Conquistador

Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs

By: Buddy Levy

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

It was a moment unique in human history: the face-to-face meeting between two men from civilizations a world apart.

In 1519 Hernán Cortés arrived on the shores of Mexico, determined not only to expand the Spanish empire but to convert the natives to Catholicism and carry off a fortune in gold. That he saw nothing paradoxical in his intentions is one of the most remarkable and tragic aspects of this unforgettable story.

In Tenochtitlán, Cortés met his Aztec counterpart, Montezuma: king, divinity, and commander of the most powerful military in the Americas. Yet in less than two years, Cortés defeated the entire Aztec nation in one of the most astounding battles ever waged.

The story of a lost kingdom, a relentless conqueror, and a doomed warrior, Conquistador is history at its most riveting.

©2008 Buddy Levy (P)2008 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Lively account of the Spanish conquest of Mexico." ( Kirkus)
"Drawing heavily on both Spanish and Aztec sources...Levy gives a straightforward telling of the entire story.... Well-written.... Highly recommended." ( Library Journal)

A Great Book

A book will worth your time. I found myself trying to figure out the "bad guys" and the "good guys" and realized that I couldn't do it. The human sacrifices revolted me but the treachery and greed of the Cortes expedition disgusted me. Anyone interested in the forces that transformed the Americas should get this book.

This will give you the rest of the story.

I chose this book because I love history and knew NOTHING about Cortez except some vague high school history or Hollywood account of greedy Spaniards unnecessarily wiping out the poor, innocent Aztecs . Um. Not the whole story. Granted, the Aztecs were minding their own business when Cortez arrived - having built the largest civilization on the planet. Granted, there was the whole gold and greed thing, but there was also disgust for human sacrifice and roasted babies. Which was worse? This book does a great job of explaining how the whole conquering thing went down. The book was really good and the narrator did a good job. Other reviewers commented on his silly Spanish accent - and I agree. But, it made me snort/laugh every time I heard it - so that's not so bad, is it? I agree with another reviewer - I would have liked to have seen the wonders that Cortez saw.

Read the Book, Skip the Audible

I think this would have been far more enjoyable reading, rather than listening to the audio. The story was interesting and one that I have long wanted to read given the historic significance of Cortes' arrival.

Unfortunately, the narration is pretty bad. As many have pointed out, the narrator uses this terrible growl to mimic a Spanish accent. Interestingly, he does not do the same when quoting the locals.

While that was bad, the worse part in my opinion was the pacing, especially in the early chapters. I thought the narration was too fast and unnatural. It did not allow for me to take enough time to build the scene in my mind before having to quickly move on. This moderated slightly as the book went on, but it still caused this to be less than enjoyable to listen to.

If you really want to read this, I'd suggest the book over the audio.

Fun book. Horrendous pronunciation.

The book is fun, and a helpful narrative of Cortes’ invasion.

The reader, however, butchers even the most well known words including the name of one of the belligerent nations! In a book about the conflict between the Spanish and the Mexica, it’s important to be able to pronounce the words “Spanish” and “Mexica.” The reader successfully pronounces one of them.

And it’s not as if Mexica, or many of the other Nahuatl words are particularly difficult to pronounce. Mexica, for example, is just “meh-she-kah.” Easy.

At first I thought it was me, but...it’s not. The performer couldn’t be bothered to make sure he was pronouncing even the most common words correctly.

Great story, bad narration.

The story itself is fascinating, but the narrator was terrible. His mispronunciation of the names and his attempt to feign accents when speaking in the characters own words was cringeworthy. Half the time he tried to sound like a Spaniard it sounded more like a pirate imitation.
With that being said, the book is well worth reading, and I still enjoyed it.

Well written, poorly narrated.

Buddy Levy writes a gripping account of the conquest of Mexico. The narrator, however, fails miserably in his attempt at imagining how the Spanish would have spoken english. I could not stop thinking about Richard Dreyfus in the movie "Moon Over Parador." The narration ruined the experience for me. I can't finish the audiobook. I'll look for the paper version in the library.

Well Played

A fun read with a good narrator. I am not an expert on the subject, but it seemed the author did his homework. Too bad the Aztec capital no longer exists, it must have been something to see.

A great book nearly ruined

Unfortunately, the narration of this book was close to disrespectful. At times the voice of Cortez was nothing more than a very good immitation of "badges, badges, we don't need no stinkin badges" straight from the Treasure of Sierra Madre. In an almost schizophrenic manner, the narrator launched into this immitative harang at times when (laughable) authenticity was attempted. Ultimately, it was just plain irritating.

The great lessons and the great story is very much worth the purchase but this audio reading left much to be desired.

Wow!

Definitely right up there with the likes of 1491, 1776, and Team of Rivals!

Good book, bad narration

It seems the author did his job well in research, and the structure of the book content was very good but the narrator was a lousy selection, the name of the places and people was often pronounced three or four different ways because the narrator did not understand or did not know how to pronounce them and that was terrible. And every time he tried to do a Spanish accent he just sounded like someone with a sore throat. Because of that I did not enjoy this listen although I liked the book. Next time choose a narrator that understands or speaks the language he is trying to imitate.