Review: The Visionary Mayan Queen: Yohl Ik'nal of Palenque by Leonide Martin
This is the second book of this author that I’ve read. I have to say, after the first book (it was actually the third in the series), this time I was fascinated enough with the Mayan history to look up every famous name and learn more about these ancient rulers. Archeology has always been of interest to me, and seeing a photograph of a real location or a tomb really makes it more enchanting. However, I wouldn’t say that I’m very familiar with the Mayan culture, and I think for a book to draw someone to the topic so strongly it’s a great result and a big compliment to the author. After all, it’s easy to interest a reader who’s already into it, but it’s thrice as hard to make a story like this compelling to a fan of different genres. However, considering that the story is centered around a woman and her personal challenges, fueled by political intrigues and conflicts, it’s easy to slip into it and enjoy it as a women’s fiction novel with a historical edge to it. It’s very important for a book like this to create realistic, believable characters that reader can feel for, and the author has done a great job, once again. The author’s personal experience with the Mayan culture and her knowledge of it has helped in creating a very clear picture, which I really appreciated, considering how new the subject is to me. I’ve noticed it even in the previous book – how easy it was to follow the story and imagine the scenery and understand the meaning of every element without any distractions, like “what’s this? what does it mean? I don’t get it”. If they taught us history in school with stories like this, I for sure would’ve remembered much more of it :) Overall, a very strong beginning of the series, that I once again recommend to everyone who’s into historical fiction!
