'An Aztec West Wing' GUARDIAN 'A triumph' FINANCIAL TIMES 'A mischievous fantasy' TLS
'Glorious' i-D In 1519 Conquistador Hernán Cortés and his troops ride into the floating city
of Tenoxtitlan - today's Mexico City - in this hallucinatory revelatory colonial revenge
story. Invited to a ceremonial meal with the steely princess Atotoxtli sister and wife of the
emperor Moctezuma the Spanish nearly bungle their entrance into the city and its labyrinthine
palace. Soon one of Cortés's captains Jazmín Caldera begins to question the ease with which
they were welcomed and wonders at the risks of getting out alive much less conquering the
empire. Moctezuma himself is at a political spiritual and physical crossroads relying on
hallucinogens in a quest for any kind of answer from the gods. When Cortés and Moctezuma meet
two worlds empires languages and possible futures collide. You Dreamed of Empires brings to
life Tenoxtitlan at its height - and reimagines its destiny. It sets afire the moment of
conquest and turns it into a moment of revolution in a novel so electric and so unique that it
feels like a dream. Translated by Natasha Wimmer
