My Review:
This book was original and unlike anything I’ve read in a while. I loved it and think the author did a fantastic job of taking a person into the culture of that time period. You start out in first person but then through shaman magic Fire Wasp sees through the eyes of the Conquistadors and the rest of the story unfolds. You can tell this author did a lot of background work for this story. I’ve always wanted to read a good story around the early Indian empires of Mexico and South America. This story fits the bill!
Book Blurb:
In the days before the Conquistadors, Angry Wasp is fighting to keep his family and his small Aztec nation alive.
Slavers have kidnapped his daughter. His wife has turned to powerful sorcery. His people have challenged Montezuma’s dominance and now face extinction. And the Spaniards have begun their march inland.
Now Wasp must rely on his military prowess, wit and even dark magic to regain his family and protect the independence of his nation, as he begins a desperate journey that will forever change the fate of the Aztec people.
Author Bio:
Austin Briggs has spent over 10 years researching the history of the Aztec Empire and the Spanish Conquest with a dream of creating a historical fiction series that would fascinate readers who like a good history-based tale. He even went so far as to experience some of the magical rites of the ancient Mexica himself.
He has always been obsessed with learning about other cultures; in addition to his time in the lands that were once occupied by the Aztec peoples, he has also lived in Russia, Japan, England, Switzerland, Cambodia, Lithuania, and Uzbekistan.
He has been a soldier in the army, an officer in the United Nations, and a global manager in a Fortune 10 company. He has been both a local and an outsider, a member of the majority and of a minority, which he feels makes him able to write from the perspective of multiple characters, all of whom have various levels of status and acceptance in their world.
We’re often told that history is written by the winners. His stories are told from the perspective of those who lost — though they went down fighting.
His fascination with the Aztec Empire during the time of the Spanish Conquest began because he is intrigued by the idea of a society that is about to lose itself entirely. He wanted to show how difficult and painful — and sometimes strangely inspiring — that process can be.
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