The Gold of Cuzco (Incas Series, Book 2) » (Bargain)

A. B. Daniel is a pseudonym for two novelists, Antoine Audouard and Jean-Daniel Baltassat, who have been helped in the construction and research of the story by Inca specialist Bertrand Houette.

n this haunting second book of the internationally bestselling Incas trilogy, the Incan empire is threatened by the Conquistadors, whose insatiable hunger for gold will destroy a glorious, ancient civilization -- unless they can be thwarted by a mystic force greater than any army....

Princess Anamaya's hypnotic blue eyes have seen too much. Having guarded the passage of the dying Emperor, she is now chosen by the gods to stand beside the new Emperor and divine the future of the Incan Empire -- a future shadowed by brutal warriors who worship foreign gods. The Conquistadors and their armies seek to enslave the Incas and loot their sacred temples and royal treasuries, despite Anamaya's attempts to foster peace. When it comes to a prize as valuable as Cuzco, the city of the sacred puma, they refuse to heed her warnings.

The soldier Gabriel has come among Anamaya's people as a conqueror, but the honorable Spaniard is untainted by his companions' lust for wealth and power. His fascination with the splendor of Anamaya's land, and its ancient heritage, is matched only by the passion he and Anamaya come to share. But when his countrymen push forward in their quest to plunder Cuzco, he is forced to join the battle, leaving Anamaya struggling with divided loyalties and their forbidden love in the wake of this first major confrontation between the Spanish and the Incas.

Filled with romance and adventure and colored by the changeless desires that link man and woman throughout the ages, The Gold of Cuzco is a thrilling follow-up to The Puma's Shadow, the first book in the Incas trilogy.

Publishers Weekly

Daniel-the pseudonym of French novelists Antonie Audouard and Jean-Daniel Baltassat-continues the saga of Indian princess Anamaya and Spanish nobleman Gabriel Montelucar y Flores in this second volume of the Incas trilogy. It's the mid-16th century, and the Spanish are bludgeoning their way through the Incan empire, with conquistador Francisco Pizarro scoring military victories, politicking to consolidate his power and trying to manipulate Incan emperor Manco to set up the wealthy city of Cuzco for conquest. Against this violent backdrop, Anamaya and Gabriel fall in love, she teaching him much about Incan culture and, for better or worse, helping the Spanish to understand her people. When she learns that Pizarro plans to take Cuzco, Anamaya is torn in her loyalties. She tries to warn the Spanish that the Incas won't give up the city easily, but to no avail: the Spanish suffer heavy casualties, and Gabriel is among the grievously wounded. Daniel spins a vivid tale, with first-rate knowledge of the period, though much of the plot is boilerplate for this genre. Some may also get impatient with the florid prose, which slows the pace of the narrative considerably. The fact that this period is relatively underexplored in popular historical fiction may draw readers, but they'll have to work hard for their dose of adventure and thrills. (Dec.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.