Aztec Blood (Aztec, #3)

“injustice Has Never Been So Keenly Sketched, Nor Valor So Compellingly Portrayed As In This Swashbuckling Adventure.”— publishers Weekly , Starred Review in This Colorful And Exciting Era Of Swords And Cloaks, Upheaval And Revolution, A Young Beggar Boy, In Whose Blood Runs That Of Both Spanish And Aztec Royalty Must Claim His Birthright. From The Torrid Streets Of The City Of The Dead Along The Veracruz Coast To The Ageless Glory Of Seville In Old Spain, Cristo The Bastardo Connives Fights, And Loves As He Seeks The Truth—without Knowing That He Will Be The Founder Of A Proud New People. as We Follow The Loves And Adventures Of Cristo And Experience The Colorful Splendor And Barbarism Of The Era, A Vanished Culture Is Brought Back To Life In All Its Magnificence. “jennings Can Breathe Life Into The Dust Of History.”— the Washington Post “this Exotic, Sensuous Novel Works On Many Levels. It Is At Once History, Mystery, And A Coming-of-age Novel All Permeated By The Teeming World Of Seventeenth Century Mexico As Seen Through The Eyes Of A Teenage Boy.”— library Journal “this Lush Exotic Page-turner Fairly Crackles With Intrigue, Romance And Adventure . . . The Author Has Meticulously Researched The Tortuous History Of The Colonization Of New Spain, Revivifying The All-but-forgotten Era Upon Whose Brutal Foundation The Modern Nation Of Mexico Was Founded.”— booklist “highly Entertaining.”— kirkus Reviews publishers Weekly never Less Than Spellbinding, This Golden Tale Is Third In A Series (after Aztec Autumn) And Follows The Exploits Of A Mestizo Boy (half Aztec, Half Spanish) In 16th-century New Spain, Struggling For Survival Against Spanish Nobles In League With The Inquisition. Cristo The Bastardo Spins His Tale From A Dungeon Prison Between Bouts Of Torture Before His Hanging. Raised Among The Legions Of Social Outcast L Peros, Half-breed Beggars Hated By Indians And Spanish Alike, Cristo Is Protected And Illegally Educated By Fray Antonio, A Defrocked Priest. When Fray Antonio Is Killed, 13-year-old Cristo Is Framed For The Priest's Death And Only Saved By The Kindness Of A Young Spanish Girl. Saved Once Again By A Dashing Rogue Of A P!caro, An Adventurer, Bad Actor And Playwright Named Mateo, Cristo Chances Into The Hands Of The Healer, A Traveling Aztec Shaman Who Takes Him On As An Assistant. When The Healer Compels Cristo To Wriggle Into An Aztec Tomb To Steal Gold, They Are Caught By Don Julio, A Brilliant Converso (converted Jew) And A Powerful Noble In New Spain Spying For The King. Enlisted By Don Julio To Spy On Suspected Rebel Groups And Silver Mine Thieves, Cristo Plays The Role Of Don Julio's Cousin And Meets The Girl Who Saved Him, Now Betrothed To A Villainous Wealthy Spaniard Linked To The Silver Thefts. But Don Julio Is Betrayed To The Inquisition, And Cristo Is Enslaved In The Deadly Silver Mines. Jennings Spins A Dashing, Glittering Tale, Sending The Redoubtable Cristo And Irrepressible Mateo Through The Dingy Streets Of Veracruz, Lean Aztec Villages, Grand Spanish Haciendas, Deadly Silver Mines And Teeming Mexico City. Injustice Has Seldom Been So Keenly Sketched Nor Valor Socompellingly Portrayed As In This Swashbuckling Adventure. (sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. Aztec Blood returns us to a bygone era, to a people who have had both their lands seized and their spirits crushed by the most powerful empire in the world, the Spanish empire. Its brutal conquistadors have forced the once-mighty Aztec empire to its knees and practically wiped a race from the earth. In the tradition of the acclaimed historical novels Aztec and Aztec Autumn, we are taken once again through the gallantry and brutality, the sex and tyranny, of a vanished civilization south of the border. The Aztec people have been conquered and a bloody revolt of the Indians put down. The former Aztec empire is now called New Spain, and there the native people are enslaved on great estates that are feudal domains. The Spanish lords rule as kings, treating Indian men as work animals and Indian women as their personal property. In this colourful and exciting era of swords and cloaks, tumultuous upheaval and revolution, a young half-breed beggar boy, in whose veins runs the blood of Spanish and Aztec royalty, must unravel the deadly secret behind his parentage and claim his birthright. From the torrid streets of the City of the Dead along the Veracruz Coast and the ancient tombs of the Aztec kings, along the grand canals, palaces, and dungeons of the Venice of the New World, to the ageless story of Seville in Old Spain, Cristo the Bastard connives, fights and loves as he seeks the truth - without knowing that his tainted blood is the forebear of a proud new people The third volume in Gary Jennings' historical epic that began with Aztec and Aztec Autumn . In this colorful and exciting era of swords and cloaks, upheaval and revolution, a young beggar boy, in whose blood runs that of both Spanish and Aztec royalty must claim his birthright. From the torrid streets of the City of the Dead along the Veracruz Coast to the ageless glory of Seville in Old Spain, Cristo the Bastardo connives fights, and loves as he seeks the truthwithout knowing that he will be the founder of a proud new people. As we follow the loves and adventures of Cristo and experience the colorful splendor and barbarism of the era, a vanished culture is brought back to life in all its magnificence. This exotic, sensuous novel works on many levels. It is at once history, mystery, and a coming-of-age novel all permeated by the teeming world of seventeenth century Mexico as seen through the eyes of a teenage boy. -- Library Journal In the colony of New Spain, where the once great Aztec people have been enslaved, Cristo the Bastard, a boy possessing the blood of both Aztec and Spanish royalty, follows his destiny to become the founder of a proud new people As Capitan of the Guard for Your Most Excellency's prison, it has been my duty to examine one Cristobal, known to all as Cristo the Bastardo, a notorious bandit, seducer of women and leader of rabble.