Servant of the Underworld
Aliette de Bodard
2010 Angry Robot
Review by carol
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Looking for something besides medieval
European-based fantasy? Too many werewolves just looking for love in
your reading? Tired of airships and clockworks? (Note: I’m not even
bringing up the zombie references, but yes, you can have too much of the
walking dead). Aliette de Bodard’s trilogy Obsidian and Blood might
just be the solution to the fantasy reader looking to genre-bend. The
first book, Servant of the Underworld, is a fascinating stand-alone book, so don’t let commitment issues prevent you from reading.
Acatl-tzin, the High Priest of the Dead,
is interrupted in the middle of a ceremony easing the passage to the
Underworld for a dead noble. Ceyaxochitl, the second in command of the
Mexica Empire, requests his presence at the scene of a crime. A
priestess has gone missing from her chambers, and all that is left is
copious amounts of blood and the odor of jaguar-magic. Although
Ceyaxochitl would normally be in charge of the investigation, she has
matters of the Empire preoccupying her at the moment, and besides–the
chief suspect is Acatl’s estranged brother. Acatl’s relationship with
the Underworld means he is particularly well-suited by both magical
ability and forensic skills to investigate deaths. Unfortunately,
attempting to clear his brother will mean Acatl will need to confront
their mutual animosity. As the investigation grows more complicated,
he’s forced to take on an aide, the cocky Teomitl, and even interrogate
the gods. It seems the missing priestess is at the center of a great
power struggle where almost everyone has a stake–except Acatl, who wants
to avoid it.
Chichén Itzá
I can’t remember any fantasy that’s
transported me more thoroughly to another Earth-time and Earth-culture.
What is truly impressive, however, is that Bodard imbued the story with
the feel of belief in the magics and the gods. I felt a empathetic
connection. On her website Bodard states
“See, I’m a writer–not a historian, not a researcher. I did my best
with a mountain of sources, but I’m no expert and no Nahuatl, so it’s
highly possible (and, indeed, highly probable) that the Obsidian and
Blood books include some mistakes.” I don’t believe her–the world she
created feels more authentic than most urban fantasies set in the here
and now, and the fact that she actually shares further reference reading
demonstrates more cultural respect than most. What is even more
impressive is that she did it old-school science-fiction style, dropping
the reader into a new world without narrative information-dumping. She
admits to a few authorial cultural changes here and there, particularly
shortening the incredibly multi-syllabic names, easing up on the human
sacrifice and modifying the concept of dual gods, but it certainly isn’t
anything but an expert would recognize. What I did note was the sense
of place, the jungles and floating islands, the native foods, the
elaborate dress. With her descriptions, I was reminded of ponderous
stone statues at the Met, the steep stairs at Chichén Itzá, the rhythm
of a Navajo chant.
Jaguar ‘cuauhxicalli’ sacrificial vessel, National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
There are a few shortcomings, none of
much consequence. Occasionally a descriptive phrase or two for a
character is repeated. Given Bodard’s thoroughness in outlining and
detail, I’m guessing the repetition was intended as a person-clue as
much as the names, which are occasionally similar. I expected to be
uncomfortable with certain cultural aspects given prior knowledge about
Aztec human sacrifice, but I was unprepared with the frequency of the
ritual animal sacrifice. Eventually, though, Bodard helped me came to
understand it, at least culturally. The ending, while satisfactory, is a
bit too neat in some ways, as well as falling prey to a common fantasy
trope. For some readers, the cultural immersion might feel too alien in a
genre accustomed to wrapping 21st century beliefs in the trappings of
whatever time period it chooses to play in (I’m talking to you,
neo-Victorian steampunkers). Most significantly, Bodard does so well as
the recreating a Meso-American culture from 1480 that it is a little
challenging to empathize with the characters. Come to think of it, the
way many sci-fi and fantasy writers get around the alien culture-empathy
challenge is to give the reader a more modern human to identify with.
So kudos, Bodard, for not including a time-traveler and challenging the
reader to identify with Acatl.
This isn’t a book that will appeal to
everyone. It isn’t a quick, breezy beach read–it requires some mental
stretching and attention. This is the thick, homemade dark chocolate
version of hot chocolate, not the instant Carnation version with little
stale marshmallows. If that sounds appealing, I highly recommend it. I’m
looking forward to the next book.
Book trailer and sample chapter available
here.
Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/servant-of-the-underworld-by-aliette-de-bodard/
