In the Courts of the Sun (A Jed de Landa Novel) - Softcover

D'Amato, Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451229061 ISBN 13: 9780451229069

Publisher: Berkley, 2009

Synopsis

It was predicted. We were warned. December 21, 2012. The day time stops.
 
The year is 2012. Jed DeLanda, a descendant of the Maya, is a math prodigy raking in profits from online trading. But Jed’s life is thrown into chaos when his former mentor, Taro, and a mysterious female game designer enlist Jed’s help in deciphering an ancient Mayan codex containing the secrets of the Sacrifice Game.
 
It foretells of the end of civilization, and only Jed can prevent the coming apocalypse. He must play the Game himself—in a mind-bending journey that stretches from thousands of years into the past to the very brink of the end of time.
 
“A stunningly inventive novel that . . . weaves together Mayan history, modern science, game theory and the coming Mayan apocalypse.”—Douglas Preston, author of The Monster of Florence
 
“Fans of the late Michael Crichton will welcome this engrossing sf thriller.”—Publishers Weekly

“[An] ambitious . . . adventure through time.”—Booklist
 

About this title

About the Author:

Brian D’Amato is the author of Beauty, In the Courts of the Sun, and The Sacrifice Game. He is also an artist whose work has been shown in galleries and museums, including the Whitney Museum and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City. He divides his time among New York City, Chicago, and Michigan.

From Booklist:

According to the ancient Maya, December 21, 2012, could be the day the world ends. In this ambitious novel, a modern-day descendant of the Maya, Jed DeLanda, goes back in time to save mankind. Well, he doesn’t go back physically; that’s not possible in D’Amato’s world, but it is possible to send back the consciousness of a person and to place it inside the mind of someone living in the past. The plan was to put Jed’s mind inside the body of a Mayan king in the year 664 CE, but, instead, he winds up inside the head of a man about to be killed by ritual sacrifice. Can Jed keep his host alive long enough to save the world? This is the sort of novel that Robert Silverberg might write (and, in fact, it feels a bit like Silverberg’s classic Up the Line)—a richly detailed, intellectually stimulating adventure through time. Unfortunately, it takes too long for the adventure to begin. While it’s fine to describe the future world in which Jed lives and even to establish his credentials for being chosen as humanity’s savior, we shouldn’t be made to wait 200-odd pages before Jed is flung back into the past. Still, he is an engaging narrator, telling his story in an easy, often humorous style. With the release later this year of the high-profile movie 2012 (also based on the Mayan prophecy), prepare for this title to be in high demand. --David Pitt

About this edition

• Publisher: Berkley
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0451229061
• ISBN 13: 9780451229069
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 704