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Jed de Landa #2
The Sacrifice Game
The mind-bending, stunningly inventive sequel to Brian D'Amato's In Courts of the Sun , in which one man holds the key to saving the world from the 2012 apocalypse foretold by the Mayan Prophecy.
In Brian D’Amato’s cult classic, In the Courts of the Sun , a team of scientists sent math prodigy and Mayan descendant Jed DeLanda back in time to the year AD 664 to learn the "Sacrifice Game," a divination ritual that the ancient Maya used to predict the apocalypse on December 21, 2012. But after arriving in the body of a willing human sacrifice instead of a Mayan king, Jed’s experiences led him to the fateful decision that rather than avert the apocalypse, he must ensure instead that the world ends. Using his knowledge of the divination game, Jed sets in motion a series of events that will bring about the destruction of humanity, ending the world’s pain and suffering once and for all. But before the plan can be completed, the organization that sent him into the past discovers his intention and devotes every resource to stop him. Taking readers back to the dizzying action of ancient times, The Sacrifice Game is a breathtaking odyssey in which Jed must survive bloody wars, ruthless leaders, shifting alliances, and unspeakable betrayal to learn about the Game, before his time in both the ancient Mayan empire and the present day runs out.
In Brian D’Amato’s cult classic, In the Courts of the Sun , a team of scientists sent math prodigy and Mayan descendant Jed DeLanda back in time to the year AD 664 to learn the "Sacrifice Game," a divination ritual that the ancient Maya used to predict the apocalypse on December 21, 2012. But after arriving in the body of a willing human sacrifice instead of a Mayan king, Jed’s experiences led him to the fateful decision that rather than avert the apocalypse, he must ensure instead that the world ends. Using his knowledge of the divination game, Jed sets in motion a series of events that will bring about the destruction of humanity, ending the world’s pain and suffering once and for all. But before the plan can be completed, the organization that sent him into the past discovers his intention and devotes every resource to stop him. Taking readers back to the dizzying action of ancient times, The Sacrifice Game is a breathtaking odyssey in which Jed must survive bloody wars, ruthless leaders, shifting alliances, and unspeakable betrayal to learn about the Game, before his time in both the ancient Mayan empire and the present day runs out.
656 pages, Hardcover
First published January 20, 2012
17 people are currently reading
430 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
October 30, 2015
It took me about a year to read this book. Because I knew when it was over, it was over; I mean, I know there is, in theory, supposed to be a third book, but where is it man? Where is it? *sighs*
So I'd read and just be completely in the book, then panic and set it down as I recalled that the third one doesn't yet exist. And when I'd come back, sometimes months later, I would have retained everything that had happened up to that point. Even names.
This, for me, is nothing short of a miracle.
The book is disturbing, I feel I should say. It's graphic. It's awesome.
I have never, in the history of my reading, met a character that I couldn't sympathize with, that most of the time completely disgusted me, and that I so very much wanted to see succeed. I'm talking about Jed-in-Chacal there; and I'm not just talking about wanting him to succeed because he means to save the world. I mean his personal goal of getting back to the present. And not just because it looks like he's the only one who can save the world, and he has to do it from the present.
The only disappointment I had was that all that tropsing around in Mayaland didn't seem to carry over much into Jed-sub-3. That's what I was really looking forward to. But really, there was so much going on that maybe what I was looking forward to will be in the third book.
C'mon third book.
I'm really hoping the third book finds a way to take us back to Mayaland, though; because D'Amato writing his version of ancient Mayan civilization is one of the most immersive experiences I've ever had while reading. I was there, man. And there was not a detail I didn't believe. Frickin' amazing. Like the stars say.
So I'd read and just be completely in the book, then panic and set it down as I recalled that the third one doesn't yet exist. And when I'd come back, sometimes months later, I would have retained everything that had happened up to that point. Even names.
This, for me, is nothing short of a miracle.
The book is disturbing, I feel I should say. It's graphic. It's awesome.
I have never, in the history of my reading, met a character that I couldn't sympathize with, that most of the time completely disgusted me, and that I so very much wanted to see succeed. I'm talking about Jed-in-Chacal there; and I'm not just talking about wanting him to succeed because he means to save the world. I mean his personal goal of getting back to the present. And not just because it looks like he's the only one who can save the world, and he has to do it from the present.
The only disappointment I had was that all that tropsing around in Mayaland didn't seem to carry over much into Jed-sub-3. That's what I was really looking forward to. But really, there was so much going on that maybe what I was looking forward to will be in the third book.
C'mon third book.
I'm really hoping the third book finds a way to take us back to Mayaland, though; because D'Amato writing his version of ancient Mayan civilization is one of the most immersive experiences I've ever had while reading. I was there, man. And there was not a detail I didn't believe. Frickin' amazing. Like the stars say.
July 5, 2012
FBC Review
INTRODUCTION: In 2009, Brian D'Amato published the superb In the Courts of the Sun first in an announced trilogy called The Sacrifice Game. The novel was a combination of near-future extrapolations, time travel and a wonderful recreation of the Maya world of the 7th century, all narrated by unlikely hero Jed de Landa, or more precisely by Jed 1 and Jed 2 as the novel uses a form of time travel which leads to an instance of the consciousness of Jed to be time shifted to the brain of Chacal, a star Maya ball player of the Harpy clan of Ix.
Here is my description of Jed in the FBC review linked above:
"born in 1974 and displaced from his native Guatemalan village by military action, Jed is taken as a young age to the US and grows up in foster care in Utah, exhibiting physical frailty since he suffers from hemophilia so any wound or cut is potentially fatal, while showing great mental agility especially in fast numerical computations and ability to play games of skill and chance".
I was entranced by the novel and its fascinating narrator and I kept looking for the second book in 2010, 2011 and then sort of forgot about it. Imagine my surprise to recently discover that the 2nd Jed de Landa novel that bears the trilogy title, The Sacrifice Game will be published on July 5.
As the blurb of the novel includes a major spoiler for the ending of In the Courts of the Sun, I will not include it here just in case you have not read that but are intrigued by the above and want to pick it first, but I will note that The Sacrifice Game starts precisely where the earlier volume ends and the rest of the blurb is both true and misleading in the sense that there is no more "Jed", but Jed 1 and Jed 2 who diverged markedly - to say the least - in the first volume and some of the blurb refers to one, some to the other...
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: "Sometimes—at times like this, I’d say, especially—one might as well just go with the cliché: I was crushed. Yes, it’d be nice to come up with a more clever word than crushed, but really, why bother? Crushed pretty well does the job.
What surprised even me, though, was how much I wasn’t crushed just because I was a lazy slob and I’d thought I could relax. It was that I—even I—was rather annoyed, in fact more than annoyed, in fact, let’s say again, crushed—that the world was still doomed. And I even realized that I cared about it in the general sense, not just personally, that even if I died back here from my neuroblastomas or in a ball game or by the flint dagger or the wooden sword or whatever, even if I didn’t get back to the thirteenth b’aktun to see Marena and the gang and catch the next season of Game of Thrones, I still wanted the good old crazy ratty loathsome ridiculous old world to keep rolling on.
Okay. Look. We can do this, I thought...."
The Sacrifice Game is even badder, crazier and more explicit and brutal than In the Courts of the Sun - which was not tame by any stretch - as it is almost all narrated in the same unforgettable voice of Jed de Landa, though Jed 2, the 660's Maya one and to whom the stream of consciousness musings above belong, carries on for most of the book.
Structurally, The Sacrifice Game starts with Jed 1 in the modern world after his momentous decision at the end of the last book and deals with its implementation and a few consequences, but soon it moves to the Maya world where the book just explodes as it gets even better than In the Courts of the Sun with unbounded sense of wonder, meticulous research and all around inventiveness that matches anything I've read in sf set on an alien world; of course here we are still on Earth, but in a civilization where the author hits the sweet spot in the mixture of alien and familiar in describing it:
"A brace of bearers brought in the white-wrapped ball Hun Xoc had brought back from 31 Courts, holding the too-potent bundle with wooden hands, and tied it to the service cord. An umpire inspected the knot, signaled, and the ball was hoisted up, hanging above the central marker stone.
“Now, One, Two, Four, Five, Seven, Nine, Thirteen,” the Magister Ludi chanted, switching from the second-person plural imperative to the apostrophic tense you used only when speaking to gods,
“Now Twenty, Fifty-Two, Two Hundred Sixty,
O Night, O Wind, O Day, O Rain, O Zero,
Now, guests, inspect 2 Creeper’s blood-washed head.”
2 Creeper had been the greatest Ixian ballplayer in living memory, but he’d sacrificed himself thirty-nine solar years ago after an ankle injury. The Ball had been wound of white rubber around 2 Creeper’s skull as a hollow center—to increase the bounce—and then baked black and studded with painted thorns, like little nails. Finally the ball had been purified in two kinds of blood and then washed in original water boiled over the offering fires of both houses’ grandfathers-houses."
Lady Koh, ultimate Sacrifice Game player of the age and big time politician to boot, 2 Jeweled Skull, leader of the Harpy clan in Ix, second most powerful man there, adoptive father to Jed/Chacal, currently in the contest of his life with 9 Fanged Hummingbird, the Ocelot clan supremo of Ix, Hun Xoc, son of 2JS, lead ball player of the Harpies team and Jed's main adviser/friend, 1 Gila, right hand man of Lady Koh and war leader of her followers are back, while of course quite a few new Mayan characters appear. As excerpted above there is one unforgettable game of hipball for the fate of Ix and by extension, our heroes and life as we know it, not to speak of many other goodies which I do not want to spoil for you...
There are quite a few twists and turns and the author manages a rare feat as first person narration goes; while it would be a major spoiler to talk about it in detail, I am sure any attentive reader will observe it by the end of the novel.
The last few chapters that take place back in the modern world have a thriller-ish feel to them - after all the book is set in 2012 close to 12-21-12 and the race to avoid the ultimate "doomster" is the main storyline in the contemporary part of the novel.
The Sacrifice Game has another surprising but fitting ending giving the book the feel of a complete experience which also leaves one quite in the dark about where the series will go next as it's supposed to be a trilogy.
Overall The Sacrifice Game - top 25 novel of 2012 and currently in the number two slot - came with very high expectations and I was really surprised by how effortlessly it blew past them and offered the most sensual and visual reading experience of the year for me.
INTRODUCTION: In 2009, Brian D'Amato published the superb In the Courts of the Sun first in an announced trilogy called The Sacrifice Game. The novel was a combination of near-future extrapolations, time travel and a wonderful recreation of the Maya world of the 7th century, all narrated by unlikely hero Jed de Landa, or more precisely by Jed 1 and Jed 2 as the novel uses a form of time travel which leads to an instance of the consciousness of Jed to be time shifted to the brain of Chacal, a star Maya ball player of the Harpy clan of Ix.
Here is my description of Jed in the FBC review linked above:
"born in 1974 and displaced from his native Guatemalan village by military action, Jed is taken as a young age to the US and grows up in foster care in Utah, exhibiting physical frailty since he suffers from hemophilia so any wound or cut is potentially fatal, while showing great mental agility especially in fast numerical computations and ability to play games of skill and chance".
I was entranced by the novel and its fascinating narrator and I kept looking for the second book in 2010, 2011 and then sort of forgot about it. Imagine my surprise to recently discover that the 2nd Jed de Landa novel that bears the trilogy title, The Sacrifice Game will be published on July 5.
As the blurb of the novel includes a major spoiler for the ending of In the Courts of the Sun, I will not include it here just in case you have not read that but are intrigued by the above and want to pick it first, but I will note that The Sacrifice Game starts precisely where the earlier volume ends and the rest of the blurb is both true and misleading in the sense that there is no more "Jed", but Jed 1 and Jed 2 who diverged markedly - to say the least - in the first volume and some of the blurb refers to one, some to the other...
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: "Sometimes—at times like this, I’d say, especially—one might as well just go with the cliché: I was crushed. Yes, it’d be nice to come up with a more clever word than crushed, but really, why bother? Crushed pretty well does the job.
What surprised even me, though, was how much I wasn’t crushed just because I was a lazy slob and I’d thought I could relax. It was that I—even I—was rather annoyed, in fact more than annoyed, in fact, let’s say again, crushed—that the world was still doomed. And I even realized that I cared about it in the general sense, not just personally, that even if I died back here from my neuroblastomas or in a ball game or by the flint dagger or the wooden sword or whatever, even if I didn’t get back to the thirteenth b’aktun to see Marena and the gang and catch the next season of Game of Thrones, I still wanted the good old crazy ratty loathsome ridiculous old world to keep rolling on.
Okay. Look. We can do this, I thought...."
The Sacrifice Game is even badder, crazier and more explicit and brutal than In the Courts of the Sun - which was not tame by any stretch - as it is almost all narrated in the same unforgettable voice of Jed de Landa, though Jed 2, the 660's Maya one and to whom the stream of consciousness musings above belong, carries on for most of the book.
Structurally, The Sacrifice Game starts with Jed 1 in the modern world after his momentous decision at the end of the last book and deals with its implementation and a few consequences, but soon it moves to the Maya world where the book just explodes as it gets even better than In the Courts of the Sun with unbounded sense of wonder, meticulous research and all around inventiveness that matches anything I've read in sf set on an alien world; of course here we are still on Earth, but in a civilization where the author hits the sweet spot in the mixture of alien and familiar in describing it:
"A brace of bearers brought in the white-wrapped ball Hun Xoc had brought back from 31 Courts, holding the too-potent bundle with wooden hands, and tied it to the service cord. An umpire inspected the knot, signaled, and the ball was hoisted up, hanging above the central marker stone.
“Now, One, Two, Four, Five, Seven, Nine, Thirteen,” the Magister Ludi chanted, switching from the second-person plural imperative to the apostrophic tense you used only when speaking to gods,
“Now Twenty, Fifty-Two, Two Hundred Sixty,
O Night, O Wind, O Day, O Rain, O Zero,
Now, guests, inspect 2 Creeper’s blood-washed head.”
2 Creeper had been the greatest Ixian ballplayer in living memory, but he’d sacrificed himself thirty-nine solar years ago after an ankle injury. The Ball had been wound of white rubber around 2 Creeper’s skull as a hollow center—to increase the bounce—and then baked black and studded with painted thorns, like little nails. Finally the ball had been purified in two kinds of blood and then washed in original water boiled over the offering fires of both houses’ grandfathers-houses."
Lady Koh, ultimate Sacrifice Game player of the age and big time politician to boot, 2 Jeweled Skull, leader of the Harpy clan in Ix, second most powerful man there, adoptive father to Jed/Chacal, currently in the contest of his life with 9 Fanged Hummingbird, the Ocelot clan supremo of Ix, Hun Xoc, son of 2JS, lead ball player of the Harpies team and Jed's main adviser/friend, 1 Gila, right hand man of Lady Koh and war leader of her followers are back, while of course quite a few new Mayan characters appear. As excerpted above there is one unforgettable game of hipball for the fate of Ix and by extension, our heroes and life as we know it, not to speak of many other goodies which I do not want to spoil for you...
There are quite a few twists and turns and the author manages a rare feat as first person narration goes; while it would be a major spoiler to talk about it in detail, I am sure any attentive reader will observe it by the end of the novel.
The last few chapters that take place back in the modern world have a thriller-ish feel to them - after all the book is set in 2012 close to 12-21-12 and the race to avoid the ultimate "doomster" is the main storyline in the contemporary part of the novel.
The Sacrifice Game has another surprising but fitting ending giving the book the feel of a complete experience which also leaves one quite in the dark about where the series will go next as it's supposed to be a trilogy.
Overall The Sacrifice Game - top 25 novel of 2012 and currently in the number two slot - came with very high expectations and I was really surprised by how effortlessly it blew past them and offered the most sensual and visual reading experience of the year for me.
August 7, 2012
This was a stellar follow up to The Courts of the Sun-- albeit long awaited, I conversed with Brian here and there about the progress, and being the masterful penman that he is, didnt want to rush on perfection. He picks up with Jed where the Courts left off, and plunges you headlong into the total immersion of the Mayan culture. You feel like you are there with Jed and Lady Koh, feeling all the excitement and adrenalin as they countdown to the epic culmination of their strategy. The use of the language is masterful as well as the compelling draw to see exactly what will happen next and what twist and turn the journey will take you on.
If you havent read Courts yet--put this one down and read it first . I havent quite finished it yet, but it is like a drug that is so addicting you only want more and more-- Anxiously awaiting the 3rd in the trilogy.
Brian has done it again, only with the icing on the cake as well. Well Done!
If you havent read Courts yet--put this one down and read it first . I havent quite finished it yet, but it is like a drug that is so addicting you only want more and more-- Anxiously awaiting the 3rd in the trilogy.
Brian has done it again, only with the icing on the cake as well. Well Done!
September 1, 2012
Wow, that was intense. I would give it five stars, but from a personal standpoint, some of the scenes were so graphic, I became physically nauseous. In one instance, I couldn't even stomach the text, and had to jump ahead. I never do that. The story line is fascinating and unfortunately, we have to wait who knows how long until book three of the trilogy is released.
I am completely intrigued by Brian D'Amato. He is clearly influenced by one of my favorite authors, Frank Herbert, but there is no question, he has his own unique voice. I would love to meet him, as I bet his mind is a very multifaceted place. To write like that and create a story like that . . . this guy is clearly gifted (and touched, if you know what I mean).
Highly recommend, but you definitely need a strong stomach.
I am completely intrigued by Brian D'Amato. He is clearly influenced by one of my favorite authors, Frank Herbert, but there is no question, he has his own unique voice. I would love to meet him, as I bet his mind is a very multifaceted place. To write like that and create a story like that . . . this guy is clearly gifted (and touched, if you know what I mean).
Highly recommend, but you definitely need a strong stomach.
January 15, 2024
Well that was weird. BDA is brilliant. Big time smart, a polymath. And this book is a mind-bending second chapter to "In The Courts of the Sun". All sci-fi, all historical fiction, part running commentary on today's world... I could go on. I won't try to do it justice in a serious summary. In short: The main character was sent back in time by rogue Mormon defense contractors and tacky, violent utopians to Mayan Meso-America, circa 664 AD, to find the psychoactive drugs and methods used by the Maya to predict and thus control the future. He is trying to bring back the secrets of the Sacrifice Game to 2012 to avert the end of the world. cRaZY Story. I really like it and will look forward to the third book.
September 8, 2012
Here is something I hate: A book that has an interesting plot, but is overwritten and badly in need an editor. Oh, and throw in an author who is fixated on torture and writes long overly graphic descriptions of same. Very scary.
I'd give this only 1 star, but the ideas (other than the torture) are intriguing.
I'd give this only 1 star, but the ideas (other than the torture) are intriguing.
August 17, 2012
The author's descriptions of ancient Maya, it's people, and culture are so detailed I felt transported back to that time! His stream of consciousness style of writing is gripping.
December 19, 2020
I’m not sure how to describe this book, so I guess I’ll just start by saying it was difficult to put down. The pacing and the details were amazing. I’m not sure how the author managed to keep the speed going while at the same time lavishly painting the scenery. I’m also not sure how he managed to seamlessly stitch together Jed’s adventures in the past with the espionage style caper going on in the present. These things shouldn’t work together. But they do. It’s probably all the drugs. Soooo many drugs in the book. And soooo much torture, described in minute detail, and in endless variety (e.g., for the love of god don’t describe someone trying to cauterize their nose by snorting boiling oil from a deep fryer). Needless to say, all that has me feeling conflicted about liking this book. The thing that kept me going through the nastiness was that I wanted so badly for the characters to succeed, get away, stop getting hurt. That and I think this is one of the most interesting takes on time travel I’ve ever read. In summary, it’s a roller coaster ride of apocalyptic Mayan goodness, but don’t read it if you’re squeamish.
March 18, 2021
Interesting plot and fascinating recreation of pre-Colombian Mayan life. BUT, as with the first book in the series, In the Courts of the Sun, there is way too much of the interior monologue of the narrator/protagonist. In general, I felt both books should have been heavily edited and would have been more effective with fewer of the n/p’s thoughts. This book was purported two be the second of a trilogy, but it felt more like the final book of a set of two. At the end I was left wondering what was the point of the two books and feeling like while I had been entertained, I hadn’t enjoyed great language or insights into human nature. The recreation of Mayan life was the main draw for me, and while fascinating, it was pretty raw. Not fir the faint of heart or tender of stomach.
November 17, 2017
Well, one thing for sure: Brian Damato has a fantastic way of bringing us back to Mayan times. Great storyline, fitting in exactly where 'In the courts of the Sun' left off, which in itself was a hard act to follow, but Brian did it. Like its predecessor, this book needs time and attention to be fully enjoyed. there is however one thing that tends to minimize its potential and it's that if you are not totally familiar with the Mayan counting system and some street lingo, there are passages that can be hard to follow and even discouraging. If you however manage to stick through those harder parts, it is incredibly enjoyable as a story.
January 30, 2019
Well done, and unique on so many levels.
The only story I can think of that is told with multiple POV's through a single character.
The only story I can think of that is told with multiple POV's through a single character.
June 23, 2012
When Jed was a small boy, as depicted in D'Amato's first novel (In The Courts of the Sun) in this planned trilogy, his mother taught him a game that turned out to be a Mayan divination ritual, a game in which one could predict the future and even time-travel. Now in this second novel, it turns out there are two Jed characters, one who is living in the Mayan civilization in the year 664 and the other who is living in 21st Century America. The first puzzle the reader finds in this newer novel is understanding how this divided person can be so different. For with the help of education and the financial backing of a research institution, Jed has learned so much more about this "Sacrifice Game." He and others have refined it so that the world can truly understand the Mayan civilization that is so often misunderstood by our century's citizens, too often confused with other parallel civilizations existing during and after the time of the Mayans. But what Jed learns in that civilization is so decadent, cruel, and so much more that is devastating to him that the Jed living in our world has decided he will fulfill the Mayan calendar prediction of ending the world in December of 2012!!!
The style of this sci-fi, gaming novel is unique - not quite stream of consciousness but a type of random and linear writing that takes us into the mind, heart, and even body of Jed and others with whom he interacts. Allusions to history, mythology, current events, religion, power-mongering, and so much more fill these pages so that if one is attentive one gets a fascinating education in the connection between supposedly unrelated events and personalities. We also see the baser aspects of humanity in the way it seeks to destroy anyone who gets in the way of its motives and plans - from the leaders of the Mayan society who practice cannibalism, suicide, and murder without batting an eye and so much more for the reader to explore. It's not much different in American a la 2012.
The central conflict is a battle between Jed who has figured out a way to make every living human vanish in a second, even less, so fast indeed that they won't realize it happened and those who earlier supported Jed and his skills and who discover his intentions. They desperately begin to attempt to stop him from carrying out his "righteous" task, one he believes he is inspired to by the sacrifice game. His alter-ego, on the other hand, in Mayan society has found a way to save those people from the extinction we know actually occurred. There's quite a bit of craziness like having chili enemas or taking mind-altering drugs (that helps one go "deeper" in the game), etc., etc.
This novel will stretch your imagination and focus beyond where it's been; it's like a mind-altering drug in itself in a way. It will, however, leave readers thinking about the role of humans never learning from history or culture and the underlying tension between destruction and salvation that is constantly going on despite the oblivious lack of attention of most of us. It's a read you definitely won't forget. If you love classic and non-classic sci-fi and relish an "offbeat," novel approach to stories, this is your book. Amazing job, Brian D'Amato.
The style of this sci-fi, gaming novel is unique - not quite stream of consciousness but a type of random and linear writing that takes us into the mind, heart, and even body of Jed and others with whom he interacts. Allusions to history, mythology, current events, religion, power-mongering, and so much more fill these pages so that if one is attentive one gets a fascinating education in the connection between supposedly unrelated events and personalities. We also see the baser aspects of humanity in the way it seeks to destroy anyone who gets in the way of its motives and plans - from the leaders of the Mayan society who practice cannibalism, suicide, and murder without batting an eye and so much more for the reader to explore. It's not much different in American a la 2012.
The central conflict is a battle between Jed who has figured out a way to make every living human vanish in a second, even less, so fast indeed that they won't realize it happened and those who earlier supported Jed and his skills and who discover his intentions. They desperately begin to attempt to stop him from carrying out his "righteous" task, one he believes he is inspired to by the sacrifice game. His alter-ego, on the other hand, in Mayan society has found a way to save those people from the extinction we know actually occurred. There's quite a bit of craziness like having chili enemas or taking mind-altering drugs (that helps one go "deeper" in the game), etc., etc.
This novel will stretch your imagination and focus beyond where it's been; it's like a mind-altering drug in itself in a way. It will, however, leave readers thinking about the role of humans never learning from history or culture and the underlying tension between destruction and salvation that is constantly going on despite the oblivious lack of attention of most of us. It's a read you definitely won't forget. If you love classic and non-classic sci-fi and relish an "offbeat," novel approach to stories, this is your book. Amazing job, Brian D'Amato.
March 9, 2013
The extremely intricate story that was woven in this author’s first book, In the Courts of the Sun, moves forward ten-fold with this new title.
Jed DeLanda, the character that reader’s met the first time around, is a descendant of the Mayans. With an unmatched brain that allows him to do everything from highly confusing mathematics, to his odd ability to play the ‘Sacrifice Game,’ which is a slightly confusing ritual that the Mayans put
in place in order to protect the actual demise of civilizations - Jed has the intellect that others would kill for…or, in this case, copy.
The Mayan prophecy of the world’s ‘doom’ is now on the immediate horizon, and out of nowhere something extremely odd happens to Jed. A mysterious group makes a ‘copy’ of Jed’s own conscious and his abilities, and downloads those abilities into the mind of an actual Mayan King who exists in AD 664.
Here, the reader embarks into another world and another time as Jed must now find a way to uncover and understand the ‘old’ knowledge of the original ‘Sacrifice Game’ in order to stop the world from coming to an end on the last day of the Mayan calendar as predicted. However, Jed is going up against a very powerful enemy while he races around AD 664 trying to find a way to save his own world. And that enemy is…himself.
While the heroic Jed is doing his job, the evil Jed in present day is doing his absolute best to end humanity for good. Who will win? Will the mysterious group of people who began this be able to stop the ‘good’ Jed from screwing up their plans?
This, readers, is what you would all a true Odyssey. The action and adventure is nonstop, and the inventive and intricate worlds of past Jed and present Jed are so fast-paced that the story literally draws you in at the very beginning and keeps you there. This is most assuredly one of those books that you will have to set aside time for, so that no one and nothing interrupts you and Jed on the journey of a lifetime. (And now that we are well past that so-called ‘Apocalyptic Day,’ you can have a whole lot of fun!)
Jed DeLanda, the character that reader’s met the first time around, is a descendant of the Mayans. With an unmatched brain that allows him to do everything from highly confusing mathematics, to his odd ability to play the ‘Sacrifice Game,’ which is a slightly confusing ritual that the Mayans put
in place in order to protect the actual demise of civilizations - Jed has the intellect that others would kill for…or, in this case, copy.
The Mayan prophecy of the world’s ‘doom’ is now on the immediate horizon, and out of nowhere something extremely odd happens to Jed. A mysterious group makes a ‘copy’ of Jed’s own conscious and his abilities, and downloads those abilities into the mind of an actual Mayan King who exists in AD 664.
Here, the reader embarks into another world and another time as Jed must now find a way to uncover and understand the ‘old’ knowledge of the original ‘Sacrifice Game’ in order to stop the world from coming to an end on the last day of the Mayan calendar as predicted. However, Jed is going up against a very powerful enemy while he races around AD 664 trying to find a way to save his own world. And that enemy is…himself.
While the heroic Jed is doing his job, the evil Jed in present day is doing his absolute best to end humanity for good. Who will win? Will the mysterious group of people who began this be able to stop the ‘good’ Jed from screwing up their plans?
This, readers, is what you would all a true Odyssey. The action and adventure is nonstop, and the inventive and intricate worlds of past Jed and present Jed are so fast-paced that the story literally draws you in at the very beginning and keeps you there. This is most assuredly one of those books that you will have to set aside time for, so that no one and nothing interrupts you and Jed on the journey of a lifetime. (And now that we are well past that so-called ‘Apocalyptic Day,’ you can have a whole lot of fun!)
June 5, 2012
I received this book as a part of the Goodreads firstreads giveaway. To sum this book up in one word...cerebral. It would be wise to have your dictionary as well as your imagination on hand when reading this book. There are words in this book that one would not expect and wonderful words that are not really words but conglomerations of chaos. Do not let any of this scare you, though. The book is an easy read. It is mostly written as someone would talk or perhaps how they would think. It is a disorganized and jumbled pattern, but oh so very real. I found myself thinking that if there were a machine that could take my thoughts as I thought them and translate them to paper, it would be similar to this book, but no where near as intelligent. It is also a wonderfully researched book for all of us fascinated by the Mayan civilization. It gives insight into the language, rituals and life of the Maya in a way that is overtly subliminal. In other words, you get into a kind of rhythm with the Maya characters. Parts of the story are incredibly brutal and graphic so for the squeamish, try to read with at least one eye open as the gory excesses are essential to the evolution of the characters and serve as vehicles to anesthetize the participants so they can achieve the greater good.
January 27, 2013
I really loved the first book in this series, In the Courts of the Sun. When I finished it, and realized that the sequel hadn`t yet been published, I was crushed. The ancient Mayan world that D`Amato creates feels so rich, complex and compelling, even as it differs so much from our own modern day worldview. I wanted to keep exploring!
The sequel doesn`t disappoint, and even manages to ask the big questions about the nature and uses of power, as all good science fiction does. Yes, it`s a cerebral read, and it goes beyond the self-conscious name dropping of cultural phenomena you`ll find in most cyberpunk fiction, but I enjoyed the challenge of keeping up with the up-to-the-minute touchstones that Jed scatters through his stream of consciousness narration.
There`s a sense of closure with this book, and although I know this is planned to be a trilogy, the book ends at a satisfying point without cutting off the possibility of further storytelling. I am thoroughly enjoying the pleasantly disoriented feeling of having experienced life in the ancient Maya time period, and having lived through modern day betrayal and corporate intrigue, too.
The sequel doesn`t disappoint, and even manages to ask the big questions about the nature and uses of power, as all good science fiction does. Yes, it`s a cerebral read, and it goes beyond the self-conscious name dropping of cultural phenomena you`ll find in most cyberpunk fiction, but I enjoyed the challenge of keeping up with the up-to-the-minute touchstones that Jed scatters through his stream of consciousness narration.
There`s a sense of closure with this book, and although I know this is planned to be a trilogy, the book ends at a satisfying point without cutting off the possibility of further storytelling. I am thoroughly enjoying the pleasantly disoriented feeling of having experienced life in the ancient Maya time period, and having lived through modern day betrayal and corporate intrigue, too.
July 25, 2013
Despite the cool concept of transferred consciousness & game divination and some intriguing plot twists that show up again in his second book in the trilogy, I'm sorry I slogged thru it. The author spends WAY too much time describing minutia of Mayans in turmoil, in depth torture scenes and endless internal dialogs. When he finally gets to the climax, he tosses his big world ending, End Of Everything scenes into a frenzy of 50 pages that don't seem to jive or make good sense. The build up of the science around the EOE plot just seemed to fall apart right at the end. Its such a frantic non-ending that you are left with an OMG, I cant believe I slogged thru this, ugh feeling!Despite the authors obvious talent, I'm not likely to bother reading the third book in his trilogy.
November 13, 2012
I read the first book and liked it a lot so when I saw this book in the library I instantly picked it up. I have to say I kept this book with me for three weeks and tried to read it but could only get to page 150. I just could not get into it the same way as the first part. There was no action to speak of, there was too much detail on the Mayan life which I felt did not do anything to advance the story line. Finally I just gave up on it. It is not that I don't like long books - I recently finished four lengthy books of the A Song of Ice and Fire series - I just don't like books whose pages seem to have been filled just for their own sake.
December 5, 2013
just started so we will see. this could be a good book but the person that wrote it does not know how to not swear, the first one had some swearing in it but it was not as bad as this one so I was able to skip past it and go on but this book has paragraphs of nothing but vulgarity I finally just had ti give up trying to read it because there is just way to much garbage in it which means I will never get to know how it ends because I was unable to finish it. :( Like I said if there was not so much garbage in it, it would be a really good adventure, but whatever, I would rather have a clean mind then go on an adventure.
June 23, 2013
Meh. The first book in the series was very interesting and got me onto a series Mayan fascination there for awhile when it came out in 2009, but this second one was overall disappointing. Too rambly, too graphic, too many descriptions of torture that really added nothing to the story and served only to turn my stomach. While I am always up for anything new in the scifi/ fantasy genre and love anything that has to do with time travel or dystopia or the world ending (don't judge), I feel like this story became too self-indulgent and lost my interest quickly. That said, I still plan to read the third and final book when it comes out because, hey, why not see how it all turns out?
January 23, 2013
As far as I understand this is the second book in a trilogy. After reading the first book and feeling as if it left the reader 'out on a limb,' I decided to read the second in hopes for a continuation on the intriguing story. As anticipated, the story did continue, but it evolved into one of the most horrifically violent depictions of Mayan life that I have ever read. Yes, this book was well-written, well-researched, and well-crafted, but I am still reeling from the shock it gave to my psyche!
September 11, 2012
I really like this book, I love the premise and I was thrilled that it was full of surprises and didn't take the reader where they thought they would go at the end of the first book. The book felt a little forced in certain places though, as the reference get more and more obscure. That said I am a big fan of the authors style and will be very interested to see how the trilogy wraps up. I hope the third book is as good as the first and better than the second.
January 3, 2013
I really wanted to like this book, because I found it conceptually fascinating.
But the over-the-top colloquialisms and insane vocabulary... (cnidarian/malacological/venerand);
foreign phrases(et ceteris paribus ad foetidus hepaticum);
character and place names (Muad'Jed/2 Jeweled Skull aka 2JS/10 Red Skink Lizard)
...really dampened my enthusiasm. A lot of slog for tiny movements forward in the plot. Lasted to page 166.
But the over-the-top colloquialisms and insane vocabulary... (cnidarian/malacological/venerand);
foreign phrases(et ceteris paribus ad foetidus hepaticum);
character and place names (Muad'Jed/2 Jeweled Skull aka 2JS/10 Red Skink Lizard)
...really dampened my enthusiasm. A lot of slog for tiny movements forward in the plot. Lasted to page 166.
October 28, 2016
A strange book dealing with the end of the world as predicted by the Maya calendar. Very difficult to read and follow a storyline. Many thousands of words but too many huge portions of what I would call "logical gobbledygook". The author purports to know maya history very well but he does not even spell Chitzén Itzá correctly. The liberal inclusion of profanity does not help the impression left by this book.
September 5, 2014
Couldn't wait for the second to come out and was not disappointed. Enjoyed thoroughly perhaps because I am fascinated by ancient civilizations. Love his detail and the mix of old world descriptions and daily life with that of modern science. The collision is a beautiful disaster and I can only hope he blends the future with the present in a third book just to keep the storyline going.
September 22, 2012
WOW! What a headbanger! This book is a can't put down!!! Brian D'Amato is a brainiac, and has the words to prove it....(spoiler)
I can't believe the twist at the end, when Chacal comes back into Jed sub 3....I cannot wait till Book three!!!
I can't believe the twist at the end, when Chacal comes back into Jed sub 3....I cannot wait till Book three!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2016
Ok somebody please explain to me what happened there in the end?
Spoilers!!!
Why didn't the collider thing happen?
What was the big explosion?
Why is Marena and Lady Koh the same?
Why is she One Ocelot?
Spoilers!!!
Why didn't the collider thing happen?
What was the big explosion?
Why is Marena and Lady Koh the same?
Why is she One Ocelot?
September 8, 2012
Stunning stuff. The chapters set in Mesoamerica in 664 read so real one forgets this is fiction. The last few chapters left me very confused as to what did or didn't happen. I reckon book 3 will clarify everything. Worthy follow up to In the Courts of the Sun, lots of unexpected twists.
April 27, 2015
Had an interesting plot, but seriously this book was just frustrating to read. Absolutely hated the writing style in this book. It is probably why it took me forever to finish it. Just didn't do it for me.
October 19, 2012
This book got a little crazy.... but I learned that the Mayans were no joke....
July 14, 2013
I didn't have the patience for this one though I enjoyed the first book "In the Courts of the Sun."
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