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Servant of the Underworld

by Aliette de Bodard

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Obsidian and Blood (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
4592253,505 (3.54)58
Fantasy. Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML:The first book in the critically acclaimed Obsidian and Blood trilogy:
Year One-Knife, Tenochtitlan the capital of the Aztecs. Human sacrifice and the magic of the living blood are the only things keeping the sun in the sky and the earth fertile.
/> A Priestess disappears from an empty room drenched in blood. It should be a usual investigation for Acatl, High Priest of the Deadâ??except that his estranged brother is involved, and the the more he digs, the deeper he is drawn into the political and magical intrigues of noblemen, soldiers, and priests-and of the gods themselves...
REVIEWS:
' gripping mystery steeped in blood and ancient Aztec magic. I was enthralled.' â?? Sean Williams
'An Aztec priest of the dead tries to solve a murder mystery, and finds that politics may be even more powerful than magic. A vivid portrayal of an interesting culture in a truly fresh fantasy novel.' â?? Kevin J. Anderson
'Amid the mud and maize of the Mexica empire, Aliette de Bodard has composed a riveting story of murder, magic and sibling rivalry.' â?? Elizabeth Bear
'The world-building is exquisite and we *believe* we are transported to the 15th century Tenotichtlan and together with the superb voice they formed the main reason I enjoyed this book so much... Highly recommended... Ms. de Bodard is a writer to watch.' â?? Fanta… (more)
  1. 00
    The Drowning City by Amanda Downum (PhoenixFalls)
  2. 00
    Aztec by Gary Jennings (Cecrow)
    Cecrow: Historical fiction leading up to the Spanish invasion.
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» See also 58 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 22 (next | show all)
Although the setting and history was fascinating, the voice of the protagonist was wishy-washy, timid and rather dull, if not dim. I take that back. He's dumb.

If only because of the interesting details of Aztec life, I will try the second book in the trilogy. I have heard it is better, and the protagonist did seem to show promise of improvement near the end of the book. ( )
  MrsLee | Nov 3, 2022 |
An easy distracting from feeling ill. ( )
  mjhunt | Jan 22, 2021 |
Really enjoyed it, great to have a window into a different, historical culture. ( )
  Loryndalar | Mar 19, 2020 |
Urban fantasy set in ancient Aztec ( )
  CiaraCat | Jan 9, 2020 |
I was disappointed. As a noir mystery set in the pre-industrial era of a less-commonly-visited culture and religious system, Servant of the Underworld (Aztecs) compares poorly to [b: Wheel of the Infinite|367336|Wheel of the Infinite|Martha Wells|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388878120s/367336.jpg|1530649] (Tibetan Buddhism), mostly in the characters. The motivations of the SoU characters were oddly shallow-- I never felt that they were real people with real desires, more like tokens on the gameboard of the plot playing out. This had the side effect of making the worldbuilding feel equally shallow, like reading one of those children's illustrated guides to the Aztec Empire. That's unfortunate, because the author clearly did a lot of research and there is a lot of good info in the book-- it just doesn't seem to come to life the way I expected.

Also, I was expecting human sacrifices! And there were no human sacrifices (well, except in the background)! I was looking forward to seeing how the author would embed my point of view so firmly into this new culture that I would see how human sacrifices made sense and how they would be emotionally integrated into a person's life view... and it never happened. Very disappoint. ( )
  being_b | Jan 8, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 22 (next | show all)
Servant of the Underworld takes its historical setting and the mythology of the Aztecs seriously, to deliver a historical fantasy. Even if the magic is of an unfamiliar sort, its reality is asserted from the first page. . .
 

» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Aliette de Bodardprimary authorall editionscalculated
Telfer, JohnNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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In the silence of the shrine, I bowed to the corpse on the altar: a minor member of the Imperial Family, who had died in a boating accident on Lake Texcoco.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fantasy. Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML:The first book in the critically acclaimed Obsidian and Blood trilogy:
Year One-Knife, Tenochtitlan the capital of the Aztecs. Human sacrifice and the magic of the living blood are the only things keeping the sun in the sky and the earth fertile.
A Priestess disappears from an empty room drenched in blood. It should be a usual investigation for Acatl, High Priest of the Deadâ??except that his estranged brother is involved, and the the more he digs, the deeper he is drawn into the political and magical intrigues of noblemen, soldiers, and priests-and of the gods themselves...
REVIEWS:
' gripping mystery steeped in blood and ancient Aztec magic. I was enthralled.' â?? Sean Williams
'An Aztec priest of the dead tries to solve a murder mystery, and finds that politics may be even more powerful than magic. A vivid portrayal of an interesting culture in a truly fresh fantasy novel.' â?? Kevin J. Anderson
'Amid the mud and maize of the Mexica empire, Aliette de Bodard has composed a riveting story of murder, magic and sibling rivalry.' â?? Elizabeth Bear
'The world-building is exquisite and we *believe* we are transported to the 15th century Tenotichtlan and together with the superb voice they formed the main reason I enjoyed this book so much... Highly recommended... Ms. de Bodard is a writer to watch.' â?? Fanta

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Angry Robot

2 editions of this book were published by Angry Robot.

Editions: 0857660314, 0857660322

 

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