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This page lists novels that feature the Aztec slave and investigator Yaotl.

Demon of the Air

Simon Levack

2004

A Yaotl novel.

"Mexico-Tenochtitlan, in the year Twelve-House: the vast, teeming city of the Aztecs at the height of its glory. As the novel opens, the Chief Minister's trusted slave Yaotl is escorting a sacrificial victim up the steps of the Great Pyramid to celebrate the Festival of the Raising of Banners. Used to the bloodstained rites of the War-God's priests, Yaotl is unperturbed at the ritual slaughter of the so-called Flowery Death. When the victim runs amok and leaps to his death before he can be sacrified, Yaotl's only worry is how to explain it to his master. But when more bodies start to appear and the Emperor Montezuma starts asking questions about the soothsayers who have vanished from his impregnable prison, Yaotl realises he needs some answers soon. The secrets he uncovers will unlock nightmares from his own youth and threaten the future of everything he knows."

Shadow of the Lords

Simon Levack

2005

A Yaotl novel.

"Mexico, 1517. The Aztec capital is awash with fear and rumours. A strange figure has been seen running through the streets. A being with the face of a snake, his body covered in glittering green plumage: Quetzalcoatl - the Feathered Serpent. Is it an omen? Or is it the god himself, come to warn of impending disaster? Yaotl, the Chief Minister's slave, has more immediate matters to worry about. Engaged in a desperate search for his son, he's on the run from his vengeful master, the all-powerful Lord Feathered-in-Black. Attempting to escape his master's bloodthirsty warriors, Yaotl stumbles on a dismembered, unrecognisable corpse. As he pieces together the clues to who the dead man was and how he died, Yaotl finds himself drawn into an affair of greed, jealousy and lust among the ancient, secretive society of the feather workers, the Aztec's foremost craftsmen."

City of Spies

Simon Levack

2006

A Yaotl novel.

"Tetzcoco, the second city of the Aztec realm, is a bustling, cosmopolitan town; a city of poets, artists and legendary kings. It's also a place torn by unrest, as rival claimants fight over the throne, and spies and assassins stalk each other through the streets and marketplaces. It is here that Yaotl seeks refuge from his master, the Aztec Chief Minister. Lord Feathered-in-Black has decided to rid himself of his disobedient slave, and plans to have Yaotl sacrificed in the most gruesome manner possible - provided he can catch him first. Yaotl's former lover Lily is in Tetzcoco too, on a mission of her own. A mission that goes badly wrong, with the discovery of a bloodsoaked corpse - and Lily's arrest for murder. Yaotl faces a desperate race against time to find the evidence that will prove Lily's innocence - and save her from execution. The wily slave's search for the truth will lead him through palace corridors and darkened streets into a lethal trap, laid for him by his most pitiless and implacable enemy."

Tribute of Death

Simon Levack

2007

A Yaotl novel.

"Mexico, 1518: Aztec slave Yaotl learns of a tragedy. A friend's wife has died in childbirth. According to Aztec belief, her remains must be protected from warriors and sorcerers who would use them as a talisman, before her soul is transformed into a demon. But the body goes missing and Yaotl gets the blame. Only by finding out for himself what has happened can he avert the bereaved husband's wrath. He soon finds there is more to the affair than meets the eye. An associate of the dead woman's may not be all that he seems, and her family seems strangely reluctant to help Yaotl investigate him. Then a series of violent deaths leaves the wily slave wondering whether he is hunting a thief - or a killer is hunting him."