Gary jennings books series#

The focal character in this atmospheric yarn is swordsman Don Juan de Zavala it is his swashbuckling adventures, and the threat of exposure of his true parentage, that lead him-and spellbound readers-from colonial Mexico, where the Aztec civilization lies in ruins, to the Spain of Catholic repression and Napoleonic ferment.

“Jennings, this time with two coauthors, returns to the fascinating history of the Aztec empire and the colonization of New Spain in this latest entry in the best-selling cycle he began with Aztec (1982) followed by Aztec Autumn (1997) and Aztec Blood (2001).

Just as preoccupied with swashbuckling and womanizing as its predecessors, this latest Aztec novel is likely to be irresistible to fans of the series.” - Publishers Weekly Don Juan has his consciousness raised about European racism towards the 'indio' population (especially by curvaceous Aztec babe Marina), and the authors paint a vivid picture of the early stages of the bloody war of independence. Back in the New World, where he's determined to take back his inheritance, he throws in his lot with rebels agitating to reclaim their independence from Spain. He joins the resistance there before returning to Mexico. When Carlos is murdered by a Mayan mob, Don Juan returns under Carlos's name to a Spain now erupting in revolt against Napoleon. Prudently hitting the road, Don Juan meets a charming, erudite rogue named Carlos, and together they head for Veracruz. Just as Don Juan expects to claim his inheritance, his dying uncle accuses him of illegitimate, half-Aztec origins, and Don Juan is then unjustly pegged as his uncle's murderer.

Gary jennings books series#

“Gleason and Podrug continue the late Jennings's Aztec series with this fast-paced, absorbing fourth volume, featuring Spanish-born Don Juan de Zavala, who comes of age in colonial Mexico in 1808. His adventures and redemption are told during the transformation of the 'blood-tainted' mestizo to a people whose prides and passions shake the world: the mejicanos. overflowing with interesting details about Spanish colonialism, heady Indian mysticism, and numerous puns and winking references to the picaresque novels of the period.'Īztec Rage is set in the era of blood and fire when valiant Aztec men and women rise to fight their brutal overlords-at the same time the courageous people of Spain defend their cities and homes from the armies of Napoleon: Don Juan de Zavala, a wealthy caballero, becomes a Prince of Rogues after a dark secret of his birth is revealed. Readers will lose themselves in this long, absorbing novel. Ultimately he fulfills his destiny by founding and leading a proud new people. Cristo is a lepero, a scorned mestizo beggar who lives by his wits, conniving and scheming merely to stay alive. 'The sights, smells, and sounds of the era come alive in what is a true Tom Jones-style picaresque. The author has meticulously researched the torturous history of the colonization of New Spain, revivifying the all-forgotten era upon whose brutal foundation the modern nation of Mexico was forged.' - Booklist Vanquished by the Spanish conquistadors, the once proud Aztec people are enslaved and condemned to toil on the grand haciendas owned by their conquerors. Following the pattern he established in Aztec and Aztec Autumn, Jennings continues to retrace the remarkable history of the Aztec Empire. 'This lush, exotic page turner fairly crackles with intrigue, romance and adventure. it’s a wonderful mishmash of far-ranging esoterica, with were-jaguars the merest beginning.' - The Washington Post Sunday Book Reviews This is a sprawling book, with lots of juicy historical tidbits. ' Ay de mi! Why is Cristo in a dank prison being tortured? What’s all the mystery surrounding his birth? What’s this business about treasure? The questions are all answered in Aztec Blood, Gary Jennings’s latest historical novel set in Mexico. Injustice has seldom been so keenly sketched, nor valor so compellingly portrayed as in this swashbuckling adventure. 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.

follows the exploits of a mestizo boy (half Aztec, half Spanish) in seventeenth-century New Spain (Mexico), struggling for survival against Spanish nobles in league with the Inquisition. 'Never less than spellbinding, this golden tale. Aztec Blood is the colorful and exciting tale of a beggar boy who rises to claim a noble birthright-and helps found a proud new people: the mestizo, a people bearing the blood of two great races- indio and español.