Distant Mountain , livre ebook

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209 pages

English

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In his compelling and fresh sixth book Craig A. Grimes takes a speculative look on history, power, and society. How so often little things lead to unforeseen big things, and carefully planned big things so often lead to nothing.A Distant Mountain takes one to The Valley of Mexico about 1350.The Aztecs have yet to rise to power; they are just one of the many Nahua city-states making up, as they knew it, the One World.What we know of these people, crushed in an eye-blink, generally begins and ends with ritual blood sacrifice.Yet at that time they had the most modern society of any in the world with, uniquely, free public education for all children, hospitals, efficiently managed public works, an ethical judicial system, and government supported associations that cared for the needy.The towns and cities were orderly, clean, prosperous and efficient.Which suggests that their society had both a rational and irrational aspect to it- like most.Craig observes: "Although the novel is fictional it is largely based on actual events and practices.In A Distant Mountain I explore, through a series of individual decisions made with the best of intentions, how societies can give birth to their own disappearance.We follow the trajectory of Lord Quinatzin, who has unexpectedly become King of Azcapotzalco and must now guide the realm through the treacherous shoals of existence.Within The Valley lives Kulcan, an unlikely champion who has a task of vengeance placed upon his prodigious shoulders.The two are bound by a wrong decision, inadvertent miscalculation, which creates a chain of events rippling out through space and time.A Distant Mountain is a meditative reflection on the ephemeral nature of power, and how societies begin as one thing and end up as another."Age and youth, peace and war, death and love, the strikingly beautiful story is alive with a truth and understanding that illuminate the soul as a marvellous dream.

Sujets

Historical fiction

Informations

Publié par	Troubador Publishing Ltd
Date de parution	28 juillet 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781800466357
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Copyright © 2021 Craig A. Grimes

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

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ISBN 978 1800466 357

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

Cover, from The Valley of Mexico from the Hill in Tenaya, 1870, oil on canvas, Eugene Landesio. Museo Nacional de Arte, Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico.
Photography: Museo Nacional de Arte/INBAL

To K & K

Contents
Preface

First Bundle

1
Azcapotzalco
2
The Army
3
Xilotepec
4
Jaguars and Eagles
5
The Coronation of King Quinatzin
6
Coronation I: The Tlachtli Game
7
Coronation II: The Sky Dancers
8
King Quinatzin

Second Bundle

9
Some Moments Held Bound Within The Past
10
Tetelpan
11
Sorcerers and Magicians
12
A Puzzle Does Not Solve Itself
13
Lady Xocotzin

Third Bundle

14
The Return of Kulcan
15
In Which We First Meet Tlaloc
16
In Which We First Meet Night Axe
17
The Tower Of Light
18
Beneath The Common Sky
19
Kulcan Arrives At Azcapotzalco
20
Totomotzin
21
Kulcan Departs for Xochimilco
22
Tzintzuntzan, High Priest of Cihuacoatl
23
Kulcan Visits Xipilco
24
The Oracle
25
Kulcan Ponders A Mystery

Fourth Bundle

26
Events Held Bound Within The Past: The Drought
27
All Does Not Fair Well With Tlaloc
28
All Does Not Fair Well With Chalchiuhtlicue
29
The Air Burns
30
The Pantitlan Whirlpool
31
Zacancatl
32
The Departure Of Zacancatl
33
The Bright Heavens

Fifth Bundle

34
The Present, Which Finds Kulcan In Tenochtitlan
35
Chilico’s Temple
36
Tlacotzin and Petlatzin
37
An All Consuming Fire
38
Night Axe Attends A Dinner
39
The Heart of Existence
40
A Second Dinner With Quinatzin
41
Quinatzin’s Tale
42
The Departure of Night Axe

Sixth Bundle

43
More Unchangeable Events Within The Past
44
Texcoco
45
Tetzcotzingo
46
The Feast Of Tetzcotzingo: I
47
The Feast Of Tetzcotzingo: II
48
The Drought
49
The Flower War

Seventh Bundle

50
The Present, And We Meet Teya
51
A Far Place
52
Cihuacoatl’s Needle
53
A Shifting of Political Alliances
54
The Net Closes
55
King Copiltzin
56
Queen Miahuitl
57
Departures

Pronunciation of Nahuatl words
Major Gods and Goddesses
Bibliography

Preface
A Distant Mountain is a work of fiction set about 1350 in the Valley of Mexico, which encompasses both Mexico City and surrounding regions. The valley, it was then the Nahua Valley, was lake filled, with cities and towns arranging themselves between water and the encircling ring of mountains. The Mexica, or Aztecs as they are now most commonly known, have yet to rise to power; they are just one of the many Nahua city-states making up, as they knew it, the One World.

What we know of these people, crushed in an instant by imported diseases and tempered steel, generally begins and ends with ritual blood sacrifice offered within the context of religious services. Yet at that time they arguably had the most modern society of any in the world with, uniquely, free public education for all children, hospitals, efficiently managed public works, an ethical judicial system, and government supported associations that cared for the needy. The towns and cities were orderly, clean, prosperous and efficient.

Which suggests that their society had both a rational and irrational aspect to it, -like most. A Distant Mountain is a story of transition, about how a society begins in one place and ends up, as they usually do, someplace entirely different.

The religious festivals are as generally described by historical works of which a bibliography is given at the end of this book, as is a convenient list of the various gods and goddesses, a guide for pronunciation of Nahuatl words, and a hastily sketched map of the One World.

First Bundle

1
Azcapotzalco
Quinatzin now sits upon the icpalli , the royal chair of Azcapotzalco. Which is to say of the many voices within the city his is heard most clearly. Stand by yourself in the marketplace and shout, “I am king!” and safe to say you will be mocked, or worse. Do the same with 100 soldiers at your back and events proceed quite differently . Getting the soldiers on your side is the trick, those who change assertion to certainty, from which point power flows outwards like so many ripples across a pond. It is just a question of pattern, mere mechanics invariant across dimensional scales. “We are not wolves,” Quinatzin thinks, “no, nor ants nor squirrels, but there are points of commonality: each to its realm, each to its victories.”
And of the moment, Quinatzin reflects upon his stepwise journey to the throne, a journey that has required sacrifices, as do all journeys. Quinatzin remembers how a smile hovered on the lips of his father, Acamapichtli, as he slipped away from life, death erasing his disillusions. A pack leader sires many pups knowing that one will rise up to replace him: it’s just a question of when, and who. Acamapichtli did not raise his children, or at least not Quinatzin, to rule over a sorry village lost within trackless wilderness.
“I and my father are one,” Quinatzin had told the nobles of Azcapotzalco, the high priests, those surprised he had assumed the icpalli . “Obey me as you would have obeyed him.”
That, and the soldiers, ceased their mutterings; they had chosen Acamapichtli to lead them, they had not chosen Quinatzin. Yet he loved his father, and so too his older brother