The 2012 Codex
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3.1 • 19 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An Ancient Mayan Codex Holds the Key to Humanity's Survival in this Gripping Historical Thriller
In the scorching desert canyons of Mexico, a race against time unfolds as Rita Critchlow and Cooper Jones hunt for an ancient Mayan codex—the final 1000-year-old prophecy of the god-king, Quetzalcoatl. Simultaneously, 500 years in the past, Pacal, a young slave-scholar, embarks on the same perilous quest, knowing that the fate of the Aztec civilization hangs in the balance.
Montezuma's vast empire faces war, catastrophic drought, and the brutal sacrifices of death-cult priests. The arrival of red-bearded conquistadors, armed with powerful weapons and bearing devastating plagues, threatens to bring about the end of the Aztec world. Pacal must find the codex to save his people, while Rita and Cooper believe it holds the key to humanity's survival in their own time.
As they battle the unforgiving desert, drug-cartel warlords, and the relentless passage of time, the shocking similarities between Quetzalcoatl's prophecies and the Book of Revelation become increasingly apparent. Could they be one and the same? The countdown to crack the 2012 code is on, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance in 2012 Codex, a gripping historical thriller that spans centuries and cultures.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Gleason and Podrug's undistinguished fourth entry in the Jennings franchise (after Apocalypse 2012), set mostly in 16th-century Mexico, Pakal the Storyteller saves the life of the king's architect by killing a rare white jaguar. This heroic act leads to Pakal's getting an assignment to track down the Dark Rift Codex, a document crucial to the survival of Mayan society. In the present, covert U.S. operatives search for the codex, believed to contain details about how the world will end in 2012. At tedious length, the American president receives lectures on the growing signs of ecological catastrophe. Overwrought prose doesn't help (e.g., "Reets... took out a fleeing bandit herself, Coop still doing the heavy work, the hard precision shooting, firing that weapon like she and the PDW were born together, conceived together in the same uterus, her eyes unblinking over its iron sights, empty and expressionless as the Martian moons, cold and compassionless as her violent moonshiner youth").
Customer Reviews
The 2012 Codex
I love reading Gary Jennings historical novels which focus on the Spanish conquest of Mexico from the indigenous people's perspective . When he stays in period with his characters he can fly around the world pulling together threads that make the whole brief era more understandable. His humor is twisted, gnarly, and gives additional insight into his characters and the times. The stories are as masterfully told as if told by the ancient storytellers themselves who often serve as the major narrators in his works. Unfortunately, Codex 2012 follows a worn trail you'd expect from a Clive Cussler novel describing a Dirk Pitt adventure, with even less unity since it is a disjointed communion by committee of three authors jumping back and fourth between ages, seeming with different themes (historical,Eco-environmental, fantasy). In short, while I tried to enjoy this tale, the transitions were jarring, the arguments underlying the themes were improbable and hammered with stereotypical characters (the dumb generals, the brilliant female academics, the blood thirsty apache drug lord),50 to one odds in the chase scenes, and mythical animal assistants helping the good guys ( or maybe since they are stealing the Codex they are in fact the bad guys).
After the shaggy dog ending to this crippled work, I wanted to take Mr. Jennings, shake him by the shoulders, look him in the eyes, and say, "come on Gary, you are so better than this" but then he is probably laughing himself all the way to the bank.