Skip to main content
Thumbnail for You dreamed of empires

You dreamed of empires

Enrigue, Alvaro, 1969-2024
Books
From a visionary Mexican author, a hallucinatory, revelatory, colonial revenge story that reimagines the fall of Tenochtitlan. One morning in 1519, conquistador Hernán Cortés entered the 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. Soon, one of Cortés's captains, Jazmín Caldera, overwhelmed by the grandeur of the city, begins to question the ease with which they were welcomed into the city, and wonders at the risks of getting out alive, much less conquering the empire. You Dreamed of Empires brings to life Tenochtitlan at its height, and reimagines its destiny. The incomparably original Alvaro Enrigue sets afire the moment of conquest and turns it into a moment of revolution, a restitutive, fantastical counter-attack, in a novel so electric and so unique that it feels like a dream.
Main title:
You dreamed of empires / Álvaro Enrigue ; translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer.
Author:
Imprint:
London : Harvill Secker, 2024.©2024
Collation:
xiv, 206 pages ; 23 cm
Notes:
First published with the title "Tu sueño imperios han sido" in Spain by Editorial Anagrama, Barcelona, in 2022.Includes bibliographical references.Translated from the Spanish.
ISBN:
9781787303805 (hbk)9781787303805
Dewey class:
863.64
Language:
EnglishSpanish
BRN:
555818
LocationCollectionCall numberStatus/Desc
Sandringham LibraryAdult Fiction - GeneralENRIOnloan - Due: 28 Sep 2024
View my active saved list
0 items in my active saved list