Bibliophilia - Gary Jennings' Head-dive into Mexican History

It was almost exactly 14 years ago: I had just returned to Mexico City after traveling the southern part of the country, and between Christmas and New Years I spent my time reading a voluminous book. It was Aztec by Gary Jennings. At that time I was completely unfamiliar with his name, though I remembered seeing this book, along with its many sequels, sold in street stalls. Since my Spanish skills were quite minimal back then, I was glad to see that the copy of Aztec I found on the shelf was in English.

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I tend to enjoy historical fiction, though often times I run into the same issues: while the historical setting itself is interesting, the author ends up neglecting it in favor of lively descriptions of raunchy sex and bloody violence. And to be honest, Aztec is just dripping of both! So why am I even mentioning this book? Because in spite of all the pre-digital click-baits, the author offers a highly diverse book. I remember going through the emotions of uncontrollable laughter, nauseating disgust, outbursts of frustrated anger, and a sadness that brought tears to my eyes (doesn't happen very often!). That alone should make it a book worth looking into. But there is so much more speaking for it.

An Excursion Through Pre-Hispanic Mexico

Aztec describes the life of Mixtli, who progressed from a courtier to a soldier, to a traveling merchant, and finally an advisor of emperor Moctezuma. His eventful life illustrates the culture and life in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, as well as many other areas of pre-colombian Mexico, including today's regions of Oaxaca, the mountains of Chiapas, the Yucatan peninsula, the Gulf coast, as well as Michoacan, the Northern deserts, and the Copper Canyon. Towards the final part of the book, it details the encounter with Cortes' expedition, leading the way for the conquest by Spain.

What I found highly interesting about Aztec, notwithstanding the cheap mechanisms of capturing my attention, was how it directly tied into so many of my own experiences of Mexican culture. In his travels, Mixtli just happens to hit the same places that are on the backpacker's tourist trail (quite understandably so, as that's where the interesting sites are located). Additionally, Jennings mentions so many Mexican tales and legends, such as how the meaning of Mexico's name originates from the Nahuatl phrase "the moon's navel", all things I had heard mention by various people.

While reading the book, I used to visit the National Museum of Anthropology, located not far away, only a short walk through the park, where I took my time taking in the massive amounts of information. It struck me again and again, how so many things were incorporated into the fictional story, whether it was a typical smiling pottery from the Gulf coast, or the notion of the Aztec homeland of Aztlán, somewhere in the North. Actually, the museum and my most basic travels complemented the book so well, that I kept recommending it to other travelers passing through Mexico. As for myself, I even took a couple of trips, more or less following the footsteps of Mixtli, exploring the north of the country.

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Other Books by Jennings?

Since Aztec had such a great impact on me, I started looking into some his other books, namely Spangle, an equally lengthy tale about a circus troupe in Europe in the early 20th century, and Raptor, a story set in the early middle ages, a generation or so after the invasions of the Huns. Both were entertaining enough to finish them, but they didn't come close to the amount of information presented in Aztec. Nor did it inspire me to explore any of the locations they mentioned, even though I happened to be in Europe at the time. His fourth major novel, The Journeyer, about the travels of Marco Polo I didn't even look into.

As for the sequels I mentioned above, it turns out that only one of them, Aztec Autumn, was written by Jennings himself. All the rest, Aztec Blood, Aztec Rage, Aztec Fire, and Aztec Revenge were written by his former editor, capitalizing on the fame of the first novel. As you can expect, my interest faded quickly. Yet, when it comes to the original Aztec, I still consider it one of my favorites, and I'm happy to recommend it to anyone visiting Mexico, or learning about its history, prehistory, and cultures. This books makes a great supplement to some serious studies.