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Cortés’ fleet wallows at the bottom of the ocean, and his army marches for Tenochtitlan. Aided by aggrieved vassals and rapacious soldiers, Cortés has assembled an army unlike any in all the One World. Even the Mexica, the undisputed overlords of the region, may not be able to best them on the field.
A shocking act of violence makes it clear, however, that conflict cannot be avoided. But is there an alternative to direct confrontation?
Motecuhzoma, leader of the Mexica Confederacy, thinks so. Ever one for creative solutions, he settles on a plan as devious as it is risky. If his approach succeeds, peace will prevail in the One World. If his approach fails, the Mexica will pay with blood. Filled with complex characters and soaring action, The Bend of the River returns readers to pre-Hispanic Mexico and offers gripping insight into one of the most famous military campaigns in all of history.
My review
The Bend of the River is the second book in this series about the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the 16th-century. It is not imperative to have read the first book in this series in order to enjoy this book, however, I would recommend it as the first book sets the scene for the events that take place in this second book. The Bend of the River starts with the ruthless and cunning, Hernan Cortés, leader of the Spanish invaders, setting out on the long march to the valley of Mexico and its capital city, Tenochtitlan.
The route is arduous and the Spaniards have to scale mountains, face frigid temperatures, and navigate rough terrain to reach the valley. They also need to overcome other vicious tribes intent on defending their territory. Cortés knows he needs to form alliances with these tribes in order to have any chance of overthrowing the Aztecs and their leader, Motecuhzoma II. His methods are shameful and make you cringe as a reader.
My dislike for Cortés and a few of his other leaders was far greater in this book than in the previous one as they used the most underhanded and devious of methods in their strategies, including rape, kidnapping, mass murder of innocents, and treachery. This book certainly put the Spanish invaders in a very bad light. The Aztec’s had some awful religious practices such as the mass sacrifice of humans to their gods and the enslaving of girls from conquered tribes into a life of prostitution, but they also had a well functioning and sophisticated society. They are portrayed as having certain morals and ethics in war which the Spaniards did not.
The author has clearly done extensive research into this period of time and the Aztec Empire and culture as well as that of the Spanish invaders and this leads to a fantastic book from a historical story point of view.
My criticism of this book is that there was no relief from the endless battling, blood, and gore. I found it a bit tedious towards the end and had tired of endless bloody scenes of death and destruction. It would have been nice if there had been a little relief from all the gore with some other descriptive distractions or a sub-plot. The author did tie up all the lose ends nicely and the book was well finished in a stand alone capacity.
If you enjoy a good historical novel and don’t mind a lot of battle scenes, then this book is an excellent choice.
roberta-writes.com 
This sounds interesting. It’s a part of history I don’t know much about.
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I don’t know that much about American history either, Jacqui [North or South] except the civil war which I’ve read a lot about. This was very interesting but I did find the fighting overwhelming. I felt like that with the LOTRs books by Tolkien too.
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Good review, Robbie. Sounds like an interesting time and place to write about.
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Thank you, Denise, I found it very interesting as I don’t know that much about American history – I am learning from the books I read.
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Intriguing. Thanks for your mindful review, Robbie. Best to Edward. Hugs all around.
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Thank you, Teagan. I wasn’t very familiar with this history so I really enjoyed learning more about this era.
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The Europeans were not kind to any of the native peoples. “Civilization” is all a matter of context. And every culture seems to come with horrors. It appears we never do learn. (K)
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This book really was horrifying, Kerfe. I knew it was bad, but not this bad. To terrible, it makes me feel ashamed.
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There is so much history that is hidden away. But we need to look, even if it’s hard.
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Thank you, Roberta, for sharing your powerful review. It had to have been a very difficult book to read.
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Yes, I had points where I wasn’t sure if I could read on. It is so shameful.
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Some of the Native American lands within the U.S. have no running water. When I visited these reservations, I felt deep shame. It is so very very wrong.
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Yes, that is very wrong, Gwen. American is a great country with lots of wealth. Running water should be available for everyone.
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Euopeans’ lust for gold and land did unconscionable things to the indiginous people of North America. As Gwen points out, Native Americans are still paying the price.
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Yes, that is true, Liz.
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Thank you for the amazing review, Robbie! Its a very interesting story, and a theme i want to know more about. Michael
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It is a very interesting book, Michael, but the battle scenes did wear me down a bit. It is very sad when men fight and die.
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That last you wrote is so true, Robbie! Otherwise have we had a time on earth without any dying pople in war? ,-) We transfere it to the economic layer. Thank you for sharing the review. I will get closer to. JI am just in a little sarcasm. Listening to our radio news about the new virus variant in the UK, my first thought was about the Britains always need a own branded one. Lol The new variant, a mutant is dominant. For Britain this could mean he is wearing a black mask? 😉 Sorry! Enjoy your evening, and have with yours a great start into a hopefully festive week. Michael
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