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    In the Courts of the Sun
    In the Courts of the Sun
    In the Courts of the Sun
    Audiobook28 hours

    In the Courts of the Sun

    Written by Brian D'Amato

    Narrated by Robertson Dean

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    December 21, 2012. The day time stops. Jed DeLanda, a descendant of the Maya living in the year 2012, is a math prodigy who spends his time playing Go against his computer and raking in profits from online trading. His secret weapon? A Mayan divination game-once used for predicting corn-harvest cycles, now proving very useful in predicting corn futures-that his mother taught him. But Jed's life is thrown into chaos when his former mentor, the game theorist Taro, and a mysterious woman named Marena Park invite him to give his opinion on a newly discovered Mayan codex.

    Marena and Taro are looking for a volunteer to travel back to 664 AD to learn more about a "sacrifice game" described in the codex. Jed leaps at the chance, and soon scientists are replicating his brain waves and sending them through a wormhole, straight into the mind of a Mayan king.

    Only something goes wrong. Instead of becoming a king, Jed arrives inside a ballplayer named Chacal who is seconds away from throwing himself down the temple steps as a human sacrifice. If Jed can live through the next few minutes, he might just save the world.

    Bringing to mind Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon and Gary Jennings's Aztec, yet entirely unique, In the Courts of the Sun takes you from the distant past to the near future in a brilliant kaleidoscope of ideas.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 20, 2009
    ISBN9781400181407
    In the Courts of the Sun

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    Reviews for In the Courts of the Sun

    3.5/5

    91 ratings13 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Extraordinary world-building of the ancient Mayan culture, combined with stellar storytelling skills, make this a compulsively engaging read. Experiencing the story from the perspective of the insecure but brilliant first-person narrator is the crowning touch!
    • 4/5
      Der Protagonist dieses Romans ist Jed DeLanda, er stammt aus Guatemala und hat in seiner Kindheit ein mysteriöses altes Brettspiel erlernt, das von den Maya benutzt worden ist, um in die Zukunft zu blicken. Zwar beherrscht Jed dieses "Opferspiel" so gut, dass er es gewinnbringend für sich einsetzen kann, doch ist bekannt, dass die alten Maya mit dem Spiel viel weiter in mögliche Zukünfte blicken konnten. Mit dem Ende des Maya-Kalendars am 21.12.2012 sind Spekulationen über das bevorstehende Ende der Welt verknüpft. Dieses Ende könnte kosmische oder übernatürlich Gründe haben. Aber auch so genannte Doomster, Personen, die die Menschheit durch Anschläge oder Seuchen auslöschen wollen, könnten dieses Datum für sich nutzen wollen. Als sich die Anzeichen für solche Bestrebungen mehren, wird eine Kopie von Jeds Bewusstsein in die Vergangenheit geschickt, um dort die Geheimnisse des Opferspiels kennen zu lernen. Mit diesem Wissen soll es dann gelingen, die Bedrohungen im Jahr 2012 zu erkennen und ihnen entgegen zu treten. Der Roman legt großartig los. Obwohl sich die Handlung eher langsam entwickelt, hat der Text doch ein hohes Tempo. Und hohen Stil. Insbesondere die ständigen sarkastischen Kommentare des Protagonisten machen das Buch im ersten Teil zu einem großen Lesevergnügen. Leider verliert der Roman etwa in der Mitte deutlich an Qualität. Die Frische verschwindet und im antiken Mayareich werden wir beglückt mit zu viel Gewalt- und Folter-Beschreibungen. Es dauert einigen hundert quälenden Seiten bis das Buch zum Ende hin wieder richtig gut wird und zu einem grandiosen Schluss findet. Fazit: Es ist ein außergewöhnliches und unbedingt lesenswertes Buch mit einigen Schwächen und Längen in der zweiten Hälfte.
    • 3/5
      I'm very reluctant to admit that I did not finish this book. I rarely do not finish books that I start. The premise of returning a "conciousness" back to Mayan time to try and learn the Sacrifice game in its original form, then to be use the game as a way to predict what might happen on/around Dec 21, 2012, was enough to get me interested; but I could not stay interested the farther I got into the book. Although by far not a bad book, it took too much effort for me to concentrate on. The main charcter is a savant and I have to give the author credit for writing the character as he did, but the exact characteristics that defined the main character Jed also put me off of the story. The character was hyper, distracted, sometimes disoriented, and many times his train of thought was hard to follow. I work in a technical field day in and day out, it's not usually what I choose to read for leisure. Some of the technical descriptions (physics, etc.) in the book caused the story to drag. Maybe someday I will go back to the book and pick up where I left off - I really would like to see where the story leads - just too tired to concentrate on it right now.
    • 4/5
      To use an old expression, this book is gonna blow your mind! Take an uber hip polymath, whose probably best at playing games (Go, Chess, Video).Combine with corporate greed and an ancient Mayan game that predicts the end of the world. Solution, get more information from people who have been dead for near two millennia. Written as if the author was a columnist for a pub in Neuromancer, this is mostly compelling stuff. Only problem is he gets too overwehelmed by detail and the narrative slows. Cutting from past to present to past doesn't help sustain flow either. Huge book at 684 pages, first in a trilogy. I skimmed last two hundred pages. But you've never read a book so hip, so erutdite in Mayan ethnography that it's worth the time.
    • 3/5
      "In the Courts of the Sun" is an interesting novel, built Frankenstein-like from the elements of a Michael Crichton techno-thriller, Gary Jennings' "Aztec" series, and one of Stephen Baxter's novel spins on time travel. I enjoyed the book, but it's uneven. The book was written by artist Brian D'Amato and is being publicized as the first of three books in a Sacrifice Game trilogy.The story is heavily character-driven, led by Jed DeLanda, a supremely intelligent, anti-social, hard-core gamer...of Mayan descent. DeLanda is one of the few people in the world who can play an ancient Mayan game used to help see into the future. Capitalizing on the real-world 2012 doomsday popularity, D'Amato's story places Jed in position to help decipher a recently discovered Mayan codex, and play his game to help unravel mysterious clues about the end of the world as predicted to take place on December 21, 2012.Jed, connected through an insanely rich man and organization, is given a chance to go back in time to find the author of the codex which predicts this 2012 doomsday. He's not actually going back in time himself, but his consciousness is transferred to an individual in 664 AD. The original target for Jed's consciousness is the ruler of the Mayan city of Ix. Instead, Jed2 (as the consciousness part of Jed is referred to) misses the target and is placed in Chacal, a champion Mayan ball player who's been selected as a sacrifice in place of the Mayan ruler.About one-third of the story takes place in 664 AD in Central America and Mexico with Jed2 narrating his search for the author of the codex and how he might be able to play the game and determine the details surrounding the foretold 12/21/12 holocaust. Jed2's narration is sandwiched between Jed's narration leading up to the consciousness time travel and its aftermath.The story is carried by a heavy amount of Jed's inner monologue, which at times is quite good and insightful. I was particularly appreciative of his well-stated rants of self actualization, and his introverts' perspective on other personality types. Jed's very snarky, which at times was wonderful at lightening the mood but at other times a little grating and rambling. He spends a good amount of time detailing the Game.The conclusion is disappointing. I don't know how else to put it. Part two is due later in 2010 and I'm finding myself only moderately interested in finding out what happens next. As a big fan of Gary Jenning's "Aztec", I'd like to see a return to the world of ancient America, and perhaps D'Amato will keep to a crisper storyline.
    • 2/5
      The first 2/3rds of the book was griping and had me hooked. The last 1/3rd I found myself speed reading to get through to the end. The finale dragged and was somewhat of a disappointment. That being said the story is a good ride especially the time travel sequences back to the Maya period.
    • 2/5
      A Mayan prophecy predicts disaster, and to find out more about it, Jed, a descendant of the Maya, must go back in time (kind of) to learn how to better play a prediction game and prevent catastophe. Interesting idea, but it didn't make for a good book. The narrator is annoying, the game he plays is basically incomprehensible, and the writing is so repetitive at times I skipped over pages. I may check out the sequel to see if the writing has improved, but I could not honestly recommend this book to anyone.
    • 1/5
      The plot of this book sounded inventive and exciting--time travel, ancient history, the end of the world. I made it through about 200 pages and couldn't take it anymore. It started out fast and fun, and took a nose dive to slow, overwritten and annoying. I didn't care if the characters lived or not. A good idea, just not done well.
    • 5/5
      Para empezar, hay que decir que el libro no tiene nada que ver con la película, de igual nombre, de Roland Emmerich.Según los mayas, guiados por el Juego de adivinación maya (elemento central del libro), el mundo acabará el 21 de diciembre de 2012. Jed DeLanda, un matemático maya criado en Estados Unidos con una capacidad para el cálculo excepcional, acaba dentro de una asociación para la que solía trabajar que se dedica a evitar el fin del mundo. Para ello, utilizan una versión del Juego adaptada, pero la versión original se perdió en el tiempo, por lo que envían a Jed al pasado (transportando su conciencia a través de un agujero de gusano) en busca de las "instrucciones" originales.Spoiler:Después de unos fatídicos atentados con uranio de por medio, el mundo enloquece. Tras decenas de capítulos en los que Jed tiene diversas aventuras por el mundo maya, consigue el modo real de jugar al Juego, que, en realidad, eran unas drogas cronolíticas (término que sólo aparece una vez en Google. Al parecer, provocan que el cerebro piense mucho más rápido). Finalmente, consiguen localizar al terrorista, una persona relativamente normal que había sido despedida de su trabajo, que se estaba preparando para lanzar un ataque bacteriológico a escala mundial.El estilo narrativo de Brian D'Amato es muy curioso. Está todo perfectamente documentado, casi parece una enciclopedia. Hay más de 170 notas a pie de página a lo largo de todo el libro, algunas bastante extensas, lo que, sumado a las largas explicaciones sobre la cultura maya, hacen de él un buen libro para aprender sobre la época precolombina. Además, aunque son más de 730 páginas, consigue mantener la trama trepidante en todo momento. Como ha dicho la crítica, es un libro que te mantiene pegado un sinfín de horas (a mí me ha costado 2 meses terminarlo. También es verdad que he leído bastantes entre medio). Ciencia ficción, thriller, libro histórico, tecnológico... Es una combinación bastante curiosa, pero que encaja bastante bien.
    • 4/5
      By now we all know the story of December 21, 2012. It's the last day of the Mayan calendar and the day the world will end. But not if the Sacrifice Game player, Jed DeLanda, has anything to say about it. When Jed learns about the ability to send consciousness back in time through a wormhole he immediately volunteers for the trip. His goal will be to learn the Game from the top Mayan players in 664 AD to better predict events in 2012 to eventually stop the end of the world. As he wakes up in the mind of a Maya in 664 AD he quickly realizes two things have gone wrong. First, instead of taking over a Mayan king, he is in the mind and body of a ballplayer who is about to throw himself off a temple as a sacrifice. Secondly instead of the ballplayer's mind being wiped clean with Jed's conscious taking its place, the ball player is fully aware that Jed is trying to take over his body and is fully intent on following through with his death.First off I have to congratulate myself on finishing this one. At 679 pages its one of the longest books I've read in a long time and I have to say sometimes the pages were slow going. Even though I got through the whole book I just couldn't get a handle on the Sacrifice Game. As a consequence anytime anything relating to the Game was discussed I felt totally lost. What makes up for that disappointment was the incredible descriptions of the Mayan people and their cities. It's really amazing how I could easily visualize the settings. Overall there is a good story lying in between the confusion of the Game components but I probably won't be reading the next two books in the trilogy.
    • 5/5
      According to the Mayan calendar, the world is going to end on December 12, 2012. The Warren Group is trying to use technology to figure out a way to stop the world from ending. In the end, will their work pay off or is hope beyond reach?This is an exciting book that truthfully scared me out of my wits. I can handle horror novels and scary movies but this book shook me to my core. Not because of monsters or serial killers but because this is a true prediction, it struck a nerve. The writing is superb and I'm going to have to add Brian to my list of favorite authors.
    • 5/5
      Time-travel is impossible... too many problems with paradoxes, and besides, if it was possible, where's the evidence of people visiting various periods of time? However, with modern technology, in the very near future (2012), they find that they can copy a particular consciousness and send it back in time to take over a dying person's brain (dying, because they must get effectively blank the other person's brain in order to inhabit it, effectively killing the personality, and because it's less likely to cause any paradoxes that could change the course of events). So, when a wealthy organization decides that it’s in their interest to look into the direful predictions in a recently discovered Mayan Codex, they attempt to send a copy of Jed DeLanda's consciousness back to 664 and the courts of the ancient Maya in an attempt to discover more about what they knew.Jed is a quirky and strange protagonist, to be sure. He's a brilliant mathematician with admitted personality problems. He doesn't empathize well, perhaps because he was ethnically Maya and orphaned at a young age when his parents were killed by one of the many campaigns against his people, and brought up via various Mormon agencies seeking to aid native people. So PTSD could account for some of his wildly irreverent behavior. But one of the things he brings to the table is his ability with a Mayan Sacrifice Game that he was taught as a child. It is thought that the game, all but extinct in the present, was critical to determining the prophecies of the Codex. Jed had been having success applying the Game to the commodities markets, but the desire to reconnect to the lost past of his roots drives him to contact the scientist/researcher Taro Mora who has been studying the Game and who is being bankrolled by the aforementioned corporation. On a practice run using the Game , Jed and the others on the project determine that one of the events noted in the Codex would likely occur nearby them in Florida, and indeed, a horrific terrorist attack happens, from which Jed and noted game designer Marena Park, who is in charge of the project, and her young son barely escape. This event pushes them all on to actually sending a part of Jed back in time. Back in the past, Jed's time inhabiting one of the Maya is a total roller-coaster (as if escaping from a terrorist attack wasn't bad enough). The description of the people and the cities was convincingly alien and fantastical. His adventures, grueling and action-filled.This book is LONG and at times rambling, but there is suspense and excitement and adventure to spare, whether back in time, trying to save himself from sacrifice and death, and hoping to find some clues that may avert the major disaster that may occur in 2012, or back in the future, dealing with mysterious corporations and government entities and crazies out to end the world. It's also a smart story, with a mix of science and math and theory, as well as history, which suits the quirky genius of Jed and the other scientists and their attempt to save the world. And it's a smart-ass story, with Jed's bizarrely unsocialized personality and wise-cracks and multiple references to everything in pop culture (and literature, the sciences and history), as well as games--those electronic ones popular with kids today and those used to make ancient prophecies. I was completely fascinated with it all and am curious about what happens next. The story arc is concluded in a major way in this book, but the author clearly means for there to be a sequel, with a little twist added at the end.
    • 2/5
      Too much detail, not enough plot.