Hunt for the Mayan LookingGlass The Adventures of 3Sky and Flint eBook James Luceno
Download As PDF : Hunt for the Mayan LookingGlass The Adventures of 3Sky and Flint eBook James Luceno 
Flint is a young artist and natural rule-breaker in a complex Mayan culture that is at once wondrous, fierce, mercilous and magical. He and his gifted friend 3Sky travel to the Aztec courts with a Shaman who wants them to bring back an obsidian looking glass from the underworld Land of the Dead. History and magic flow seamlessly in this groundbreaking, fast-paced narrative by New York Times bestseller James Luceno, noted by Library Journal for his "spot-on characterizations".
A former studio musician and carpenter, James Luceno has been writing professionally for twenty years. His early novels were action tales based on his experiences as a guide for an adventure-travel company. A Fearful Symmetry, his first foray into science-fiction, was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick award. Collaborating with the late-Brian Daley, Jim wrote scripts for several animated television series, and under the pseudonym "Jack McKinney," he and Daley adapted the anime series, Robotech. Since 2000, Jim has worked almost exclusively in the STAR WARS universe, contributing six novels to the franchise, all of which have made the NY Times best-seller lists. He has also written novelizations of Mission Impossible, The Shadow, and Indiana Jones. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and son.
Hunt for the Mayan LookingGlass The Adventures of 3Sky and Flint eBook James Luceno
This book is a labour of love. A few years ago, James Luceno was asked which of his original novels he would want readers of his Star Wars tie-in fiction to check out, and he named Hunt for the Mayan Looking-Glass --- the Maya have been a fascination of his for decades, and his passion and knowledge certainly shine in this piece of historical fiction. It's an adventure of his own creation set against a Mesoamerican backdrop, and it reads like an epic fantasy-style quest in the vein of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Two youths gather a group of fellow travelers and journey to the north in order to obtain a magical artifact, and there's even a Gandalf figure guiding them who mysteriously disappears for a stretch in the middle. The book has all the flavour of a fantastic fantasy novel but none of the Tolkien-derivative English medieval elements that have been beaten to death and then some by the genre. The new and unique setting is a huge breath of fresh air.The opening of the story presents a long and intimidating dramatis personae, and although it seems as if keeping track of so many characters with similarly-styled names will be a chore, Luceno does a great job of distinguishing everyone, taking the time to give them all their own character traits, goals, and motivations. The story and its pace really pick up when the various groups at play all leave their home city and begin racing toward the north, as character arcs emerge and the magical elements start to be explored more deeply. The Mayan and Aztec setting is richly and vividly shown and described, while hints of strange far-away lands add intriguing elements of mystery, with Inca and even European characters joining up with the heroes throughout their travels. Luceno's prose is excellent as always; it's just a shame that the book's self-published status brings with it a noticeable number of spelling and punctuation mistakes that presumably would have been caught if there had been an editor.
The climax of the book happens a little quickly, which could be jarring but instead does a fine job of leaving enough story and unanswered questions for a potential sequel. The open-ended nature of the ending, coupled with the book's umbrella title of "The Adventures of 3-Sky and Flint," definitely suggest that one was the intention, anyway. And the reader has gotten to know and love the characters enough to desire one... with a few exceptions. The novel is notable for its lack of well-developed female characters, which is a real shame. Yes, the historical setting does necessitate a society that limits what women can do, but seeing as how the bulk of the novel is about a group of renegades on the run from that society, one might think that the women in the party could do so much more than cook, do laundry, and fall in love with the heroes. Unfortunately, they don't. Hopefully a sequel would rectify that.
Another slight knock against the book is a few instances of what could have been good action scenes being skipped entirely, fast-forwarding the narrative to a few hours later while the heroes reflect on what just happened. There doesn't seem to be any reason why the reader is told about these pivotal moments instead of being shown them. So, no, the book isn't perfect, but perfection isn't a requisite for a five-star Amazon review --- that kind of rating just means that I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and would be happy to recommend it. Luceno's love and understanding of the Maya, coupled with his graphic and expressive imagination, bring an adventure to life that has me wanting to learn more about Mesoamerica and its people.
Oh, and the book calls a portal to the underworld "The Glory Hole," which is unintentionally hilarious. I'll chalk it up to the author not being hip to the youth slang of today.
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Hunt for the Mayan LookingGlass The Adventures of 3Sky and Flint eBook James Luceno Reviews
Hunt for the Mayan-Looking Glass is not your typical piece of fiction. Through a knowledge of the lands and a skill for filling in the blanks, author James Luceno brings to life a story of the Maya. Two adolescents embark on an adventure that takes them across the land of the living and beyond. They meet strange tribes, new friends and discover that the magic of the spirit world is real. It's a truly unique adventure that has a flavor far different than your typical fantasy story.
The two main characters in the book are 3Sky and Flint. They are friends and members of the Xukpi. Flint is the more adventurous and troublesome of the two. He's a gifted artist and often enjoys painting pictures from his imagination. Alas, he has some friends in shady places. 3Sky, on the other hand, is just a normal youth who suffers from a shaking sickness. But 3Sky is in love with a captured princess, and with the encouragement of Flint, the two boys go off on a journey. Traveling with a shaman, a fugitive ball player and an abducted royalty, they flee from murderous holy men, vengeful thieves, and enraged chieftains. To get out of trouble, they'll have to get the magical Looking Lense, a pure obsidian mirror struck by the first lightning bolt and embedded with magical powers.
The story is a fun adventure. There's humor and some nice character development as 3Sky learns from Flint's holy uncle. Yet there is also some dark violence befitting the time period and the ways of the Mayans. After all, this is a people whose ball games could lead to the winners and the losers being sacrificed to the gods. Through the story, there is a lot of of description of the Mayan's ways of life the implements they use, the food they eat, the clothing they wear, their rituals, etc. Even though Luceno asserts that this is by no means an accurate depiction of how the Mayan actually lived, it definitely feels like this is how it could have been. He does an excellent job of creating another world and filling it with colorful characters and rich settings. The sheer strangeness of the world makes it very easy to escape into the story. Plus there's a fun plot at the heart of it.
The weakest part of the story, however, is the prose. That's not to say that the prose is bad, though. There's some good lines strewn throughout, and some great descriptions, but it leaves a little to be desired. It's a bit more straightforward and plain spoken. There are also a lot of descriptions involving lists. That particular method of describing a setting certainly paints a vivid picture, but it doesn't provide the best flow for the story. Still, the style works and the content of the prose conveys some wonderful, and sometimes disturbing, imagery. I never found myself struggling to visualize the story.
In the end, Hunt for the Mayan Looking-Glass is a good story, but it's so unique that I have to give it a special recommendation. If you're looking for an adventure story with just a touch of fantasy that stands out from all the rest, then this is a book worthy of checking out. Furthermore, for Star Wars fans, I recommend giving this one a try so you can see what James Luceno can do outside the galaxy far, far away. It's a really fun adventure and earns a five out of five.
This book is a labour of love. A few years ago, James Luceno was asked which of his original novels he would want readers of his Star Wars tie-in fiction to check out, and he named Hunt for the Mayan Looking-Glass --- the Maya have been a fascination of his for decades, and his passion and knowledge certainly shine in this piece of historical fiction. It's an adventure of his own creation set against a Mesoamerican backdrop, and it reads like an epic fantasy-style quest in the vein of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Two youths gather a group of fellow travelers and journey to the north in order to obtain a magical artifact, and there's even a Gandalf figure guiding them who mysteriously disappears for a stretch in the middle. The book has all the flavour of a fantastic fantasy novel but none of the Tolkien-derivative English medieval elements that have been beaten to death and then some by the genre. The new and unique setting is a huge breath of fresh air.
The opening of the story presents a long and intimidating dramatis personae, and although it seems as if keeping track of so many characters with similarly-styled names will be a chore, Luceno does a great job of distinguishing everyone, taking the time to give them all their own character traits, goals, and motivations. The story and its pace really pick up when the various groups at play all leave their home city and begin racing toward the north, as character arcs emerge and the magical elements start to be explored more deeply. The Mayan and Aztec setting is richly and vividly shown and described, while hints of strange far-away lands add intriguing elements of mystery, with Inca and even European characters joining up with the heroes throughout their travels. Luceno's prose is excellent as always; it's just a shame that the book's self-published status brings with it a noticeable number of spelling and punctuation mistakes that presumably would have been caught if there had been an editor.
The climax of the book happens a little quickly, which could be jarring but instead does a fine job of leaving enough story and unanswered questions for a potential sequel. The open-ended nature of the ending, coupled with the book's umbrella title of "The Adventures of 3-Sky and Flint," definitely suggest that one was the intention, anyway. And the reader has gotten to know and love the characters enough to desire one... with a few exceptions. The novel is notable for its lack of well-developed female characters, which is a real shame. Yes, the historical setting does necessitate a society that limits what women can do, but seeing as how the bulk of the novel is about a group of renegades on the run from that society, one might think that the women in the party could do so much more than cook, do laundry, and fall in love with the heroes. Unfortunately, they don't. Hopefully a sequel would rectify that.
Another slight knock against the book is a few instances of what could have been good action scenes being skipped entirely, fast-forwarding the narrative to a few hours later while the heroes reflect on what just happened. There doesn't seem to be any reason why the reader is told about these pivotal moments instead of being shown them. So, no, the book isn't perfect, but perfection isn't a requisite for a five-star review --- that kind of rating just means that I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and would be happy to recommend it. Luceno's love and understanding of the Maya, coupled with his graphic and expressive imagination, bring an adventure to life that has me wanting to learn more about Mesoamerica and its people.
Oh, and the book calls a portal to the underworld "The Glory Hole," which is unintentionally hilarious. I'll chalk it up to the author not being hip to the youth slang of today.
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