Fans of Gary Jennings’ Aztec had warned me: this fourth book in the series begun by the prolific author was far removed from the original in quality. But I had to see for myself.Yep. Disappointment.Like many, I became a Gary Jennings fan after reading his outstanding “Aztec”, the saga of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire as told by one the most amazing characters in historic fiction. Jennings also wrote an excellent sequel, “Aztec Autumn”, which related little-known events about the post-conquest period. In the years since the author’s death, his one-time editor Robert Gleason and imitative novelist Junius Podrug have collaborated on several more books to extend the series.This one introduces the caballero Don Juan de Zavala, a rogue of New Spain in 1811, whose reversals of fortune coincide with rebellion in the colony and the Napoleonic War in Europe. A reluctant hero, de Zavala would rather ride and hunt than tend to responsibilities, drinking and whoring his way from the mountains and deserts of the north to the jungles the Yucatan. His adventures bring him romance with his treacherous Spanish beauty Isabella, the rebellious india Marina, and the devoted Raquel he once rejected. Historic figures who play a role in the drama include the leaders of the revolution: Padre Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende. The history is interesting, much of it new to this gringo. But the picaresque plot of the story is pretty predictable and mostly silly.Part of the problem is the craft itself; the writing is so far removed from the quality prose of Gary Jennings that one can’t ignore it. DeZavala is just asinine and predictable, and even his redeeming qualities are annoying. The reader knows all along that this shallow and egoistic caballero will eventually come around to the passion of the revolution.Ay de mi! (I’m glad I never have to read that phrase again – like so much of the book, it’s overworked.) The poor editing job also works against the book. Repetition rankles as the same exposition is restated page after page, only to have the same points covered in dialog a few pages later. Even sentence structure falls into predictable patterns. The reader shouldn’t have to be aware of things like that.It’s all a shame. The book hardly does justice to the subject, for one thing. But mostly, it’s a disgrace to the legacy of a really good author of some exciting historical fiction. Sure makes me miss Gary Jennings.
México, 1808. Juan de Zavala, que presume de su condición de español, es hijo de un hombre que se enriqueció con las minas de mercurio. Sus padres murieron al poco de traerlo a México y Juan vive con su tío Bruto, que administra el negocio de mercurio de su padre. Juan vive sin preocuparse de nada, ni siquiera de que su tío se quede con los beneficios de la mina. Está contento mientras tenga dinero para caballos y mujeres, hasta que se enamora de Isabella, una mexicana nacida en España, como él. Pero el padre de Isabella, un simple comerciante, sólo casará a su hija con un noble titulado. Juan decide comprar algún título, pero cuando le pide dinero a su tío éste se siente amenazado y planea matarlo. Muy buen libro hace ver la llegada de los españoles a Mexico.
Do You like book Aztec Rage (2007)?
We learned nothing in elementary school history of the slavery & suppression Spaniards subjected upon the civilizations they met on this continent. Where did you grow up? The SF Bay Area seems to have an oppression-focused curriculum. We even replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Persons Day. Unfortunately it stopped being a day off from school at that point...
—Eh?Eh!
Aztec Rage is the fourth in a series of Aztec Novels by Gary Jennings, including co-authors using Mr. Jennings' outlines after his untimely death.The history depicted in Aztec Rage is fantastic. From the descriptions of discoveries and meaning of ancient Mayan, Aztec and Olmec ruins, to the Spanish/French guerilla warfare, to the initiation of the Mexican revolution by Father Hidalgo in 1810, the book dances from novel to non-fiction history work. The depiction of the historical events in all of these arenas were by far my favorate part of the novel. (Note: personal prejudice in this area, as my own first novel includes Mayan culture as well and is an area of personal interest).The story, revolving around the fictional character of Don Juan de Zavala, is intertwined with these fictional events. His life, changing from caballero of the ruling class until he is fighting with the Mexican revolutionaries, takes him to vantage points enabling him to participate and view history. While I did not find Juan a particularly sympathetic character, there were several other characters in the book (some fictional and some historical) that were well described and well presented, some that I will remember.The life of the different peoples (indios, crillos, etc.) is also imaginatively portrayed.My only complaint was that this was obviously a collaborative work, and the writing style and quality bounces. The initial chapters of the book were a struggle for me to complete; but once the story moved to Spain, the pace and caliber of the writing picked up dramatically, and the story drew me in more. Writing from a deceased authors outline and notes I would imagine is quite difficult, so I applaud the co-authors in this.
—Teo Hoppe
