Sun of Blood and Ruin

A Novel

By: Mariely Lares

Narrated by: Victoria Villarreal

Rumor has it on the streets of sixteenth-century New Spain, there’s a new vigilante in town serving justice. This reimagining of Zorro—featuring a heroic warrior sorceress—weaves Mesoamerican mythology and Mexican history two decades after the Spanish conquest into a swashbuckling, historical debut fantasy with magic, intrigue, treachery, and romance.

A new legend begins…

In sixteenth-century New Spain, witchcraft is punishable by death, indigenous temples have been destroyed, and tales of mythical creatures that once roamed the land have become whispers in the night. Hidden behind a mask, Pantera uses her magic and legendary swordplay skills to fight the tyranny of Spanish rule.

To all who know her, Leonora de las Casas Tlazohtzin never leaves the palace and is promised to the heir of the Spanish throne. The respectable, law-abiding Lady Leonora faints at the sight of blood and would rather be caught dead than meddle in court affairs.

No one suspects that Leonora and Pantera are the same person. Leonora’s charade is tragically good, and with magic running through her veins, she is nearly invincible. Nearly. Despite her mastery, she is destined to die young in battle, as predicted by a seer.

When an ancient prophecy of destruction threatens to come true, Leonora—and therefore Pantera—is forced to decide: surrender the mask or fight to the end. Knowing she is doomed to a short life, she is tempted to take the former option. But the legendary Pantera is destined for more than an early grave, and once she discovers the truth of her origins, not even death will stop her.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Thought provoking, refreshing, and raw

I admit it had me at the ‘Zorro retelling’ premise. I would say that, while that’s part of the story, it’s certainly not all of it; I’m apparently in the minority for feeling glad about that. A plain retelling is easy to do.
What this book did is MUCH harder, and the negative reviews seem to be from people so steeped in unexamined colonialist ideals that they are unintentionally amplifying the deeper meanings in this book and driving home how important stories like this really are.

To address the negative reviews here on Audible:
Challenging the idea of what’s currently perceived as ‘normal’ and ‘correct’ is something this book does well with regard to religion and Christianity. Several reviews specifically mentioned feeling insulted about the way christianity was portrayed in this story - well…all I can say is it’s true to history. Christianity is historically the religion of colonization, with most who committed the vast majority of genocides and atrocities throughout history using the Bible and converting people as their justification.
The entirety of the christian church really needs to sit with that, deal with it, and choose to move away from the colonizer/control mindset.
I say this as someone who was raised evangelical christian, and has honestly faced the grim history of this religion.
There’s so much potential for good, just like with most religions - but anything that’s abused as a means to grasp power, to dominate lands and peoples, or to create a ridiculously egregious level of hegemony has the potential for great evil, and Christianity is no exception. This book, while not perfect, was gorgeous, heartwrenching, deeply thought provoking, and fascinating and fun all at different and overlapping points - it will stick with me for a long long time.
Full review on embers_book_nook, goodreads, fable, etc.

Wish I hadn’t wasted a credit.

Wasn’t a fan of the writing at all. Loved the inclusion of the Spanish language and Mexican culture, but the negative talk of Christianity was incredibly forced. I understand that is relevant to the time and place, but negative talk of “the nailed Christ” is where I drew the line. Straight up disrespectful. Wish I hadn’t washed a credit on this.

Not good.

I had high hopes for this story. I love stories set in this time period, and across the globe, and from all religions. The description sounded amazing too… but I did not finish this book. I made it about 3/4 of the way through and had to bail.

The main character spends the vast majority of her time feeling sorry for herself, demonizing Christianity, and feeling bad for being half white. I understand the depiction of Christianity as something foreign in this novel. However, the sheer amount of Christian bashing in this book felt excessive. To the point where the main character makes fun of religion so much that it destroys any productive conversation.

Striving to see the perspective of the characters was made difficult because of the way they were written. Christianity was horribly misrepresented to the people of South America by the Spanish, but there was a better way to depict this. Resorting to mockery and insults is the shallowest form of criticism. I would have appreciated a bit deeper look, if this was meant to be a main theme.

I understand this book was meant to be a progressive work, but the main characters fell flat, and the story fell flatter. The author’s depiction of colonialism was confusing. This book does not stand on its own, which is unfortunate. It relies on an interesting premise to keep the reader from dropping the book immediately. However, it does not deliver this.

If you are looking to read a good book that displays the pain and suffering of colonialism, in a moving and engaging manner, with a good story I would recommend Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran.

Conclusively, this book was written poorly with unlikable characters. The author hid her lack of skill by being, rightfully but inarticulately, upset with colonial rule. I wish this book had spent two more years in development and editing.