Aztec Blood (Mass Market Paperback)

by Gary Jennings (Author) "As Capitan of the Guard for Your Most Excellency's prison, it has been my duty to examine one Cristobal, known to all as Cristo the..." (more)
Key Phrases: flower weaver, silver robberies, mint inspector, Don Julio, New Spain, Fray Antonio (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Never less than spellbinding, this golden tale is third in a series (after Aztec Autumn) and follows the exploits of a mestizo boy (half Aztec, half Spanish) in 16th-century New Spain, struggling for survival against Spanish nobles in league with the Inquisition. Cristo the Bastardo spins his tale from a dungeon prison between bouts of torture before his hanging. Raised among the legions of social outcast l‚peros, half-breed beggars hated by Indians and Spanish alike, Cristo is protected and illegally educated by Fray Antonio, a defrocked priest. When Fray Antonio is killed, 13-year-old Cristo is framed for the priest's death and only saved by the kindness of a young Spanish girl. Saved once again by a dashing rogue of a p¡caro, an adventurer, bad actor and playwright named Mateo, Cristo chances into the hands of the Healer, a traveling Aztec shaman who takes him on as an assistant. When the Healer compels Cristo to wriggle into an Aztec tomb to steal gold, they are caught by Don Julio, a brilliant converso (converted Jew) and a powerful noble in New Spain spying for the king. "Enlisted" by Don Julio to spy on suspected rebel groups and silver mine thieves, Cristo plays the role of Don Julio's cousin and meets the girl who saved him, now betrothed to a villainous wealthy Spaniard linked to the silver thefts. But Don Julio is betrayed to the Inquisition, and Cristo is enslaved in the deadly silver mines. Jennings spins a dashing, glittering tale, sending the redoubtable Cristo and irrepressible Mateo through the dingy streets of Veracruz, lean Aztec villages, grand Spanish haciendas, deadly silver mines and teeming Mexico City. Injustice has seldom been so keenly sketched nor valor so compellingly portrayed as in this swashbuckling adventure.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Following the pattern he established in Aztec (1980) and Aztec Autumn (1997), Jennings continues to retrace the remarkable history of the Aztec empire. Vanquished by the Spanish conquistadors, the once proud Aztec people are enslaved and condemned to toil on the grand haciendas owned by their conquerors. Cristo the Bastardo, the mixed-blood product of a union between an Aztec mother and a Spanish father, grows up on one such feudal estate, and he is despised by both the native indios and the European interlopers. Raised and educated by a kindly priest, Cristo is furtively taught to read and write in several languages. Risking excommunication and imprisonment during the harsh Inquisition era, Fray Antonio feeds the eager boy a steady diet of classical literature and trains him as a physician. When Cristo learns that his true parentage is shrouded in a mystery that endangers his life, he is forced to flee the only home he has every known. Arriving first in Veracruz and later in Seville, he perfects the art of the con, embarking on a transatlantic series of escapades with one goal in mind: to uncover the carefully guarded secret of his birth. The author has meticulously researched the tortuous history of the colonization of New Spain, revivifying the all-but-forgotten era upon whose brutal foundation the modern nation of Mexico was forged. This lush, exotic page-turner fairly crackles with intrigue, romance, and adventure. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 768 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (August 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812590988
• ISBN-13: 978-0812590982
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,249 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The early history of Mexico comes alive, September 17, 2001

By	Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Aztec Blood (Hardcover)

There seems to be a trend in book publishing these days in which unfinished manuscripts by deceased, well-known authors are finished by others and then published under the famous name. I've read several of these types of books, with varying degrees of interest. This last book from Gary Jennings, and another, unknown writer, is definitely one of the better collaborations. It captures extremely well the essense of Mr. Jennings' writing, so that there is a terrifice story line, and action aplenty! The background and history is given as well as can be done without diverting attention from the tale, and the knowledge inserted is, for the most part, not intrusive. I do wonder, however, what the finished product would have been like had Mr. Jennings managed to complete it all on his own. Make no mistake, though, I really liked the book, and am sorry that no others will be forthcoming from Mr. Jennings. His death is a loss to all of his fans, among which I number myself.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It looked like Jennings, it tasted like Jennings...therefor, April 24, 2003

By	"sondral" (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

It must be Jennings!! And even though this book was technically not written by Jennings but rather based on manuscripts found after his death, I have to say it was very very good. I felt some apprehension about reading this books for those stated reasons, but I'm glad I went ahead and read it anyway.

In the third and final of the Aztec series, we get to follow the adventures and tribulations of Cristo, a mestizo (mixed blood) in now conquered New Spain. The thing I found very interesting about this book is that you are pulled back and forth between the Spanish and India culture that existed side by side, but extremely separate from eachother during the 1600's. Since Cristo is of mixed blood, he switches back and forth between being a full blooded Spaniard and an Indio beggar. The book is full of adventure, sex, torture; all the typical Jennings subjects, and does not disappoint.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars WOW - What a vast array of reviews...., December 10, 2002

By	Jeffrey Roberts (Long Island, New York United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a major Gary Jennings fan, having read all of his novels. I liked Aztec Blood, what is lacked in writing style is what I expected when I bought the book. Gary Jennings didn't write the book and therefore, I did not expect an exact copy of his writing style. This novel was fast paced, fun, certainly unbelievable in most parts, but very good. Similar to some of Jennings other works, the hero of the story is in constant trouble but continues to avoid the ultimate. If you have read Aztec and Aztec Autumn, read this. Like many of Jennings others books, this one continues his assault on the church. I am only sorry that there will be no more from this great author.