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286th out of 574 books
—
1,964 voters
In the Courts of the Sun (In the Courts of the Sun)
A mind-bending, time-bending, zeitgeist-defining novel about the days leading up to December 21, 2012�the day the Maya predicted the world would end
December 21, 2012. The day time stops. Jed DeLanda, a descendant of the Maya living in the year 2012, is a math prodigy who spends his time playing Go against his computer and raking in profits from online trading. (His secret...more
December 21, 2012. The day time stops. Jed DeLanda, a descendant of the Maya living in the year 2012, is a math prodigy who spends his time playing Go against his computer and raking in profits from online trading. (His secret...more
Hardcover, 684 pages
Published
March 26th 2009
by Dutton Adult
(first published 2009)
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I bought this book on a friend's recommendation. I owe you, Jane.
I was captured by the first page my interest never flagged. Though it has a whopping 684 pages (including maps and a glossary), I would have gladly kept reading for another 600-plus pages. True, I was already fascinated with the ancient Mayan civilization, and that can’t hurt.
The story takes the reader between 2012 and 650 AD through an action/adventure that also reveals the author's scientific bent. It is a story of time trave...more
I was captured by the first page my interest never flagged. Though it has a whopping 684 pages (including maps and a glossary), I would have gladly kept reading for another 600-plus pages. True, I was already fascinated with the ancient Mayan civilization, and that can’t hurt.
The story takes the reader between 2012 and 650 AD through an action/adventure that also reveals the author's scientific bent. It is a story of time trave...more
--some small spoilers--
I couldn't put this book down through most of it, although getting through the ending was an effort. There was so little information transfer between Jed2 and Jed1 that they seemed like two unconnected stories once we got back to Jed1. I couldn't tell what Jed1 learned from Jed2. It didn't seem to be enough to get him over the hump. I completely failed to visualize the game play that led to the identification of the doomster.
However, I enjoyed the rest of the book a lot mo...more
I couldn't put this book down through most of it, although getting through the ending was an effort. There was so little information transfer between Jed2 and Jed1 that they seemed like two unconnected stories once we got back to Jed1. I couldn't tell what Jed1 learned from Jed2. It didn't seem to be enough to get him over the hump. I completely failed to visualize the game play that led to the identification of the doomster.
However, I enjoyed the rest of the book a lot mo...more
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23 pages into the 649 page advance copy and I was done. It starts with a futuristic man’s mind transported back into the mind and body of a Mayan. It’s based on the premise that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and supposedly, so does life as we know it. After 23 pages of symbolism and rituals, I was so confused that I had no desire to continue. This was a free copy so will hold onto it and maybe try again at another time. But I only have til 2012. Again, so many books, so little time.
My eye landed on a big fat hardback beckoning from my library's display shelf for new fiction, and I'm glad it did.
In the Courts of the Sun turned out to be a pretty good story set both in late 2012 and ancient Mesoamerica. The basic plot sounds convoluted, and it is: a Mayan divination game he learned as a child turns out to be linked to computer predictions of catastrophe on December 21, 2012, and after a confirming disaster at Disney World, scientists manage to send an image of the protagoni...more
In the Courts of the Sun turned out to be a pretty good story set both in late 2012 and ancient Mesoamerica. The basic plot sounds convoluted, and it is: a Mayan divination game he learned as a child turns out to be linked to computer predictions of catastrophe on December 21, 2012, and after a confirming disaster at Disney World, scientists manage to send an image of the protagoni...more
The extraordinary vivid recreation of the ancient Maya world is awe inspiring. If you want a fun escapist romp into an alien world, this is it. There is such lush detail about the geography, cosmology, anthropology, sociology and their world view. Just think of a culture in which human blood was the fuel that kept the universe chugging along; ferocious violence was not only commonplace, it was a necessary part of sacred living. I am assuming it is all accurate because the author mentions that he...more
I found the concept of this book to be very intriguing and unique. I had been hoping it would quickly draw me in and not let go, but I was slightly disappointed. It took me quite a while to actually get into this book, but then once I was hooked it was hard to draw away from it.
The storyline with Jed2 was so out there and yet so good that I couldn't wait to pick it back up again. The third of the book that took place during the Maya time period As I was getting closer and closer to the end I co...more
The storyline with Jed2 was so out there and yet so good that I couldn't wait to pick it back up again. The third of the book that took place during the Maya time period As I was getting closer and closer to the end I co...more
"In the Courts of the Sun" is an interesting novel, built Frankenstein-like from the elements of a Michael Crichton techno-thriller, Gary Jennings' "Aztec" series, and one of Stephen Baxter's novel spins on time travel. I enjoyed the book, but it's uneven. The book was written by artist Brian D'Amato and is being publicized as the first of three books in a Sacrifice Game trilogy.
The story is heavily character-driven, led by Jed DeLanda, a supremely intelligent, anti-social, hard-core gamer...of...more
The story is heavily character-driven, led by Jed DeLanda, a supremely intelligent, anti-social, hard-core gamer...of...more
The premise was interesting - why does the calendar of the ancient Maya end at 2010 (they just ran out of stone and figured they'd get it done later, but never got around to it? Sorry, bad joke). The protagonist is a 'current' Maya, disrespected in his own country and through various machinations (believeable or un-) has the chance to 'go back' and see why the calendar ends (and do a few other thing.) Part of the early story has him rescued by Mormon hospital workers and sent to live with a morm...more
Aug 17, 2009
Rose
added it
I usually read much lighter historical fiction during the summer than this book. In the Courts of the Sun tries really hard to be serious about the history research and provides many details that are true as I have briefly researched Mayan history. The hero, Jed, is a computer geek gamer with a Mayan family background. Through adoption he ends up in a Utah family setting, and then higher education settings with lots of opportunity to search history even deeper than his family stories, which incl...more
I learned from this book that "conventional wisdom" has its place, and should be kept there. Many who write books about writing say a prologue should be short and pointed, and that it is a bad idea to delay too long in introducing all the major cast of the novel. These same people also say any essential back story should be scattered throughout the story, and that if it is NOT essential it should be left out. And also that long sentences should be used sparingly, and long paragraphs even more s...more
I was really torn on how many stars to give this book. There were parts of it I really enjoyed. I hated the gory, torture, killing parts, but that wasn't unexpected given the culture, and I knd of expected them to be in there. I thought the concept of the book was excellent but it was hugely wordy. I felt as those it took pages for the characters to take 2 steps any where or to do one simple task. I found myself skimming over paragraphs of technical stuff and dates. I did like the parts when he...more
i liked this a lot at first ... time travel, ancient maya, doomsday, ancient games, what's not to like? but after a zippy start involving dirty bombs, ancient mayan prophecies and game theory, Our Hero goes back in time in some fuzzy way i can't explain and then the book slows to an absolute crawl.
after hundreds of pages of bloodshed and mayhem that got boring after a while, i actually skipped ahead a bit just to wrap this thing up already and see how it all ties together only to find that ......more
after hundreds of pages of bloodshed and mayhem that got boring after a while, i actually skipped ahead a bit just to wrap this thing up already and see how it all ties together only to find that ......more
This book is a puzzler. Up until about the last 60 pages this book was pretty good. Kind of like the Da Vinci code - part science fiction, part religion, part contemporary mystery. The sci-fi ideas at its core are astounding...using an ancient Mayan sacrifice game as a future predictor, and time travel by sending your pattern of self as energy through wormholes to the past, where you overwrite somebody else.
BUT - the book is written in an R rated stream of conscious with no censoring that is bi...more
BUT - the book is written in an R rated stream of conscious with no censoring that is bi...more
I know a lot of people don't like this book or have mixed feelings about it, but I thought that it was incredibly innovative--both the story itself and the writing style--and I'm looking forward to the sequel. The writing is kicky and cinematic and the story is almost like one long acid trip. The whole notion of "game theory" is really fascinating and I can't believe a white dude wrote this because there's so much interesting insight and reflection on native culture/native culture within white c...more
One of my most prized possessions is a book entitled 'the origin of board games in magic and divination'. D'Amoto's creation takes that thesis and runs with it, in romp through history and the near future. This is Umberto Eco not Dan Brown, or better yet - Frank Herbert not Michael Crichton. In short Courts of the Sun is thinking person's science fiction thriller of the highest caliber.
looking forward to the sequel in June? I've been bugging the author on twitter for confirmation of sequel since...more
looking forward to the sequel in June? I've been bugging the author on twitter for confirmation of sequel since...more
According to the Mayan calendar, the world is going to end on December 12, 2012. The Warren Group is trying to use technology to figure out a way to stop the world from ending. In the end, will their work pay off or is hope beyond reach?
This is an exciting book that truthfully scared me out of my wits. I can handle horror novels and scary movies but this book shook me to my core. Not because of monsters or serial killers but because this is a true prediction, it struck a nerve. The writing is su...more
This book is a wild ride. I've always been interested in Mayan history and culture. Hardly a dry and dusty story, the writer makes it come alive - with the help of modern technology, a Mayan descendant takes part in a project to enter into a Mayan's mind in the past to solve the 2012 problems with the modern world. The writer has a quick wit making the book easy to read - but I ought to get points for reading two books - this book is huge. I've been reading in all my spare time and I am not half...more
This had potential to be good. It was an interesting storyline (occasionally a bit too Timeline for my liking), but the author is one of those annoying hipsters who can't just tell a story. Oh no, he's got to add in all the pop culture references and anti-social epithets that modern kids who think they're Philip K. Dick use to mask their literary insecurities.
Also,at 679 pages, you'd think it would be more of a compelling story.
So, if you read quickly, are incredibly interested in the Maya cult...more
Also,at 679 pages, you'd think it would be more of a compelling story.
So, if you read quickly, are incredibly interested in the Maya cult...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
The concept was excellent, and the topic is incredibly timely. There was obviously a lot of research done on both the Maya civilization and the scientific/technological aspects of the novel. The story is strong, although the ending seems rushed compared with the development of most of the story. For the plot, read other reviews.
The prologue really hooked me. However, the writing was incredibly self-indulgent, with so much "backstory", or history of the character, at the very beginning that it al...more
The prologue really hooked me. However, the writing was incredibly self-indulgent, with so much "backstory", or history of the character, at the very beginning that it al...more
Zuerst einmal bitte lest das Buch, hört es euch nicht an.
Der Autor vermittelt soviele Details, die bei einem nicht ganz bewussten Hören nicht aufgenommen werden können. Definitiv kein Hörbuch für "Nebenher". Leider eigentlich mein wichtigstes Merkmal für Hörbuch, dementsprechend anstrengend war es, dieses Hörbuch zu hören. Ich musste öfters mal nen Track erneut hören/den Player ausmachen/das Hörbuch wechseln, damit ich nichts verpasse.
Ich mag Maya-Endzeit-Romane, eines meiner Lieblingsbücher zu...more
Der Autor vermittelt soviele Details, die bei einem nicht ganz bewussten Hören nicht aufgenommen werden können. Definitiv kein Hörbuch für "Nebenher". Leider eigentlich mein wichtigstes Merkmal für Hörbuch, dementsprechend anstrengend war es, dieses Hörbuch zu hören. Ich musste öfters mal nen Track erneut hören/den Player ausmachen/das Hörbuch wechseln, damit ich nichts verpasse.
Ich mag Maya-Endzeit-Romane, eines meiner Lieblingsbücher zu...more
This book is set in 2012 but shifts back to the height of the Mayan culture when Teotihuacan was a booming city, then back to 2012. It is a wild rollercoaster ride that has incredible high points and very low points.
High Points
High Points
The book is well written. The language is lovely, very descriptive, and assumes the audience is both intelligent and well-read....more
The artwork is gorgeous. I would have prints of some of the artwork, if I could.
The foundation of the story, trying to save the world from the 2
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
OK ... in progress review ... just started this book ... Could be one of the most bizarre starts that I have read to a book ... in a long time.
Wow, the ending, was difficult to get through, depending on what you define as the ending. I would say that this book is different from pretty much anything I have read in that the ending ... doesn't really matter all that much, except for introducing, big surprise, a sequel.
I dare say I have not read a book that had to have been harder to write in terms...more
Wow, the ending, was difficult to get through, depending on what you define as the ending. I would say that this book is different from pretty much anything I have read in that the ending ... doesn't really matter all that much, except for introducing, big surprise, a sequel.
I dare say I have not read a book that had to have been harder to write in terms...more
I actually think this book was very good.
The writing was appealing - very much as if you'd follow what a real person was thinking. It was very humerous, sometimes a little vulgar, but generally good. The main character was somewhat "special", neither one of the cool heros nor the usual, unimportant boy. I could relate to him like I could with very little other characters - he was intelligent, saw a lot of negative sides to humans and had many ways of thinking in common with me, as well as the a...more
The writing was appealing - very much as if you'd follow what a real person was thinking. It was very humerous, sometimes a little vulgar, but generally good. The main character was somewhat "special", neither one of the cool heros nor the usual, unimportant boy. I could relate to him like I could with very little other characters - he was intelligent, saw a lot of negative sides to humans and had many ways of thinking in common with me, as well as the a...more
One thing going for Brian D’Amato’s book is that is has several intriguing concepts, one of which is the Sacrifice Game. It differs from palm reading and prophecies in that it relies more on math and knowledge of events to discover the most probable outcome. Thankfully, D’Amato provides just enough of the basics of the Game and abstracts the rest to make the story a lot more interesting.
The most fascinating part of the novel is the journey to the Maya historical period. This section is incredi...more
The most fascinating part of the novel is the journey to the Maya historical period. This section is incredi...more
I started back into this last night and I really would love to spend all day in bed reading it :)
Update :
I was really looking forward to something different than this book offered. I was looking for an incredible story that was intricate but because it was necessary. Unfortunately, this it was not. The story was very intricate. The details of Mayan culture, religion and brutality were vivid. But the whole thing wasn't woven into the story such that I felt it was necessary to read all 800plus pa...more
Update :
I was really looking forward to something different than this book offered. I was looking for an incredible story that was intricate but because it was necessary. Unfortunately, this it was not. The story was very intricate. The details of Mayan culture, religion and brutality were vivid. But the whole thing wasn't woven into the story such that I felt it was necessary to read all 800plus pa...more
Jan 25, 2010
Margaret
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
borders-original-voices
A long book (just shy of 700 pps) with not quite enough action to justify the verbiage and time commitment, and given that time travel (mental time travel - brain to brain, not the body), pending apocalypse, Maya historical and dramatic fiction, and Disneyworld are all involved, there really should be more action. This title is the first in a series (of 2? 3?), and while the last third of the book picked up in drama and action with a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end, I don't think I'll forge ahe...more
The story line was very interesting and engaging. Great mix of fact and fiction. I did find myself skimming some parts that seemed to drag on without much addition to the story. I also didn't care for the excessive R rated language in some of the main character's aloud thinking - it didn't add much. I don't think it was necessary to develop his personality. All that said, I was always happy to get back to the story - time travel, Mayan culture a mystery to be solved.
Book that has time travel involved and the Mayan 12/21/12 date. Not a bad book although I was hoping for more information about Mayan society than what is presented.
Interesting that this book has an idea that I had thought about if writing my own book. Time travel as a one-way trip and how you could store the information that you gathered for it to be reliably retrieved in the future.
Appears to be the first book in a series.
Interesting that this book has an idea that I had thought about if writing my own book. Time travel as a one-way trip and how you could store the information that you gathered for it to be reliably retrieved in the future.
Appears to be the first book in a series.
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