cover image FEATHERED SERPENT

FEATHERED SERPENT

Colin Falconer, . . Crown, $22.95 (384pp) ISBN 978-0-609-61029-9

After tackling the story of one powerful woman in history—Cleopatra, heroine of When We Were Gods—Falconer reimagines the life of another: Ce Malinali, or La Malinche, as she is commonly known. For Mexicans, Ce Malinali is a controversial figure—a native woman who served as guide and interpreter for Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and even bore him a son. When Cortés arrives in Mexico with 500 men and a few horses and cannon, drawn by his desire for gold and glory, Malinali sees in him the reincarnation of the god Quetzalcoatl, or Feathered Serpent. She is convinced that he will free her people from the cruel domination of Motecuhzoma (Montezuma), Aztec emperor of the powerful and voracious central state of Mexica. Cortés takes advantage of the hatred most of the country has for Mexica to force his way to Tenochtitlan, the capital city. Here, the superstitious Motecuhzoma, despite having a much larger army, gives Cortés his throne and enormous amounts of gold. When the Mexicas finally resist, their efforts are futile, and the city burns. Falconer tells a great and familiar story—of a smaller, technologically adept army invading a large, culturally brilliant country—but his account of the struggle becomes repetitious and finally tedious. As Malinali wavers in her conviction that Cortés is a god, she becomes a more interesting character, but her single-mindedness, as portrayed by Falconer, makes her seem more like a symbol than a person. The novel concludes with a vision of her as an unhappy, remorseful ghost, wandering the streets of present-day Mexico City. (Dec.)

Forecast:Falconer's novel was first published in Spanish as La Princesa Azteca; it topped Mexican charts in 2000. It won't fare as well in the U.S., where the subject matter is less incendiary, but those with a special interest in the conquest should take note.