Book Description
HIGH AZTECH, the underground cult classic, is back and ready to blow your mind wide open. "A high-energy adventure peppered with great ideas, well-imagined unusual settings, outlandish characters, and a wicked sense of fun.'. -Locus In mid 21st century Mexico, Tenochtitlán, the metropolis formerly known as Mexico City, is the most exciting place on Earth. Stainless steel pyramids pierce the smoggy sky. Human sacrifice is coming back into fashion, especially on the new Aztechan TV channels, and everyone wants an artificial heart. Xolotl Zapata, celebrated poet, skeptic and trmrhsfr journalistr, starts receiving death threats from a cult he's lampooned in a comic book. But soon he will have much worse problems and be running for his life. The government, the Mafia, street gangs, cults, terrorists, even garbage collectors will be after him. Why? He has been infected with a technological development that will changing human life as we know it Zapata is carrying a virus that can download religious beliefs into the human brain - a highly contagious virus that is converting everyone he meets, and everyone they meet, to the Aztec religion. This is Witnessing with a PUNCH! Since he's a virtulent carrier he infects a large part of the city all by himself, and the masses, filled with visions and portents, await the End of the World. "The plot twists and turns, bouncing between the horrors of a police state with high-tech weaponry and eavesdropping equipment and the feverish hallucinations that the protagonist endures as he is captured first by one enemy then another. Those who enjoy science fiction will probably find pleasure in this book. Ifound the book entertaining and clever in the complexities of its plot. ... an example of what might be called Latin American sci-fi magico-realism." - Nahua Newsletter "Cyberpunk is the combining of science fiction and technology with a future society on the brink of self-destruction. Ernest Hogan takes the concept a step further, blending in his love of the Aztec's ancient beliefs and civilization to produce very unique and gripping stories. When it comes to science fiction of a different breed, Hogan is definitely sitting in the front row. One reviewer aptly referred to Hogan as a "mad Mexican Hunter S. Thompson."" -Wicked local.com "Chicano writer Ernest Hogan bridges the gap between hard science fiction and cyberpunk ... interweaving Pre-Colombian mythology and Spanish, Spanglish, and Nahuatl language into a humorously dystopian sci-fi context ... exploring the intersection of religion, technology, pop culture ... with a distinctly Latino twist." -- The Routledge Companion to Latino/a Literature "Imagine, if you will, a world in which Aztec culture and religion were never conquered. Imagine that the U.S. is now a lesser power, guided by a Christian theocracy. And imagine that in this world, a new Aztecan virus has been developed to induce religious fervor in those it infects. This is a wildly readable, manic comedy of a book with surprisingly deep themes at its bloody heart.. If there's a book I'd most like to see made into a movie, "...a delirious mosaic of sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, post-cyberpunk savvy, linguistic fun and Aztec myth." --January Magazine
