Servant of the Underworld

Obsidian and Blood, Book 1

By: Aliette de Bodard

Narrated by: John Telfer

Year One-Knife, Tenochtitlan – the capital of the Aztecs. The end of the world is kept at bay only by the magic of human sacrifice. A priestess disappears from an empty room drenched in blood. Acatl, high priest, must find her, or break the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead. But how do you find someone, living or dead, in a world where blood sacrifices are an everyday occurrence and the very gods stalk the streets?

©2010 Aliette de Bodard (P)2014 Audible Ltd

Critic reviews

"Gripping mystery steeped in blood and ancient Aztec magic. I was enthralled" (Sean Williams)
"Part murder mystery, part well-researched historical novel and part fantasy...The fantasy element blends neatly with the other parts" ( SFX Magazine)
"An Aztec priest of the dead tries to solve a murder mystery, and finds that politics may be even more powerful than magic. A vivid portrayal of an interesting culture in a truly fresh fantasy novel." (Kevin J. Anderson New York Times bestselling author)
"Amid the mud and maize of the Mexica empire, Aliette de Bodard has composed a riveting story of murder, magic and sibling rivalry." (Elizabeth Bear)
"I haven’t enjoyed a proper detective story this much in ages, and the rich setting, monsters and magic just added an extra layer of delight." (David Devereux)

Stunning

The performance was breathtaking. The story was unexpected in the most beautiful way. left me absolutely in love.

amazing.

absolutely amazing story all around. great character fleshing out and growth. incredible world building, display and research. beautiful prose. the rising action and climax was well executed with a satisfying resolution. I've never enjoyed a detective story as much as this. the narrator was great. he had clear enunciation, pronounced words I couldnt have ever hoped to with ease and had wonderful pacing with a rich smooth voice.

Not Your Average Detective Story

An interesting take on the magic enabled detective story ... sort of like an Aztec Dresden Files. Put in on in the background and don't worry about catching everything ... it pretty much goes where you would expect it to go, so just enjoy listening.

Enjoyed it so much more than I expected!

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to connect with the setting, and it did take me a while to feel invested in the story, but I ended up liking several characters (and loving to dislike several others) and found myself drawn into the mystery. It's a Whodunit with gods and magic.

Unique setting, excellent writing

Truly love this trilogy and wish there was more. The setting alone is enough reason to pick it up, but the way it dives into the culture to create non traditional plots elevates it.

A Nice Change of Pace in Fantasy

No pdf at Audible. Visited her website for character list and glossary. It helped alot.

love it!

I did struggle a little with some of the names, but the story and narration is really great. I got really invested in the story and the main character. Aliette de Bodard is my new favorite author. She writes the most amazing and intriguing adventures!

A Different take on Urban Fantasy?

This is a detective story mixed with fantasy set in the pre-contact Aztec world. Really good stuff.

In the novel, the everyday world of an Aztec city is set shoulder to shoulder with the spiritual world. Rituals give access to speak with goddesses and gods. The many interactions with the spiritual are naturalistic and believable. I'm not quite sure how Ms. de Bodard achieved this feat. It might because the gods and goddesses attend to their cosmic duties and yet are also quite pleased to toy with mortals who approach too closely.

The main character, the priest Acatl, provides funerary rights to the people. He is a kind man who cares about the commoners quite a bit more than the warriors and the nobles. He comes from peasant stock and there is a deep rift with his family because he didn't join the high status warrior class like his brother. When a strange and bloody abduction occurs, his brother is in the cross hairs as the perpetrator. Acatl tries to get to the bottom of the mystery while wrestling with his extreme rancor with his sibling. He uses all his training in the mystical world to investigate the god tainted abduction. There are many hair-raising encounters with the gods such as a one-sided fight with the god of death who is portrayed as coated in obsidian shards and sporting obsidian blades for fingers. And yet Acatl's biggest hurdle may be understanding dark feelings about himself and his family. It's not clear if his good-hearted nature will be enough to see him through his anger.

The narrator, Mr.Telfer is excellent. I thought he landed an authentic dramatic delivery throughout the book. He devised some excellent characterizations of the gods and goddesses too.

The story does travel around in long loops and I found the battles befuddling because of the quite long Aztec character names. If the you like the vibe of the sample, perhaps the good storytelling will overcome the uncompromising style of the book for you. If you get the book, it may add to the enjoyment of the story to find a cast of characters list online. The only cast list I have found so far is in the appendix of the print and kindle version.

Good story but irritatingly written

Well thought out story and lots of excitement but written in a trying and drawn out manner. The tense relation between the nice but irritating main character and his warrior brother is important for the story, but it is overworked in my opinion. The action scenes are squeezed to, litterally, the last drop of sacrifical blood and the whole mix is just a bit too much.

Couldn't get through it.

What disappointed you about Servant of the Underworld?

I hate when an author makes words up. If you want to make an example of something from a chess game, just do it. Or a new word to describe a king or an official. Maybe one or two throughout the story would be OK but I don't want to learn a new language just to enjoy a story. And those annoying names that he gave the characters. I didn't know one from the next. I had to give up.

Would you be willing to try another one of John Telfer’s performances?

Yes

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

no