In the Courts of the Sun

Starred review from January 26, 2009
Fans of the late Michael Crichton will welcome this engrossing SF thriller, the first in a projected trilogy by D’Amato (Beauty
). As December 12, 2012, the date the Maya predicted would mark the end of the world, approaches, the Warren Group, a shadowy conglomerate, seeks to use technological advances to forestall disaster. One way is to send the mind of Jed DeLanda, a savant skilled at a contemporary version of the Mayas’ sacrifice game, into the body of a seventh-century Mayan hip-ball player to learn more about why the apocalyptic prediction was made. DeLanda’s time-travel comes just as a devastating calamity, possibly triggered by biological weapons, hits Orlando, Fla. The action shifts easily between the near-future and the past. While the use of modern idiom in the historical scenes may take some getting used to, the period details are as convincing as those in Simon Levack’s superb Aztec mysteries (The Demon of the Air
, etc.).

March 15, 2009
The Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012, and many wonder what will happen on that fateful day. That is the question D'Amato ("Beauty") examines in this sprawling tome. Familiar with a game that the Mayans used to predict the future, Jed Deland successfully makes money on the stock market using the same methods. He ends up helping an organization with access to time-travel technology so that he can travel back at the height of the Mayan civilization, interact with these ancient people, and find out what the world can expect when the calendar ends. Not a thriller, a work of science fiction, or a historical, this novel is hard to define. End-of-the-world aficionados will find it compelling, but librarians will have a hard time booktalking it. It also ends with the dreaded four words: End of Book One. Will the entire series be published before the apocalypse? For larger collections only. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 11/1/08.]Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2009
According to the ancient Maya, December 21, 2012, could be the day the world ends. In this ambitious novel, a modern-day descendant of the Maya, Jed DeLanda, goes back in time to save mankind. Well, he doesnt go back physically; thats not possible in DAmatos world, but it is possible to send back the consciousness of a person and to place it inside the mind of someone living in the past. The plan was to put Jeds mind inside the body of a Mayan king in the year 664 CE, but, instead, he winds up inside the head of a man about to be killed by ritual sacrifice. Can Jed keep his host alive long enough to save the world? This is the sort of novel that Robert Silverberg might write (and, in fact, it feels a bit like Silverbergs classic Up the Line)a richly detailed, intellectually stimulating adventure through time. Unfortunately, it takes too long for the adventure to begin. While its fine to describe the future world in which Jed lives and even to establish his credentials for being chosen as humanitys savior, we shouldnt be made to wait 200-odd pages before Jed is flung back into the past. Still, he is an engaging narrator, telling his story in an easy, often humorous style. With the release later this year of the high-profile movie 2012 (also based on the Mayan prophecy), prepare for this title to be in high demand.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)