In the Courts of the Sun

This is an exciting doomsday science fiction thriller

Since the recent discover of a new Mayan codex from the seventh century, many people are beginning to believe in the Mayan prediction that the world will end on December 12, 2012. As the date of doom approaches, the Warren Group, firm believers that doing nothing will prove the Mayans right, decide on several methods to delay the end. They especially feel the first step is to send someone back in time to the seventh century when the prediction surfaced into the mind of a Mayan royal as the key to learn why the deadly forecast.

The Group believes Jed DeLanda, an expert on the Mayan¿s Sacrifice Game, has the perfect focused mind they need. They send his conscience back through time to 664 AD targeting the monarch; instead his conscience enters the mind of seventh-century Mayan Sacrifice Game playing superstar Chacal seconds before his host is to suicide as a sacrifice.

This is an exciting doomsday science fiction thriller that moves the audience back and forth between the countdown to 2012 and the original prophesy in the seventh century. The story line in both centuries is well written and exhilarating while Jed is a believable hero in both eras. Fans will especially appreciate the vivid descriptions of the Mayans society especially insight into the Human Sacrifice game and the purpose of the Great Pyramid. IN THE COURT OF THE SUN is a refreshing unique thriller.

Harriet Klausner

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

In the Courts of the Sun crosses genres

I bought this on impulse, because of my interest in Mayan culture. Have read Coe, Schlee and others, visited several sites, including Tikal. I am about 3/4 of the way through this gripping read. Although there is a time travel premise, I don't think this falls within the science fiction genre. It is extremely well-researched and the author has a real feel for meso-America. The hero is likeable, a modern Maya with extraordinary computational skills who hopes to avert the end of time as predicted in 2012. If you are a fan of Stephenson and want an offbeat but intellectually stimulating read, this delivers. Big time. Kudos to the author.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Good story, though politics distracting

I liked the book overall. The historical perspective I thought was excellent. The only real drawback to the storyline was the unbridled vitriol that author has for those who don't show his political views. It overshadowed the story unfortunately and would have been much better off if it had been masked and left out of the storyline. It was brought up as often as the author thought he could add it and even played an intrinsic role. A shame.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Just finished, head still spinning

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting something outside of the norm. It was actually quite difficult to read, his style is odd to say the least, but the manner in which he wrote it showed he was a normal joe, people can relate. He did not talk down, or up it was like you were in his head the whole time experiencing everything right along with Jed and Jed2.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Excellent read!

This book definitely makes it into my top ten best books EVER. It is so imaginitive, so mind-bendingly interesting that you can't wait to get home to read the next chapter. I've nearly ruined my eyes trying to finish this fantastic story. In addition to being such a great tale, it is also hilarious and I find myself laughing out loud. Love, love love this book and what an extra bonus to find out it is the first of a trilogy!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Excellent Ideas Unnecessarily Stretched

The wry, cocky first-person narrative works well, and the storyline is engaging, but the book bogs down in overly detailed, moment-by-moment descriptions. Clearly, it's being stretched into a trilogy. Overall, Mesoamerican cultures are vividly portrayed, and the plot IS clever. Latin American History and sci-fi are big interests of mine, so more than likely I'll read the remaining volumes... but probably in paperback.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Left the book 1/2 finished in the Mayan Riviera

I purchased this book for enjoyment while in Mexico this summer touring the Mayan and Aztec sites. The book was so slow towards the middle of the book that I decided to leave it in my hotel room for the next guest....it was not worth my time or interest to finish it. Sorry for negative feedback to the author....

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Probably won't finish this one until 2012...

I am usually not one to give a review on a book i didn't (or, more precisely, couldn't) finish, however i feel it necessary to speak my mind on this one. I tried slogging through this work of prose, but it is, in a word, tedious. Let's just say i didn't get very far ( in 4 days , mind you, and i can polish off a 600-pager like it was "see spot run") and am truly disappointed as I was very much looking forward to this read. High marks for originality and the book cover, but the detail was so overwhelming that I had a hard time focusing on the plot. Perhaps I'll give it a try another time, but if it's all to end in 2012, i think i'd be better off spending those 2 & 1/2 years reading something i truly enjoy.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What a disappointment

I struggled though this nearly 700 page book to find out that the author is using the book to announce his dislike for Republicans and Dick Cheney in particular. I have seen enough of this retoric on the news to last a lifetime. I couldn't care less who the author likes or dislikes and he is certainly entitled to his opinnion. I, however will not waste another 30 dollars on his next book to find out who he will be venting against next year. It could have been an interesting, albeit convoluted and drawn-out story, but using the story as a vehicle to express his political views does not entertain me in the least.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Interesting book

It's definitely an interesting book. I also recently finished another book with the same basic theme, called Rise of the Anakim by Adin Kachisi. Both books, "In the Courts of the Sun" and "Rise of the Anakim" deal with science fiction subjects like time travel in relationship with Mayan 2012 date.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

If you're fond of pop language you might like it

Sorry. I reached page 111 and had to stop. I am a man who admires good crafters of our glorious language, and the "boom-chika-boom" jive, popular teen "like" language turns my stomach. Mr. D'Amato might try writing for adults.

I'm "game".

I loved and hated this book. I was so put-off by D'Amato's incessant use of "that is", that is, re-explaining almost every joke/reference/technical jargon instead of doing a sufficient job of it in the first attempt. The gonzo-style narrative was coaxing at times and at other times annoying. I didn't need to know every single step in Jed's thought process. It dragged on quite a bit at times.
However, as much as particulars vexed me, I DID finish the book and (I feel almost ashamed to admit) the author has me hooked for the second book. Kudos to him for that. I love the idea of the book and the theory of The Game. Detail in a novel is its essence, but too much essence in this book left a bit of a perfunctory scent in my nostrils. I would recommend it... just not to everyone.

Game, Anyone ...?!

This book is a lifetime favorite; I can't wait for Brian D'Amato to publish the next book in his trilogy, promised to arrive by the end of 2010. It's a great book for cultural difference discussion. I'd just returned from my ninth visit to South America, living and studying among modern day, poor & middle class Bolivians. It's common there to mix culture and faith/s. Life's not black & white, but filled with story and myth, contradictions. I found D'Amoto's story, style, characters and attention to detail to fit seamlessly with existing Latino & Indian cultures.
The Sacrifice Game, chaos and game theory, creation stories, the old god myths depicting 'end of time;' it blended well. They made 'game' sense to me.
I found his characters believable and interesting, quirky and courageous or malevolent, scary or oddly disconnected. From Jed-Jed2 to the porters and different clan members and minor players (Jed's family). A favorite was the ancient nun - very effective! Knowing and respecting my 'Mayan/Aztec,' friends, I realize that it IS a story! Imagination is crucial to consider things he posits; yet so were flight, traveling thru space, even many surgeries now performed daily. All those events and actions are things we now take for granted, yet few people on earth actually understand how they transpire. A rare group of visionaries 'see' them; and they happen. Not so different from Mayan seers who 'see' the future,' and help it happen or not.
INTCoTS is definitely NOT a novel for the faint of heart; you need to read it, like "The Sparrow" and "Children of God" (Mary Doria Russell) with an open mind. (Added to that, I can understand that the overt use of psychogenic drugs to 'see' what happens, might cause some folks a case of serious nervous exhaustion! It's not an easy cultural leap to make if you are a person who doesn't "go there" as a matter of course or habit.)I can understand that people might find it difficult, given the western propensity for categorical answers, perfection and success at almost any cost. The potential outcome of a cataclysmic end for life as we know it (in the story) can seem unnerving, especially if your cultural lifestyle has added to its final unraveling. I feel that what other reviews may have missed, by not reading the entire book/story, is that we all ~ as humans do this to ourselves and others. We bring about our own end, by choosing to harm others and not caring for the earth. That said, we all have our hiding places, and ways to cope or deal with reality that gets too hard.

I liked it; no, I loved the book. I loved it from the start all through his calendar work and use of the porters to priestess clan, the description of sounds and smells, the use of myth and story. I've seen the positive & negative effects of 'religious groups and cults' within our American society, each up-close and personal. Given the results of the global mistakes that each culture has made or allowed to happen as countries/ individuals), we've no room to judge other people/cultures, or to call their ways primitive, improbable or outside the realm of possibly of offering hope and life. We don't have the freedom to dismiss others, despite faith or political leanings. There's no cultural, religious, etc., "safety net" that makes all the bad things that go bump in the night disappear. I think that we learn from myth and story how to look at and deal with our f

Liberals suck

Oops, did I just write something political in my headline? Is that not nice? The author here writes for almost 700 boring pages making infantile distracting digs at conservatives and Republicans and then; I kid you not; blames Dick Cheney?! And this is supposed to start a trilogy?! um, no, I will not be reading anything further from this author. Oh, and by the way- liberals suck Mr. D'amato!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pass

This is the first book I've actually stopped reading. I only made it to page 200 and it was so slow I almost fell asleep reading a couple of the chapters. The explanations the author offers for certain events just don't seem plausible. Also he brings politics into the mess. In the beginning the book jumps all over the place. I don't recommend this book to anyone.

Right up my ally!

Although the writing style was a bit different I really enjoyed the trip back in time and the attempt to see the future. I was truly mesmerized. I even enjoyed the bits of language quotes, even though I don't speak those languages. It made it realistic.

I could tell a lot of research went into this book and I loved the imagned history of a race we know so ittle about. I felt like I was really there. Now I can't wait for the sequel!!!!!

Letdown!

I was looking forward to reading this book but ended up forcing myself to plow through it in the hopes it really was going somewhere. Why didn't I just put it away? The subject fascinates me and the plot was imaginative.
However, the author's flip writing style was unappealing and seemed to mock the subject.

Very different!

Wow. This book is so different from what I expected. Don't let the whole 2012 thing put you off--that is secondary to a totally mind-bending story. The quality of writing is up there with the classics. The author draws you into the scenes so well you could start to believe you were there with the characters! One thing you do need when you read this is at least a fairly good grasp of physics and number theory. The best news is that this is the first part of a trilogy, and I will be waiting impatiently for the next book!

Bridget's Review

According to the Mayan calendar, the world is going to end on December 12, 2012. The Warren Group is trying to use technology to figure out a way to stop the world from ending. In the end, will their work pay off or is hope beyond reach?

This is an exciting book that truthfully scared me out of my wits. I can handle horror novels and scary movies but this book shook me to my core. Not because of monsters or serial killers but because this is a true prediction, it struck a nerve. The writing is superb and I'm going to have to add Brian to my list of favorite authors.

Title intriguing, content tedious

Story started out well but became boggy during the jungle portion. Hard to stay interested.