Mayan Mythology Meets Jazz Age Odyssey in Gods of Jade and Shadow
Sometimes one quote can speak to the feel of an entire novel. Such a line appears just over a quarter of the way through Gods of Jade of Shadow, the latest novel from Silvia Moreno-Garcia, as its action is only just beginning.
Gods of Jade and Shadow
Hardcover $26.00
Gods of Jade and Shadow
Hardcover $26.00
“Heaven and hell,” the narrator tells us, “both manifest in Mexico City, coexisting side by side.”
“Heaven and hell,” the narrator tells us, “both manifest in Mexico City, coexisting side by side.”
That is about as perfect a single-sentence encapsulation of this story, a fantasy drawn from Mayan mythology, as I can imagine. But it is also a fitting description for much of Moreno-Garcia’s bibliography to date. In two previous novels—the nostalgia-soaked, musically vibrant Signal to Noise and the vampiric noir Certain Dark Things—she’s shown us different sides of Mexico and its capital city.
Her new book completes the hat trick, heading back to La Ciudad de México to craft a dreamlike quest of gods, demons, and unlucky mortals that feels timeless in the way of all great myths.
Set in the 1920s, Gods of Jade and Shadow finds Mexico in flux, coming out of a revolutionary mindset and dancing headlong into the Jazz Age. Not that Casiopea Tun would know much about either, cloistered in her grandfather’s wealthy small town estate. Treated like a servant by the rest of the Levya clan (and worse yet by her dim-witted cousin Martín) because of her darker skin and outsider parentage, Casiopea dreams of escape.
An unexpected opportunity to do so arrives thanks to the very literal skeletons in the Levya family closet: left home alone one afternoon, Casiopea unlocks a mysterious chest in her grandfather’s room and inadvertently releases the imprisoned Hun-Kamé, the Mayan god of death.
Signal to Noise
Paperback $9.99
Signal to Noise
Paperback $9.99
With a splinter of the great lord’s bone embedded in her thumb, Casiopea is bound to Hun-Kamé’s quest to retake Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, from the treacherous brother who betrayed him. But that’s not all that binds them together; so too does the prospect of excitement and intrigue. The path Hun-Kamé walks is dangerous, and the quest he presents to her likely deadly, but it is all an adventure—and an adventure is something Casiopea Tun is willing to die for.
With a splinter of the great lord’s bone embedded in her thumb, Casiopea is bound to Hun-Kamé’s quest to retake Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, from the treacherous brother who betrayed him. But that’s not all that binds them together; so too does the prospect of excitement and intrigue. The path Hun-Kamé walks is dangerous, and the quest he presents to her likely deadly, but it is all an adventure—and an adventure is something Casiopea Tun is willing to die for.
Casiopea is a sympathetic protagonist, willful and independently minded in a family and a town that appreciates neither characteristic. In many ways, she’s reminiscent of boisterous Antonina, who led Moreno-Garcia’s The Beautiful Ones. That novel, a fantasy of manners set in a French-inspired alternative world, seemed like a departure for the author. But its heroine, a fish out of water beset by society’s unrealistic expectations, provides a clear connection to other recurring themes of the author’s work, and never more clearly than in the form of headstrong Casiopea. She’ll certainly need every ounce of that defiance as she trails Hun-Kamé across Mexico, into the American Southwest, and straight to the “place of fear” itself to collect the items necessary to restore the Lord of Xibalba to his full strength.
Certain Dark Things
Hardcover
$24.09
$25.99
Certain Dark Things
Hardcover
$24.09
$25.99
Throughout their journey, Casiopea recalls myths she’s heard—the stories of the old days and the old ways unfashionable in the modern Mexico she inhabits. Sometimes these stories, with their impossible heroes and impossible quests, give her courage; other times, they offer nothing but more concern. But their continual presence, like that of the various lesser gods and demons Hun-Kamé tracks down, set the tone for the novel, giving it the feel of a story that has been and will be passed down through the ages.
Throughout their journey, Casiopea recalls myths she’s heard—the stories of the old days and the old ways unfashionable in the modern Mexico she inhabits. Sometimes these stories, with their impossible heroes and impossible quests, give her courage; other times, they offer nothing but more concern. But their continual presence, like that of the various lesser gods and demons Hun-Kamé tracks down, set the tone for the novel, giving it the feel of a story that has been and will be passed down through the ages.
The story of Casiopea Tun, an unusual girl. Hero. Walker of the Black Roads. Companion of the Lord of Xibalba—and maybe more.
It is a rich tapestry, deftly woven. Throughout her journey, Casiopea discovers more about herself and thinks more deeply about what she wants than ever before. Walking among mortals does not leave the mighty Hun-Kamé unchanged either, a fact that draws Casiopea closer to him and invites exploitation from his brother, Vucub-Kamé.
The paths of god and mortal intertwine, but their emotional arcs run parallel—mortal and immortal alike dig deeper into themselves than they thought possible while grappling with matters of family, betrayal, bitterness, and forgiveness. Theirs is a universal adventure, at once heavenly and hellish, and it could only take place in the lush and vital Mexico of Moreno-Garcia’s rich imagination, crafted in prose both striking and lovely.