Gods of Jade and Shadow

Product Information

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a Canadian author, who was born and raised in Mexico. Her debut novel, Signal to Noise, won the 2016 Copper Cylinder Award, which recognizes works of speculative fiction.

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather's room. She opens it — and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea's demise, but success could make her dreams come true. Had Casiopea possessed her father’s pronounced romantic leanings, perhaps she might have seen herself as a Cinderella-­like figure. But although she treasured his old books, the skeletal remains of his collection—­especially the sonnets by Quevedo, wells of sentiment for a young heart—­she had decided it would be nonsense to configure herself into a tragic heroine. Instead, she chose to focus on more pragmatic issues, mainly that her horrible grandfather, despite his constant yelling, had promised that upon his passing Casiopea would be the beneficiary of a modest sum of money, enough that it might allow her to move to Mérida. A magical novel of duality, tradition, and change . . . Moreno-Garcia's seamless blend of mythology and history provides a ripe setting for Casiopea's stellar journey of self-discovery, which culminates in a dramatic denouement. Readers will gladly immerse themselves in Moreno-Garcia's rich and complex tale of desperate hopes and complicated relationships." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)The most enjoyable aspect of Gods of Jade and Shadow is the romance between Casiopea and Hun-Kamé. All the excitement and starry-eyed ardour of a first love affair is magnified ten-fold by the fact that the object of Casiopea’s affection is a literal god. Moreno-Garcia writes some rapturous scenes for the two of them, and although the ending of their courtship is somewhat preordained, it’s still a lot of fun to get swept up in the swoony, over-blown romanticism of it all. The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.

Think Cinderella, but in Mexico, in the 1920’s. And instead of a handsome prince, there’s a handsome death god. Casiopea is the eighteen-year-old granddaughter of a town elder. Despite his privileged status, questions over her paternity lead him to treat her like a slave, with his bullying grandson Martín adding to her misery.

Do as they ask; we wouldn't want them to say we are spongers," Casiopea's mother told her. Casiopea swallowed her angry reply because it made no sense to discuss her mistreatment with Mother, whose solution to every problem was to pray to God. An evocative and moving modern Indigenous fairy tale filled with quiet moments of vulnerability and honesty. Oh, my heart!” —Rebecca Roanhorse, Hugo and Nebula award winning author of the Sixth World series A dark, dazzling fairy tale . . . a whirlwind tour of a 1920s Mexico vivid with jazz, the memories of revolution, and gods, demons, and magic." --NPR

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true. The country was supposed to be secularist after the revolution, something that sounded fine when it was printed as a decree, but was harder to enforce once push came to shove. Cristero rebellions bubbled down the center of Mexico whenever the government tried to restrict religious activity. That February in Jalisco and Guanjuato all priests had been detained for inciting people to rise against the anti-­Catholic measures promoted by the president. Yet Yucatán was tolerant of the Cristeros, and it had not flamed up like other states. Yucatán had always been a world apart, an island, even if the atlas assured Casiopea she lived on a verdant peninsula. Amidst all this mystical mayhem, there is a very human story grounding Gods of Jade and Shadow; one of first love, fraternal discord, and a young woman’s desire to escape the confines of home. Moreno-Garcia does well to always keep the realistic side of her novel as – or more – interesting than the otherworldly. The evolving relationship between Casiopea and Martín is well-drawn and believable, mirrored to great effect in the relationship between Hun-Kamé and Vacub-Kamé. It is to the author’s credit that she refuses to villainise the ostensible villains, focusing instead on the emotional reasons why they have ended up in their malevolent state.In 1922 Governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto had said women could now vote, but by 1924 he’d faced a firing squad—­which is exactly what you’d expect to happen to governors who go around delivering speeches in Mayan and then don’t align themselves with the correct people in power—­and they’d revoked that privilege. Not that this ever mattered in Uukumil. It was 1927, but it might as well have been 1807. The revolution passed through it, yet it remained what it had been. A town with nothing of note, except for a modest sascab quarry; the white powder shoveled out was used for dirt roads. Oh, there had been a henequen plantation nearby once upon a time, but she knew little about it; her grandfather was no hacendado. His money, as far as Casiopea could tell, came from the buildings he owned in Mérida. He also muttered about gold, although that was likely more talk than anything else. The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark,one-of-a-kindfairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore. She says you are to go to the butcher. The silly codger demands a good cut of beef for supper. While you’re out, get me my cigarettes.”

She longs to escape, and gets her chance one day upon finding a heap of bones inside an old discarded chest. Before her very eyes, those bones become Hun-Kamé, the Mayan god of death. With one of his bones embedded in her skin, Casiopea and Hun-Kaméare magically bound together, so he takes her along on a dangerous quest to enact revenge on his treacherous brother, Vacub-Kamé. The journey will change them both, forever. A lush, bittersweet tale of courage, love, and carving your own place in the world . . . Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s evocative prose will take you on an adventure for the mind and the heart.” —Christina Henry, author of Aliceand The Girl in Red In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld. The atlas showed her the distance from the town to the city. She measured it with the tips of her fingers. One day. Avibrant story of grit, giddiness, and glory with a protagonist whose personality burns bright as a star. Casiopea Tun will capture your heart and draw you into a jewel-toned world of mythmaking and jazz music.” —Lara Elena Donnelly, author of the Amberlough Dossier trilogySet in a lushly rendered and gorgeous world, this is historical fantasy at its best: a fresh, feminist coming-of-age tale that lets the ancient and the new meld and clash in a tale you can't put down.” —S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brassand The Kingdom of Copper In the meantime, Casiopea lived in Cirilo’s house. She rose early and committed to her chores, tight-­lipped, like a soldier on a campaign.