Published: January 5, 2016
Publisher: JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc
Series: Obsidian and Blood #1
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 340 (Kindle)
My Rating: 4.0/5.0
Synopsis:
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 Dead–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…
I now have my first book by Aliette de Bodard under my belt! I’ve admired the covers for many of the author’s books over the years and never quite got around to picking any of them up until recently. Long time readers will know of my penchant for fantasy/murder mystery hybrids and that is exaclty what attracted me to this particular series in the first place. Not to mention, Tenochtitlan (and other Mesoamerican empires) are a terribly underutilized setting for fantasy.
Our main character Acatl is a High Priest to the God of Death, Mictlantecuhtli. As such, he’s occasionally called in to help investigate crimes and this time it’s the disappearance and potential murder (there was a lot of blood) of Priestess Eluia. To complicate matters Acatl’s brother is suspected of the disappearance because he was found in her rooms and covered in blood – certainly not a good look.
Acatl’s investigation gets him mired in political machinations beyond his ken, revealing just how out of touch he is with the politics in Tenochtitlan. He also gets involved with other gods and priesthoods in the course of the investigation and deals with his tense family history with his brother. While the gods themselves played important roles, I actually found the parts where they featured the most heavily were a little slow and I found myself wanting to rush through them. I much preferred the interpersonal drama! For instance, Acatl himself must deal with the ramifications of his brother’s possible guilt (including the possibility his sister won’t be able to marry), continue to conduct his duties as High Priest, and also deal with some lingering familial issues that haunt him. The guy’s got a lot on his plate and he’s occasionally forced to look his issues in the face and actually deal with them instead of running away. It was quite satisfying because it’s really obvious he would just rather not deal with anything, including the responsibility of being High Priest.
All in all, this book is complex and interesting but has only periods of high intensity action. If you don’t mind a somewhat slower paced book with a good deal of political intrigue this would be a good fit. I think if you enjoyed S.C. Emmett’s Throne of the Five Winds (haven’t seen a ton of people who’ve read this), this is similar in terms of political intrigue and maneuvering though the culture that inspired it is quite different. I’d like to continue on with the trilogy sometime in the near future and will probably stick with audio format, as some of the names are quite difficult to pronounce and the narrator does a brilliant job.
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