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    Servant of the Underworld: Obsidian and Blood, Volume 1
    Unavailable
    Servant of the Underworld: Obsidian and Blood, Volume 1
    Unavailable
    Servant of the Underworld: Obsidian and Blood, Volume 1
    Ebook447 pages5 hours

    Servant of the Underworld: Obsidian and Blood, Volume 1

    By Aliette De Bodard

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    IT IS THE YEAR ONE-KNIFE IN TENOCHTITLAN - THE CAPITAL OF THE AZTECS. The end of the world is kept at bay only by the magic of human sacrifice. A Priestess disappears from an empty room drenched in blood. Acatl, High Priest of the Dead must find her, or break the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead. But how do you find someone, living or dead, in a world where blood sacrifices are an everyday occurrence and the very gods stalk the streets?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOsprey Publishing Ltd
    Release dateOct 26, 2010
    ISBN9780857660329
    Unavailable
    Servant of the Underworld: Obsidian and Blood, Volume 1

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    Reviews for Servant of the Underworld

    3.5/5

    110 ratings8 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I really wasn't sure about reading this. I read some of Aliette de Bodard's shorter fiction and wasn't very interested, and there's so much potential for creepy awful judginess -- or equally as bad, preachiness -- when it comes to a novel based on something like the Aztec/Mayan/Incan/Toltec world. Especially when the writer brings an essentially modern form of story to meld with it (in this case, detective/mystery). There's the danger of making your POV character too much the modern man, or wallowing in the gore to an extent that's uncomfortable for most readers. There's a bit of all that but the last point here, I think. I don't know how much research Aliette de Bodard did or how accurate it might be, so I can't comment, but it didn't really bring me to a world more alien to me than Norse myth or your average medieval fantasy. The spirit of it, the concerns, felt very familiar. The blood and spices and chocolate were backdrop.Still. It's written compellingly, and it is a brightly drawn world, with characters and concerns that draw the reader in, and a plot that can be followed despite unfamiliar names and ways of interacting that might challenge expectations (women, for example, are not exactly meek and mild, which in fantasy they too often are because fire spells make sense but a lack of sexism doesn't). I enjoyed reading it, I want to read the rest, and I will happily try other stuff by Aliette de Bodard in the future.One thing that is amusing me right now is the thought of a thesis on protagonists and their brothers in mystery fiction. This, Ian Rankin, Dorothy Sayers, Tony Hays... So often really disparate world views that come to appreciate one another, or with some conflict or distance that plays a part in the plot...
    • 4/5
      An Aztec-noir murder mystery, quite enjoyable. I much appreciated the historical notes and references in the afterword.
    • 4/5
      3 and a half stars. really different fantasy mystery, in which the detective narrator is a High Priest of the Dead. the characters are absorbing, and so is the setting. the use of magic, the manipulations of the gods, the everyday family life and the social stratification in contrast to the high politics and the criminal justice system, all combine both to ground the narrator and to put him in harm's way as he struggles to make his case.
    • 3/5
      I read about one of the later books in this series on Whatever, and because one of my quirks is that I like to start reading a series at volume 1, I went back and picked this one up. I spent the first half of the book wondering if I somehow misread the back cover copy, because it felt like I was reading at least volume 2. There were all kinds of references to backstory here, but I eventually decided that this was simply the author trying to fill in what we needed to know without overburdening us with exposition. (On the other hand, there is a previously published short story, and that may be the referant.)I like that this book was a very well reseached (bibliography for the win!) foray into a culture that I knew nothing about. I liked the relationships among siblings that are central to the story, and I liked the way that the whole plot hinged on the Aztec worldview being accurate. (In other words, this isn't simply a police procedural translplanted to Tenotchitlan. The crime was committed for reasons that only make sense in that universe.)I did not like that the names were complicated and long and slipped past my brain without sticking. I finally went and looked up an Aztec pronunciation guide on the internet, and deliberately pronounced each one out loud as I read it. This helped. The protagonist is the high priest of one of the main gods of the Aztec pantheon, he has ongoing struggles with the high priests of the other two main gods, the priestess of the Duality (which I have never gotten straight, it's apparently something else divine, separate but equal), with the resentful members of his own priesthood, and with all of the imperial family (except one). Frankly, he's a bit of an unpleasant, self-centered whiner. This is better than a Gary Stu, but not by a lot.I liked this enough to read the next two books in the series.
    • 4/5
      Pros: Aztec setting and mythology, lots of magic, strong characterization, includes bibliographyCons: the story was a little slow at times, unusual/unpronounceable names slow reading, mystery seems thin at timesAcatl, high priest of the dead, is called to investigate the disappearance of a priestess. His older, more successful and beloved brother is the main suspect. In attempting to prove his brother's innocence, Acatl must learn more about court politics, the gods and come to terms with his past.For fantasy readers wanting something different, this well researched (she includes a partial bibliography and notes at the back) look at the Aztec/Mexica empire is refreshing. While the author admits changing some things to fit her plot, it's still a glimpse into a way of life many are unfamiliar with. And her portrayal is more positive than what the Aztecs usually receive.De Bodard does a great job of consistently giving title with names - so while she included a dramatis personnae list and glossary of terms I never needed them. The names did get difficult to pronounce at times, which slowed reading time a bit.Acatl's jealousy of his brother's supposedly perfect life and his lack of desire in terms of being high priest made him a very interesting character. He has flaws, even while he berates the flaws of others.The mystery does seem thin at times, but every time I suspected an easy resolution to the disappearance, something new came up. And the characters and world are fascinating enough to hold interest when the mystery lags.In the end, the plot twists, strong characterization and unique setting make for an interesting read.
    • 1/5
      There were many reasons I wanted to read this book. For one, the author is half-Vietnamese and I'm increasingly interested in Asian authors working in the arts. Second, the publisher, Angry Robot, has a way with marketing. From the UK, 2010 marks their "invasion" (their word) of the US market. As they say in the back of the book "Prepare to welcome your new Robot overlords." It's always nice to have new publishers in Sci-Fi/Fantasy, seeing that the market is seemingly dominated by DAW and Baen. Angry Robot looks like a new voice. The way they make their mass markets are interesting too. This book says it should be filed under "Aztec Mysery, Locked Room, Human Sacrifices, The Dead Walk!" They even go as far as suggesting other books you might enjoy if you enjoyed this one--not just from their own line, but from other publishers as well. Additionally, their cover copy/synopsis is short and sweet. For this particular book, four sentences are supposed to tell you all.In this case, Aliette de Bodard's debut novel, Servant of the Underworld, takes place in an alternate Aztec empire. Reminscent of Greek mythology, de Bodard's Tecnochtitlan is a world where mortals mingle with gods. The main character, Acatl, in fact, is a priest who deals with such gods and quickly becomes a detective. What happens is a locked room mystery: a priestess is attacked and kidnapped in an empty room. Blood is splashed all over the walls, the place reeks of magic, the main suspect is Acatl's brother. To add to this, of course, is a sibling rivalry between the two, and Acatl's decision to help his brother because of familial ties. What follows is not purely alternate historical fantasy, but more like a mystery novel.De Bodard has already has a long list of accolades. She's won the Writers of the Future Contest and was featured in The Year's Best Science Fiction for a short story from which this novel was inspired. Obviously, she has a gift for shorter form. But as this novel proves, maybe the long form is simply not for her.The first way De Bodard missteps in her novel is prose that inelegant and overall bland. She falls into cliches such as "my chest tighten," to describe characters' reactions. There are rarely any insight into what makes the characters unique and worthwhile. This includes the main character and narrator Acatl. Despite an interesting occupation (a priest of the dead), Acatl is an overall unlikeable character who continously bemoans his family history of disappointments and failures. Neither is he sympathetic. It is even harder to read the story from his point of view.It is indeed strange to have a fantasy novel written in first person point of view, which tends to be very introverted, which is also the case for this novel. While experimentation can be good, in a fantasy one must be an effective world-builder. By using the first person De Bodard limits the audience's view to that which is filtered through her highly unlikeable narrator. The magical workings and the world in which he lives is never fully realized, despite the obvious amount of research the author did (a la the Gears, she also included a bibliography)De Bodard lacks skills in prose styling, which in turn effects the story itself. To her credit, she does have excellent moments of humanity--the rivalry between the brothers, the dynamic relationships between the siblings, the emotions felt by the characters at desiring things which they can't have--these are the key moments of this story that is less about murder and magic, than about the fragile illusions we make and how they can easily become broken. Yet these parts are too few and far in-between to make De Bodard's debut enjoyable or readable. One can only hope that De Bodard's next novel in this trilogy is worthwhile or that her short stories deserves as much credit as is given to them. Or that Angry Robot other titles are better.Despite this, it seems De Bodard can still make a good bowl of pho.
    • 4/5
      In Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, 1480 a princess priestess vanishes from her room, but nothing is what it seems. The priest of death, Acati is called to investigate, but is horrified when he discovers his estranged brother, Neutemoc, a Jaguar Knight, is implicated in the presumed murder of the missing girl. Now Acati must investigate the situation and find out the truth ultimately to save his warrior brother from the penalty of death and to uncover the real murderer. But everywhere Acati turns, new secrets and leads are uncovered and nothing is what is seems on the surface.Servant of the Underworld reads very similar to C. J. Sansom's medieval murder mysteries, with the exception that this is set in (well researched) Aztec times and has supernatural fantasy elements. I really enjoyed this book, and my only gripe is the very long Aztec names could be a little bit distracting. Other than that, this is a suspenseful tale and a very fast read for me, with plenty of cliffhangers to keep me turning the pages to reach the final resolution of this "whodunit" and "closed room" novel with a difference.
    • 3/5
      Servant of the Underworld is the first in the Blood and Obsidian Trilogy from French writer Aliette de Bodard. Here, she mixes Aztec culture, blood magic and forensics to create a new genre in the fantasy world. There is no doubt that de Bodard has taken on a hefty task in recreating the Aztec world, given that we know so little about it. However, she has deftly managed to create a living, breathing world full of detail.When you think about it, the main hero, a High Priest for the Dead who kills animals for sacrifices, shouldn't be a very nice character. As the author herself admits, he doesn't commit human sacrifice in the book, although chances are high that he would. However, the character of Acatl is endearing and human as he struggles to clear the name of his warrior brother.Overall though, I just couldn't involve myself with the book. It felt lacklustre and devoid of real energy. Perhaps it was as a result of all the detours into songs and chants, but I couldn't muster any real enthusiasm.