The Sacrifice Game

The Sacrifice Game

It's here! It's here!

I've been waiting for this book for ever so long. Last April, hearing that it was going to be released soon, I reread the first book in the series -- In the Courts of the Sun.

What's it about? Well, it's an absolutely amazing blend of science fiction, historical fiction, adventure, and fantasy. Jed Delanda, a 21st century Mayan, has been transported back in time to the seventh century. Well, sort of. Since Jed and everyone else knows that it's impossible to take someone back in time literally, Jed and his cohorts have figured out a way to print his memory and personality on a seventh century person -- who becomes, for all practical purposes, Jed Delanda.

So now we have two Jed Delandas running around -- one in 7th century Mesoamerica and one in the 21st first century, awaiting the the countdown to Doomsday in December 2012. Jed-2's objective is to learn enough about "The Game" -- an ancient Mayan practice that Jed-1 is somewhat familiar with -- to find a way to prevent the End of Everything. As for Jed-1, he's moved on to other motivations.

If you haven't read the first book, you definitely don't want to start with this. The opening chapters recount what's happened up to then pretty well, I thought (and I really appreciated having it there), but I can see that it would be pretty dry reading for someone who wasn't already a fan.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to a terrific read.

In the Courts of the Sun

 (If you haven't already read it, this is the one you'll want to start with.)











Update:

Just finished reading this, and ... wow! I mean, wow!

This book is just as good as its predecessor, but again, I really would not recommend that anyone start with volume two. It would probably not be as confusing as I had thought -- D'Amato does an excellent job of recapping the action of the first book -- but the recap might get a little boring if you weren't familiar with the first book.

The game sequences and the the torture episodes are much more involved in this book, and seem to go on forever -- although not necessarily in a bad way. I'm relieved to think that there will probably be very few people out there reading this book just to get to the icky parts, though.

There are at least two major, major plot twists in The Sacrifice Game that were total surprises to me. I love that in a book.

One thing confused me a little, however. When I finished this book, I felt as though everything had been wrapped up. Did I make up that idea about the series being a trilogy? Went back to Amazon to check it out, and sure enough, it's still being marketed as a trilogy. Hmmmm. It felt so complete.

Well, that means good things are yet to come. I sure hope it won't be 3 years for the next volume to come out, though!