betty reviewed Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard
Review of 'Servant of the Underworld' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Aside from the supernatural, and the fact that this thing is set in Tenochtitlan in ~1500 CE, I think this thing's genre is properly 'thriller'? Like, if 'The Pelican Brief' turned out to be about how the Pelican god was angry with you, and also you all spoke Nahuatl and your economy was based on human sacrifice?
I open with this confused attempt to categorize, because I don't think that this is, in general, my genre. Leaving aside that all the characters are participating in a system of human sacrifice (I mean, I guess making explicit who pays the price in your economy?) none of them particularly appealed to me. The main character, Acatl, seems motivated by a desire to not take responsibility, which is hard to take from a man approaching middle age. The plot is kick-started when Acatl's brother is arrested for murder, but his brother, too, seems …
Aside from the supernatural, and the fact that this thing is set in Tenochtitlan in ~1500 CE, I think this thing's genre is properly 'thriller'? Like, if 'The Pelican Brief' turned out to be about how the Pelican god was angry with you, and also you all spoke Nahuatl and your economy was based on human sacrifice?
I open with this confused attempt to categorize, because I don't think that this is, in general, my genre. Leaving aside that all the characters are participating in a system of human sacrifice (I mean, I guess making explicit who pays the price in your economy?) none of them particularly appealed to me. The main character, Acatl, seems motivated by a desire to not take responsibility, which is hard to take from a man approaching middle age. The plot is kick-started when Acatl's brother is arrested for murder, but his brother, too, seems an obnoxious person.
The thing I loved, however, was how real the society seemed; every detail was drawn, every social niche was filled. One had a very real feel for how the economy worked, how the agricultural system was organized, how the religion penetrated all aspects of society.
I read the first book in a three-book omnibus, not the edition this review is attached to, but I honestly don't feel up to the other two, so I'm reviewing this one alone.
If you like thrillers, worldbuilding, and are less handicapped by a character's likeability than I, recommended.
