In the Courts of the Sun

By: Brian D'Amato

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

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 weapon? A Mayan divination game---once used for predicting corn-harvest cycles, now proving very useful in predicting corn futures---that his mother taught him. But Jed's life is thrown into chaos when his former mentor, the game theorist Taro, and a mysterious woman named Marena Park invite him to give his opinion on a newly discovered Mayan codex. Marena and Taro are looking for a volunteer to travel back to 664 AD to learn more about a "sacrifice game" described in the codex. Jed leaps at the chance, and soon scientists are replicating his brain waves and sending them through a wormhole, straight into the mind of a Mayan king. Only something goes wrong. Instead of becoming a king, Jed arrives inside a ballplayer named Chacal who is seconds away from throwing himself down the temple steps as a human sacrifice. If Jed can live through the next few minutes, he might just save the world.©2009 Brain D'Amato (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A remarkable, unique, stand-out book.... In a word: awesome. Or brilliant. Make that two words: awesome and brilliant." (Raymond Khoury, author of The Last Templar and The Sanctuary)

Unique and well constructed

There are some parts that are long and seem to have a bit more detail than necessary but its constant with the main character nature and, as he's the also narrator it fits very well and I found it enjoyable. The time travel scenario was unique and I enjoyed the authors take on the Maya game, the game in general. It's probably not for everyone but it kept interested and entertained. The book is better than the sample, so if you like the sample, you'll probably like the book. If you don't like the sample, I wouldn't recommend it.

Fantastic stream of consciousness

Where does In the Courts of the Sun rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I listen to many audiobooks a year (20-40 average), and this is definitely in my top 20 ever listened to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of In the Courts of the Sun?

The author paints a fantastic picture and brings you into the world of Jed. The narrator does a fantastic job portraying the main character as one with aspergers.

Which character – as performed by Robertson Dean – was your favorite?

Definitely Jed. Mr. Dean really brought him to life for me. Definitely NOT one-dimensional!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

absolutely! Unfortunately, due to the length of the book this wasn't viable.

Not for everyone

Interesting premise. Excellent narration. If you can get past the left wing paranoia reminiscent of 9-11 "truthers" and the nihilism, you will enjoy the story at least in part. Overall, unless unrelenting pessimism, a very dim view of human nature, and a belief in the pointlessness of human civilization (Mayan and modern)are your cup of tea, skip this one. If graphic violence and torture bothers you, I would also skip it. You can sum up hours of listening as -- "life is pain, so what's the point?"

Would make a great movie.

The best thing about this audio book is Robertson Dean's narration. Without a doubt, Dean is the only reason I actually finished the book. The excessive description and details are informative, but they really get in the way of moving the story along. With a quicker pace and a better ending, this would probably make a pretty good scifi movie. The science is a stretch but there are some really fantastic parts in this book. I never like to read or listen to abridged versions of books, so I would strongly suggest better editing for D'Amato's next project. I'm glad that I listened to the book, but it was rough getting to the end. If you liked the main science premise of this book, you'd probably like the audio book "Think Like a Dinosaur" by James Patrick Kelly, which by the way is only about an hour long.

Interesting but bleak

The narrator did a great job.
The story held my interest and provided a fascinating view of Maya culture. I got a real kick out of who the perpetrators of the Orland event turned out to be.
The cynicism was off-putting and the ending was cut-off and disappointing. Very bleak view of the world at the end.
In all I'm glad I listened to it and I'll just forget the last 15 minutes.