A fictional account of a Mayan scribe and his unexpected immersion into the secret world of sorcery which touches the lives of an archeological expedition a thousand years later.
778 A.D. In Central America it is a time of human sacrifice, warring city-states, and mystical power. A prophecy foretells the demise of Mayan civilization. Zama a young scribe, is apprenticed to a master sorcerer named Chaco, who has an ambitious plan to save the best of Mayan mystical knowledge from oblivion. As he records the knowledge of his mentor in a codex, Zama must attain his power as a sorcerer in order to help the members of Chaco's Fire Circle make a mysterious journey. His efforts are complicated by war, malevolent sorcerers, and an irrepressible attraction to the beautiful Mara, the spiritual beacon of Chaco's apprentices.
A thousand years later, archeologist Dr. Ricardo Calderon and his student, Martin Long, uncover Zama's codex at a newly discovered Mayan ruin in Guatemala. Before it can be translated, the codex is stolen by a ruthless cult seeking its ancient secrets. Under the scrutiny of a Guatemalan detective and with a traitor in their midst, Calderon's team races to find the codex and an ancient cave of power before they are lost to their enemies.
Excerpt
I watched silently, mesmerized by her nimble hands dipping repeatedly into clouds of feathers, weaving elaborate patterns of macaw scarlet and greens bordered with bright trogon yellows and blues. Each day the robe enlarged until it seemed that an enormous bird roosted in our chamber. When its length and breadth were complete, she topped it with a glorious headpiece of quetzal feathers surrounded by a dense ring of egret white accented with a band of vulture black. After winals of tedious work, she displayed the completed robe to me, her slender arms holding it high above her head with half its length trailing across the stone floor. Jade earrings clacked together cheerfully as she turned to me with a broad smile.
“Zama, my little one,” she said with a voice as welcome as a mountain breeze. “What do you think? Will the gods be satisfied with this one? I believe it is my best. Someday you will be high priest and wear this on the temple. You are blessed with many gifts from the gods and surely you will be among the greatest of the Maya.”
I laughed through my drool at the sight of her smiling face. Clumsily, I raised myself on unsteady legs straining to touch the blanket of colors suspended above me. As I raised my arms, a warm stream trickled down my legs and puddled on the floor.
My mother laughed. “Ahh!” she cried. “The gods are indeed happy. It seems this robe will at least bring us rain.”
Professional Reviews
The Zama Codex by Chen Tzu
June 2nd, 2007 by Andrew Ian Dodge
This book caught my eye because of my fascination with the Mayan due to a prolonged exposure in my youth in Honduras as well as the fact that I was going to be sitting in the Yucatan by a pool for my honeymoon. The resort we were at had statues of Mayan warriors all over the place to emphasis our location. I can report that the Zama Codex did not let me down one bit. Not only did it have locations that I had visited but it clearly evoked the feeling and pathos of Mayan Latin America.
The flashbacks to the time of Zama were extremely well written evoking their cities and temples full of life and intrigue. The author’s description of all the environs contained therein were quite frankly breathtaking. One thing that struck me as interesting is that rather than the patronising slant of say Mel’s “epic” Apocalyptica, there was a clear balance here of all aspects of Mayan culture the good, bad and the downright nasty. There was no overemphasis on the brutal nature of the society, it was merely there in the right proportion.
It is quite obvious that they author did his research and has read the history of the people and their great books like the Popuh Vu. This is not a Hollywood fluff novel with a Mayan “theme”. There is passion and knowledge in there.
Many books that use dual time-lines that switch back and forth manage to end up with a confusing and frustrating muddle. In this book the author manages to do it so the reader knows what is going on all the time. The novel does not drag at any time as is the norm these days. Its quite a taught novel that never drags or fizzles.
The modern plot is not exactly unusual, being a tale of power, greed, vanity and treachery. But it is written in such a way to make it blend perfectly with the Mayan time plot. The characters are believable and well formed. I especially like the bimbo character who plays a central role. Written perfectly one has to wonder if they author has got burned by such a person.
I can highly recommend this book whether you are sitting beside a pool at a resort in the Mayan Riviera sipping Tecate or on your couch on a rainy night in Georgia.
NB: No hearts or other organs were sacrificed to the flames in the writing of this review.
The Zama Codex
October 26, 2009 by Deepa Kandaswamy
A team headed by archeologist Dr. Ric Calderon find a codex with encrypted information written by Zama, a Mayan scribe of Mayan sorcery and portals during the peak of the Mayan civilisation. However, the codex is stolen by a secret cult. Will the archeologists and anthropologists be able to retrive the codex in time? What secrets does Zama's codex contain that the cult is willing to kill for it? From the palaces and rites of Mayans to the 21st century archeological dig sites in Guatemala, from sacrificial offerings and the doomsday prophecy of Singing Lizard to the healing techiques of today's native Americans, the author weaves a seamless tale of sorcery, time travel, gnorance, quest for knowledge and universal healing. The author seamlessly weaves the story of Zama and Ric, the way time has weaved our history - ancient and modern. His writing style is easy to comprehend.
Interestingly, Mayan numbers are used for chapters which proves useful as you learn the Mayan numbering system without being force fed. This is one of those books which during the first read seems like a suspense thriller but on a second read, provides insights and on successive reads makes you contemplate. It is a difficult feat to accomplish but Tzu aka Chensue manages to do so easily.
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