Jennings, through Dark Cloud, presents generally accurate portrayals of the events surrounding a number of actual historical figures, their names usually rendered in traditional Nahuatl. The novel faithfully recreates a great deal of historical geographic places and history, particularly that involving the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire in an expedition led by Hernán Cortés. The Bishop's introductions to the various chapters of the chronicle often express his loathing for Mixtli and his weariness with recording what he considers to be the biography of a heathen and a sinner.
The 'composer' of the novel, Bishop Zumárraga, is often commented upon by the narrator, who notes when the Bishop arrives to hear generally lurid details of human sacrifice and sexual impropriety, and often leaves just as quickly in disgust. The novel chronicles Mixtli's many adventures, which take him through all of the Aztec Empire ("The One World") and beyond. Born to ordinary parents and afflicted with keratoconus, Mixtli nonetheless rises quickly through the hierarchy of Mexican society, becoming a scribe, a wealthy trader, a renowned warrior, and eventually a lord of Tenochtitlan and a highly respected councilor to Moctezuma II. The novel portrays the entirety of the life of Mixtli-Dark Cloud, who is asked by Bishop Juan de Zumárraga to tell about his life, since King Carlos I of Spain ( Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) wants a chronicle of what Aztecs were like. The book is written as a series of letters from the Bishop of the See of New Spain to King Carlos of Spain, containing a transcribed biography of Mixtli (full name Chicóme-Xochitl Tliléctic Mixtli, "Seven Flower Dark Cloud", in Nahuatl), an elderly Aztec man, by Spanish Catholic monks during the 16th century. The remaining four novels ( Aztec Blood, 2002 Aztec Rage, 2006 Aztec Fire, 2008 Aztec Revenge, 2012) were written by other authors after Jennings died in 1999. It is the first of two novels Jennings wrote in the Aztec series, followed by Aztec Autumn.
Aztec is a 1980 historical fiction novel by American author Gary Jennings.
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