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Mexica
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.
512 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
12 people are currently reading
471 people want to read
About the author
Norman Spinrad
366 books217 followersBorn in New York in 1940, Norman Spinrad is an acclaimed SF writer.
Norman Spinrad, born in New York City, is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. In 1957 he entered City College of New York and graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree as a pre-law major. In 1966 he moved to San Francisco, then to Los Angeles, and now lives in Paris. He married fellow novelist N. Lee Wood in 1990; they divorced in 2005. They had no children. Spinrad served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) from 1980 to 1982 and again from 2001 to 2002.
Norman Spinrad, born in New York City, is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. In 1957 he entered City College of New York and graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree as a pre-law major. In 1966 he moved to San Francisco, then to Los Angeles, and now lives in Paris. He married fellow novelist N. Lee Wood in 1990; they divorced in 2005. They had no children. Spinrad served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) from 1980 to 1982 and again from 2001 to 2002.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 24, 2018
I became a Norman Spinrad fan in the 90s as he was going through a bit of a revival. His revolutionary science fiction novels were out of print, but the British wave of comic writers like Warren Ellis and Alan Moore, as well as an appreciation from the new thing called the internet, brought him back.
I picked up as many recent Spinrad novels as I could (I somehow found a bunch in a central Illinois used bookstore) which were at the time, "Russian Spring" and "Greenhouse Summer". As you can tell from those very 90-ish titles, Spinrad was taking on the sociopolitical issues of the day.
In the 2000s, as Spinrad was entering his Medicare years and was entering his fifth decade of writing, he had a bit of a commercial and critical success by turning to Alternate History. The Druid King and Mexica are well -recommended. Spinrad being Spinrad, he could not leave well enough alone, he followed this up by writing a novel called Osama the Gun that no one wanted to touch. That combined with health issues, means we haven't heard much from Norman in the last decade.
Mexica is pretty fantastic The first few pages were a bit confusing(I had to re-read them) but in short order, it really takes off.
It is a fictionalized account of Cortes's conquest of the Aztecs (as told by a Spanish diarist and advisor hiding his Jewish faith ) . Spinrad's characterizations are fantastic. He fleshes out motivations and backstories, and stays accessible throughout- hitting some big ideas. Even, the action scenes - which are often hard to sell outside of a visual medium - work.
Indeed, what seem like the most ridiculous elements of the story come from either the actual story or what are long held legends. When I looked, I was shocked as much as the story follows what we know of Cortes and Montezuma.
This being Spinrad, there's obligatory drugs and sex. In this case, the drug is Chocolate and the sex isn't much different than what you would expect from a HBO story.
As a fan, I wasn't sure that Spinrad could still pull off surprises, but this was a real winner. It's only drawback being at 500 pages, it feels like there is a bit of repetition with the battles. Surely, he could have tightened it up a bit, and shaved 100 pages (150?) off.
Not everyone will like Spinrad’s style I suppose, but for me, this was a great ride and confirmed him as one of my favorites.
I picked up as many recent Spinrad novels as I could (I somehow found a bunch in a central Illinois used bookstore) which were at the time, "Russian Spring" and "Greenhouse Summer". As you can tell from those very 90-ish titles, Spinrad was taking on the sociopolitical issues of the day.
In the 2000s, as Spinrad was entering his Medicare years and was entering his fifth decade of writing, he had a bit of a commercial and critical success by turning to Alternate History. The Druid King and Mexica are well -recommended. Spinrad being Spinrad, he could not leave well enough alone, he followed this up by writing a novel called Osama the Gun that no one wanted to touch. That combined with health issues, means we haven't heard much from Norman in the last decade.
Mexica is pretty fantastic The first few pages were a bit confusing(I had to re-read them) but in short order, it really takes off.
It is a fictionalized account of Cortes's conquest of the Aztecs (as told by a Spanish diarist and advisor hiding his Jewish faith ) . Spinrad's characterizations are fantastic. He fleshes out motivations and backstories, and stays accessible throughout- hitting some big ideas. Even, the action scenes - which are often hard to sell outside of a visual medium - work.
Indeed, what seem like the most ridiculous elements of the story come from either the actual story or what are long held legends. When I looked, I was shocked as much as the story follows what we know of Cortes and Montezuma.
This being Spinrad, there's obligatory drugs and sex. In this case, the drug is Chocolate and the sex isn't much different than what you would expect from a HBO story.
As a fan, I wasn't sure that Spinrad could still pull off surprises, but this was a real winner. It's only drawback being at 500 pages, it feels like there is a bit of repetition with the battles. Surely, he could have tightened it up a bit, and shaved 100 pages (150?) off.
Not everyone will like Spinrad’s style I suppose, but for me, this was a great ride and confirmed him as one of my favorites.
December 26, 2019
A pesar de ser una novela histórica y por tanto no poder tomarla como fuente fidedigna, se ha convertido en una de mis mejores propuestas de lectura para todos aquellos que quieran saber un poco más sobre el encuentro entre dos mundos que tuvo lugar en territorio mesoamericano.
Sin duda una obra que te hará romper esa historia de bronce cimentada por la educación publica en América Latina.
Sin duda una obra que te hará romper esa historia de bronce cimentada por la educación publica en América Latina.
November 2, 2010
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.
"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.
August 31, 2012
Mi respetos para el autor, es un libro de historia en novela. Ni los libros de historia de las primarias de México están bien fundamentados y redactados en base a estos hechos de la historia de México.
October 8, 2022
Spinrad is no stranger to fellow readers of Science Fiction, coming to prominence around the time of the New Wave with works such as Bug Jack Barron and The Iron Dream (an Altered History SF novel whose author was supposedly Adolf Hitler.) In the early part of this century, though, he took a turn into historical fiction with The Druid King, about Julius Caesar’s adversary Vercingetorix the Gaul. Mexica is his take on conquistador Hernán Cortés (in the text always referred to as Hernando Cortes) one of History’s supreme adventurers – or villains, depending on your viewpoint.
Our narrator is Cortés’s companion, and unwilling advisor, Avram ibn Ezra (an Arabised form of the Jewish Ben Ezra,) who was baptised Alvaro Escribiente de Granada since being a Jew in the newly united Christian Spain under the scrutiny of the Inquisition was not a healthy prospect. This choice allows the narrative to distance itself both from the brutal Christianity of the Spanish invaders and from the sanguinary religious practices of the indigenous Mexica and their vassals. (Only once or twice is the word Aztec mentioned. This apparently was an insulting term deriving from the bumpkinish highlands down from which the Mexica came to replace their predecessors, the Toltecs, whom the Mexica still revered, after that earlier people had vanished into the east.)
It is arguably a necessary choice, as religion mattered. For how else can a few hundred men bring down a mighty empire? In this telling the Mexica - or at least their emperor Montezuma - were undone by their beliefs. The Toltec god Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, was prophesied to come back from the east with a light skin whereupon the fifth world (that of the Mexica) would end and the sixth begin. On hearing of the arrival of the Spaniards Montezuma awaits a sign from his god of war, Huitzilopochtli, as to their true nature, and receives none. A native woman, Malinal (known to present day Mexicans as Malinche but here dubbed Marina by the Spaniards as it’s easier for them to pronounce,) a princess of one the Mexica’s vassal states, sold into slavery when they were defeated, takes up with Cortés and, aided by Alvaro, becomes his translator. She it is who nudges Cortés (despite his own religious qualms) into affecting the appearance, and, in native eyes, substance, of Quetzalcoatl. The prospect of not having to pay blood tribute to the Mexica in the form of the hearts of their young men also leans on the Mexican vassals whom Cortés enlists as allies, vassals all but mystified at the thought of a god who gives his flesh and blood to be eaten by his worshippers rather than requiring their own of his believers.
It was still a very long shot, emphasised when after a couple of military victories against allies of the Mexica on the journey to the central high plateau, Alvaro briefly views through the clouds the magnificence of the Mexica capital Tenochtitlan, built on a series of lakes and joined to the surrounding land by four causeways, from the mountain pass above. An impregnable fortress it would seem.
Later, after falling in love with the place, Alvaro wonders, “How could the civilization that had built Tenochtitlan rip out human hearts on such a bloody altar?” but also, “How could the civilization of the Prince of Peace who commanded men to love their neighbours as themselves burn human beings at the stake in his name? How could those who worshipped an Allah who was styled the Beneficent and Merciful behead the infidels who would not bow down to him?”
Whle the central figure here is always Cortés, the most sympathetic and tragic is Montezuma, who is entrapped and imprisoned by Cortés and thus in conversations with Alvaro vouchsafes to the reader his philosophy. Here is a man who, in trying to do the best by his gods as he sees them, loses not only his empire, his people and his city, but also his life. That those gods were horrific taskmasters and not worthy of any such soul-searching or devotion does not diminish this. Religious beliefs make people do strange and bewildering things. From his religious perspective Alvaro sees, “This is the crime for which I have no name. Having conquered their lands, now we were conquering their spirit.”
Mostly a self-serving - not to mention greedy - hypocrite and casuist there are contradictions too in Cortés’s behaviour, illustrated when he gives full military honours to the dead Montezuma and Alvaro tells us, “There were so many reasoms for me to hate Hernando Cortes.... But ... there were moments ...., when no matter how I tried, I found it impossible not to love the bastard.”
Befor the story gathers momentum with the landing in Central America the reflective nature of Alvaro’s account can be a little tedious. The text is liberally larded with the word ‘thereof’ and vocative asides to “dear reader”, a tendency which drops out when the action sets in only to reappear many pages later. ‘Alvaro’’s intent in setting this down is to expose and expiate his guilt at the part he played in the downfall of the Mexica and the beautiful city they constructed. But in the end he rationalises that, “..it could not have been prevented. Even if Columbus had never set sail it could not have been prevented, for Europe had the ships, and sooner or later someone would have discovered this New World.” The fulfilment of Montezuma’s omen was inevitable. “For this new world held treasure and unbounded virgin land unknown in the tired old one, and Europe had the greed to covet and the means to sieze it.” The greatest devastator of the Mexica though, would be what Alvaro names as the small pox, a weapon more deadly to the natives than either cannon or arquebus. The Mexica live on, however, in the adaptation of their name to that of the modern day.
Alvaro’s profoundest thoughts are however inspired by the much older civilisation that built the huge pyramids at Teotihuacan, whose people were forgotten even by the Mexica. “This was not a New World. This was a world old beyond imagining.... Five worlds come and gone ... And now the breaking of the fifth and the coming of the sixth.” He consoles himself with the thought that in the end great events do not matter; civilisations amd conquerors may come and go but, “It is in the small things that life comes closest to eternity.”
Our narrator is Cortés’s companion, and unwilling advisor, Avram ibn Ezra (an Arabised form of the Jewish Ben Ezra,) who was baptised Alvaro Escribiente de Granada since being a Jew in the newly united Christian Spain under the scrutiny of the Inquisition was not a healthy prospect. This choice allows the narrative to distance itself both from the brutal Christianity of the Spanish invaders and from the sanguinary religious practices of the indigenous Mexica and their vassals. (Only once or twice is the word Aztec mentioned. This apparently was an insulting term deriving from the bumpkinish highlands down from which the Mexica came to replace their predecessors, the Toltecs, whom the Mexica still revered, after that earlier people had vanished into the east.)
It is arguably a necessary choice, as religion mattered. For how else can a few hundred men bring down a mighty empire? In this telling the Mexica - or at least their emperor Montezuma - were undone by their beliefs. The Toltec god Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, was prophesied to come back from the east with a light skin whereupon the fifth world (that of the Mexica) would end and the sixth begin. On hearing of the arrival of the Spaniards Montezuma awaits a sign from his god of war, Huitzilopochtli, as to their true nature, and receives none. A native woman, Malinal (known to present day Mexicans as Malinche but here dubbed Marina by the Spaniards as it’s easier for them to pronounce,) a princess of one the Mexica’s vassal states, sold into slavery when they were defeated, takes up with Cortés and, aided by Alvaro, becomes his translator. She it is who nudges Cortés (despite his own religious qualms) into affecting the appearance, and, in native eyes, substance, of Quetzalcoatl. The prospect of not having to pay blood tribute to the Mexica in the form of the hearts of their young men also leans on the Mexican vassals whom Cortés enlists as allies, vassals all but mystified at the thought of a god who gives his flesh and blood to be eaten by his worshippers rather than requiring their own of his believers.
It was still a very long shot, emphasised when after a couple of military victories against allies of the Mexica on the journey to the central high plateau, Alvaro briefly views through the clouds the magnificence of the Mexica capital Tenochtitlan, built on a series of lakes and joined to the surrounding land by four causeways, from the mountain pass above. An impregnable fortress it would seem.
Later, after falling in love with the place, Alvaro wonders, “How could the civilization that had built Tenochtitlan rip out human hearts on such a bloody altar?” but also, “How could the civilization of the Prince of Peace who commanded men to love their neighbours as themselves burn human beings at the stake in his name? How could those who worshipped an Allah who was styled the Beneficent and Merciful behead the infidels who would not bow down to him?”
Whle the central figure here is always Cortés, the most sympathetic and tragic is Montezuma, who is entrapped and imprisoned by Cortés and thus in conversations with Alvaro vouchsafes to the reader his philosophy. Here is a man who, in trying to do the best by his gods as he sees them, loses not only his empire, his people and his city, but also his life. That those gods were horrific taskmasters and not worthy of any such soul-searching or devotion does not diminish this. Religious beliefs make people do strange and bewildering things. From his religious perspective Alvaro sees, “This is the crime for which I have no name. Having conquered their lands, now we were conquering their spirit.”
Mostly a self-serving - not to mention greedy - hypocrite and casuist there are contradictions too in Cortés’s behaviour, illustrated when he gives full military honours to the dead Montezuma and Alvaro tells us, “There were so many reasoms for me to hate Hernando Cortes.... But ... there were moments ...., when no matter how I tried, I found it impossible not to love the bastard.”
Befor the story gathers momentum with the landing in Central America the reflective nature of Alvaro’s account can be a little tedious. The text is liberally larded with the word ‘thereof’ and vocative asides to “dear reader”, a tendency which drops out when the action sets in only to reappear many pages later. ‘Alvaro’’s intent in setting this down is to expose and expiate his guilt at the part he played in the downfall of the Mexica and the beautiful city they constructed. But in the end he rationalises that, “..it could not have been prevented. Even if Columbus had never set sail it could not have been prevented, for Europe had the ships, and sooner or later someone would have discovered this New World.” The fulfilment of Montezuma’s omen was inevitable. “For this new world held treasure and unbounded virgin land unknown in the tired old one, and Europe had the greed to covet and the means to sieze it.” The greatest devastator of the Mexica though, would be what Alvaro names as the small pox, a weapon more deadly to the natives than either cannon or arquebus. The Mexica live on, however, in the adaptation of their name to that of the modern day.
Alvaro’s profoundest thoughts are however inspired by the much older civilisation that built the huge pyramids at Teotihuacan, whose people were forgotten even by the Mexica. “This was not a New World. This was a world old beyond imagining.... Five worlds come and gone ... And now the breaking of the fifth and the coming of the sixth.” He consoles himself with the thought that in the end great events do not matter; civilisations amd conquerors may come and go but, “It is in the small things that life comes closest to eternity.”
January 12, 2012
Wow, there really is a book buried in here. Having spent a lot of time studying this culture, reading the source literature, and visiting its historical sites, I had a strong grasp of the particulars of the novel's plot in advance. Spinrad has done his research impeccably, and the story is 100% authentic. The thing that made the book stand out for me was the unusual perspective of the narrator, which made the subtext of the narrative a lot more complex than the usual story of the clash of religions, conquered versus conqueror, etc., and makes it a meditation on the similarities instead. I'd actually say it resonates at times with insights reminiscent of Foucault's Pendulum, and that is high praise coming from me. That said, the Kindle edition I read seemed as if no one bothered to run a spellcheck on the thing, never mind a careful proofreading, and the manuscript needs serious editing for repetition and focus. These are not the worst sins a book can commit, and they're the only reason I kept from giving it 5 stars, because I really, really, liked it, a lot more than I thought I would.
May 21, 2018
This is not one of Spinrad's normal political SF works like the notorious Bug Jack Barron, instead it's a straight up work of historical fiction that sticks pretty close to the known history of the Mexican Conquest. Alvaro de Sevilla is a confidante of Hernan Cortez and witnesses many of the important events in person and writes about it in a slightly philosophical way. This work didn't bring anything new to the table for me, it's like a darker version of Captain From Castile. It's an OK read, but I would recommend his SF works.
For an alternative history version of the conquest, you can read Reynold's The Other Time.
For an alternative history version of the conquest, you can read Reynold's The Other Time.
April 15, 2018
If you are a güera who works and lives among Mexicans, you will become familiar with the saying"Hijo de la chingada," and you know it's similar to saying SOB in English but not quite. AND, if you live with a Macho (Machista), and you're trying to understand why they hate you so much, you can be enlightened by reading this awesome and authentic work about Cortes, Malina, and the conquest of the Mexica and the ruination of their grandest city, Tenochtitlán. If you're already not that big a fan of Spaniards, you will be even more so after you read this book. One more destructive race of white people. Sigh.
September 19, 2020
A very disturbing tale of colonialism and racism, a fatal clash of cultures and two vicious empires.
October 15, 2021
Somewhat overlong, but a very readable and fascinating historical novel about Hernando Cortés and the Spaniards' conquest of the Aztec empire. (Or, rather, as it turns out they didn't call themselves the Aztecs, which was a pejorative word for strangers, the "Mexica".)
The clash of cultures and technology is vividly and convincingly portrayed. The violence, on both sides, is inextricably linked to their respective religions. The Spanish are outraged to their core at the Mexica's extensive human sacrifice, but don't quite seem to see the contradiction with the gory violence they themselves embrace and inflict on the native population in the name of their own religion.
Spinrad's choice of narrator is an inspired one. He has created the fictional character of Alvaro de Sevilla, who is a secret Jew (Avram ibn Ezra) escaped to the New World in the hopes of reinventing himself and who is coopted as Cortés's secretary and chronicler. He is twice an outsider and provides a unique viewpoint for the reader.
The clash of cultures and technology is vividly and convincingly portrayed. The violence, on both sides, is inextricably linked to their respective religions. The Spanish are outraged to their core at the Mexica's extensive human sacrifice, but don't quite seem to see the contradiction with the gory violence they themselves embrace and inflict on the native population in the name of their own religion.
Spinrad's choice of narrator is an inspired one. He has created the fictional character of Alvaro de Sevilla, who is a secret Jew (Avram ibn Ezra) escaped to the New World in the hopes of reinventing himself and who is coopted as Cortés's secretary and chronicler. He is twice an outsider and provides a unique viewpoint for the reader.
July 27, 2022
Me considero una freaky de la conquista de México, conozco todos los datos y curiosidades historicas. Por eso mismo disfrute mucho de este libro, me dio una perspectiva más amplia de lo que fue este suceso aunque me pareció que la trama avanzaba lenta, las descripciones y la ambientación estan muy bien planteadas
September 2, 2013
I know Norman Spinrad through his first ever novel, The Solarians; a 1966-published unashamed sci-fi cheese-fest presenting a vision of psychic free-loving space-faring very much grounded in the decade it was written. So it was with some surprise that I discovered that Spinrad’s latest work was a foray into historical fiction. I’ve been bitten by this genre-switching once before; Ben Bova, another sci-fi writer well known for his emphasis on hard science, wrote a historical fiction debut based on the Troy myth, but instead of his usual thick-plot and busy writing style I found The Hittite to be mystifyingly spartan and sketched. Rumours abounded of a planned trilogy for Bova’s switchover… a trilogy which has not materialised. So I was both sceptical and intensely curious to see what Norman Spinrad would do with Mexica. The Solarians is sci-fi stuck in the sixties, rather predictable in plot and decidedly stiff and wooden in that typical sixties sci-fi way – one is reminded of cardboard sets and hilariously bad acting – good for a laugh, and very typical of its era. Could the same author really produce a good historical fiction novel?
Well, the answer is, surprisingly, yes. Mexica tells the story of the downfall of Moctezuma and the Mexica empire, at the hands of Hernan Cortes and his small company of conquistadors, through the eyes of Alvaro de Sevilla, a scholar who advises Cortes and comes to regret his part in events. The writing style struck me straight away. Mexica feels like it was written by a completely different author than the writer of The Solarians. I guess a lot can change in forty years. Mexica is meticulous, careful, considered, the prose is thoughtful and precise, at once providing the richness of detail but without meandering or info-dumping on its readers. The research is sharp too. It’s obvious that Spinrad read up big time for this one, and that he spent time and effort assiduously plotting out the historical events with the storyline and the fictional elements. Spinrad doesn’t shy away from the action either – battles and skirmishes are attentively rendered, the action absorbing and harsh, and the most painful and tension filled action scenes being definitely the climax of the book; the siege of Tenochtitlan.
What’s really unusual about Mexica, and I would argue its best attribute, is the characterisations. They’re very deftly done. It can be incredibly difficult to get a handle on historical people, let alone try to convey that on the page for other people to read, and historical figures are often misinterpreted or, worse, over-simplified. The trick, which Spinrad seems to have learned from the same school as Margaret George, Sharon Penman, Susan Higginbotham, Pauline Gedge, Mary Renault, etc., is to admit that these people are unknowable, creating a portrait of a flawed and rounded human being, complex and deeply sophisticated, and leaving the inscrutable, inscrutable. Spinrad does this for Hernan Cortes, Malinal, and most of all Moctezuma himself. Actions and private conversations provide us as readers with windows of insight into these characters, but much remains hidden, and events fly by so quickly that one is left in the aftermath wondering if we as readers ever really knew the motives of the characters. Art mirroring life – can’t get much better than that.
9 out of 10
May 11, 2016
La historia de la Conquista del Imperio Azteca o mejor dicho Mexica C
contada desde el punto de vista de un judío, Avram Ben Ezra que con el nombre de Avram ibn Ezra fue consejero del último sultán de Granada y oculto bajo la identidad del católico Álvaro de Sevilla viaja a Cuba y ahí conoce y convence a Hernando Cortés de explorar las tierras más allá de la isla, complicado? ...si pero esto da pie a varias reflexiones de tipo teológico al introducirnos a la religión mexica, punto importante para que el autor penetre en la mente de Montezuma e intente explicar el porqué se doblegó tan fácilmente al invasor y esto es en mi opinión es la parte más interesante de la novela, el presentar un retrato más humano, sin concesiones, de los "villanos" de la conquista Montezuma y Cortés, tampoco las hay al presentarnos las culturas prehispánicas, aunque de hecho no ahonda en ellas, solo se nos presenta sus aspectos más brutales, los sacrificios y el canibalismo, aunque las defiende a través del gran diálogo en el cual Álvaro suplica a Hernando no destruir Tenochtitlán, ¿o acaso los mexicas se presentaron en España sin ser invitados exigiendo que el rey se rindiera ante el emperador y abrazara el culto a Huitzilopochtli?, uno de los pasajes más tristes es la destrucción del palacio de Axayacatl y el zoológico, un acto de barbarie para acabar con una civilización que a pesar de toda su grandeza aún vivía en la barbarie.
contada desde el punto de vista de un judío, Avram Ben Ezra que con el nombre de Avram ibn Ezra fue consejero del último sultán de Granada y oculto bajo la identidad del católico Álvaro de Sevilla viaja a Cuba y ahí conoce y convence a Hernando Cortés de explorar las tierras más allá de la isla, complicado? ...si pero esto da pie a varias reflexiones de tipo teológico al introducirnos a la religión mexica, punto importante para que el autor penetre en la mente de Montezuma e intente explicar el porqué se doblegó tan fácilmente al invasor y esto es en mi opinión es la parte más interesante de la novela, el presentar un retrato más humano, sin concesiones, de los "villanos" de la conquista Montezuma y Cortés, tampoco las hay al presentarnos las culturas prehispánicas, aunque de hecho no ahonda en ellas, solo se nos presenta sus aspectos más brutales, los sacrificios y el canibalismo, aunque las defiende a través del gran diálogo en el cual Álvaro suplica a Hernando no destruir Tenochtitlán, ¿o acaso los mexicas se presentaron en España sin ser invitados exigiendo que el rey se rindiera ante el emperador y abrazara el culto a Huitzilopochtli?, uno de los pasajes más tristes es la destrucción del palacio de Axayacatl y el zoológico, un acto de barbarie para acabar con una civilización que a pesar de toda su grandeza aún vivía en la barbarie.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2015
Very interesting having a story from the perspective of some who wasn't really a fighter and was also hiding his religion but giving advice to someone who was a warrior and believer. Might have helped to have the phonetic spellings of some of the Aztec words for those if us not able to know how they should be said. Overall though it was a very good story
July 9, 2008
Another beautiful historically accurate fictional novel, interesting, told from the viewpoint of a self-effecing Jew, which lends a very interesting edge to the story and makes the history more believable; there was indeed a Jew who had Cortes' ear.
May 18, 2012
The bloody story about the conquest of Mexico by Cortes. It's often hard to decide who the 'savage' is-- Montezuma and his warriors who live in a beautiful and civilized city or the poorly trained Spanish in search of gold who are brutal killers of the heathens. There is enough blame to go around.
January 11, 2014
It is a great historical fiction. It is about the might, the horror and the fall of the aztec empire of mexico region. Accurate history is portrayed. The story flows with its nail-biting moments all along. Definitely a page-turner. Highly recommended to all.
August 21, 2011
Novela histórica que refleja la visa de la nación mexica, a la llegada de los españoles.
Muy hermosa y emotiva. De mis favoritas
Muy hermosa y emotiva. De mis favoritas
December 11, 2011
El misticismo de las tradiciones ancestrales que nos muestran parte de lo que hoy nos define.
July 23, 2014
Interesting and captivating because of the narrator's perspective, but with many writing errors, some grammatical and some others attributed to missing words or even entire phrases. Poorly edited.
May 15, 2013
Beautiful historically novel, I loved it!!! I really enjoyed these book. So interesting for anyone who loves history and mythical places.
August 2, 2016
I read it because I first read Aztec, it gives you another interpretation of the character of Moctezuma, it was a good read but I wouldn't say that I would read it again.
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