Review: Heartfelt Historical with Contemporary Parallels
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 21, 2012
At the time of the setting of this book, some centuries ago, the island locale of Tenochtitlan was an Aztec city. By rights, it should have been a thriving metropolis: good population, warriors to protect it, market, crops, ongoing construction, temple. But Tenochtitlan instead failed to thrive because it was held in stasis by a sort of feudal society, under the Tepanec overlords of Azcatpotzlco, who kept the Aztecs in grinding poverty, and summoned Aztec warriors to raids from which the spoils flowed straight to the Tepanec, and never to the Aztecs. Comparably this occurred later in a sense, with the Spanish invaders; and certainly Feudal Europe of the Middle Ages experienced similar rule and society. I draw parallels to contemporary society as well, in the rule of an oligarchy which grinds the masses underfoot, to live in abject poverty while working themselves near to death to support the overlords. This is the third novel in author Zoe Saadia's "Pre-Aztec Series," and in each, as much as I have enjoyed the finely delineated historical detail and backdrop, I have is the third novel in author Zoe Saadia's "Pre-Aztec Series," and in each, as much as I have enjoyed the finely delineated historical detail and backdrop, I have been kept very much aware of the sociological and cultural implications-truly, humanity has not evolved much in some respects.