Wasteland of Flint

In the Time of the Sixth Sun #1

by Thomas Harlan

Acclaimed as one of SF's most exciting new talents, Thomas Harlan took readers by storm with his remarkable Oath of Empire series, a thrilling blend of alternate history, high fantasy, and military adventure. The books in the series, including The Shadow of Ararat, The Gate of Fire, The Storm of Heaven, and The Dark Lord, not only earned Harlan rave reviews but gained him two nominations for Best New Writer of the Year.

Now Thomas Harlan draws upon his extensive knowledge of history, politics, strategy and tactics to create a brilliant new science fiction epic set in an alternate future in which the Aztec Empire rules the earth and an interstellar empire.

Led by the ambitions of the powerful, world-girdling Empire of the Méxica, the human race has spread out among the stars, only to discover a perilous universe once ruled by vast interstellar civilizations that suddenly vanished, leaving behind their mysterious artifacts.

Dr. Gretchen Andersson, a xeno-archeologist and second-class citizen of the empire, has made a career of searching for those First Sun artifacts. She has suddenly been recalled by her employer and sent to discover the fate of a missing survey team. To her consternation, she discovers that her team is to travel on an imperial warship, under a Japanese commander, instead of using a Company vessel. Worse, an Aztec aristocrat, Green Hummingbird--an imperial judge who is also a brujo, or sorcerer-is in command of the rescue mission. Clearly, there is more to this assignment than rescuing a team of company scientists from a dead world. In the company of Green Hummingbird, Gretchen will discover that there is far more to Ephesus III than meets the eye.

For the vast, rocky wasteland of the seemingly dead planet hides a secret life, and may hold treasures far too deadly for the empire to ever allow her to discover.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Alternate History, Space Opera, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

512 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Fantasy, alternate-history and science fiction writer Thomas Harlan is the author of the critically acclaimed Oath of Empire series from Tor Books. He has been twice nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Author (in 1999 and 2000). In May of 2001, he received the SF^2 Award for Best New Fantasy Author. His first novel, The Shadow of Ararat was selected as one of the Barnes & Noble Top 20 Best SF&F Novels of 1999. The sequel, Gate of Fire, was chosen as both a B&N Top 20 book and placed on Locus Magazine’s Recommended Reading list for the year 2000. The third and fourth Oath of Empire novels, The Storm of Heaven and The Dark Lord were released in May of 2001 and 2002. A new series followed the cataclysmic end of Oath; an alternate-history science-fiction archaeological/combat series called In the time of the Sixth Sun. The first book, Wasteland of Flint, was published in 2003 and received a starred review in Kirkus. House of Reeds followed in 2004, and Land of the Dead in 2009.

Thomas has published a variety of very well received short fiction in Dragon magazine, as well as the largest adventure module ever published in Dungeon.

Twenty years of game design have produced a number of play-by-email systems, of which the long-running and increasingly complex Lords of the Earth is the best known. Lords is a historical simulation game, encompassing the whole of the Earth, modeling political, economic and military conflict from the early Iron Age to the late 1800’s. There are over forty Lords of the Earth campaigns currently in progress, in English, Spanish, and Italian. The initial campaign has been running for over twenty years and has chronicled the period from 1000 AD to 1770 AD. Lords of the Earth was nominated for an Origins/GAMA award for Best PBM Game of the Year in 2003.

Thomas was born in Tucson, Arizona on February 25th, 1964. He was raised by archaeologist – dendrochronologist – botanist parents and traveled widely throughout the American southwest and overseas as a result. A steady diet of Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings), Herbert (Dune), Herge (Tintin), Goscinny & Uderzo (Asterix), John Buchan (Greenmantle, The Thirty-Nine Steps, etc.), Talbot Mundy (The Nine Unknown, Jimgrim, King of the Khyber Rifles), Edgar Rice Burroughs (John Carter of Mars), Kenneth Bulmer (Prescot of Scorpio) and other purveyors of the fantastic inform his literary background. An excessively long stay in college provided him with a moderate background in creative writing, history, art and other sundry skills helpful to a novelist.

Aside from his literary career, Thomas spent too many years in the information technology industry as a developer, manager and architect for government, education and healthcare. He currently lives in Salem, Oregon.

Reviews

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this in 2004, and liked it a lot:
This is Book 1 of a very cool future-archaeology space-opera series,set in a rich backstory where the Mexica (Aztecs) rule a space empire, with Europeans at the low, dirty end of the stick. Fortunately for WSOD, Harlan skims lightly over how this came to be, and throws in all sorts of my favorite sfnal goodies: Ancient alien Forerunners! Mystery science! "Indiana Jane"! Cool Nahuatl stuff ("Chicuacen Tonatiuh" is the series subtitle) -- all in a rich, complex, lived-in backstory with the dense, recomplicated feel of real history.

Green Hummingbird (Huitziloxoctic), the Empire's political officer here, does veer off into "Teachings of Don Juan" territory, but not so far as to do serious damage. He becomes an unexpectedly sympathetic character by novel's end.

In 2004, I wrote that "Wasteland of Flint is the pure quill: fast action, good characters, a fine, rich sfnal background, and a crackerjack story. I had a lot of fun with it, and I bet you will, too."

Reread in 2019, and I saw more warts:
The novel could have used a critical final edit, with quite a bit of tightening and shortening. The mystic Chtulhu-style aliens were less convincing -- but still, some hair-raising moments. And the hunt for the rogue mining refinery in the Ephesus system's asteroid belt should have been drastically cut. Mind, it's still a first-class space-adventure novel, with an unusually well-thought-out backstory. Author Harlan came up with an extensive wiki for the series, which you may want to explore (caution: SPOILERS): http://www.throneworld.com/wiki/index...

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book at a used library sale and because of that had low expectations - I was very pleasantly surprised. It is a Sci Fi story of discovering what happened to a lost survey team looking for relics of an ancient race. This takes place in an alternate future, one in which the Aztec's of Mexico were the culture that eventually won over the Earth, not the western America that most Sci Fi assumes. Eventually, the action breaks into three tales - a potential space battle, a ship under repairs, and an adventure of discovery on an alien world. The story ties nicely together at the end, but leaves a person ready for a sequel since questions remain.

First the bad - it was a little tough to read. It probably could have been another 50 pages because descriptions were often lacking. I had to keep going back to re-read passages to be able to see the images in my head. However, one advantage of this was that I was able to add the details that were lacking. The confusing part was when I'd have to change a detail because the author later described something I already had made a different vision for, hence the rereading parts.

Now the good things - The characters were outstanding. They were not perfect, but were nearly all likable in their own way. Thomas Harlan did a better job of letting the reader understand multiple character's points of view than any other author I have read. By the end, I fully understood the motives of at least 7 in the story and was able to empathize with them. The story was outstanding and the settings were good. The action scenes were well paced and in the end I couldn't put the book down.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I thought it was excellent, especially for the first book in a trilogy. It is unique, has a nice historical fiction element to it, has elements to it that border on military sci fi, hard science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the surreal. I thought Harlan tied it together pretty well.

In this book, the Aztecs won North American dominance, if not over most of the world many years ago. Now, however, most of the world is ruled by Méxica from the capital of Tenochtitlan, aided by the Japanese, who supply their military. Their only real economic and military human competion is from the Swede-Russian alliance.

Millions of years ago, the First Sun People dominated the galaxy with their technology, living and moving from planet to planet. Some of their leftover technology is rarely but occasionally found on various planets and it’s worth a fortune.

In the book, xenoarcheologist Dr. Gretchen Anderssen has been employed by an unnamed company to go to Ephesus III to find a previous expedition and to obtain as many valuable archeological items that she can, to make the trip (s) worthwhile. At the same time, Imperial cruiser, the Henry R. Cornuelle, is sent to the same location captained by Captain Hadeishi Mitsuharu of the Imperial Méxica Navy. He is carrying a secretive Imperial “judge” with unlimited powers, whose name is Huitzilozoctic, or Green Hummingbird. The name not only means “judge,” but it also means “sorcerer.” It sometimes seems like his power cannot be matched.

Anderssen and her team go to down to the planet’s surface to find important relics they believe to be First Sun relics. These could be dangerous and certainly are powerful. Green Hummingbird views these as hugely dangerous and declares the planet and the space around it off limits to any and every one. Mitsuharu is sent after a gigantic freighter that is now is a huge asteroid field to fire upon it, if necessary, board it, and issue Hummingbird’s commands. Meanwhile, Hummingbird makes his way to the planet. Anderssen is obsessed with finding these objects, to the point of ignoring her crew and going all over the planet tracing the final steps of a scientist who had been impacted by these artifacts and gone insane and disappeared. Hummingbird watches, but follows from a distance. Eventually, he intrudes upon her and they end up traveling together in increasingly dangerous places and situations. Hummingbird believes it’s necessary to bring balance to the planet and the things on the planet to ward off First Sun evil. Gretchen doesn’t understand him, but he tries to teach her. As they go into caves and are attacked by spirits and are followed by relentless shadows, and possible aliens, she starts to wonder and he then tells her she can’t see the real world, she doesn’t know. Her science is no good, which ticks her off. A battle between mysticism and rationalism results. While judges aren’t psychics, they exist to protect the species at ANY cost, including the extermination of entire worlds, and they have reached the absolute best of human perceptual training, among other things. They can’t always necessarily foretell the future, but it seems they see strains of future possibilities. They can bring balance to dark forces, right evil things, manipulate people and things to do their bidding, as long as it meets their final goals.

Hummingbird, at some point, asks Anderssen if she would like to see, actually SEE, to learn, to be exposed to things she’s never dreamt of, and in a moment of either weakness, bravery, or power seeking, she agrees, and as time is of the essence and he can’t take the time to properly train her, he gives her an intense drug that virtually destroys her existence. She lies in a coma-like trance for hours, going through dreams, fantasies, pain, experiences, etc., and wakes many hours later, and she SEES. It’s like living in another dimension. She can see every fiber on every blade of grass in 3D, color illuminated. She can see Hummingbird as he really is, birds, trees, ants, like she’s never seen them before, and she understands things like she’s never been able to understand them before. She understands the universe as inherently hostile and now knows the judges’ need to protect humanity. She’s cautiously excited and repelled at the same time. However, the evil aliens are after them and they must continue to their flight to the planet’s base camp to await extraction.

While waiting, she is given another drug, which goes even further. There, however, for the third, I believe, time, she sees a First Sun alien who appears before her in her own image, talking to her while she tries to escape. Hummingbird has never been with her when she has encountered this alien.

I won’t say what happens at the end, but it wasn’t entirely what I expected and I’ve read that some people are a little disappointed by it. I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed. It was just unexpected. It’s an exciting, action packed, intense, horror-tinged, mind fuck with more to come in future books. If Book Two is as good as this first one is, I’ll be very happy. Five stars. Definitely recommended.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most sci fi is set in the future of our world, albeit sometimes a retro future just because of the time it was written. The Commies and the United States are in a race to colonize other worlds, that kind of thing. Wasteland of Flint isn't, though, because it's based on an alternate history. In our world, the Mongols tried to invade Japan with the largest fleet in history until the later D-Day Invasion. At first they were succeeding, but fearing Japanese reinforcements, the Mongols retreated to their ships and were destroyed by a typhoon that blew up, leaving the few remaining ships as easy pickings.

Here, the wind was calm that day.

That leads to a series of butterfly effects, including a Japanese-ruled empire in North America, the Aztecs converting to Christianity after beating Cortés, Russia uniting most of northern Eurasia, and eventually nuclear war between the Méxica Empire and the Kingdom of Swedish-Russia to determine the sole ruler of humanity. It's all based on a wargame that Harlan played, so it has all the benefits of being unpredictably weird that real history does. I mean, space Aztecs? Really?

Yes, really, and it's awesome.

Anyway, that's all backstory and only comes up obliquely during the book. But it's the best of both worlds, because as that link above indicated there's an extensive wiki chock-full of all kinds of world-building, so people like me can go there and glut ourselves on background details and people who aren't interested don't have to sit through a bunch of "As you know..." speeches. Check out the article on Méxica Christianity for an example of just how detailed it can get.

The plot is divided into two separate streams relatively early on after the arrival of the main characters at Ephesus III. The first plot involves Captain Hadeishi Mitsuharu of the Imperial Méxica Navy ship the Henry R. Cornuelle looking for an mining operation that may be running an illegal smuggling operation on the side. See, Ephesus III is an archeological site of the long-vanished First Sun People, your classic long-vanished precursor civilization that left planetary engineering projects and technological artifacts scattered all over the place, and trade in those artifacts is high regulated and extremely profitable. To make matters worse, the mining ship is an order of magnitude larger than the IMN ship and is crewed by people from a Swedish-Russian colony world who probably still have bad feelings toward the Empire, and furthermore they aren't really sure where it is in the system and there's a huge asteroid field they have to search through to find it while on a time limit.

There are two major problems with this. The first is that stealth in space is nearly impossible, and the second is that an asteroid field is not meaningfully dense enough to hide anything. Though maybe this one is because it's another solar system, but that still leaves the first problem. Those concerns were in my head the whole time I read those sections, which made it pretty hard to appreciate the technological solution the crew comes up with.

Also, there were a few minor cultural errors. In a formal dinner, there's no way a bunch of Japanese naval officers would spear their food with chopsticks--this is called sashi-bashi (刺し箸), and it's extremely bad manners. Also, the shamisen isn't played with a bow, it's plucked like a guitar. Harlan might have been thinking of the kokyū. These things are minor, yes, but having lived in Japan they annoyed me out of proportion to their place in the narrative.

The second plot involves xenoarcheologist Gretchen Anderssen and Imperial Nauallis (which the book translates as "judge" but which literally means "sorcerer") Huitzilozoctic, or "Green Hummingbird." Anderssen is on Ephesus III to excavate the First Sun artifacts in the employ of the Company, which is never named and much like another company referred to in that fashion has a habit of treating equipment and discoveries as much more important than people. Hummingbird is the political officer on the Cornuelle, which tells you a lot about the Empire right there, but is mostly content to observe until he and Anderssen come into conflict over what exactly should be done about the First Sun archeological expedition.

This is where the heart of Wasteland of Flint was for me and why I love it so much. Hummingbird does a lot of what he does for initially-inscrutable reasons, but over time you learn more of his viewpoint and that apparently the judges have a very Lovecraftian view of the universe. Humanity is a young race, the galaxy is filled with more ancient and more powerful alien cultures, and it's also filled with the ruined worlds of other civilizations who reached too far too quickly. Hummingbird is firmly convinced that some things are better left unknown whereas Anderssen believes in the inherent ability of science to eventually make everything quantifiable, and the conflict between these viewpoints drives a lot of the book. I do love depictions of an implacably hostile universe.

Though, if you go to the wiki linked above, you can learn more about the First Sun People:They're explictly the Great Old Ones. Maybe not exactly the same as Lovecraft's Great Old Ones, but the same in concept at least. I guess that makes the Aztec poem about the Suns make more sense.

In the beginning was the First Sun,
4-Water was its sign;
For water covered the world,
Leaving nothing but dragonflies above
and fishy men below.

Also, one of the characters is a graduate of the "Arkham Institute," which is kind of a giveaway.

There's also some conflict between mysticism vs. rationalism which you might find annoying, though to me it just seemed very similar to Dune's mentats. The judges aren't psychics, they're just on the pinnacle of human perceptual training. You may see it differently, though, so I'll let you know that if anyone calls this book hard sci-fi they're wrong. Even ignoring the hyperdrives and FTL coms and at least one species of animal-people-as-aliens, the abilities the judges have are pretty soft-sci fi.

The alien is something that did bother me, mostly because there's a thematic clash between a rubber-suit alien and a hostile and uncaring universe that our primitive human science can't understand. There's nothing automatically wrong with having aliens we can empathize with, but I can see why Magda's speech was peppered with references to dens and pack-mothers and pack-sisters and so on, because without that she'd be pretty much indistinguishable from any of the human characters. Maybe this changes later on, but here it's pretty well established that the Hesht are talking cat-people with everything a human from EarthAnáhuac might expect that to mean.

Also, the ending is a bit disappointing. It's obviously setting things up for a sequel, which wasn't out the first time I read this years ago. It is now, though, so how annoying this is will depend on my reaction to the next book.

I admit that part of the reason I love Wasteland of Flint so much is that I find the alternate history it proposes incredibly fascinating, but even if you aren't as into world-building as I am, the book is still worth reading just taken by itself. And if you do like unique settings, then it's fantastic and you should read it right away.

Next review: House of Reeds.

[Nate D · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually shy away from contemporary sci-fi, but this was scooped up from books being offloaded from the library by a family member (thanks!) and in this case contemporary, which in my mind is loosely after the turn of the millennium, is a full two decades ago. Intriguing alternate history future wherein the Aztecs and Imperial Japanese wind up as the major world powers on Earth by the 20th century and lead space exploration, for a unique cultural lens on ordinary sci-fi adventure tropes. And an intriguing enough premise, involving archeological investigation of the forces that remade planets and shaped the galaxy long before Earth's epoch had begun, with even a ghost ship turning up without any of its crew to get things rolling. Unfortunately that hook is swiftly resolved and the larger mysteries take a back to seat to conversations we've heard before about the tension between science and traditional knowledge (or empiricism and...I'm not sure exactly...a kind of gnosticism almost) and a climactic-but-not-actually-very-climactic military operation. Way too much military hierarchy and formality in general. And a fairly thinly drawn supporting cast. In keeping with Aztec iconography, there's a sort of alien jaguar hacker who should really spice things up, but all we really know about her is that she's loyal to our protagonist for apparently innate cat pack-leader deference. What is the story with her race? Why is she a hacker? Who knows! Perhaps these details, as well as the larger archeological intrigue which gets set aside 2/3rds through, will be expanded on in the sequels but I'm just not intrigued enough for sequels. That said, I do love archeological mysteries and cat hackers, even if underformed, so this is okay.

[Tommy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit that I am a bit split here, on the the one hand it's a book which invites into a different and pretty well-constructed world, but on the other hand it doesn't really pay off. As a non-native speaker I maybe simply didn't get the finer subtleties that would make this a really enthralling read, which if true would be really a pity; after all the story idea and the word-building is really good, but the execution could not deliver the promise - at least not for me.
In my opinion it probably would have helped if the book had been edited into a more concise form, as for me towards the end it became a bit of a slog. And therefore I currently have no plans to go on with the series - again which is a bit of a pity.

Edit: ~1 year later. I'm now reading the sequel, so it seems I couldn't resist the lure...

[Fencekicker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Harlan weaves together the past and future as he paints a picture of what the world might be like had Europeans failed in their conquest of the New World. We see this world through the eyes of a passionate and determined xenoarchaeologist named Gretchen who has had to fight the disadvantaged circumstances of her birth in hopes of acquiring a better life for her family. Travel with Gretchen through interstellar space as she uncovers ancient mysteries, government secrets and self-enlightenment.

Thomas Harlan did a fantastic job with this book, so I also read the sequel. Unfortunately the sequel lacked many things that made this book great. I'll probably also give a review of the sequel "House of Reeds" at some point.

[Deaken Ehlers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read! The world that he has created is very unique and intriguing, makes you wonder what could’ve been or what could be in our space faring future. Looking forward to the other books in the series.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting and kind of horrific scifi novel about a 'dead planet' that is anything but dead. Good suspense, good characters, good plot.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

** 2.7 STARS **

I was looking forward to reading this for years. The setting sounded very interesting and the story you could write in that setting could be fantastic. Unfortunately, I didn't like hardly anything else in this book. I'm pretty certain I won't read the following two books in the series.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aztecs in Space. Sounded really neat!

I could be that my knowledge of all things Mexica is extremely limited. Maybe I missed something. I didn't see how the society / culture made a significant impact on the story. Substitute another society with a caste system and it would work as well. I could at least identify a little with the Japanese based crew of the military ship.

The military ship was neat. There were lots of cool, well thought out things going on in this story. I think it could have been shorter. Here's why I think that: we have a massive build up to a conflict between the military ship and potential pirate raiders, then the finalization of what happened occurs "off camera". We never find out the disposition of the possible pirate. Nothing is resolved there. It's implied, but not stated. Ambiguous as an ending can be ok, but I don't think it worked in this particular case.

The book had a lot of interesting, believable issues for a space exploring society to deal with. I liked the "world building" if you will, I just felt like I was missing something along the way. Combining that with finding the secondary characters more interesting than the hero of the book really didn't help me on this one.

[Steppenwulf · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me its seems to get harder to find some passable SF. So this was a pleasant surprise. The premise is a bit unexpected: on earth the Aztecs have become the dominant race (how did they do that ?), with the Japanese as a secondary race and the rest of mankind even lower on the social ladder. Xenoarchaeologist Gretchen Anderssen is sent by her company to look after a surveillance team with whom contact is lost. She and her crew get a ride from an Imperial light cruiser. On board is also a "nauallis" (described as a "Judge", but maybe also sorcerer or even a political officer) named Green Hummingbird with his own agenda. Gretchen and Green Hummingbird end up alone on a planet with strange all consuming micro-organisms. Beside conflict, between them also develops a Don Juan/Carlos Castaneda like relation. The story is entertaining. Convincing, well developed characters. Nice piece of space opera.

[Gregory Mele · Rating 3 out of 5]

A parallel history where the Aztecs conquered North America and Aztec and Japanese Empires came to dominate the world and explore space. Oh, with Cthulhoid overtones.

It's a fun, interesting setting that sometimes bogs down in its own complex parallel history that has minimal direct impact on the story, which is really a stand alone mystery/lurking horror/first contact tale. Apparently there are others novels building from this one, and I would read them, but wasn't compelled to rush to seek them out. I think Ailette de Boudard's done it better.

[Michael Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

An archaeological suspense story set in a future where the Aztecs and Japanese ruled the Earth and conquered the stars. Thomas Harlan did a great job painting his characters and scenes in a way that didn't distract with too many unneeded details. This is definitely a thinking person's scifi and not a casual story for idle moments. The pacing was fast and gripping -- I had a hard time putting this one down. I will definitely be reading the other volumes of this series.

[Aahzmandius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read, though it's a bit slow. I was hoping for more description about how this timeline differed from ours or more gratuitous space battles. Instead I got a nifty tale of Aztec mysticism and Archeology, with a big bad Sword of Damocles in the form of a much older space-faring race in hibernation.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book a few years ago after striking up a conversation with someone in the sci-fi section of a bookstore and talking about good books we'd read lately; this is what was recommended to me. The person noted that the second book in the series was better than the first, but I picked up the first book because I like starting series from the beginning. I'm not sure if I'll read the second book, since I liked this but didn't love it.

This takes place in a universe where the Aztecs reign supreme with a lot of assistance from the Japanese, and there's a huge focus on origins of people. Gretchen Andersson is a xenoarchaeologist who's tasked with going to a planet to find a previous expedition and pick up as many valuable artifacts as she can. Meanwhile, another ship carrying an Imperial judge called the Hummingbird heads to the same place. The Hummingbird operates with absolute authority and has powers that others don't understand and can't match.

For some reason, I had a hard time getting into the story and characters in this book even though it was an interesting set up. I think it was due to the fact that this is sci-fi, yet it often felt like a blend of sci-fi-and historical fiction or Western at times. Not sure how else to explain it. I also didn't always fully get a sense of the world building in here; a lot of stuff happened and I had questions about how the universe operated or how it'd come to this, but not everything was answered or explained.

There were some really cool things in here that I enjoyed. I liked the mystery of what happened to the scientist on the ground who'd been investigating on her own and seemed to have disappeared, only to reappear later. The whole concept of what the micro-organisms they find on the planet do to humans was fascinating and kind of creepy at the same time, although I did find the description of them somewhat lacking at times (I often understand the sentiment in here but couldn't always picture it). The dynamic between Gretchen and the Hummingbird, when they were together on the planet, was interesting as well. I was curious about how the Hummingbird could see things beyond himself, and I liked the way that he helped Gretchen do the same. One other thing I liked in here, completely unrelated to what was just mentioned, was the Hesht - a cat figure who serves alongside people. This was kinda cool and very different from other sci-fi where non-human figures are almost always completely made up.

At the same time, there were parts in here that just didn't hold my interest. I didn't think the main plot line was strong enough to truly keep me interested in the whole book, and there was a secondary plot about what was going on aboard another ship. It seemed like nothing of interest happened for long stretches, and I ended up skimming long parts of the book (or reading and promptly forgetting what I'd just read). If the main storyline had included more development and amped up the plot overall, I think this would have been a better read. Cool ideas and held my interest for the most part, but some tweaks could have turned this into something even more riveting.

[Rindis · Rating 3 out of 5]

After way too long, I've finally gotten to Thomas Harlan's Time of the Sixth Sun series.

It is well written and therefore easy to get into. It's also potentially very hard to get into.

At one level, this is general SF: humanity has invented FTL, and is slowly exploring the galaxy (or at least nearby parts of it), we've met some alien species, and there's a number of colonies out there.

However, this is alternate history, one where the Aztec Empire not only survived the Sixteenth Century, but eventually came out on top. The government isn't really gone into, but is Aztec, with a lot of cultural synthesis going on in the centuries since. In fact, a lot of this is deliberately not gone into. There's no big 'as you already know' speeches. This is the world we have, and you get to roll with it. (Apparently there was a wiki that went into this, but it seems down now; so just think of something in the future of The Gate of Worlds—which is a book that distracts itself too much with setting for the foundation of its alternate history.)

But, people are still people, so while the culture is somewhat alien, everything else is quite understandable. There is some mixing of tone/genre. The opening part has a lot of really good description of a broken world (literally) and an ultralight that's used to travel across it, along with survival gear, and camp proceedures... it really sets up a nice, grounded, scene in an alien environment, and introduces the story very well. However, later, the novel has split into two major plotlines, and one of them features the kind of pea-soup asteroid belt you get in space opera... which while great entertainment, is very at odds with the harder SF feel of that start.

The bulk of the novel is classic science mystery, revolving around a planet that someone partially took apart in the distant past, and didn't quite put together right (which does all sorts of things to the geology and atmosphere—I think the thoughts on local gravity are a bit off though). And that's generally the best part of the book.

However, the alternate history timeline comes into play to give the book a separate feel from the normal. This isn't necessarily something to puzzle over and pick apart until all the answers are revealed. The series title refers to the Aztec calendar, which plays upon ideas of cycles of civilizations, and in this universe, humans have found remnants of previous civilizations, which are referred to in accordance to this cosmology, and artifacts found here are referred to as coming from the First Sun. This is a somewhat inimical universe, where humans have been staying carefully away from anything that might attract too much attention. (Imagine going to the stars, and finding we're in the middle of a game of AI War.)

Well, possibly. There's a lack of a lot of hard evidence for much of anything here, and while there are parts of things still functioning, just what they would do, whether they would contact anything else, etc., is unknown. There is evidence of another civilization that did get the attention of something... and is no longer around, so perhaps caution is indeed the best policy.

The real shame is that this series seems to be the last thing Harlan got published. While there's a few difficulties here, and it certainly doesn't hold the reader's hand, it is very good, and I'd like to have more to read from him past the next two books of this series.

[Heath Lesjak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly standard fare when it comes to space opera plotting, but the interesting/different characters and some of the world building really stood out. I didn't expect a bit of mysticism in my sci-fi (a happy discovery) but it fit right in with the likes of Dune in the sense that it lightly dabbles in the potential/fictional ultimate limits of the human body and mind. Also unexpected was a bit of space horror/mystery in there too when they're exploring a newly derelict ship and trying to determine what happened to the previous crew.

There were a couple of really cool conversations between an imperial judge (sort of a cross between a shaman and a secret police) and the xenoarcheologist main character. The first one that really stood out in my head was the judge describing the universe as filled with hidden but extremely freaking dangerous entities/races that will casually wipe out humanity if we attract their attention... but we have no real idea what would attract their attention. That gave me Vernor Vinge vibes (aka the right kind of vibes). The second was a philosophical discussion about how the human mind builds layers of abstractions as we develop from babies to adults, and how the hidden details/truths of the world are still there but hidden behind the veils of our own minds. That one felt plausible and book-club discussion worthy.

Also of note, the writing had an interesting density to it that I'm not really used to. Several times I found myself going back a few paragraphs/pages to find the reference to some small detail which had suddenly became super relevant. Normally I read a bit too fast, but this book was training me to slow down, or face the dreaded state of Unintended Confusion. This is vastly different from sci-fi's traditional Intended Obscurity, because in this case the details were actually there.

The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because the ending was definitely anticlimactic, but I'm hoping that gets 'fixed' by the next two books in the series.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a bit of a slog with the hard sci fi bits going on and on a few times, I just wish there had been more attn paid to archaeology in the same way! But what archaeology there was really seemed to check all the boxes, the pattern interpretations and some of the theories/methods she mentions. Also it very much seemed to fit how archaeology would be seen/used in a hyper corporate future which made me die a little inside but I cant fault it for realism :').

The wide array of cultures and customs was truly a treat, and I'm always intrigued by sci fi that has something besides Europeans as the major galactic power, specifically in this case Mesoamericans. This is the second book I've read recently with that idea, and the books were published almost 20 years apart. The subtle and not so subtle differences between societal/cultural nuances of "typical" sci fi vs this were really interesting!

I just really like xenoarchaeology sci fi, and while this was a bit dry in places and I had hoped for a bit more "adventure", it sets up some really interesting ideas.

[Ambereyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that combines alternate history, space opera and hard sci-fi in the most amazing and unique way.
Reading about a xenoarchaeologist who studies millions of years old ruins of lost alien civilisations is interesting in itself. But all this does not take place in the future of our world, but in an alternate world, where in the XVI century the history of the Earth took a completely different path.
Here, the first to sail to the New World were not the Spanish or the Italians, but the Japanese. And they were good traders, not cruel conquerors, preferring to send the Aztecs weapons and horses in exchange for their shining gold. As a result, the Aztecs gradually conquered the entire world, and are now fighting various aliens for new worlds in space.
A kind of "Conquista in reverse" trope is quite common in alternate history fiction. However, the fact that the Aztecs or Incas were able to give the Spaniards a good thrashing is usually enough for authors. Well, it's really interesting to read about.
But here the alternate history serves only as a backdrop against which the action takes place. A xenoarchaeologist called Dr Gretchen Anderssen and her assistants (including a cat-like alien who prefers to be called Magda) are sent to the planet Ephesus III. There they hope to find and study artefacts left over from an extinct civilisation that existed in the First Sun Era (i.e. millions of years ago). But they end up encountering something else on the planet that is very threatening and interesting.
What I really liked about this book was the setting. Of course, there are some flaws here that other reviewers have already pointed out. But there are also other things to like. For example, I really liked that Judge HummingBird's was called a 'mirror'. It is an obvious reference to the obsidian mirror of Tezcatlipoca from Aztec mythology. In this mirror he can see everything in the world. So this god keeps an eye on bad people and punishes them for bad deeds. The Imperial Judges do something very similar.
I also liked his relationship with Gretchen Anderssen. A situation where the main characters have a teacher-student relationship is extremely rare in fiction.
I also liked that the author decided not to add a romance to this book. By the way, the main protagonist (i.e. Gretchen Anderssen) has children and is constantly thinking about how to support them and give them a decent education. This makes her less like Lara Croft and more realistic.
So the result is a realistic book in which Aztec spaceships plough through space and an archaeologist explores alien ruins with a giant intelligent cat. And that makes Wasteland of Flint a really unique and very interesting book.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed this book. It has an alternate history aspect, unusual to combine with a more regular space exploration story.

The human civilization is based on a non-European history dominated by Aztec and Japanese cultures, which gives the entire story a very interesting flavor. The book is almost worth reading for that alone, but no!

The plot itself involves one of my favorite science fiction memes: an archaeological team on an apparently abandoned planet discovers something very ancient and dangerous. The author deftly juggles the stories of three or maybe more sets of characters in following how they attempt extricate themselves from the immediate peril and prevent further consequences to humanity.

I will be glad to follow this author in other books, whether set in the same universe or not.

[Nova5829 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional discovery

I am not quite certain how to describe this book. It is quite a bit space opera operating within a universe where Mexico, perhaps Aztec, rules the human worlds along with other closely aligned, but somewhat subservient, people’s such as the Japanese. The story revolves around the discoveries on a new world and the slow unraveling of universal dangers to the human endeavor. There is an interesting back and forth on science vs mysticism, to put it simply. I am a bit confused at exactly what happened, which mildly reduces my rating to a 4 1/2 stars or so, but I am glad to take a future journey in this universe.

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice alternative time line with Aztec style empire ruling an interstellar human empire. The New World was discovered by Japanese traders not by the Spanish and that changed many things. Another remote star system is being researched; much of human space is fueled by exploitation of old tech from earlier civilizations that have disappeared. The new planet looks like a good source but…something is off. An archeologist, a space navy captain from a minor noble family, and an imperial free agent set out to figure out what’s going on and what corrective measures might be needed. All three are intriguing and a few minor characters as well. A universe worth revisiting!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. It's set in a universe in which the Aztecs became dominant, and the Japanese close behind, all working together in ways most would not have thought of. There are also other ancient races of beings who have left behind artifacts that some would use and exploit, others would study, and still others would be so cautious as to hide their existence. The characters are interesting and believable and the story moves along fairly fast. The ending leaves one seeking the next book (which I will read!), but it's not too much of a cliffhanger.

[Leila P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love alternate histories, and this one was really interesting, but Harlan's writing style was quite tedious, so it took me a month to read this thick book. It was also funny how his characters seemed to speak aloud to themselves more often than not. I'd also like to point out that "Gretchen Andressen" doesn't sound like a Swedish name to me (more like German-Danish)... Perhaps I will read more of Harlan's novels if I come across with them.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this many years ago, and I was very impressed. I don’t know how this isn’t rated much higher both for the originality of the world, the alien life and universe, the mythology (and accurate-seeming historical sourcing), as well as the plot and structure of the novel itself.

No spoilers here—just highly recommended for readers of alternate-history, alternate world timelines, space exploration, intelligent alien species, and very interesting combinations of all of these themes.

[Lonnie Veal · Rating 5 out of 5]

SuperScience, Alien Archeology, Military Tech & Tactics and ancient alien legacies billions of years old. All wrapped in a world conquered and controlled by Aztec Civilization. You follow the exploits and frustrations of a white xenoarcheologist as she attempts to solve a billion year mystery under the paranoid powers of the Mexica Secret Police.

[Joseph F Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb

One of the best series in an alternative universe I've come across. Apparently a trilogy, alss. I hope a fourth book will be forthcoming.

[Charles Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Looking forward to the next in the series.

[Booknerd Fraser · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun; I liked the setting, and the characters. There was a bit too much mysticism in it for, though, and a major plot point isn't followed up. Other than that, I really likes it.