A review by avalinahsbooks
Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico by David Bowles
4.0
Read the full review (with GIFs!) here on my blog
This was a spectacular collection of myths - written in an easy to follow way, arranged chronologically, and truly epic enough to just read them casually, without the aim of education or research.
Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky is both a mythical creation story, as well as the history of the Mesoamerican tribes - much like The Old Testament is to the Jews. In that way, it's spectacular. I truly enjoyed the creation stories, as well as the earliest myths. The middle age stories of certain tribes rising to power I enjoyed less, as well as the Spanish conquest stories - those less so because it was just sad to read of these amazing nations being destroye and subjugated. But all of these stories are equally worth attention - especially if you have any heritage in those cultural regions.
Another thing I must mention was that I was pleasantly surprised to find so many amazing strong female heroines here! There are a lot, and I mean, A LOT of stories about strong women, fighter women, wise women - it's not a narrative that's present in Western mythology almost at all - so this was an incredibly pleasant surprise for me. Some of these stories I know I will remember for sure. One of the stories even teaches that being sexually passionate and free as a quality in a woman can absolutely walk along with a heart made of gold and purity of soul. Also not a narrative present in the Western stories at all. Which makes it all the more sad to know that these cultures were destroyed and replaced with our brilliant culture of muting, silencing, shaming.
And of course, my personal favorite? Where Lake Patzcuaro falls in love with a princess and she loves him back :)
I thank the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange to my review. It does not affect my opinion.
Read Post on Book Blog | My Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
This was a spectacular collection of myths - written in an easy to follow way, arranged chronologically, and truly epic enough to just read them casually, without the aim of education or research.
Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky is both a mythical creation story, as well as the history of the Mesoamerican tribes - much like The Old Testament is to the Jews. In that way, it's spectacular. I truly enjoyed the creation stories, as well as the earliest myths. The middle age stories of certain tribes rising to power I enjoyed less, as well as the Spanish conquest stories - those less so because it was just sad to read of these amazing nations being destroye and subjugated. But all of these stories are equally worth attention - especially if you have any heritage in those cultural regions.
Another thing I must mention was that I was pleasantly surprised to find so many amazing strong female heroines here! There are a lot, and I mean, A LOT of stories about strong women, fighter women, wise women - it's not a narrative that's present in Western mythology almost at all - so this was an incredibly pleasant surprise for me. Some of these stories I know I will remember for sure. One of the stories even teaches that being sexually passionate and free as a quality in a woman can absolutely walk along with a heart made of gold and purity of soul. Also not a narrative present in the Western stories at all. Which makes it all the more sad to know that these cultures were destroyed and replaced with our brilliant culture of muting, silencing, shaming.
And of course, my personal favorite? Where Lake Patzcuaro falls in love with a princess and she loves him back :)
I thank the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange to my review. It does not affect my opinion.
Read Post on Book Blog | My Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter