The Jaguar Princess

by Clare Bell

Mixcatl, descended from jaguar gods, has the power to change into a jaguar and is destined for a life of danger when she finds herself at the center of a rebellion against the bloody temple sacrifices of the Aztecs. Reprint.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical, Animals, Science Fiction Fantasy

443 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

I've been really busy with the Ratha's Creature Graphic Novel project! The idea of adapting Ratha's Creature as a graphic novel is now moving much closer to reality. Our Kickstarter is 75% funded, with 5 days left.

http://bit.ly/rathakick

Tod, Dani, Ian, and Sheila have put together a real treat for Ratha fans -- a music video about how the artists are developing and visualizing Bonechewer for the Ratha graphic novel.

See it here at: http://youtu.be/CTJ_UilUX2A




















To promote it, project artist Tod Wills
is doing a Livestreaming art marathon:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/icon-day

His info headquarters for the livestream is:

http://djinni.livejournal.com/475140....

Here is a graphic you are free to use to link to the kickstarter:
http://todwills.deviantart.com/art/Ra...

Quick Kickstarter link

http://bit.ly/rathakick

If you like what you see, please pledge on Kickstarter.

A sample page from the Graphic Novel and the promo image are in my Goodreads photos, so take a peek.

I've put more info in the blog below:

If this graphic novel takes off, I will also be further inspired to write more Ratha books!



















Another good thing is happening! Imaginator Press and I are exploring the possibility of doing a Ratha's Creature graphic novel! To measure reader interest, we have a survey here, so please participate.
http://imaginatorpress.wufoo.com/form...

By filling out the survey, you'll be entered to win a $25 gift certificate from the offline or online bookstore of your choice. Help us out and perhaps win something nice to read.

Many good things have happened since my last update. The first, and best is that Sheila Ruth of Imaginator Press worked with me to get all of the Ratha books back into print. You have probably seen them on this site, in trade format, and gorgeous new covers by artist Lew Lashmit, re-copyedited (though not word of the story changed!) and lovely new interior and graphic design by 1106 Design.

The books are also available in many formats from E-Reads, Amazon, and other sites. I've set up an online bookstore on my webpage so that people can by autographed editions.

I've been publicizing the series by attending many conventions and events. Sheila and I also ran a Ratha fan art contest on the Facebook series fan page ( http://www.facebook.com/rathaseries ) and Wildfire, which was great fun and the artists enjoyed it. We also showcased about 10 artists by posting interviews and images on my upgraded webpage, http://wwww.rathascourage.com.

Even though many of these activities took me away from Goodreads, I'm glad to be back and to support Imaginator Press's Ratha's Creature giveaway.

I've also been reading lots of good books and I will be cataloging and commenting on those as well.

Clare Bell
11/7/2011




Wow, it has been a great Spring 2009!

From March 14 to May 9, I posted an experimental Ratha novelette on Twitter, entitled "Ratha's Island", which kept me very busy. You can find the entire story archived here:
First archive for Ratha's Island on the Forum http://forum.rathascourage.com/index....
While visiting the Forum, check out the Named role-play at: http://forum.rathascourage.com/index....

Ratha's Courage was a finalist for the Ursa Major Awards, and is still in the running for the ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Award/

In January, I attended Further Confusion 09 in San Jose as a Guest of Honor and had a great time. I plan to go again to FurCon 2010.





Ratha's Courage is on the Ursa Major Awards Recommended Reading List for Novels. The Ursa Major Awards are the furry/anthropomorphic community's equivalent of the SF world's Hugo Awards http://www.ursamajorawards.org/ReadLi...

Ratha and the Named on Twitter! See the ClanChirps, http://www.twitter.com/rat

Reviews

[Tristan Naraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw this book, I thought it was really ancient with a really ancient, boring story. However when I actually stopped judging the book by the cover and back-cover synopsis, I became somewhat interested on how a slave became a demigod. Right?!

When I saw this book, I thought it was really ancient with a really ancient, boring story. However when I actually stopped judging the book by the cover and back-cover synopsis, I became somewhat interested on how a slave became a demigod. Right?! Also, the fact that I had nothing else to read for class (LOL). Anyway, so the first 200 pages of this book is about who this girl is. We are introduced to the protagonist of the book whose name is under wraps for the time being. We don’t find out her name until about chapter ten of the story. Meanwhile (before chapter ten), we are told that the protagonist is a slave who has been traded more times than she can count. She has been taken from her grandmother and been separated from her once again. We learn that no one finds her attractive & portrays her as incapable of work as she is being sold in the market. We also learned that she is a short-tempered, smell-sensitive child who expresses these rather trouble-making traits via her attack of one of the customers as well as an animal. The third person omniscient narrator informs the reader that she didn’t know how that happened implying that she does not know that she maybe related to a jaguar (or being the jaguar princess). In addition to the protagonist, we are also introduced to the second protagonist. The formatting of the book is that each chapter is divided into two- one for the slave-girl and one for Telatoni. Telatoni is a leader and warrior whose wisdom is the reason why he gets into situations following. The situation of this protagonist can be easily described as man vs. himself type of plot/story. Telatoni questions the religion of those who live among the Aztec land and questions his way of life. His modern wisdom and conception is not accepted by anyone which is something he knows for a fact. In spite of this, his conception brings him to the advancement of his religious childhood learning/knowledge of the Jaguar People of a previous (long ago) era. Meanwhile, we learn that the slave girl draws a highly despised symbol from the religious handbook of the people soon after the death of the head priest of the school she works at. She is then made aware of the bad symbol she made and is notified that she had hidden talents that she was never taught. The symbol she drew was a production of glyph writing. She is then given a spot at the glyph writing house and given the once-stripped education she was suppose to receive. Around chapter ten or a little after, these two characters (the two protagonists) meet up or clash. This is like the climax to the book in my own opinion. He brought her to his land and place with the lead glyph-writer to assist in writing a story for another leader affiliated with Telatoni. The other reason why he brought her here not that she knows but the reason is that she is the descendant of the Jaguar people which may be the answer to his religious mishaptures and resistance. However, he meets her finding somewhat of a sexual appeal or intimacy (only one way) towards her but endeavors to ignore it. Long after, he exposes to her his secret the real reason for bringing her and tries to expose the creature in her instead of her trying to tame it. This book is an extremely excellent book so far. I am especially fond of the part where she tries to resist something truly self-overwhelming, unknown, hazardous, and extreme trait in her but is forced to do the opposite. That for me was an excellent part of the book and the way she ( now Seven- Flower Mixcatl) handled the situation. She is extremely courageous and a character worth reading about also Telatoni. SO far: 5 stars out of 5. BTW: I think I like historical fiction. I see a trend. :)

[Bre · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in middle school and could not put it down. To my 12 year old self, this was the most amazing book ever.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book first in high school. And I had the urge recently to re-read it. It aged almost as well as it did in my memory, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's worth the read despite some flaws and a couple of ick moments around the main characters' age, although this is likely acceptable given the time frame it was written in

[Furiousness · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this recommendations on reddit from searching up ‘animal transformation romance’ haha. Yes, I’m a sucker for romance. Could not find a free copy anywhere!! I got a free trial on storytel for a week. And boy am I SO GLAD I DID.
Love the themes of human nature, desire and desperation, art and humanity is so moving and powerful.
HOWEVER the ending man… I feel this needs a sequel. So many unanswered questions! does she successfully get a better handle on her abilities? Does she get back with Huetzin?

felt a bit 😬 about the extreme age gap btn Wise Coyote and Mixcatl, icky YIKES. so glad nothing happened between them. phew.

Also i looooved the world building - excellent.
Though the beginning was a little hard to get into. But after that, I was invested in the characters.

I love the rich tapestry crafted by the descriptions of the Aztec cultures and religions. It made me dig deep and pull imagery from The Emperor's New Groove and The Road to El Dorado (both from Disney, yeah, haha — I don’t have any other exposure to the culture or setting).

I did search up several terms just to be able to picture it better in my head, - like a jadeite mask and Aztec headdress ( it’s called a coronet in the book). that helped

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book. I liked reading something set in Aztec times (before Cortes, long before) for something different, but it also felt lacking, like there wasn't enough focus on the setting all the time for it to be engrossing. The main character was fun, and different, but there were so many men! It would have been nice to see other females in the book besides the main character. The descriptions of the cities were good, though not engrossing, like I said before, and the book went by really fast, in a good way.

[AJNels · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the very first book I borrowed via Inter-Library Loan when I was in middle school. It was my introduction to Aztec and Olmec religious traditions, plus I was totally on board for a tween girl being able to transform into a jungle cat. It held up pretty well.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a pre-teen I couldn’t get enough of this book. I remember reading it over and over and dreaming about turning into a jaguar myself. I honestly have no idea how it holds up as an adult, but I’ll be giving my copy to my kids sometime soon in hopes they enjoy is as much as I did.

[Ishtar Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jaguar Princess is a historical/fantasy tale of a young woman who manifests the power to change into a jaguar. She is taken by the Aztec empire as an enslaved person, though her ultimate destiny lies far beyond her humble start.

The attention to minor details of the period is quite good, especially for a book written before the wide access to the internet (making research significantly more difficult). Of course, the archaeological understanding of these cultures may have changed since that time, but the depiction was quite good. From how paper was manufactured to the sounds and smells of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican, each detail was added to immerse the reader in the world of the Aztecs.

The cultures of Mesoamerica were depicted in a dynamic, complex manner befitting their rich history. Ancient cultures are often depicted far too single-dimensionally, or worse, trope-packed, a trend avoided in this story. The various cultures, Aztec only being one, are distinct, though shown to be related. The differences are nuanced and show careful attention to detail.

It would have been nice to have seen more of the wider world of the setting depicted, as much of the story takes place within a few high-status areas, such as a palace or a school, yet those areas are very well rendered.

The main character, Mixcatl, is likable and interesting. Her depth grows as does her age, starting a bit simple and developing with the story. She starts quite young, only six years of age, but quickly grows into adulthood. It would not be fair to say that there is any single antagonist – rather, this story is situational, with various antagonists appearing, yet each has complex motivations. Even the most grandiose, the leader of the Aztecs, is not one-dimensional, having several nuances to his personality and agenda.

The Jaguar Princess is a wonderful book for anyone interested in a story set in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, especially if they enjoy lycanthropy, big cats, moral greyness, and setting-oriented stories. The tale is suitable for a teen and an adult, with a plot sufficiently complex to enthrall readers of any age.

On a side note, the author has written several other really interesting books, and I highly recommend her other works. They have partly

[Thistle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clare Bell is one of my favorite authors and writes the best "talking animal" books. I really, really wanted Jaguar Princess to work for me. It was published in the early 90s and I (tried to?) read it back then, too. I think I might have DNFed it then, I remember it not working for me. I tried rereading it this year.

Set in the Aztec Empire, a young girl from a jungle village is taken as a slave and brought to the main city in the area. Apparently she becomes a were-jaguar, but I didn't read far enough to get to that part.

I think my issue with the book was that I have less than zero interest in Aztec stuff, and this book was jampacked with it. Bell did her research and there were a ton of details about life then and it seemed realistic, it just didn't work for me at all. Eventually I got too bored and sadly DNFed it.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting premise executed… decently, but in desperate need of a better editor. Bell has a good idea and did a good job developing characters and plot lines, but her dialogue (where she bothered to write it) was painful to read and communication within the story was clunky and unnatural. A few malapropisms as well, but nothing spectacularly bad.
*edited to add: I can't believe I forgot to point out the most uncomfortable aspect of the whole book... the "love triangle." So gross and honestly felt a bit predatory sometimes.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5* I guess it was fine. Some parts were slow, when the main characters endlessly rehashed things that had already happened, or talked about taking action rather than taking action. But the parts about glyphs and art were interesting and I enjoyed reading the book as I was reading it.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

May be more exciting if a bit of the book is cut out. It tends to drag on and some of the content is NOT for kids.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow start but definitely worth the read. What a wonderful storyline and depiction of ancient cultures.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Very interesting. Lots of adventure.

[Jose Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. This is a historic fantasy novel. Set in the Aztec timeline. Primarily follows a young lady named Mixcatl, and a king inside one of the Aztex nation Wise Coyotes. From slave to Demigod indeed. Very intriguing and detailed as to how the lifestyle must have been in those times, the story follows her being sold as a slave cleaning piss pots to eventually getting directly involved in the higher tiers political enviroment. She had an uncanny and special unindetified powers always known to her self. Without spoiling much Clare left me with an itch to see it used more often as there was a lot of teasing. The novel transfers from Mixcatl and Wise Coyotes perspective full off political games and day to day expierences. The book is well written and the story above average that it kept my interest but it did leave me desiring for more!

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+

[J'aime · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up at a used book store for a dollar because the cover attracted me. And it turned out to be one of the best shapeshifter novels I have ever read!

The Jaguar Princess melds shapeshifter fantasy with historical fiction set during the Aztec Empire. Mixcatl is a young girl stolen from her jungle village to become a slave in the capital city. Her artistic talents soon come to light and she becomes a scribe. But, she another talent even more rare. She is one of the jaguar people; descended from ancient rulers of this land. Will she be the one to free her people from the cruel Aztec king whose sacrifices grow more and more demanding?

I enjoyed the story so much because I immediately identified with the protagonist. She is spirited, intelligent and curious. One of my favorite scenes is at the beginning when, upon arriving in the city, she hears the rumor that if a slave touches the walls of the palace, they are freed. Naturally, she makes a run for it! She doesn't succeed, yet after she becomes a scribe she doesn't try again. The author shows that a person can change as they grow. Mixcatl has been indoctrinated to her new society - readying her to remain here and fulfill her destiny.

An exciting adventure, a great heroine and even a love story all work to make this a fantastic novel. There is a lot of humor, and very good character development. Though the actual shapeshifting doesn't occur until the end, the book is a real page turner. I would have loved a sequel. But, if you enjoy shapeshifter stories, or historical fiction, do yourself a favor and find a copy.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisiting an old favorite

I remember this was one of my favorite books as a child and I've read it a few times. This year I have been revisiting old favorites.

My memory of this was much more vague than other titles, remembering only that she was a were-jaguar and a scribe. While I enjoyed reading this again, I don't feel it's still a favorite of mine.

The beginning of the novel was slow, almost a slog, and the ending was incredibly unsatisfying. Many secondary characters are left behind with no knowledge of what happened to them. Many story threads are left unresolved. It was obviously set up for additional novels, which to my knowledge were never written. The dialogue is a bit rough and while much of the book is interesting, such as peeks into Mesoamerican cultures, there's just something lacking.

I've brought this down to a 4 star from my remembered 5 star favorite; probably closer to 3.5 stars if I take away the joy of my childhood glow.

A note on the Kindle edition: This appears to have been scanned from a print edition so there are many typos and issues with punctuation. Formatting isn't as awful as I have seen but it lacks clear definition between switching perspectives of different characters.

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best fantasy books I read in a long time. Why? Because it'a a quite atypical story set in the Aztek world in South America! Mixcatl is not a beautiful girl, who embrasses her magical shapeshifting powers of her heritage and wants to rule the Aztek kingdom, but instead - a disfigured girl (compared to the Aztek view on beauty), who just wants to find her people and is very afraid of her magical powers and to loose herself when she transforms. The true force behind the war of power is Wise Coyote, tlatoani (Speaker King) of the client state Texcoco, who fears that if he doesn't take on the power, his people will be destroyed and he needs Mixcatl and her powers in order to exchange the ruling god, the bloodthirsty Hummingbird, for Mixcatly as a semi-goddess, the Jaguar. If you're looking for action and a lot of fighting in a fantasy novel, this one will not suit your taste, because most of the plot is playing in the character's mind's and concerns their feelings and thoughts. I don't want to tell you too much what happens and if they succeed - just get a hand on a copy of this extraordinary fantasy tale!

[Xarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this back in late middle or early high school. I remember really, really liking it. After re-reading it, I still enjoyed it, but not as much as I had originally did. It's funny, I didn't really remember that much about the book either, just a basic plot line.

It's a good look at the Aztec nation before the arrival of the Spanish. The Aztec were extremely bloody, performed human sacrifices, and, on occasion, ate part of the remains from those sacrifices (though it was limited to the wealthy and the priests). While the ending is hopeful in the fact that a new, less bloody way, may come about, there does not appear to be any real archaeological/historical evidence of this (unfortunately).

Despite this, it was still an enjoyable book. I SO wish I could turn into a jaguar!!!

[Joey Brockert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in pre-Columbian Mexico, Mixcatl was enslaved, taken from her family to serve in the capital when she was six or so. She hates what is happening to her, she has not had the spunk beaten out of her yet. She sees a fellow fingering a Jaguar claw, enchants it to scratch him. She is sold in the market, resold, etc., she eventually settles in at the priest's school. She does her work, but one day she finds herself in the middle of a class, learns what they are teaching and starts to to learn how to paint.
The story winds around about how she grows up and into herself, and how there is a political struggle between the king and a co-king. Mixcatl turns out to be one who can change into a Jaguar, but she has to learn about this by herself, and it scares her. She does find compatible souls around her who help her and she helps them

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly liked this uneven blend of fantasy and history. It is the mystical tale of Mixcatl, an Olmec princess and high priestess of the 'shape-changers who dominated the spiritual world before the Spanish Conquest. The majority of the takes place in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan into which Mixcatl travels . She is revered and also feared. It is soon divulged that there is a plot to kill her and her kind. Mixcatl must devise a way to survive. Combining parts of an epic poem and a historical account of the religion of pre-Columbian Mexico, The Jaguar Princess will pull you into this mysterious and mystifying lost world.

[Abra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so brilliant. Whenever I read it, I always think it would be great for my seventh grade history students, as a way of seeing the Aztec world, with reference to earlier Olmec civilizations. The descriptions of glyph painting, bark-paper, the calendar and sacred round, the naming system, the religion and the gods -- and sacrifices -- are all fantastic. Then I remember that a) the fantastic elements (a race of were-jaguars descended from the Olmecs) and the b) the length, preclude its use as a text we could read together. I wish I could boil it down and make a poster-book of it, Japanese style.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

My review is specifically for the e-reads edition (with the jaguar-spots background). It is chock-full of misspellings, miscapitalizations, mispunctuations, typos, accidental paragraph breaks in the middle of sentences, no paragraph breaks when we switch POV characters and skip two years, sentences that are just plain gibberish.... it's a mess. I was only able to get through about 40 pages of it before giving up in disgust. No idea what another edition would be like, but I don't have high hopes for an author who cares so little about her creation.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I remember really liking this book when I was younger, but my reaction this time around has been pretty lukewarm.
Entertaining enough, I guess, so I'm giving it at least 2 stars. Terrible characterization, silly plot and cultural appropriation (with vague Christian overtones) were pretty hard to overlook this time though.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting a YA quality of book and was surprised to find it much more mature. It's clean and fairly quick to read. Not sure I'd read it again though, hence the loss of a star. Another was lost for leaving the ending rather open. I thought it might be the first in a series.

[Megan Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Tristan]

Read prior to 2010

[Chelsea Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fascinating to me! Read it first in 7th or 8th grade. I really liked that it was about the ancient Incan culture.

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

She's pretty awful at writing dialogue, but the subject matter is interesting enough to stick with it. You don't see a lot of pre-conquistador Aztec fiction out there!