You dreamed of empires

Enrigue, Alvaro

£18.99

One morning in 1519, conquistador Hernán Cortés entered the floating city of Tenochtitlan – today’s Mexico City. Later that day, he would meet the emperor Moctezuma in a collision of two worlds, two empires, two languages, two possible futures. Cortés was accompanied by his nine captains, his troops, and his two translators: Friar Aguilar, a taciturn, former slave, and Malinalli, a strategic, former princess. Greeted at a ceremonial welcome meal by the steely princess Atotoxli, sister and wife of Moctezuma, the Spanish nearly bungle their entrance to the city. As they await their meeting with Moctezuma – who is at a political, spiritual, and physical crossroads, and relies on hallucinogens to get himself through the day and in quest for any kind of answer from the gods – the Spanish are ensconced in the labyrinthine palace.

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Publish Date: 11/01/2024

Description

A hallucinatory, revelatory, colonial revenge story in sixteenth-century Mexico, from the visionary author of Sudden Death

‘Glorious’ i-D

One morning in 1519, conquistador Hernán Cortés rode into the floating city of Tenoxtitlan – today’s Mexico City – accompanied by his eight captains, his troops, and his two translators.

Invited to a ceremonial meal with the steely princess Atotoxtli, sister and wife of the emperor Moctezuma, the Spanish nearly bungle their entrance into the city and its labyrinthine palace. Soon, one of Cortés’s captains, Jazmìn Caldera, begins to question the ease with which they were welcomed, and wonders at the risks of getting out alive, much less conquering the empire.

Moctezuma himself is at a political, spiritual and physical crossroads, relying on hallucinogens in a quest for any kind of answer from the gods. When Cortés and Moctezuma meet later that day, two worlds, empires, languages and possible futures collide.

A hallucinatory, revelatory, colonial revenge story, You Dreamed of Empires brings to life Tenoxtitlan at its height – and reimagines its destiny. It sets afire the moment of conquest and turns it into a moment of revolution, in a novel so electric and so unique that it feels like a dream.

Translated by Natasha Wimmer

Praise for Sudden Death

‘Glorious’ New York Times

‘Dazzlingly clever and thrillingly original’ Mail on Sunday

‘So much fun to read’ Guardian

‘Engaging, audacious and flat-out fun’ Vice

‘The best kind of puzzle? esoteric and wildly funny’ Lauren Groff

‘Ingenious’ Irish Times

‘Endlessly inventive’ Financial Times

Additional information

Weight 346 g
Dimensions 222 × 144 × 24 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

224

Language

English

Edition

Hardback original

Dewey

863.7 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K