PublishedHarvill/Secker, April 2024 |
ISBN9781787303805 |
FormatHardcover, 224 pages |
Dimensions22.2cm × 14.2cm × 2.1cm |
From the visionary author of Sudden Death, a hallucinatory, revelatory, colonial revenge story set in sixteenth-century MexicoA hallucinatory, revelatory, colonial revenge story in sixteenth-century Mexico, from the visionary author of Sudden Death'Glorious' i-DOne morning in 1519, conquistador Hernan Cortes 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 Cortes's captains, Jazmin 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 Cortes 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.
