Review: CROSSING WORLDS is a great book in an awesome series by Zoe Saadia
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 20, 2013
If you love historical fiction or have a fascination with pre-Columbus Mexico, this book and series is a must read. Crossing Worlds is the second book in the Rise of the Aztec Series. In the first, The Highlander, the story was about a highlander's curiosity and eventual settling with the lowlanders. He was both fascinated and frustrated by their ways, and often landed in trouble. Crossing Worlds picks up two years after The Highlander ends, with a role reversal between two unlikely best friends who come from competing hostile tribes, both very different in their fortunes and customs.One of the friends, a lowlander, is a would-be emperor, but ends up on the run when his people lose a war with the current superpower tribe in the region. His highlander friend takes him to the highlands where he is a refugee for a couple of years. Many of the highlanders hate him because he comes from a warring tribe. Part of this magnificent story is about overcoming bigotries, with much the rest about a leader being perceptive enough to see the bigger picture when those around him cannot.The Highlander and the Lowlander being best friends under the circumstances would be much like an Israeli and Palestinian becoming best friends today, or a black man and a white man during the days of slavery in the United States. It is an extraordinary friendship that Zoe Saadia wrote perfectly in The Highlander and has done so again here in Crossing Worlds.The first two books in The Rise of the Aztec series is full of adventure, danger, romance, thrills, great characters, deception, clever females, strong males and backstabbing antagonists. Both books kept me engaged during the entire read.Having read The Highlander and Crossing Worlds in this series, I look forward to The Emperor's Second Wife, which along with the fourth book is already on my Kindle. I love great historical fiction and this series certainly qualifies. Zoe Saadia is an excellent writer and her books are well-crafted.****My review policy. I only post reviews for a minority of books that I read, the ones that I can honestly give four or five stars. I review to help guide people towards good books, not to bash the hard work of authors. If I post a review of a book, you can count on it being an honest and wholehearted endorsement of a particular book or product.