The Jaguar Princess
Clare Bell
Tor
Fiction, Fantasy
Themes: Diversity, Felines, Girl Power, Shapeshifters
****
Description
Young Mixcatl is abducted from her remote tribe and sold into slavery in ancient America. Though she has little memory of her previous life, other than an aptitude for drawing the beautiful Aztec hieroglyphs, she is very aware that she is unlike her captors. Her senses seem different, and at times she feels herself shifting into something inhuman, almost bestial. These shifts grow stronger and more dramatic, and harder to control. Her secret heritage, rooted in the long-lost Olmec pantheon, is a threat to the local Aztec regime, where the Speaker-King has become obsessed with slaking the gory thirsts of the god Hummingbird-on-the-Left. Will Mixcatl's powers be enough to awaken the people to the bloody madness that their worship has become, or will she be sacrificed to feed the Aztec gods?
Review
I liked this story, especially because it took place in ancient Mesoamerican cultures. It's nice to see something that's not dictated by the standard European/English quasi-medieval fantasy ideal. Of course, in school, I was always ticked off that the Americas were glossed over in history, as was pretty much anything not in Europe or the Mediterranean area (until 1492, that is.) Perhaps it's some sort of New World pride, or maybe it's residual rebellion from my school days, but I think the American civilizations are at least as fascinating as those cultures which were reviewed ad nauseum in history classes year after dull year. Bell establishes a believable pre-Columbian Aztec world. The plot moves at a fair pace, with intriguing characters and nice settings. Personally, I think it wants a sequel, but so far I haven't seen any sign of one.