Review: The HIGHLANDER by Zoe Saadia is a great book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2013
The HIGHLANDER is book one in Zoe Saadia's The Rise of the Aztec Series. I like it so much that I already bought the bundle that includes the next three books in the series. This is a story of ancient Mesoamerica and the various cultures within it.The Highlander is a unique young man who travels outside his people's territory in his teens to spy on a much greater culture, one that has great buildings and much more spectacular on the surface than the much more modest tribe that the Highlander is a member. He is both intrigued and repulsed by these Lowlanders, one of whom becomes his best and most trusted friend.It becomes a journey of two friends from enemy cultures who form an unexpected, challenging and enduring friendship. For the Highlander nothing is as it appears to be, not with his family, his people or much of anything else. In the end he must decide to fight beside his friend, fight against his friend or stay out of the brewing battle that is certain to bring much bloodshed.The story also reminds us of women's fate in most past societies, even princesses, as they were too often shuffled off for political reasons at a very young age by their fathers to become the unwilling bride of this or that powerful man. The Highlander is determined to prevent the love of his life from facing this fate.This is a great piece of historical fiction that is well written. It also is well worth the read for those who enjoy a good adventure with romance, secrets, politics and war as a backdrop. I very much enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of Zoe Saadia's books. Well done!