the Aztec culture then this will be right up your alley.
Moving forwards to last week, and I was wondering what to read next whilst on vacation. I decided to give this book another go. I am bloody glad that I did. I read this book in three days and it would have been less if my wife didn't insist on me actually interacting with people on holiday. Visiting the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and seeing some lovely Central American exhibits helped to capture my imagination even further.
This is a detective story and has all the elements you would expect. The unique flavour of this story is the Aztec setting. I certainly haven't seen another book where the detective is a High Priest of the Dead in an ancient central American culture. There is plenty of action, and the dialogue keeps things moving nicely. The setting was believable and yet I was still able to relate to aspects of such an alien culture.
As usual the lovely people at Angry Robot Books have give us some extra goodies at the back. I particularly enjoyed the author's account of how the book was written, plus all the academic referenced used for source material. For me this was a really interesting insight into the level of research required to produce a work of historical fiction. In my opinion the research time paid off and was an integral part of my enjoyment of this book.
If you enjoy a good mystery and fancy a change from the usual settings then this is a good choice of read. Equally, if you enjoy historical novels or the Aztec culture then this will be right up your alley.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A good debut novel. Lots of characters but not too many that you lose track. A good story line as well. Only disappointment was that you find out who the culprit was well before the book ended and the finish was a bit of a let down. Still, I look forward to purchasing the next book in the series.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
13 reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A Coming-of-Age Story set in the Aztec Empire
29 Oct 2010
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was surprised to find that no one else had left a review until I remembered that all the other reviews I read were on the Amazon UK site....
I read a short-story by this author in a recent _Asimov's_ magazine, and it was good enough to make me look to see what else the author had published.
As a fantasy novel, this is pretty good. What if the Aztec myths were true? What if human sacrifices were required to keep the Sun in the sky?
As an historical fiction novel, it's not quite complete: we don't know really that much about the Aztec's (pre-conquest). However, this does give some feel for what could have been. I should say that all I know about the Aztecs comes from playing Civ 5 and visiting Mayan ruins in Mexico (which, duh, aren't Aztec!).
As a mystery novel, it's not quite fulfilling: the whodunit is exposed without any teasers beforehand (it'd be impossible to know based on clues).
This is kinda like a steampunk novel, but without the steam and without the punk--a cross-genre meld more along the lines of Cook's Garrett series. Perhaps obsidian-noir?
I found the main character engaging--his coming of age is one of taking on responsibilities that are thrust upon him by society as a man in his '30s. Entwined with this is a coming-of-age story of a young man trying to make his place in society, and another whose fatalism destroys his previous life but paves the way for him to make another (perhaps for this character it's a second-chance novel).
The British reviews are full of complaints about the hard-to-pronounce names of some of the characters. Coming from a country where "Thames" is prounounced "Tims" and "Leicester" only has 2 syllables (How many does Worcestershire have?), the complaints seem kinda whiny. I had no problem with the names, perhaps because I don't read out loud and I just stop reading when I recognized the name ("Mict" ... ok, Lord of the Dead).
Overall, I found this book very enjoyable. I read it in about a day. However, I like the genre-mix thing (e.g., I like the Dresden Files) and I suspect that if you're buying this for simply a detective novel you will be disappointed.
I'm also looking forward to more books in the series. The Asimov short-story paints an entire alternate history for de Bodard's universe that I think I will find very entertaining.
I read a short-story by this author in a recent _Asimov's_ magazine, and it was good enough to make me look to see what else the author had published.
As a fantasy novel, this is pretty good. What if the Aztec myths were true? What if human sacrifices were required to keep the Sun in the sky?
As an historical fiction novel, it's not quite complete: we don't know really that much about the Aztec's (pre-conquest). However, this does give some feel for what could have been. I should say that all I know about the Aztecs comes from playing Civ 5 and visiting Mayan ruins in Mexico (which, duh, aren't Aztec!).
As a mystery novel, it's not quite fulfilling: the whodunit is exposed without any teasers beforehand (it'd be impossible to know based on clues).
This is kinda like a steampunk novel, but without the steam and without the punk--a cross-genre meld more along the lines of Cook's Garrett series. Perhaps obsidian-noir?
I found the main character engaging--his coming of age is one of taking on responsibilities that are thrust upon him by society as a man in his '30s. Entwined with this is a coming-of-age story of a young man trying to make his place in society, and another whose fatalism destroys his previous life but paves the way for him to make another (perhaps for this character it's a second-chance novel).
The British reviews are full of complaints about the hard-to-pronounce names of some of the characters. Coming from a country where "Thames" is prounounced "Tims" and "Leicester" only has 2 syllables (How many does Worcestershire have?), the complaints seem kinda whiny. I had no problem with the names, perhaps because I don't read out loud and I just stop reading when I recognized the name ("Mict" ... ok, Lord of the Dead).
Overall, I found this book very enjoyable. I read it in about a day. However, I like the genre-mix thing (e.g., I like the Dresden Files) and I suspect that if you're buying this for simply a detective novel you will be disappointed.
I'm also looking forward to more books in the series. The Asimov short-story paints an entire alternate history for de Bodard's universe that I think I will find very entertaining.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Fascinating
18 May 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is more like 4 and a half stars.
I've long been interested in Mayan, Aztec, and other native cultures so this book caught my attention immediately. I like the author's writing style. The rich description adds atmosphere without slowing down the story and the characters are compelling. It is a harsh-edged culture as imagined here: blood and death sacrifices are commonplace. Yet boundaries exist. The book slowly builds to a dramatic and fearful battle.
Acatl's lack of sleep and his complaints about it were a small annoyance (am currently reading the 2nd book and this is no problem there). I highly recommend this book. I only wish it had a pronunciation guide.
I've long been interested in Mayan, Aztec, and other native cultures so this book caught my attention immediately. I like the author's writing style. The rich description adds atmosphere without slowing down the story and the characters are compelling. It is a harsh-edged culture as imagined here: blood and death sacrifices are commonplace. Yet boundaries exist. The book slowly builds to a dramatic and fearful battle.
Acatl's lack of sleep and his complaints about it were a small annoyance (am currently reading the 2nd book and this is no problem there). I highly recommend this book. I only wish it had a pronunciation guide.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Cozy set in Aztec Era
2 Mar 2012
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Aliette de Bodard has passed the Angry Robot Test--mix genres, shake but do not stir--by writing an intimate, well-crafted, mystery that fits squarely within the strictures of an English cozy but set in an exotic historical and cultural setting with unique fantasy tropes, arising from Aztec mythology.
Servant of the Underworld (Angry Robot Books 2010), a first-person narrative, features Acatl, a High Priest of Mictlantecuhtli, God of the Underworld and Acatl's patron. Acatl is not a policeman, or a professional crime fighter; instead, he is simply a priest, who has chosen to eschew the heroic life of a warrior like his brother Neutemoc for the quiet life in the Temple, helping the dead make a smooth transition to Mictlan, the underworld. The story begins when Ceyaxochitl, a representative of the Revered Speaker, Ayaxacatl, sends for Acatl to investigate a death where dark magic is evident. Thus Ms de Bodard satisfies one of the first characteristics of the cozy: the detective is an amateur. Acatl is neither a detective nor a warrior; however, the death he has been called to investigate not only concerns Nahual magic but a highly-charge political situation that involves his immediate family. The proximity of the perpetrators is also an element of "cozy" fiction: the mystery usually takes place in a community small enough to make it plausible that the characters know each other and are easily interrogated or examined. Acatl soon learns his brother is the number one suspect and he rapidly tracks the threads of magic through Tenochtitlan in order to prevent his brother's execution.
Cozy mysteries usually have a thematic underpinning based upon the locale of the action or the profession of the protagonist. For instance, in Ellis Peters' series, the medieval world of his detective, Brother Cadfael, forms the thematic underpinning; whereas, in Servant, the mythic magic of the Aztecs and the internecine struggle of the Gods form the major components. The turn of the screw, however, in Ms de Bodard's work is that the Gods are active participants, creating the fantasy elements, and supporting the magical system at work in the novel. Mictlantecuhtli, although a God, is as vibrant a character as our narrator, which sets this cozy squarely within the category of fantasy. It is this use of the mythic that I found most interesting: the magical system based upon glyphs and blood seemed very real and provided a rich, numinous texture to the novel.
Finally, even though Servant involves several murders, the villains perform their gruesome acts off-stage.Acts of violence and explicit sex, although implied, are not visible. Nevertheless, its realistic depiction of magic situate it squarely within the confines of the best historical fantasy. More often than not, magic just is in fantasy novels; in Servant, magic arises naturally from the culture and the historical setting, making this cozy a very satisfying and magical (in every sense of the word) read.
Servant of the Underworld (Angry Robot Books 2010), a first-person narrative, features Acatl, a High Priest of Mictlantecuhtli, God of the Underworld and Acatl's patron. Acatl is not a policeman, or a professional crime fighter; instead, he is simply a priest, who has chosen to eschew the heroic life of a warrior like his brother Neutemoc for the quiet life in the Temple, helping the dead make a smooth transition to Mictlan, the underworld. The story begins when Ceyaxochitl, a representative of the Revered Speaker, Ayaxacatl, sends for Acatl to investigate a death where dark magic is evident. Thus Ms de Bodard satisfies one of the first characteristics of the cozy: the detective is an amateur. Acatl is neither a detective nor a warrior; however, the death he has been called to investigate not only concerns Nahual magic but a highly-charge political situation that involves his immediate family. The proximity of the perpetrators is also an element of "cozy" fiction: the mystery usually takes place in a community small enough to make it plausible that the characters know each other and are easily interrogated or examined. Acatl soon learns his brother is the number one suspect and he rapidly tracks the threads of magic through Tenochtitlan in order to prevent his brother's execution.
Cozy mysteries usually have a thematic underpinning based upon the locale of the action or the profession of the protagonist. For instance, in Ellis Peters' series, the medieval world of his detective, Brother Cadfael, forms the thematic underpinning; whereas, in Servant, the mythic magic of the Aztecs and the internecine struggle of the Gods form the major components. The turn of the screw, however, in Ms de Bodard's work is that the Gods are active participants, creating the fantasy elements, and supporting the magical system at work in the novel. Mictlantecuhtli, although a God, is as vibrant a character as our narrator, which sets this cozy squarely within the category of fantasy. It is this use of the mythic that I found most interesting: the magical system based upon glyphs and blood seemed very real and provided a rich, numinous texture to the novel.
Finally, even though Servant involves several murders, the villains perform their gruesome acts off-stage.Acts of violence and explicit sex, although implied, are not visible. Nevertheless, its realistic depiction of magic situate it squarely within the confines of the best historical fantasy. More often than not, magic just is in fantasy novels; in Servant, magic arises naturally from the culture and the historical setting, making this cozy a very satisfying and magical (in every sense of the word) read.
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