Mexica: A Novel [Paperback]

Norman Spinrad (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

The year is 1531. In a small hut on the slopes of the volcano Popocateptl, scholar and poet Alvaro de Sevilla reflects on his extraordinary life. For Alvaro was one of the small army of conquistadors who, some years earlier, set out to conquer an empire. Hernando Cortes was proclaimed a reincarnation of the god Quetzacoatl shortly after his arrival in the New World, and he took advantage and forced his way to the capital city. There he met Montezuma, the Aztec Emperor, who at first welcomed the conquistadors to his city, showering them with gold. But it was an encounter between two civilizations that could only end in chaos, death, and destruction.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in New York in 1940, Norman Spinrad has been an acclaimed SF writer, editor and critic since the mid 1960s. MEXICA is his second historical novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034911904X
• ISBN-13: 978-0349119045
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,324,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Norman Spinrad Bio


Reviews of HE WALKED AMONG US

Norman Spinrad's He Walked Among Us - Horror Drive-In

Norman Spinrad's He Walked Among Us






I'm always getting up here and urging you to buy this book, or to go see that movie. Buy a DVD or try a new author. I do it because I'm passionate about this stuff. And I swear to you that, regardless of whether you end up agreeing with me, I am always 100% honest about them.


Coming out on March 30th is what I consider to be the book of the year. It's He Walked Among Us, by Norman Spinrad. I bet it's already shipping now from Amazon.

Maybe you've read some Spinrad. Some pieces here and there. Or maybe you've been trying to make the time to read Bug Jack Barron for decades now. Or maybe you've read some of his books. My own personal favorites are Bug Jack Barron, The Iron Dream, Pictures at 11, Little Heroes, The Mind Game. My previous favorite was probably Norman's mainstream novel of Hollywood, Passing Through the Flame. My favorite now is He Walked Among Us.

Spinrad had trouble getting this book published and it boggles my mind. Here is not only one of the finest science fiction writers that ever published, but one of the most important writers of the modern age. I'm not kidding.

He Walked Among Us was previously published in a typically overpriced and poorly manufactured POD edition in 2004. Norman Spinrad having to put his work out in what is barely a notch above self publishing. It's criminal.

Why did he have such a difficult time getting He Walked Among Us published? For one thing, Spinrad has never been afraid to bite the hand that feeds him. He has been an acerbic critic of organized science fiction fandom for a long time. He paints the community in a harsh light in He Walked Among Us. I have the experience to tell you that his unflattering depictions of SF conventioneers is pretty damned accurate.

Also, Spinrad's career has been hard to classify in any one particular genre. He's known as a science fiction writer and many of his book fall solidly in that realm. Russian Spring, Songs From the Stars, The Void Captain's Tale, Greenhouse Summer, for examples. He has also written books that made him a popular figure in the counterculture, like The Children of Hamelin and Passing Through the Flame. There are stories that seem pulled direct from current events, such as The Mind Game and Pictures at 11. Spinrad has even done historical fiction: Mexica and The Druid King.

So what, exactly, is He Walked Among Us? Well, that's a hard one. In a way it's science fiction. It's also an acidly satiric satire of show business. The novel is screamingly funny at times. There are New Age aspects to He Walked Among Us. It's philosophical. It might deal with Quantum Physics, but I'm not exactly sure. And it also has some hardcore scenes that might make Edward Lee wince.

Jimmy Balaban is an aging, seedy, third rate show biz agent. He meets a dubious comedian named Ralf who claims to be from the future. He's here to save us from ourselves. It's an odd act, but Jimmy is a pro and the nose knows. Maybe there is a little bit of money to be made from this strange act. He takes Ralf on as a client and hires a male science fiction writer and a female New Age guru to turn Ralf into the cash cow that he always wanted. Astonishingly, it works. The question remains: Who, or what, is Ralf?

Spinrad has called He Walked Among Us his magnum opus and I definitely agree. I've been a fan of his work for a long time and I've been continually blown away by his writing. He Walked Among Us, however, is a revelation.

Naturally, a lot of people aren't going to get it. This isn't an easy, simple book. Oh, it's easy enough to read, but it's even easier to dismiss it as gimmicky fluff. Worse, readers could feel that Spinrad has a condescending attitude toward his audience. That he's laughing at them or feeling smugly superior. I don't feel that way, but a complex novel like He Walked Among Us can be interpreted in endless ways. That's part of the beauty of it.

Spinrad has always had an amazing imagination, which is augmented by his own radical sensibilities. I've always felt an element of danger in his work.

Norman Spinrad recently announced on Facebook that he has been diagnosed with stomach cancer. He had previously been told that it was inoperable, but there is greater hope now. It's still terrible news. This writer is a treasure and it's horrible to think that we may be losing him soon. Perhaps he'll pull out of it. I've always perceived Norman Spinrad as a fighter and I believe that he'll fight this battle with the courage that he is known for possessing. Hopefully he'll emerge with his health and years of productive life ahead of him. Forget the vicious lie that everything that doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Cancer is the worst thing in the world and it'll take its toll on him.

Thankfully we have a large body of work from Norman Spinrad to keep us astonished, entertained, and best of all, to keep us thinking. And he's never done a better work than He Walked Among Us. This writer has been neglected for far too long. He Walked Among Us deserves to be a success. And Norman Spinrad deserves more respect than he has gotten lately. A lot more respect.

Please consider buying a copy of He Walks Among Us.

---Mark Sieber

Spinrad, Norman. He Walked Among Us. Tor. Apr. 2010. c.544p. ISBN 978-0-7653-2584-6. $27.99. SF

When talent agent Jimmy Balaban discovers an ad lib comic named Ralf who claims to be from the future, he recognizes a potential moneymaker. Together with a once-famous sf writer and a New Age guru, the trio transform Ralf into a messiah-like figure who brings a message about a desolate future and the need to transform the world in order to avert disaster. When Ralf refuses to break character, his handlers wonder whether he is their creation or whether his message from the future is in fact real. VERDICT First published in France, this latest novel by one of sf's most distinguished authors (Bug Jack Barron, The Iron Dream) presents a cautionary tale that is at once sardonically witty and intellectually thought-provoking. A big book in more than pagination, this meaty saga of a contemporary prophet is essential for sf fans.

Library Journal







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Norman Spinrad is the author of some 20 or so novels, five or six dozen short stories, a classic Star Trek epsisode, a couple of flop movies, an album's worth of songs, political columns, film criticism, literary criticicsm, mini-cookbooks, autobiography, and a bunch of assorted other stuff.
The latest to be written is a new and literarily revolutionary novel called WELCOME TO YOUR DREAMTIME, in which you, the reader are the viewpoint character, and sections of which have been published in a weird assortment of magazines as free-standing short stories.
The latest to be published in the US,by Tor, is HE WALKED AMONG US, a novel so far ahead of itself that it had to wait until it had become something of the fave rave of a radical viral internet distribution experiment and a cause celebre in France as IL EST PARMI NOUS before any traditional American publisher would bring it out in paper.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spinrad goes historical, February 24, 2008

By 

mrliteral - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mexica: A Novel (Paperback)

There was a time when Norman Spinrad was on the cutting edge of science fiction, one of the leaders of the so-called New Wave with such works as Bug Jack Barron and The Iron Dream. Alas, those days are decades in the past and a mellower Spinrad has moved on to rather straightforward historical novels. First, there was The Druid King dealing with Julius Caesar's conquest of the Gauls under Vercingetorix. In Mexica, he once again deals with the themes of culture clash and conquest, this time with the Spanish overthrow of Montezuma.

The narrator of this tale is Alvaro de Sevilla, the alias of Avram ibn Ezra, a Jew who has fled the Spanish Inquisition and adopted a Christian guise in Cuba. Word has come to the island of people occupying what would eventually be known as the American mainland; more important than the people is the gold they seem to have lots of. Alvaro is not greedy, but has a scholarly interest in learning of this alien civilization; he plays a part in getting his friend, Hernando Cortes to launch an expedition.

Though armed with better equipment, the Spanish contingent will find itself almost hopelessly outnumbered. Cortes, however, is a canny individual and is able to coerce tribe after tribe into alliances, typically while cramming Christianity down their throats. These outlying tribes are one thing; the larger Empire of the Mexica (the term Aztec is rarely used), led by Montezuma, is another story.

Of course, history tells who will eventually win this battle, but the tale of the defeat of the Mexica still is quite interesting. Alvaro is often little more than an observer, but at times, he plays a key advisory role to Cortes. This will eventually eat at him; as a Jew, he knows all about persecution, and he will regret his role in the savagery he had helped provoke. At the heart of the tale, however, are two characters: Cortes and Montezuma, and even literarily, Cortes is the dominating figure. The general viewpoint of Cortes nowadays is not favorable, and while Spinrad does offer a humanizing depth to Cortes, the Spaniard remains a villain, albeit a charming one.

At the beginning of my review, I said Spinrad had moved on from science fiction, but really that is not completely true. Mexica is in its own way a science fiction story that really happened: a first contact story and an alien invasion story. And even if Spinrad is not the edgy writer he once was, he still is a good writer. Mexica starts off slowly but picks up in the second half (when Montezuma finally appears). If you are only vaguely aware of this story and tend to view it in black-and-white terms (typically, Cortes the evil destroyer of Indian civilizations), Mexica will offer a deeper look at the tale.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Written Historical Fiction, November 2, 2010

By 

Jason Golomb (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mexica: A Novel (Paperback)

It's a classic historical story - Hernan Cortes and a relatively small troop of Spaniards march through the countryside of a newly discovered country in a newly discovered part of the world. What followed can best be captured by the immortal words of another world conquerer Julius Caesar: "veni, vidi, vici" - "I came, I saw, I conquered". Norman Spinrad is most well known as a science fiction author, but he makes a smooth transition into historical fiction with his very straight forward and beautifully written account of Hernan Cortes' conquering of the Aztecs.

"Mexica" refers to one of the proper names of the people that ultimately became known as Aztecs. The story is written from the perspective of the fictional Alvaro de Sevilla, notary and ghost writer for Hernan Cortes. Alvaro writes through the lens of someone who lived through most of Cortes' campaign, as well as someone who spent time with Cortes' adversary, Montezuma.

Most of Spinrad's novel is a well-written and consumable version of the actual Cortes adventure. The historical versions of this story come from sources that range from the very biased letters of Cortes himself, writings from relatively contemporary Aztecs, as well as the well-known writings of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who makes a couple of cameo appearances in "Mexica". Spinrad weaves his tale through the pen of Alvaro who provides his own real-time perspective and analyses on events as he creates well-rounded three-dimensional characters in Cortes and Montezuma.

The slave-turned-translator, Malinal, becomes Alvaro's confidant and unwitting conspirator as well. Malinal and Alvaro are positioned as confidants to Cortes and find themselves guiding the hand of the conquistador - from helping secure the lease to explore the New World, to deftly dancing the dangerously heretical line of playing the role of god Quetzalcoatal, who lives in Mexica legend as a pale-faced bearded god who will return to the land of the Mexica from the East.

The greatest addition to the pantheon of New Spain conquest stories is the first person dialogues between Cortes and Montezuma themselves. It's here that Spinrad explores the myriad of motivations that are always skewed through historical perspective.

Alvaro learns the Mexica language of Nahautl and becomes Montezuma's confessor, confidant, and friend during the days in which he's held prisoner in his own city by the Spaniards. Montezuma's actions always appear to be rather random, superstitious, inconsistent, selfish, unexplainable, and barbaric. Spinrad spins the tale a different way as we see a sympathetic ruler, looking to do the best for his people and his city, while consistently seeking guidance and approval from his gods. While Aztec sacrifices seem hideously violent and harsh, as Alvaro points out, are the Aztec actions all that different from the Spaniards during the inquisition? Do Christians also not look to their gods for guidance and direction?

I thoroughly enjoyed his book. Battle scenes are well-told and realistic. Alvaro's theological explorations of what drove Montezuma and Cortes are clear and logical, and fit seamlessly with the well-paced story.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars review by Ernest Hogan published in La Bloga, November 27, 2010

By 

Norman Spinrad (New York, NY, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: MEXICA (Kindle Edition)

Chicanonautica: Mexica, Norman Spinrad, and the Electronic Revolution

It was as if an expedition of black Africans had made their way up the Nile and across the Mediterranean to Italy and were trying to make enough sense of the Roman Empire of the Caesars to attempt to conquer it. - Norman Spinrad, Mexica

I think we need to make Norman Spinrad an honorary Chicano. His novel of the conquest of Mexico, Mexica, is the reason. It was published in Spanish in Mexico, where it was a bestseller. A film is in the works, in English, from El Uno productions.

Those are things that not many Chicano/Latino writers have accomplished. But, before you go online or to you're favorite bookstore to grab a copy, don't bother. This amazing novel is not available in English, or in America. Seems that Nueva York has treated Norman Spinrad like a Chicano.

He and his agent bounced the book all over Nueva York -- and couldn't sell it. Spinrad reports that most of the rejections were on on the assumption that:

. . . American readers wouldn't be interested in an historical novel about the key event in Mexican history, this in a country where there are at least 40 or 50 million Mexican-Americans fluent in English whose very culture and ethnic identity were the result.

Yet Mexica has a potential appeal far beyond the Latino Lit market. It's one of those books that has everything. Not just a bit of ethnic studies and historical curiosity, this rather straight reportage of the Conquest is more fantastic than the best science fiction and fantasy. It makes Star Wars and Lord of the Rings look mundane. There's action, adventure, horror, even romance. You want wild entertainment? Well, here it is!

It's also a powerful rendering of an important subject. Spinrad's viewpoint character, a Jewish Spaniard who had lived under the Muslims and the Inquisition, provides a fresh perspective to the Mexica (it is pointed that "Aztec" was derogatory term, like Chicano once was), and Spaniards who are equally alien to the modern reader. The rich complexities of Latino identity become clear:

Marina, who had been Malinal, smiled at Alvaro de Sevilla, who had been Alvaro Escribiente de Granada, who in his heart was still Avram ibn Ezra or in truth Avram ben Ezra.

As history goes on, identities change. Maybe that's what Nueva York is afraid of . . .


So why am bothering you with all this, if you can't buy this book? Well, the good news is, you can! But not in the old way. Spinrad has released Mexica as an ebook. Nueva York's days as the literary capital of the world are numbered. A revolution has begun. And the changes that will come for readers, writers, and publishers will be comparable to those that happened when Cortes conquered Tenochitlán.

Go now, and join the revolution.