Toltaca

by Stephen Donald Huff

Within the depths of a heart of darkness, human kind builds a city of stone.

5 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2011

Reviews

[Nancy Foster · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was instantly piqued by the book name that sounds similar to the Toltec culture which flourished in Hidalgo state around the same time of the Aztecs only to quietly succumb a short time later. Strangely enough, the book has a photo plastered of the famous Kukulkan pyramid in Chichen-Itzá which pertains to the Post Classic period of the Maya culture. Now, the Toltecs did have a brief cultural exchange with the Maya during the eve of their civilization which is around the time Chichen-Itzá was inhabited, and perhaps this book was based on this specific timeframe.

Now, short stories are usually a miss with me, and indeed it isn't exactly easy to write an excellent story in less than 15 pages. That said, there are other aspects of a flash fiction work where an author should have deeper scrutiny because there are only a tiny fraction of pages to copy edit over a 400 page novel and this story falls short. While Toltaca lacks typos, it couldn't make up its mind whether to base the story in a forest or a jungle. If it is more closely based on the final stages of Maya civilization, then it should have stuck with a jungle of the Yucatec peninsula.

Furthermore, it couldn't decide whether characters were male or female either. I think the general plot idea of a once beloved evil goddess turned against and ultimately betrayed was ok but the handling of the story was nothing memorable. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if it sounded more poetic, borderline flowery even as a story of irony and caution to all gods not to evoke the ire of their faithful by being overly cruel.

Ultimately the read wasn't terrible, but I couldn't overlook the proof errors and enjoy the story for what it is. More than likely other readers will still like the story despite those flaws.

[Chris The Story Reading Ape · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very profound and insightful story about the rise and fall of a mighty city and how quickly the people changed when taken from their natural surroundings and were encouraged into 'civilisation'.

There is a lesson to be learned from history, if we pay heed!

See my review also at:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Toltaca-Wick...

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story was about a civilisation ruined by greed but the role of the goddess whose name heads the story was entirely unclear to me. A mention of the goddess's mother ws dropped into the end of the story without explanation as to who she was. The confusion and lack of story meant that I did not enjoy this book.

[Brian Bigelow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a short story on how a civilization can fail.