The Jaguar Princess by Clare Bell - Fantasy - SFBookcase.com - Reference of Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels/Authors.

Series: Misc
Genre: Fantasy
ISBN: 0312856733
Pages: 443 pages
Publisher: Tor
Price: ?.??
Reader Rating: 5 out of 10
Votes: 4

The Jaguar Princess by Clare Bell

Description: The Aztecs ruled with a bloody hand before the Spanish Conquistadors ended their reign. Their worship was marked by human sacrifice to their gods. But not all within the Aztec hierarchy agreed with this terrible policy. Some felt that the Olmecs, who worshipped Jaguar Gods, had a better, less violent way of living. One day, a woman, the embodiment of the ideals and gentle ways of the Olmecs, is destined to lead a bloodless revolution against the long, violent reign of the Aztecs. She is the Jaguar Princess.

From youth Mixcatl has known she was different. Descended from the legendary Children of the Jaguar in the hills, she feels strange stirrings within herself, feelings that she can't explain or understand. Stolen into slavery when still a child, she grows up to apprentice as a scribe, and is gradually recognized by people in power as someone of great talent and unusual abilities. She becomes a target of certain low Aztecs, who would have her put to death for her differences, little tolerated by the rigid laws; others, including the prince Wise Coyote, a great Aztec architect who longs for older, gentler ways, sees her as the fulfillment of a dream, a dream of a peaceful empire.

Mixcatl's nature at times turns her into a raging beast, and sometimes makes her almost forget her human heritage. But aided by her scribe mentor Nine-Lizard, she rises ever higher into the circles of Aztec society, until she faces the ultimate test. Her trials admist the treachery and promise of the Aztec court climax in a compelling drama of magic and power as she challenges the central mysteries of the empire's terrible rule. THE JAGUAR PRINCESS is a breathtaking epic of awesome beauty and personal triumph that will astonish and enthrall readers with a new vision of pre-Columbian America.

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