Age of Aztec

Pantheon #4

by James Lovegrove

The date is 4 Jaguar 1 Monkey 1 House; November 25th 2012, by the old reckoning. The Aztec Empire rules the world, in the name of Quetzalcoatl – the Feathered Serpent – and his brother gods.

The Aztec reign is one of cruel and ruthless oppression, fuelled by regular human sacrifice. In the jungle-infested city of London, one man defies the masked vigilante known as the Conquistador.

Then the Conquistador is recruited to spearhead an uprising, and discovers the terrible truth about the Aztecs and their gods. The clock is ticking. Apocalypse looms, unless the Conquistador can help assassinate the mysterious, immortal Aztec emperor, the Great Speaker. But his mission is complicated by Mal Vaughn, a police detective who is on his trail, determined to bring him to justice.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mythology, Fiction, Alternate History, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

507 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 26, 2012

About the author

James Lovegrove is the author of several acclaimed novels and books for children.

James was born on Christmas Eve 1965 and, having dabbled in writing at school, first took to it seriously while at university. A short story of his won a college competition. The prize was £15, and it had cost £18 to get the story professionally typed. This taught him a hard but necessary lesson in the harsh economic realities of a literary career.

Straight after graduating from Oxford with a degree in English Literature, James set himself the goal of getting a novel written and sold within two years. In the event, it took two months. The Hope was completed in six weeks and accepted by Macmillan a fortnight later. The seed for the idea for the novel — a world in microcosm on an ocean liner — was planted during a cross-Channel ferry journey.

James blew his modest advance for The Hope on a round-the-world trip which took him to, among other places, Thailand. His experiences there, particularly what he witnessed of the sex industry in Bangkok, provided much of the inspiration for The Foreigners.

Escardy Gap was co-written with Pete Crowther over a period of a year and a half, the two authors playing a game of creative tag, each completing a section in turn and leaving the other to carry the story on. The result has proved a cult favourite, and was voted by readers of SFX one of the top fifty SF/Fantasy novels of all time.

Days, a satire on consumerism, was shortlisted for the 1998 Arthur C. Clarke Award (losing to Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow). The book’s genesis most probably lies in the many visits James used to make as a child to the Oxford Street department store owned by his grandfather. It was written over a period of nine months while James was living in the north-west suburbs of Chicago.

Subsequent works have all been published to great acclaim. These include Untied Kingdom, Worldstorm, Provender Gleed, The Age Of Ra and the back-to-back double-novella Gig. James has also written for children. Wings, a short novel for reluctant readers, was short-listed for several awards, while his fantasy series for teens, The Clouded World, written under the pseudonym Jay Amory, has been translated into 7 other languages so far. A five-book series for reluctant readers, The 5 Lords Of Pain, is appearing at two-monthly intervals throughout 2010.

He also reviews fiction for the Financial Times, specialising in the Young Adult, children’s, science fiction, fantasy, horror and graphic novel genres.

Currently James resides in Eastbourne on the Sussex Coast, having moved there in August 2007 with his wife Lou, sons Monty and Theo, and cat Ozzy. He has a terrific view of the sea from his study window, which he doesn’t sit staring out at all day when he should be working. Honest.

Reviews

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Another interesting entry in this group of parallel books, you can't really call it a series. Each book really is a stand alone story written with a similar premise involving the idea of what if a certain pantheon of gods was real and... where the "and" varies in each book. The variable of which pantheon and what craziness they and the humans who star in the book get up to form the core of each book. And seeing how the author tweaks those variables to come up with totally different stories in each book is pretty interesting. The pitch meeting for the original trilogy must have been pretty interesting, I can't believe he sold it to anyone, three books that kind of sound like the same book in outline doesn't seem like the kind of thing a big publishing house would go for. But it's pretty cool. They're all more militaristic that I really love, but there are some neat ideas. I'm more of a character girl, so I liked this one, Mal and Reston were among his stronger characters. And it was more fast-paced than some of the other books, I didn't get bogged down much.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously impressed with this author. Love the science-fiction, military, alternate history, mythology with twists that he is really good about combining! A fast read for me, about 3 hours tops, and a serious punch at the end.

[Abhinav · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find the full review over at The Founding Fields:

http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/11/...

Shadowhawk reviews the fourth novel in the bestselling Pantheon series, this time dealing with a frightening alternate history in which the Aztecs spread out from Mexico and conquer the entire world.

“Lovegrove mixes in his trademark tongue-in-cheek narrative style with a fairly serious tone to deliver a novel that is a good head and shoulders above Age of Zeus.” ~The Founding Fields

The Pantheon novels have long been on my radar, mostly for the reason that I love all the covers, which reflect the contents of the novel very well. I was meant to be reading Age of Odin earlier in the year, for some writing research related stuff, but never got around to it. Age of Zeus, which is the only other Pantheon novel I’ve read, was quite a disappointing read for me, in terms of the big reveal about the gods, and how the heroes go about tackling these supernatural entities. I can best describe that book as perhaps fleeting. It never does settle down to just properly explore the character relationships and the nature of the gods and heroes. Which is why, when I was readingAge of Aztec, I found myself having a much experience since the author appeared to have gotten rid of most of those shortcomings and had delivered a much more satisfying experience.

As with Age of Zeus, in which the Greek Gods returned from some kind of other-worldly contemplative existence to once more take a direct hand in human affairs and dominate the species, the world in the alternate reality/history of Age of Aztec is now dominated by an aggressive and expansionist Aztec Empire. The Aztecs now rule the world, and they crush all rebellion with a heavy hand, no matter its scale. Standing against them in the British Isles is the Conquistador, a mysterious hero who has been working at destabilising the Aztec infrastructure there by killing off priests and Jaguar Warriors alike. He strikes time and time again, vanishing without a trace once his work is done. The authorities are whipped into a frenzy of activity when a priest is found murdered after a continental flight, with no trace of the Conquistador anywhere nearby, and suspicions are voiced that it might be the work of a Conquistador copy-cat.

The first third of the book deals with a renewed hunt for the Conquistador, led by newly promoted Chief Inspector Malinalli Vaughan (Mal for short) of the Scotland Yard. The masked vigilante has so far proven himself to be quite elusive, but Mal has her own ways of finding out who he really is, based on some circumspect methods that are considered illegal. It is an interesting dichotomy of Mal’s character. She’s seen two of her superiors suffer public humiliation and execution, and she is keen to avoid the same fate. It makes her desperate. Driven by her own guilt at having turned in her own brother to the authorities years ago, that desperation is even more intense, since she feels a constant need to justify herself within the Jaguar Warrior hierarchy. Mal is put in the shoes of a character who would typically be male: an old and experienced cop with a penchant for abusive drinking and forgettable one-night stands because of some kind of a dark personal past the character is trying to forget but cannot. Not that Mal and this theoretical male cop are interchangeable, far from it. The narrative and the plot both fit her to a T rather than her being shoehorned in with a different gender. Even given her indiscretions, she is confident, often sure of herself, and she doesn’t let her gender get in the way of things. Unlike Sam Akehurst from Age of Zeus, Mal isn’t a victim of circumstance and she is much more proactive than reactive, which made me like her much more. Her crisis of faith, when it happens, is also much more believable since there are ample hints along the way that something like it may happen. With Sam, it was all too abrupt and never struck me as convincing.

Stuart Reston, multi-millionaire businessman who is one of the elites of the Aztec hierarchy in Britain and secretly the Conquistador, is as much of a likeable character as Mal is, if not more so. As the object of Mal’s investigation almost as soon as she is put in charge, he displays a lot of the flair that I expect of him. What Lovegrove really gets right with him though isn’t that Stuart is this all-confident take-down-the-government type like V from V for Vendetta or like an anti-government Batman, not that either of them are caricatures or anything, its just that Stuart operates on quite a different philosophy. V did what he did out of personal revenge and a need to right the wrongs done by Chancellor Sutler and those under him. Batman does what he does to prevent other orphans suffering from the same fate that he did and because he truly believes he can make a moral difference. With Stuart, its all personal start to finish, the religious suicide of his wife and their son. Under the Aztec religious code, people who offer themselves to the Gods are blessed in their eyes, especially children, a practice that Stuart finds abhorrent in the extreme, especially since his wife took it upon herself to do the same for herself and their kid, without ever consulting Stuart. It is a guilt that Stuart has tried to assuage by striking out against the people in power, to force them to abandon the British Isles.

That informs the first third of the book as the hunt for the Conquistador comes to a dramatic finish, but victory for Mal is snatched away at the very last minute. The focus then shifts to a more global scope of resistance against the Aztec Empire, and Stuart goes all the way to the Anahuac region of Mexico, the homeland of the Aztec people, to continue his resistance there under the auspices of the Mayan rebel group Xibalba. And Mal Vaughan inevitably follows suit, determined to catch her frustratingly elusive quarry. The hunt, as it takes place for the rest of the book, is incredibly compelling. Both Mal and Stuart are taken out of their element and have to live and operate in the Aztec heartland, without much in the way of backup. The Xibalba Mayan nationalists are frighteningly naive in their thinking, although overambitious, and Stuart has to contend with that while faced with his own doubts as to what he is doing now that he no longer has his Conquistador identity to rely on. For Mal, it is a question of running her query down and returning as a hero of her own even though she longer can rely on the rest of the Yard anymore. For Stuart its all about redefining his identity. For Mal, its all about her pride and shattered honour.

[R.E.J. Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age of Aztek (Pantheon Book 4). I chose this Lovegrove novel because it focuses upon the Aztecs—the merciless race that aspired to but never reached the scale of the depravity of their forebears at Teotihuacan. Compared to Age of Shiva (Pantheon #4), I found this book better written, its human characters more developed with greater depth and roots. However, just as in Shiva, the pantheon of Aztek deities has no more depth than a movie poster of Superheroes. There is a huge market for all forms of superheroes that needs but to be immediately sucked into the vortex of violence and coarse dialog while offering something like gods to fill the void where higher values once existed. Although this is a better story than Shiva, I dropped the rating from 5 to 4 because the novelty of the series' theme had worn off. The pace is fast, human characters well-drawn, settings interesting, and the theme has a broad appeal to fill the aspirational void that superheroes will appear to tame mankind.

[Merlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this book but once I did I kinda of liked it save for two things:

1) The level of violence portrayed as inherent to Aztec culture is more in keeping with early Spanish propaganda than anything out of an anthropology department; which is a bit at odds with the amount of research the writer apparently did.

And, 2), there are these strange spikes in vulgarity, three or four times over the course of the book, where for a single line the degree of profanity ratchets up out of keeping for the character speaking. If it served some purpose or was even commented on it'd be fine but as it is it's just weird.

I could also comment that he writes foreign languages as if they were idiomatic English which is... lazy but that is fairly minor all things considered.

[Damon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit boring and a terribly week ending. Mal is a good character though.

[Brad Theado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book

[Jedi Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting twist on the Mayans and 2012 but not one Lovegrove's better stories.

[shawn leavell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Mesmerizing Fusion of Myth and Modernity - A Must-Read Sci-Fi Thriller!

James Lovegrove's Age of Aztec is a riveting exploration of an alternative history where the Aztec Empire never fell, and instead, ascended to global domination. This novel is a seamless blend of speculative fiction, historical re-imagination, and pulse-pounding thriller, making it a must-read for fans of the genre.

From the very first page, Lovegrove plunges the reader into a world that is both eerily familiar and strikingly alien. The Aztec Empire, with its brutal theocracy and advanced technology, looms large over every aspect of society. The empire's gods are very real and demand blood sacrifices to maintain their power, which is where the true horror and intrigue of the novel lie. Lovegrove's world-building is nothing short of extraordinary. He constructs a richly detailed universe that feels fully lived-in, filled with nuanced politics, complex social structures, and a pervasive sense of fear under the rule of the Aztec pantheon.

At the heart of Age of Aztec is the enigmatic character known as The Conquistador. This masked vigilante is the embodiment of resistance against the oppressive regime. Lovegrove deftly uses The Conquistador as a symbol of hope and rebellion, drawing parallels to historical freedom fighters while also creating a uniquely compelling figure in his own right. The Conquistador's mission to dismantle the Aztec Empire's power is fraught with tension and moral ambiguity, raising thought-provoking questions about the nature of power, justice, and sacrifice.

The novel's protagonist, Detective Mal Vaughn, serves as a perfect foil to The Conquistador. Vaughn is a woman deeply entrenched in the system she serves, yet her investigation into the vigilante's actions forces her to confront uncomfortable truths about the world she inhabits. The interplay between Vaughn and The Conquistador is one of the novel's strongest elements, as it explores the blurred lines between heroism and villainy, duty and rebellion. Lovegrove's portrayal of their evolving relationship is masterfully done, adding layers of depth and complexity to the narrative.

Lovegrove’s writing style is another standout feature of Age of Aztec. His prose is sharp and evocative, vividly bringing to life the harsh realities of the world he has created. The action scenes are particularly well-crafted, with a cinematic quality that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. Each encounter is charged with adrenaline, yet Lovegrove never sacrifices character development or plot progression for the sake of spectacle.

What truly sets *Age of Aztec* apart from other dystopian novels is its exploration of cultural identity and historical legacy. Lovegrove poses challenging questions about what might have been had history taken a different course, and how those alternate realities would shape the present. He does not shy away from depicting the brutality of the Aztec regime, yet he also delves into the cultural richness and religious fervor that underpins it. This balanced portrayal prevents the novel from becoming a one-dimensional critique of theocracy and instead offers a nuanced examination of a society driven by fear and faith.

In conclusion, *Age of Aztec* is a thought-provoking, action-packed, and richly imagined novel that will leave readers questioning the very nature of power and civilization. James Lovegrove has crafted a masterpiece that not only entertains but also challenges and enlightens. Whether you're a fan of alternative history, dystopian fiction, or just a well-told story, *Age of Aztec* is a book you should not miss.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This doesn’t shy away from the gore, as one might expect from a book obviously playing off the more sensationally bloody characteristics of the Aztecs. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this is gleefully gory, and it’s one of the first things I noticed. The setting is vividly described and quite colorful. Ultimately, though, I think the alternate history isn’t played out to anything approaching its full potential. It’s in place to explain the setting without much detail, and the specifics don’t matter. (George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte get namedropped, but they’re just Easter eggs.)

The cat and mouse relationship between Mal and the Conquistador is quite good. Oddly, though, Mal totally vanishes for 150 pages while the story is in Anahuac. It’s a deeply weird way of handling a POV character. They’re much less cat and mouse when Mal enters the story again, though that’s a matter of circumstance more than anything else. Their little enemies-to-lovers speedrun is convincing, at least, if pretty bare-bones. The romance isn’t supporting any narrative, here, but luckily, the rest of the plot is handling that.

The writing is engaging from the beginning. I was surprised by how quickly the pages flew by, but this book is very readable despite the density of description necessary to support the alternate history. It’s active and vivid and snappy. It’s fun! It wasn’t what I expected.

The ending is a little abrupt. It kind of feels like the author wrote himself into a hole. There was no other way for it to end.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this book. The story itself is good, if not great, but the writing carries it well. Would be willing to pick up other things by this author.

[Nandagopal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lack of awareness on the Aztec mythology gives Lovegrove enough wiggle room to expand on an unknown universe, but the opportunity seems wasted with just a cursory overview into the stories of the deities. Add to that maybe the two most unoriginal lead characters (a british Batman wannabe and the cop after him with a love-hate relationship) produced by the author, and the book had the capacity to fall flat as compared to its predecessors.


But halfway through the novel, what appeared to be Mesoamerican version of 'V for Vendetta' takes a full pirouette and takes a page from Lovegrove's previous instalment. But what Lovegrove thought to achieve from his reveals, he failed to put in more effort in fleshing out the godly entities; they lacked the same soul as Ra, Zeus, or Odin.


The story has its moments, and the climax is perhaps the best in all the instalments, but that helps little in terms of taking the book to what could have been the best work in the series (so far).

[Timothy Pitkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting set up where in an alternate history, the Aztec empire somehow has advance technology that allows them to conquer all of the world. That set up is really over the top and does kind of break the immersion just a bit since it does jump through a few hoops to explain how that happened while the world does have some world building to show how this works but I would have liked a bit more as we never really get an explanation of hierarchy and how the government works and I do not like how they use Spanish myths about the Aztecs as facts as the Aztecs never sacrificed as much people as most people think so it feels like there was not enough research done. But I do like how the story changes when the gods finally come into play and I wished they came in much earlier as they really only act in the last fourth of the book and they should have appeared much earlier like the halfway point.

[Shane Maher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a really interesting concept that was very well executed, to the point that there were times I hoped the plot would slow down just so I could enjoy the world more. The pacing was quick which made this an easy novel to devour, and while I see the greater point Lovegrove was making in the end this book was just plain fun. The random cutaways to graphic sex scenes that would then be immediately forgotten afterward were odd, and a bit jarring, but otherwise I had a hard time putting this book down. The characters all stood out, the action and battles were exciting, and the ending has stuck with me since I read it.

[Ranting Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.rantingdragon.com/review-o...



Age of Aztec is the fourth book in James Lovegrove’s Pantheon series, and it establishes him more firmly as the founder of a subgenre coming to be known as “godpunk.” It tells the story of a modern society under the heel of the Aztec empire and the Batman-style vigilante who opposes it.

Setting-driven fantasy
Having now read all four books so far in the Pantheon series, it has become very clear to me just how significant Lovegrove’s choice of theme is to each book. In Age of Aztec, we see a world that has been completely co-opted by the Aztec Empire. Jungle covers virtually all of the world, and the impact of the religious dominance of The Great Speaker, the putatively immortal leader of the empire, is felt in every aspect of the world detail.

This is both the greatest strength and greatest weakness of this book. It is the strength because the best kind of alternate history fiction is the kind that goes whole hog into the premise, spending less time trying to patiently explain to us exactly what is different about this world versus the one we know and more time just telling a great story. This is the thing that makes Harry Turtledove one of the best alternate history authors around, and what puts James Lovegrove well and soundly into the same league. It is simply accepted that this is a world where the Aztec Empire has always and probably will always dominate the Earth, and we’re allowed to figure out the consequences for ourselves and just enjoy the story.

It is also the weakness because without this setting, each novel of the Pantheon series is pretty much the same. What is an ancient, dead religion in reality is instead the dominant religion of the book’s world, and some person or persons who oppose the oppressive nature of the regime rise up to try and stop it. While this does make the overall plot arc of the books quite similar, Lovegrove has thus far managed to keep the choices interesting enough and set the mood of the world under each religion distinctly enough that it hasn’t yet fallen victim to the Dan Brown syndrome of “I wrote the same book four times.” The pressure is on Lovegrove, if he continues with this theme, to keep ensuring the differences are significant enough to interest his readers in spite of the similarities.

A pretty dim view of old religions
While it’s pretty easy to accept the idea that a religion built around human sacrifice would seem savage by modern, “enlightened” standards, I do feel sometimes that Lovegrove, in his zeal to show us the horrors of some ancient religions, is really doing them a disservice. After all, most religions practiced today have had some pretty dark and bloody scenes in their histories; but humanity has developed, evolved, and a lot (though sadly, not nearly enough) of the atrocities are behind us. In Age of Aztec, however, we’re still working in 2012 with the version of the Aztec faith that we understood during the Age of Discovery, which ends up ringing a little false. We’ve seen throughout history that humanity will only stand for so much abuse and repression before they rise up, regardless of the cost.

This seems to be an overriding theme of the series, as well. The idea that it is the expression of freedom and the right to choose one’s own course that result in the downfall of these regimes is a compelling one, but it does strain credulity that it takes until the present time or even near future before anybody decides they’ve had enough.

Let’s see some GUTS
I’ll tell you what I think every time I read one of these books: Lovegrove is taking the easy way out. He has built his books around the Norse, Egyptian, Greek, and now Aztec religions, presented them in all their horrible glory, then set them up for a downfall. One of the reviewer comments printed on this copy of Age of Aztec defines this new godpunk subgenre as “Rebellious underdog humans battling an outmoded belief system . . . the real weapon is free will” (Pornokitsch, on The Age of Odin).

You know what I would like to see? Age of Jesus. Age of Mohammed. Age of Siddhartha. If you want to set yourself up as a critic of religion (intentionally or not), and of the negative impacts that religion can have on the lives of those subjected to it, let’s tackle one that is still practiced. There are plenty of aspects of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism that could provide a focus for these books. I would be fascinated to see Lovegrove’s take on one of the big five modern religions viewed under this same critical lens.

Why should you read this book?
It occurs to me that I went pretty overboard on the social significance of Lovegrove’s subject matter and didn’t really talk much about the actual book itself as a story and piece of writing. Those who fancy themselves deeper thinkers in their fantasy should take it as a great recommendation that someone billed as The Ranting Dragon’s “resident philosopher” found a lot to think and talk about with this book.

But even if you don’t—if the idea of thought-provoking writing about the nature of man and religion doesn’t do it for you—this is still a great book. As action fantasy, Lovegrove does an admirable job as well. The action is tight, the characters are interesting, and the plot moves at a great pace; the philosophical aspect is just icing on the cake.

[Douglas Ogurek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fourth installment in James Lovegrove's Patheon series has all the inventiveness and adventure of the previous three. This time, a lone wolf known as the Conquistador takes on an oppressive regime that worships ancient Aztec gods. Wisecracking characters, cool technology, powerful gods, mass destruction, and well-detailed settings. As with the other books, I often lost track of time while reading this one.

[Mark Ramsdale · Rating 3 out of 5]

V good ideas. Didn't really bite on the second half was hoping the "world" would be developed in a different arc. Did not care for graphic sex I can find that when I want it.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite of the Pantheon Series so far.

Fun adventure; a gory delight.

[Megan]

DNS 7/16/2021

[Randy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stopped reading after the two "f" bombs in the first chapter. Totally unnecessary.

[Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am bored.... WHY CANT I FINISH BOOKS ANYMORE!!! DNF

[Sarah Sherrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved everything written by Lovegrove so far. You usually get two typical characters (A Rambo like man, and badass type lady) but I honestly enjoy it.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age of Aztec

A terrible book that I cannot help but recommend.

As a young man, I have always wanted to be a writer and I read somewhere that the best way to improve your craft, aside from writing, was to read as much as possible. I took this to heart and have tried to diversify the list of books that I read, including a rule that I cannot read two books by the same author in a row. I break this rule often, but I try.
I came across Age of Aztec while browsing in a bookstore and I gave it the first chapter test. Let me start by saying that James Lovegrove knows how to write, and he does it well. The quality of the characters and story is an entirely different conversation. Anyway, I was brought to a jungle filled London in a world dominated by the Aztec Empire. I enjoy a good dystopian novel, so my interest is slightly peaked, and then one of the heroes of the novel comes into play. He is the Conquistador, a Batman/V for Vendetta combination dedicated to the overthrow of the Empire. Honestly, in the moment I was not impressed and I put the book down. I don’t know what motivated me to return to it, but I did.
A few weeks later, when I remembered the ridiculous premise(Good Conquistador vs Evil Aztecs. Take all the time you need.), I was curious as to how it played out. I purchased the novel and kept reading. I was introduced to an ensemble of characters that fit their roles perfectly, for better or for worse. The main character is Detective Mal, who is a Jaguar Warrior(Scotland Yard) and she is put on the case. I understand the need for a strong female character, and I think there should be more, but I honestly just felt like they tried to hard too make her the tough cop(if an adaption doesn’t call Michelle Rodriguez, I’m boycotting), and shoehorning in a gay best friend, who is also a detective, just felt forced. The first several chapters read like a B-movie novelization, with a stereotypical setup, boss who will kill you if you mess up as bad as your predecessor. At this point, I found myself laughing at the book. And I still continued.
Somewhere along the line, I think the author realized he actually had to make the book good for it to sell. And this drastic improvement comes abruptly when we are introduced to the Conquistador as his human alter ego Stuart Reston, a genuinely interesting character with real motivation for what he does, even if he can be a tad bit two dimensional. His scenes as the Conquistador were a guilty pleasure. All the important characters had backstories, but the logic that lead the characters to their current positions was a little shaky at best. Stuart was the exception and I genuinely found myself rooting for him to prevail.
Once the novel begins putting these characters in a room together, the quality of the books improves dramatically and became a real page turner. You are shown the true power of the Aztec Empire and their gods and what they have done to the planet, and the novel actually explains why this Empire is evil. After this, the novel changes tone completely. The easiest way I can explain it is that it turns from V for Vendetta, with Stuart in London, into Predator, with Stuart in South America with a group of Mayan Revolutionaries picked off by one of the Aztec Gods. After the conclusion of that mini arc, the novel brings back Mal, after a much appreciated break, and has them in South America trying to get to Tenochtitlan. Without giving too much away, the novel then turns into it’s own version of The Avengers with it’s Aztec Gods. Quick side note; The Aztec Gods are awesome and the kid in me was able to appreciate how they were handled.
So to sum up my feelings on this book: Was it good? I think the proper word is ‘entertaining,’ It’s a sci-fi action novel. It’s job was to entertain me, not serve as timeless literature for generations to come. It accomplished what it set out to do. For what it was, I took it for it’s worth and enjoyed the several hours I put into it, but I don’t see myself dedicating the time to a reread.

[Matt Kelland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cracking good adventure - alt history, mixed with science fantasy and mythology, in the form of a thriller. The only one of the series I've read before is Age of Voodoo, and I was expecting this to be set in the same world. It isn't. The two are completely standalone, linked only by the theme of gods interfering in human affairs.

I've seen a lot of people claiming that Lovegrove's Pantheon series is inventing a new form of sci-fi (aka "godpunk" - which is as lazy a way a describing a literary form as tacking "-gate" onto every political scandal). It's not new - it's very much following in the footsteps of Roger Zelazny and the sort of thing he was doing with Lord of Light, but updated to reflect modern pacing and style. That's not to take anything away from it - the SF world sorely needs someone who can handle this genre with such mastery, who has an appreciation for the expanse of world mythology, and who can tell a damn fine story. Neil Gaiman offered a more gentle an dreamlike take on similar ideas in books like American Gods, but Lovegrove goes straight for the action and energy. It's like a collaboration between Zelazny, John Woo, and the Stargate team. It would make one hell of a good movie.

Before I'd finished this one, I ordered the first two Pantheon books, The Age of Ra and The Age of Zeus and can't wait to read them. I hope to see many more in the series.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Lovegrove is back with another entry in his Pantheon Series, and he doesn't disappoint. Age of Aztec is another satisfying sci-fi romp through a world filled with cool technology, violent fights, advanced weaponry, and of course, gods.
The thing I like most about Lovegrove's Pantheon books is the way he ends up explaining the existence of the gods he's depicting. Each book centres around a different mythology, and he's been very creative about how his gods are incorporated into each book. Age of Zeus did the best job, and Age of Odin did it impressively too--but Age of Aztec is right up there.
They take a while to appear, but when they do, the whole tone of the book changes. It's an--excuse the expression--"oh shit" moment; the gloves are thrown, the writing's on the wall, the world has changed. The human characters realize it, too, and go through some really nice processing to deal with it. When the true motives/purposes of the gods are revealed, it's another world-shattering moment for the characters. I thought the integration was fantastic, and the revelation of their motives was one of the best in the series.

The other nice point about this book is the way it deals with the whole 2012phenomenon. I won't get into the debate of whether 2012 is supposed to be the end of the world or not, but this book treats that question in a very responsible and fun way. I thought I knew exactly where it was going, then it throws a turn--just the way good fiction should be.

The only real complaint I have about this book--and it's one that I share with all in the series--is that it's so incredibly fast paced. I love a book I can't put down, but these books are devoured, fast enough that it's sometimes hard to sit back and appreciate the journey you've been on. It's clear that the books are meant to be that--you don't get dropped into a world with living gods and not come out unscathed--but it always leaves me wanting just one more chapter.

[Procrastinador Diletante · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sou grande fã desta série e mais uma vez estamos perante uma realidade alternativa, neste caso uma em que os deuses Aztecas são reais e dominam o mundo.

A acção passa-se nos dias de hoje, numa Inglaterra que foi último bastião da resistência Europeia aos Aztecas, tendo finalmente caído nos anos 40 e sendo agora parte integrante do Império Azteca. Um Império onde naves movidas a anti-gravidade atravessam os ceús; onde as forças de segurança estão armadas com espingardas que disparam raios eléctricos e onde os sacrifícios humanos fazem parte do dia a dia, sendo considerados uma parte essencial da religião e a única maneira de apaziguar os deuses.

Na luta contra este império surge um heróico rebelde que faz lembrar ao leitor uma mistura de Zorro, Batman e V (do "V for Vendetta"). E a persegui-lo está uma brilhante detective da polícia, que pretende capturar esta ameaça a todo o custo. A primeira parte do livro trata dessa perseguição e das obssessões que movem ambas as personagens. Com o tempo e com os confrontos entre elas, uma espécie de ligação acaba por se formar e o leitor vai acabar por descobrir que afinal tanto o "criminoso" como a detective não são assim tão diferentes.

Infelizmente essa primeira parte é demasiado curta e mais uma vez estamos perante um livro que precisava de mais páginas. A segunda parte - em que se viaja até ao coração do Império Azteca e se revela o segredo que aí se esconde - é basicamente uma sequência de cenas de acção, dignas de uma blockbuster de Hollywood, mas que desapontam em termos de desenvolvimento das personagens. O final é deprimente mas apropriado a uma história de amor como a que o autor nos tentou mostrar.

[Jason Freezer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It had good pacing and it went from what I was expecting it to be to something far different. There were plenty of twists and turns and the introduction of the gods was also done well. It was interesting getting a bit of a look at the Atex gods which I really knew very little about. The writing is what I expect from Lovegrave which is pretty solid hard hitting sci-fi. I had a few little nitpicks with the editing of the book where some things were worded oddly or the grammar wasn't correct but overall those where minor complaints. This is the second book in his "Age of..." settings I have read and I must admit that I've enjoyed both of them. The idea of a godpunk genre is nice to me and I always enjoy what Lovegrove does with his gods. They are never what you'd expect. The one thing which at times gets a little boring is in both this and Age of Odin the love story elements are a bit unsubtle. Not that they are bad but you can see them coming pretty early on in the story. The upside to this is the fact that it dosen't detract from the overall action of the story. Overall I'd pass this book along to any of my friends interested in science fiction or interesting twists on the mythic gods.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely enjoy Lovegrove's pantheon series. My favorite remains the Age of Ra.


Possible spoilers (small below)



One of my favorite things about the pantheon series is that each is its own universe. As much as I'd be interested in reading more about the world created in the Age of Ra, I appreciate that each new book, while on theme, is its own.

I read this on my kindle and around 50% I realized unlike the other pantheon books, Age of the Aztecs, did not follow the same naming theme and as no deity had appeared by that point, I assumed this book would differ from the others in the series. So while I went in expecting the aztec gods, by halfway through my expectations had changes so that when they finally appeared it was more surprising.

As such the book is really two different stories, the first, the adventures of the Conquistador, and the second a battle between aztec gods.

Both parts of the story were fun. I would have been just as happy seeing the Conquistador adventure continue as it had at the beginning of the book but the new direction it took was just as good.

I hope another pantheon book is in the works.

[Joseph Farand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent novel in Lovegrove's Pantheon series - it's the 20th century and the Aztec Empire has conquered the world with the help of advance technology. They are all powerful, even able to control the environment on a planetary scale. In a tropical Britain the reader is introduced to the two main characters: the "Batman-like" Conquistador battling the Aztec oppressors and the female Jaguar Warrior assigned to stop his acts of terrorism. Events take these characters to the heart of the Aztec domain where they learn the truth behind their power and get involved in a final confrontation that will decide the fate of the world. Lovegrove has created an interesting world with its "modern" Aztec society and their "Chariots of the Gods" origin. An enjoyable action-oriented Sci Fi adventure - highly recommended.

[Ευθυμία Δεσποτάκη · Rating 3 out of 5]

Πρόκειται για το τέταρτο βιβλίο της σειράς Pantheon Triptych (!). Η σειρά αποτελείται από αυτοτελή μυθιστορήματα, στα οποία κάτι συμβαίνει στο παρόν ή στο παρελθόν του παρόντος κόσμου και κάποιοι θεοί εμφανίζονται στη γη (οι τρεις προηγούμενοι τίτλοι είναι Age of Ra, Age of Odin και Age of Zeus).

Δεν ξέρω για τα άλλα τρία, αλλά το συγκεκριμένο με τους Αζτέκους είναι μπαμ-μπουμ-ξυλίκι περιπέτεια, εντελώς κινηματογραφικό, ελαφρά Ελ Ζόρρο, έχει και λίγο ελάχιστο σεξάκι, καμπόση βωμολοχία, και θεούς που κατεβαίνουν στη γη. Οι Αζτέκοι έχουν κατακτήσει ολόκληρη τη γη και In the year 2012, ένα βιτζιλάντης εμφανίζεται στην Αγγλία, ο Conquistador, που πολεμάει τους κακούς Αζτέκους. Μη γελάτε (πολύ), διαβάζεται γρήγορα κι ίσως κι ευχάριστα, αλλά ανήκει στην κατηγορία των βιβλίων παραλίας: δεν είναι να του δώσεις και πολλή-πολλή σημασία.

[John Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last few chapters have great combat and I enjoyed the ending. However the book in general is hardly worth reading. It is only my completionist OCD that made me finish reading it.

It has unnecessary and pointless vulgarity that does nothing for the story or the reader, the characters, especially the ancient Aztec gods are 2 dimensional and act like middle school children. The main characters are a bit better but hardly worth so many pages of reading.

The technology and setting ideas are good, the combats are action packed and well described. The only parts of the book I enjoyed.

Tip with possible spoiler:

Read the last 4 or 5 chapters, I think, if you want to read a fun action sequence akin to a robotech episode. It is the only part worth your time.