Review of Brian D'Amato's "2012" – Ed Vía Magna

I confess that I read this book after watching the film of the same name, and that I did so on the recommendation of my brother, with the promise that the book deals with the part that the film forgets: the Mayan legend about the date of the end of the world, and with the promise that it was Science Fiction and not Historical Novel (I have nothing against Historical Novels, but I prefer to read Science Fiction whenever possible).

According to the book, the Mayans predicted that on December 21, 2012, time would stop and there would be no future for humanity. The book tells us the story of this legend, but it does so in an original, though unorthodox way: with a journey through time through an atomic-sized wormhole.

The protagonist of the story is a descendant of the Mayans with a prodigious mind and addicted to video games and strategy games in general. These games include a Mayan game that is used to predict the future and that corroborates the date of the end of the world mentioned in the legends. The protagonist's mission will be to find out why the Mayans predicted the end of the world for that date and discover if there is something to prevent it.

To discover more about the date in question, the protagonist's mind is sent back in time through an atomic-sized wormhole, which has been developed by scientists from a private company that seems to have more power than the United States government itself. But without knowing why, the mind ends up in the bodies of several Mayans and does not do so in an optimal way. The protagonist (now in the past) will have to deal with this handicap and try by all means to leave a message with keys to unravel the mystery, for his 2012 self.

Overall the book is fine, although at times I think there are pages that are only there to make it to the 733 pages, as they add nothing and are completely unnecessary.

Halfway through the book you realise that the book and the film have nothing to do with each other. Not at all. In fact, the original title is «In the Courts of the Sun» (but I didn't know this before buying it). And when you discover this, you realise that you have been the victim of a marketing campaign by the publisher, which has taken advantage of the film to change the name of the book and thus sell more books.

However, the biggest disappointment comes in the last pages… when you discover that the book is only the first part of a trilogy… 733 pages for an introduction…

Well, I'm still not sure if I'll read the next two parts when they're published. Even so, the book is well narrated, has a rhythm, and explains quite well what the Mayan cities and culture were like. The author seems well-informed.

The attached video is of the book promotion.