Age of Aztec
Praise for the
Pantheon
series:
“Mr. Lovegrove is one of the best writers out there... Highly, highly recommended.”
–
The Fantasy Book Critic
on
The Age of Ra
“Lovegrove’s bluntness about the gods’ Jerry Springer-like repugnance refreshingly reflects the myths as they must appear to modern eyes.”
–
Strange Horizons Magazine
on
The Age of Ra
“One of the UK SF scene’s most interesting, challenging and adventurous authors.”
– Saxon Bullock,
SFX
on
The Age of Ra
“A compulsive, breakneck read by a master of the craft, with stunning action sequences and acute character observations. This is the kind of complex, action-oriented SF Dan Brown would write if Dan Brown could write.”
– Eric Brown,
The Guardian
on
The Age of Zeus
“The action is just unbelievably good.”
–
The Fantasy Book Critic
on
The Age of Zeus
“The reader feels as if they are right there accomplishing something along with our heroes... You definitely feel like you got your money’s worth.”
–
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Review
on
The Age of Zeus
“I can totally see why
The Age of Odin
made it onto the New York Times Bestseller’s List; in terms of entertainment value alone it certainly deserves to be up there and I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw it on the big screen in a few years from now.”
–
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review
on
The Age of Odin
“The action, along with some finely observed satire, keeps the pages turning until the end.”
–
Total Sci-Fi Online
on
The Age of Odin
“If you like your urban fantasy fast-paced, funny and full of action then you simply must read
The Age of Odin
.”
–
Geek Chocolate
on
The Age of Odin
“Lovegrove is vigorously carving out a godpunk subgenre – rebellious underdog humans battling an outmoded belief system. Guns help a bit, but the real weapon is free will.”
–
Pornokitsch
on
The Age of Odin
“
The Age of Odin
tells a great story with energy, excitement and a wonderful strand of humour. I loved both the previous books but even so, I would say that this is the best of the lot. Highly recommended.”
– SF Crow’s Nest
on
The Age of Odin
“All in, a seriously great bit of fun... a book that really has set the standards for 2011.”
–
Falcata Times
on
The Age of Odin
A
LSO BY
J
AMES
L
OVEGROVE:
Novels
The Hope
Escardy Gap
(with Peter Crowther)
Days
The Foreigners
Untied Kingdom
Worldstorm
Provender Gleed
Redlaw
The
Pantheon
Series
The Age Of Ra • The Age of Zeus
The Age of Odin
Novellas
How The Other Half Lives
Gig
Dead Brigade
Collections of Short Fiction
Imagined Slights
Diversifications
For Younger Readers
The Web: Computopia
Wings
The House of Lazarus
Ant God
Cold Keep
Kill Swap
Free Runner
The
5 Lords Of Pain
series
W
RITING AS
J
AY
A
MORY:
The
Clouded World
series
The Fledging Of Az Gabrielson
Pirates Of The Relentless Desert
Darkening For A Fall
Empire Of Chaos
AGE OF AZTEC
JAMES LOVEGROVE
First published 2012 by Solaris
an imprint of Rebellion Publishing Ltd,
Riverside House, Osney Mead,
Oxford, OX2 0ES, UK
www.solarisbooks.com
ISBN: (epub) 978-1-84997-345-8
ISBN: (mobi) 978-1-84997-346-5
Copyright © James Lovegrove 2012
Cover Art by Marek Okon
The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of he copyright owners.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
A Note on Pronunciation
Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, was transliterated into our alphabet by Spanish missionaries. Hence many of the letter sounds are pronounced as in Spanish. For example, “x” is sounded as “sh,” “qu” as “k,” “z” as “s,” and “hu” as “w.” The diphthong “tl,” when it appears at the end of a word, should be treated as a single short phoneme rather than a syllable. Quetzalcoatl, therefore, is “kayt-sahl-ko-tluh.” The same rules apply to Mayan names.
PART ONE
LONDON
ONE
4 Jaguar 1 Monkey 1 House
(Sunday 25th November 2012)
I
T WAS ANOTHER
sultry, sweltering winter’s day, and the plaza around the City of London ziggurat was packed. Thousands clustered in the palm-fringed square itself, many of them having camped out overnight to be assured of a good view. Thousands more thronged the adjacent streets – Cheapside, Ludgate Hill, Paternoster Row – to watch the action on giant screens, close enough that they would just be able to hear the screams of the dying.
The atmosphere was, as ever, festive. Vendors did a roaring trade in heart-shaped hamburgers, gooey crimson-coloured iced drinks, and skull candy. Soon, when the sun reached its zenith, blood would flow.
The onlookers in the plaza were held back from its central avenue by a cordon of Jaguar Warrior constables. Resplendent in their golden armour and cat-head helmets, the constables stood with their arms folded, vigilant. Other Jaguar Warriors prowled in pairs, cradling their lightning guns. There were more of them present than was usual for such an occasion.
The avenue, which led to the base of the ziggurat, was reserved for the queue of blood rite participants. Most of these hundred or so souls looked patient, eager, serene as they waited. A few wore the glassy, dreamy expressions of people who’d taken the precaution of anaesthetising themselves beforehand, perhaps by chewing a paste of morning glory seeds or downing a few stiff shots of
pulque
or tequila. Here and there a child shivered and wept and had to be comforted by his parents:
It’s an honour to die at the priest’s hand. The gods love all sacrifices but they love the sacrifice of the young more than anything. A little pain, and then it will be bliss in Tamoanchan for ever after. Hush, dear, hush. Soon be over.