Synopsis:
"Since childhood Anamaya has lived as a captive, waiting to learn how and when she will be offered as a sacrifice. But when the dying emperor, Huayna Capec, summons her, she is granted destiny, not death. Her eyes, as blue as the sacred waters of Lake Titicaca, are a powerful sign that she was sent by Quilla, the Moon Goddess, to ensure the emperor's passage to the Other World -- and she is entrusted with the emperor's last words: the secrets of the past and the future of the Incan empire.
Anamaya's new role as guardian of the emperor's Sacred-Double plunges her into the intrigues of Incan politics, the complexities of war...and the passions of a handsome Spanish nobleman, Gabriel Montelucar y Flores -- a stranger marked with the puma, a symbol of Incan spirituality and power. Traveling with the great conquistador Don Francisco Pizarro, Gabriel hungers for grand adventure, exotic wonders, great wealth, and a new life. The entwined fate he discovers with Anamaya will change both of their worlds forever."

A nice book. Looking at the other reviews, I liked it more than I thought I would before I started reading. It was not a wow, though, but I have a hard time putting my finger on the exact spot why I feel that way. Somehow it feels like the characters are flattening the further the story goes. There is hatred, betrayal and fear in the book, but the characters that are experiencing them can't really convince me. I liked the story itself: in-family war between the successors of the Inca, insight in how the Inca lived and thought, Spanish conquerers at the other end of the world that intend to colonize Peru and make the Inca and all others they find there good Catholics. The two ways the two people look at the world are well pictured in the scene in the morning at Cajamarca and the clash afterwards, where the priest talks about God and his son and then Atahualpa's answer the he is also a son of God. What I miss is a list of Inca / Spanish words used in the book. Some of the terms are explained in the text right behind the word itself, but the greater part isn't and that disturbs my understanding of the story (for my in-head movie I need to be able to form a picture) and subsequently my reading. 

This book will go to my pair in the historical fiction exchange ib the course of this week. Sorry for the delay in reading and sending!

Now on its way to mysteriousmummy who is my pair in the historical fiction exchange. I hope you like the book :-) thank you for your patience! Happy BookCrossing!

Thank you very much for this interesting looking book received as part of the Historical Book Exchange.

been on my tbr pile for too long off to a new home

Arrived savely today. Thanks for the small presents!! <3