Customer Reviews

Demon of the Air (Aztec 1)

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In the Western world it's December 1517, but in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan it's Thirteen Grass in the year Twelve House and a big day of human sacrifices. Pricey, pampered slaves or captives will be sacrificed to nourish the war god, and those lucky enough to be allowed to sponsor a sacrifice are dressed up in their showiest cloaks, jade nose plugs and ear studs. They follow the slaves up the pyramid, boosting their courage by chatting about what fabulous eternities the victims will enjoy post-sacrifice.

Yaotl, slave to a chief minister, has the job of escorting a sacrifice up the pyramid-an ordinary enough task for someone who used to be a priest--but the fellow he's escorting is acting a little strange. The day gets worse when the victim pre-sacrifices by jumping off the pyramid after shouting for everyone to look for the big boat. Yaotl is blamed for the disgrace and is charged with finding out what the suicide and warning were about.

Where the Aztec world in Gary Jennings' "Aztec" was a strange as science fiction, "Demon" author Simon Levack expresses Yaotl's society with a naturalness reminiscent of Mary Renault and Steven Saylor. What Aztecs ate, wore, thought, played, and prayed are nicely built into the narrative, and for the most part he avoids the jokiness that mars too many mysteries set in the ancient world (perhaps there is something intrinsically less funny about a society based on human sacrifice and ceremonial cannibalism). The opening sacrifice scene is a fine example of black humor, but then the Aztecs saw nothing extraordinary about sacrifice days, and, well, some just went better than others.

This is the first in a planned series featuring Yaotl, and it will be interesting to see how Levack handles the approach of the Spanish conquistadors whose arrival is already sensed across the Aztec empire. This gives a nice little undercurrent of tension to everything in the story, and it's a smart move to choose a time period with built-in suspense. I presume it was a conscious decision-a lot about the novel seems consciously selected to sustain a series-but still, it is interesting, it is different, and "Demon of the Air" is a good read.

British author Levack plausibly recreates the blood-soaked atmosphere of 1517 Aztec Mexico in this absorbing debut. The book opens on the grisly spectacle of a major festival, when merchants are permitted to dress in finery and escort their purchased sacrifices up the Great Pyramid to their "Flowery Death."

But narrator Yaotl, slave of Emperor Montezuma's chief minister, and the peasant Handy are all that remains of the procession for the merchant Ocotl's sacrifice. The victim, who seemed even more dazed than the other drugged sacrifices, had broken away from the procession, shouting, "Look for the big boat!" and leapt to his death. Yaotl and Handy, trying vainly to keep the body propped upright, drag it to the war-god priests and only Yaotl's quick thinking keeps them from being sacrificed in the dead man's place.

The scene is as blackly funny as it is alien. "Never acquired the taste myself," Handy remarks as they are given the man's butchered limbs. "I know it's polite to have a mouthful if someone from your parish brings home a captive, but give me a slice of dog any day."

Montezuma, plagued by visions and strange news of white men among the Mayans (the first Spanish expedition has landed and in 1519 Cortés will enter the Aztec city) demands Yaotl's account and sends him on a mission to find the soothsayers who have disappeared from the prison he had banished them to after their unsatisfactory prophecies. To fail is to die, but Yaotl's master seems to have different plans for him, with a similar possible outcome.

Yaotl, who reveals bits of his back-story throughout the narrative, is a resourceful, determined fellow with a sardonic sense of humor. The Aztec setting is convincing, strange and thoroughly human even in its religious savagery. Levack provides a suspenseful plot with some neat twists and his writing is lively and colorful. An auspicious debut.

--Portsmouth Herald

It is 1517 in the Aztec Empire ,in what is now Mexico.Its absolutist ruler ,the Emperor Montezuma ia a worried man .His sleep is troubled by visions of bearded men from another country who seem fated to depose him and rule the land in his stead .When Yaotl ,a slave of his chief minister ,is sent to escort 2 slaves to their death as sacrifices in a religious rite ,one breaks free and proclaims that doom is coming to the realm .Not only that but 2 soothsayers arrested by the Emperor have escaped from prison and the paranoid ruler fears the events are connected ,He appoints Yaotl-a former priest -to investigate the disappearance of the soothsayers .This places Yaotl in an invidious position as his owner ,the Chief Minister ,is anxious that any connection between these events is not discovered

In order to solve the problem Yaotl must delve back into his own family background

The historical research that has gone into the book is impressive and the author wears his immense erudition lighly ,The book also benefits from exploring a time and place not previously treated of in historical crime fiction .However ,for me the book is simply too long and the plot too convoluted for the book to truly hold my attention .It may well be these are simply down to the problems of a first time novelist .The book would have benefitted from some judcious editing and the work is simply too plodding for my taste.Others will disagree and the book did win a CWA award for Best Debut Novel .

Lovers of the history with mystery school and /or devotees of the Aztec era will like it more than I did

I think this Author describes Aztec society in a more enticing, convincing and plausible manner that Gary Jennings in "Aztec", maybe because the protagonist, Yaotl, is not a sexual perverse polymorph, but a humble slave of the First Minister, who finds himself in the subtle intrigues between his master and no one but the Emperor (or, more properly, Tlatoani, Revered Orator) Montezuma. What is notable is the exquisite feeling of impending doom (we are two years before the Spanish conquest)and the fine characterization of the personae of the novel.Omens of what is to come are multiplying, whilst Yaotl tries to solve impossible conundrums fighting for is life! A rare thingindeed, a learned, suspenseful book! Kudos to simon Levack!

Simon Levack's first novel takes the ancient murder mysteries across the atlantic into the world of the Aztecs and promptly opens with the inevitable human sacrifice that was so integral to their religion. What's good is that he gives us an explanation of why through a detailed recount of the Aztec origins of the world mythology before opening up the story with our sleuth literally hurling himself down the side of a pyramid after the bouncing body of a Bathed Slave after causing a fracas with the priests.

Within the next dozen or so pages Levakc has also detailed the importance of providing a pure body for sacrifice and given an insight as to the social standings within Aztec society. So by the time our hero, Yaotl, slave to the Chief Minister is hauled before Montezuma to be coerced into solving the disappearance of a bunch of sorcerors from the Cuauhcalco prison, we have not only hat plot but a good synopsis of the Aztec cultural knowledge needed for this novel. It is an impressive start.

The story unfolds as Yaotl finds himself hounded and threatened by all sides. His master, Black Feathers,

orders him to Coyoacan to find out what has become of the sorcerors that have flown the prison. His trip there with Handy and his sons, Snake and Buck, reveal three murders and a saved young boy whom Handy and his wife Citlalli take in. In the meantime, Yaotl delves further into the family of Shining Light, the merchant who provided the Bathed Slave and comes up against his mother Lily and their connections to a thuggish Misty and his son Nimble. After a couple of episodes where Misty's intent to murder Yaotl becomes clear and Nimble's desperate prevention of it, another sorceror body turns up in Black Feather's pond as Yoatl goes on the run from his master which he feels is trying to give him to Misty.

An eventful game at one of the stadium (with an interesting aside as to the rules of the Aztec game) leads to Yaotl eventually to garner some truths from his brother Lion, Guardian of the Waterfront and highly respected warrior and the pair promptly go off (once Lion has discovered his participation in some murders was due to his duping by the duplicitous Black Feathers) to uncover the further truths behind Shining Light.

Yaotl comes up with a theory that is near the mark, but not quite enough to mean the eventually watery denouement on a parrot boat in the middle of the lake causes some further surprises as to the identity of Shining Light. However, Yaotl's expounding of his theory whilst in the arms of Lily does give Levack the chance to give us a detailed history of our protagonist whilst in the arms of Lily. We learn of how he failed the annual priestly tests and ended up selling himself. We learn of his affair with Maize Flower and the enmity that developed with Telpochtli. Ultimately, it allows Yaotol to deceive himself, find out he has a son and uncover the truth behind the murders. Whilst the name of the murderer is fairly eveident from early on, what is not is the motive and this is the true mystery throughout the novel.

It is easy to see why Levack has won a debut Crime Writers Award for this effort is markedly good and any further novels about Yaotl will be eagerly sought by this reader, at least.

When Yaotl takes a Bathed Slave to be sacrificed and the slave kills himself, most shamefully, before the priests can cut out his heart the last thing Yaotl expects is to be dragged before the Emperor and told to find some missing sorcerers who were connected to the slave.

Yaotl is himself a slave to Lord Feathered-in-Black which puts him in a difficult position when he finds that both the Emperor and his Master want the same thing and Yaotl has to decide how he can find the answers and get himself out of the problem without getting himself killed by either party.

This is a brilliant reconstruction of the Aztec empire a couple of years before it ended with arrival of the Spanish. It is a world drenched in human sacrifice - which they implicitly believed was needed for the sun to keep rising. It was also a world of duty, war and beauty in a city that was the America's version of Venice. I enjoyed this novel and never guessed the answer to the mystery in advance, and I am looking forward to the next Yaotl mystery.