You Dreamed of Empires: A Novel by Álvaro Enrigue (Translated by Natasha Wimmer)

"Enrigue's genius lies in his ability to bring readers close to its tangled knot of priests, mercenaries, warriors and princesses while adding a pinch of biting humor." --Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Los Angeles Times"Riotously entertaining... A triumph of solemnity-busting erudition and mischievous invention that will delight and titillate." --Financial TimesFrom the visionary author of Sudden Death, a hallucinatory, revelatory colonial revenge story.One morning in 1519, conquistador Hernán Cortés enters the city of Tenochtitlan - today's Mexico City. Later that day, he will meet the emperor Moctezuma in a collision of two worlds, two empires, two languages, two possible futures.Cortés is accompanied by his captains, his troops, his prized horses, and his two translators: Friar Aguilar, a taciturn friar, and Malinalli, an enslaved, strategic Nahua princess. After nearly bungling their entrance fo the city, the Spaniards are greeted at a ceremonial welcome meal by the steely Aztec princess At