From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Nov 9 11:29:47 1994 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books,alt.books.reviews,alt.history.what-if Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!pipex!howland.reston.ans.net!ix.netcom.com!netcom.com!postmodern.com!not-for-mail From: ecl@mtgpfs1.mt.att.com (Evelyn C Leeper) Subject: AZTEC CENTURY by Christopher Evans Message-ID: <9411020953.ZM14576@mtgpfs1.mt.att.com> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Sender: mcb@postmodern.com (Michael C. Berch) Organization: The Internet Date: Mon, 7 Nov 1994 18:43:51 GMT Approved: mcb@postmodern.com (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Lines: 66 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:658 rec.arts.books:100852 alt.books.reviews:5967 alt.history.what-if:8942 AZTEC CENTURY by Christopher Evans Victor Gollancz, ISBN 0-575-05712-2, 1993, 352pp, GBP4.99 (CAD7.99) A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1994 Evelyn C. Leeper You can tell this is a British book--it is a much darker vision than a United States book would be, even an alternate history in which the Aztecs rule the world. The premise is that the Spanish did not defeat the Aztecs at Tenochtitlan, in part because Cortez joined them and helped them drive off the European armies. And instead of smallpox killing off 90% of the American population, the New Indies pox was carried back to Europe where it killed as many as the Black Death had two centuries earlier. It is now the present in this world, and the Aztecs are making their final push on the British Isles. They control most of the Americas, and are trying to conquer the parts of Europe that still remain outside their control. At the start of the book, the British Royal family is in hiding in Wales, but they are quickly captured and brought to London to help give respectability to the puppet government that the Aztecs have set up. To some extent this follows in a long line of "Britain under the heel" books, which stretch back at least as far as Saki's WHEN WILLIAM CAME. That was set in the future, but there have been other alternate histories, including many of Britain ruled by victorious Nazis. I think America's distance from other world powers has made authors less likely to use America as the conquered country, so there is a certain irony to the fact that the conqueror here is from that very distant land, America. In any case, Evans carries on the line with a well thought-out portrait of what an Aztec-conquered Britain would be like. Evans does many predictable things, including some fairly unsubtle parallels to the Irish situation, but he also has some original ideas as well. The characters are well-drawn and more ambiguous than one often finds in works such as this which rely more on setting than character. On the other hand, Evans has used a couple of the cliches of alternate histories. One might question whether the history of Russia, for example, would have been as similar in Evans's world as ours, or whether a Karl Marx, albeit a somewhat different one, would even have existed. And having a fast food place called MexTaco with golden arches is a bit unlikely. (Maybe it's just a manifestation of a belief that fast food will come from America, no matter what.) But these are relatively small quibbles. My one suggestion to the American publisher (I assume there will be one) is that they might want to include a pronunciation guide for the Nahuatl words and names. This is an alternate history that I can enthusiastically recommend. %A Evans, Christopher %T Aztec Century %I Victor Gollancz %C London %D 1993 %G ISBN 0-575-05712-2 %P 352pp %O paperback, GBP4.99/CAD7.99 -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com "The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice, and the desire for personal independence--these are the features of the Jewish tradition which make me thank my stars that I belong to it." --Albert Einstein