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Summary: GREAT HISTORICAL FICTION-A MUST READ
Review: THIS IS A GREAT BOOK. One that you will remember for a long time. It is historical fiction at it's best. A narrative of the life of what we call an Aztec and his life. The book was occasionally hard to follow, but well worth reading. It did have very detailed sex and violence. It was happy and sad, but just great. If you are a fan of Michener, Clavell, Jakes, etc...this is a book for you.
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Summary: OUTSTANDING!
Review: Gary Jennings comes as close to perfection as I have seen. This book sets the standard for historical novels. He does a superb job of weaving a deeply emotional and interesting story around very accurate historical detail. The Aztec world and all of late pre-contact Mexico come alive in this work. Outstanding!!
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Summary: I CANT WAIT TO READ IT AGAIN !!......ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE !
Review: The following 85 people cant be wrong !! This book is like no other...an absolutely incredible adventure !
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Summary: "Gary Jennings is the best novelist in history"
Review: I think there should be an execption made, so I could give this book 10 stars. In Aztec lies the entire spectrum of humanity; emotion, sensation, adventure, philosophy... The experiences of Mixtli, from young to old, are told with so much attention to detail that it isn't surprising the author spent a decade in Mexico to write it. Aztec is so powerful that it will not only stay with you for your entire life, it will change you
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Summary: Minor errors
Review: How do you think inhabitants of Mexico in 1530 AD reckoned time? Certainly not by minutes and seconds - but the main character uses such increments in the narrative (e.g., third paragraph, pg. 316 of the paperback edition). Modern man, with highly accurate timepieces, reckons to the second and below, but that was not the case in 16th century Mexico. When the author injects such a modern view of time into his narrator much of the historical flavor is lost, having become questionable.
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Summary: Best book ever!
Review: My dad recommended this book to me and I've now read it 5 times and I discover something new each time I read it! I'm searching for a hardcover edition....anyone have any information?
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Summary: Absolutley amazing.
Review: After having lived and worked among the mexican people for two years, I found this book to be absolutley amazing. Part of my time in Mexico was spent in the Huastecas, a land that has been touched very little by passing of a few centuries. I have a great love for Mexico, and this book has only helped me to better understand a people that I lived with for a few years. I was amazed at how mcuh of the Mexican culture survived the brutal spanish conquest, and how much of it is existant inour own society. (Words like chocolate, mesquite, etc.) I cold not help but think that the great tragedy of the fallen empire could have been avoided. A deeply moving and poignant novel, I recommend it with the highest regards.
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Summary: Stunning, breathtaking - and unforgettable
Review: I've given away many copies of this book to people I know and like. Every one has called to thank me. It is without a doubt one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. Author Jennings has created a whole world that may well have existed just as he's described it. He pulls no punches, and describes this world in all its detail, good and bad. You will come to love and appreciate the old Aztec, Mixtli. His life adventures will astound you, and along the way you'll learn more than you realize. Jennings is a master at building up tension points. There are a few places in this book where I just gasped and had to put it down. He toys with your emotions, and grips you like few authors know how. Courage, treachery, brutality, creativity, destruction, determination, futility, tenderness, tragedy, blind hatred and eternal love - everything is there. The end of the chapter where Mixtli talks about his Zyana is so lyrically beautiful and touching that even now it brings tears to my eyes to just think about it. (And I'm a 50+ male, not some sappy teenager.) You will not escape this, either. No book of fiction I have ever read remains so much in my mind. I can visualize whole passages even though it has been years since I read it for the first time. You'll read it and enjoy it again and again. If you remember nothing else from this review: This is one story that will be with you - always.
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Summary: The best novel I have ever read (three times!).
Review: In Aztec, Gary Jennings has created a time machine that pulls the reader back over 400 years to witness the destuction of the America's last great native civilization. The narrative is so beautifully descriptive, one is surprised to find they are in the present when pausing to catch their breath. The characters met and the lessons learned remain with the reader forever. I have read this book when it first came out, then again eight years later, and yet again this year. Reading it once again around 2010 is something I am eagerly awaiting. P.S. Mr. Jennings "The Journeyer" was just as good.
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Summary: One of the greatest historical adventures you will take
Review: This book has it all. I have read it three times over the last ten years. Why? because I am being transported back in time to a fascinating period of History. You too will find yourself engrossed in the last years of the Aztec empire. You'll find yourself on a journey with Mixtli, who tells of his life from his early childhood until his imprisonment with the Spanish Friars. You will breathe the same air as Mixtli because the storytelling by Gary Jennings is brilliant. You are there. The events are real, the people are real. Read about the villain Cortez and the other spaniards who conquered the Aztecs not only with their might, but by disease. This is one book that should be made into a six hour mini-series.
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