A Scattering of Jades

By Alexander C. Irvine

Book Overview

The great fire of 1835 burned most of New York Citys wooden downtown. Like many people, Archie Prescott thought hed lost everythinghis home was a smoldering ruin, his dead wifes body lay at his feet, and next to her was the corpse he assumed was his daughter. It seemed like the end of everything.But it was only the beginning.Goaded on by the publisher of the New York Herald Archie runs afoul of one of P. T. Barnums former sideshow workers. The carney has used an ancient book to resurrect a Mesoamerican goda chacmool who plans to use the blood of Archies still-living daughter to bring about the end of humanity.In the midst of ancient magic and murderous conspiracies, Archie finds himself with the power to save the world or drown it in sacrificial blood . . . but first he has to stop mourning his daughter, and undertake a grim cross-country journey to save her.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765301164
• ISBN13: 9780765301161
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 3.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.4" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A true reader's , great read!

The characters , story , and writing ; all are superbly composed! Quite simply one of the best books I've read in some time! A work very well done by this author,who if he sticks to this formula, he can't lose!!!

'Never again shall you return'

I select my 'next book to read' by picking through what it waiting on my shelves and reading a few pages here and there. It is a rare experience when a book I start out to take a quick look at suddenly becomes the one I am reading to the exclusion of all else. Of course, authors who can pick up a mythology and create a compelling and original story out of it are equally uncommon. Alexander Irvine is not the first who has essayed the fertile ground of Aztec legend, but, by setting the story in the U.S. of the 1840's, a deeper and more modern significance than one would anticipate. This is a tale about monsters, but it is not a monster story.The story turns on the awakening of a chacmool, an Aztec avatar of the god Tlaloc, who seeks to recreate the world via a series of magical acts and a final sacrifice. Set against the machinations of Riley Steen, who has prepared the way for the chacmool is Archie Prescott, who lost his wife and daughter Jane in fires magically set to mark the young girl as the intended sacrifice. Completely distracted by the loss, Prescott is at his nadir when a sequence of events reveals to him that Jane is still alive and provides him with a new purpose to his life. A series of eerie encounters sets him on Jane's path in an effort to prevent the sacrifice.The result is a mage's journey across the U.S., from New York City to the Mammoth Cave in far Kentucky. At each step in this mythic journey, he meets adversity, and enemies as inconstant as are his friends. Seemingly random events flow together for him in an almost foreordained pattern. As Prescott proceeds on his own path Stephen Bishop, a Negro slave and guide to Mammoth Cave, begins his own interior journey, enticed into providing aid and support to the chacmool in return for a promise of freedom for himself and his children. This subtle subtext on the nature and effect of slavery molds both men as they proceed to their meeting in the caverns below.The parallels between the men are carefully constructed. Each seeks the salvation of his children. Archie must learn to see the dark, and Stephen to see in the dark. Both are manipulated and molded by events, and each learns something from the dignity and strength of the other. For the reader, this is simply one of the more important facets of a surprisingly complex tale of fantasy and alternate history. Among the guest appearances that dot the novel are Edgar Allen Poe and Aaron Burr as Irvine proves himself adept in using history as a mystery play.You will find yourself reminded at times of Tim Power and Neil Gaiman. While I do not think that Irvine has achieved the quality of either, that he can evoke echoes of them is one of the best of signs. 'A Scattering of Jades' is one of the best debut novels I have seen this year, and one I heartily recommend.

Powerful novel of a history that is almost ours

Aaron Burr is dead and the memory of his aborted attempt to create an empire in the west is largely faded, yet some remember. Riley Steen knows that Burr's hopes were based on Aztec mythology, on an ancient god whose mystic calendar is now coming due. With skill and planning, Steen intends to create what Burr failed at--and is willing to pay any price to make it happen. Printer Archie Prescott knows that his daughter is dead, that the crazy girl who calls him 'da' cannot be Jane. Yet he involves himself with a strange mezo-American mummy that comes to life in New York. Torn by images of destruction, and followed by Steen's killers, Archie heads from New York, across 19th century America, to the Mammoth caves of Kentucky where the magic of the great cycle is taking place and where a new world may be created. Slave Stephen Bishop yearns for a freedom that will never be given him. The emerging god offers him freedom for himself and his children, but only in return for a high price. Only Stephen knows the caves well enough to prevent the magic--or to protect the god. Author Alexander C. Irvine creates a powerful alternate history where magic works unseen to most, but remains powerful. Irvine's images of the world of the dead, where the dead's belief in the gods they created continue to sustain the gods' powers is strong and compelling. Irvine's world could be our own, yet zombies walk and gods carve their way into men's hearts. The skillful use of the somewhat obscure history of Aaron Burr's attempted empire (since history was written by Burr's enemies, we may never know his real motivations and goals), gives A SCATTERING OF JADES a verisimilitude that definitely adds to the reader's enjoyment

Best first novel in years!

Alex Irvine's writing carries a maturity that most writers don't reach for several novels. It's incredible to think that he's this good out of the gate. This book is on par with other first novels, SONG OF KALI by Dan Simmons and NEUROMANCER by William Gibson, although those books are of a different genre than SCATTERING OF JADES.The writing in this novel is very reminiscent of Charles de Lint or Tim Powers; magical, earthy, and powerful. I really enjoy novels that pull real historical figures into them and this book seamlessly blends reality and fantasy.Irvine is a writer you will hear from for a long time. This book should be on your must-read list for this year.

Scattering of Jades

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a pre-publication proof of this book. If you like mystery, history, adventure, metaphysics, ideas of the past that resonate with today, great characterization, literal and figurative descents into the underworld, and fine writing, this book is for you. A really amazing first novel. I can't wait to see what this guy does next.