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jaceyAliette de Bodard: Servant of the Underworld
Obsidian and Blood #1
Note I have the e-arc version of the omnibus, but have chosen to log them one book at a time rather than as the whole trilogy.
Set in the Aztec Empire the story centres on Acatl, High Priest of the Dead who is called to solve a murder. A priestess has gone missing, leaving behind nothing but a pool of blood and a fast-fading trail of magic. Neutemoc has been caught red-handed, literally. but Acatl can't let himself believe his estranged brother is responsible. This rapidly becomes more than a murder mystery, though. One puzzle nests inside another until finally Acatl realises there are powers at work that might bring about the end of the fifth world itself - the world of men.
The setting is Tenochtitlan, the capital if the Aztec world - the remains of which can still be seen today in Mexico City. Ms de Bodard's setting is unusual and intriguing. It feels well researched. Since I know nothing about Aztecs i can't say absolutely but I suspect a lot of sound research and additional authorial verisimilitude. The magic is blood magic, very different to magic schemes usually encuntered in fantasy books, and it's down tho the skill of the author that we take ritual sacrifice for granted because that's the way this world works. It doesn't horrify Acatl, so it doesn't horrify us either. Sometimes it's Acatl's blood, sometimes it's an animal or bird, and though the author doesn't focus on it in graphic detail human sacrifice is a legitimate part of this world.
The biggest stumbling block to this fascinating story has been getting my head around the multi-syllabic Aztec names. Yaotl and Eleuia are relatively easy, but the names of people, places and gods such as Ceyaxochitl, Xochiquetzal, Mahuizoh, Tlatelolco, Chalchiutlicue and Huitzilpochtli tend to make my brain feel as though it's been poked with a sharp stick. I have no idea how to pronounce these names and therefore find myself stumbling over them. Yet by the end of the book familiarity is starting to work in my favour and they no longer seem quite as strange. I'm sure when I go on to the second book in the omnibus edition that it won't be a problem at all.
The characterisation is excellent. Ms de Bodard gets under the skin of Acatl, born a peasant, educated, and choosing the priesthood against his parents' wishes. They wanted him to be a warrior like his extremely successful brother and never forgave him for choosing another path. At the age of thirty he is called from his backwater position in the provinces and raised to be High Priest to Miclantecuhtli, Lord Death, ruler of the underworld, and when the book starts he's still uneasy with this unwanted promotion, largely leaving the running of the temple to Ichtaca, his second in command.
Teomitl inserts himself into the story, an eager young man, determined to apprentice himself to Acatl, and is as outgoing at Acatle is introverted. There's something about Teomitl which kept me guessing. I expected one reveal and got another. Events in the story lead Acatl into his first brush with power politics, but it's unlikely to be his last because the current emperor is dying and we are on the threshold of change.
There are shocking revelations all round. Neutemoc turns out to be not so perfect as Acatl has always thought. Acatl learns something about being himself and being High Priest. Do they save the world? Well this is the first book in a trilogy so what do you think? As to how they save it, you'll just have to read for yourself.
Highly recommended.
Obsidian and Blood #1
Note I have the e-arc version of the omnibus, but have chosen to log them one book at a time rather than as the whole trilogy.
Set in the Aztec Empire the story centres on Acatl, High Priest of the Dead who is called to solve a murder. A priestess has gone missing, leaving behind nothing but a pool of blood and a fast-fading trail of magic. Neutemoc has been caught red-handed, literally. but Acatl can't let himself believe his estranged brother is responsible. This rapidly becomes more than a murder mystery, though. One puzzle nests inside another until finally Acatl realises there are powers at work that might bring about the end of the fifth world itself - the world of men.
The setting is Tenochtitlan, the capital if the Aztec world - the remains of which can still be seen today in Mexico City. Ms de Bodard's setting is unusual and intriguing. It feels well researched. Since I know nothing about Aztecs i can't say absolutely but I suspect a lot of sound research and additional authorial verisimilitude. The magic is blood magic, very different to magic schemes usually encuntered in fantasy books, and it's down tho the skill of the author that we take ritual sacrifice for granted because that's the way this world works. It doesn't horrify Acatl, so it doesn't horrify us either. Sometimes it's Acatl's blood, sometimes it's an animal or bird, and though the author doesn't focus on it in graphic detail human sacrifice is a legitimate part of this world.
The biggest stumbling block to this fascinating story has been getting my head around the multi-syllabic Aztec names. Yaotl and Eleuia are relatively easy, but the names of people, places and gods such as Ceyaxochitl, Xochiquetzal, Mahuizoh, Tlatelolco, Chalchiutlicue and Huitzilpochtli tend to make my brain feel as though it's been poked with a sharp stick. I have no idea how to pronounce these names and therefore find myself stumbling over them. Yet by the end of the book familiarity is starting to work in my favour and they no longer seem quite as strange. I'm sure when I go on to the second book in the omnibus edition that it won't be a problem at all.
The characterisation is excellent. Ms de Bodard gets under the skin of Acatl, born a peasant, educated, and choosing the priesthood against his parents' wishes. They wanted him to be a warrior like his extremely successful brother and never forgave him for choosing another path. At the age of thirty he is called from his backwater position in the provinces and raised to be High Priest to Miclantecuhtli, Lord Death, ruler of the underworld, and when the book starts he's still uneasy with this unwanted promotion, largely leaving the running of the temple to Ichtaca, his second in command.
Teomitl inserts himself into the story, an eager young man, determined to apprentice himself to Acatl, and is as outgoing at Acatle is introverted. There's something about Teomitl which kept me guessing. I expected one reveal and got another. Events in the story lead Acatl into his first brush with power politics, but it's unlikely to be his last because the current emperor is dying and we are on the threshold of change.
There are shocking revelations all round. Neutemoc turns out to be not so perfect as Acatl has always thought. Acatl learns something about being himself and being High Priest. Do they save the world? Well this is the first book in a trilogy so what do you think? As to how they save it, you'll just have to read for yourself.
Highly recommended.
