"""The epic encounter of Aztecs and conquistadors has attracted-and tested-many a novelist. The challenge is one of staying believably true to the historical tale and its Mexican setting, while at the same time offering the reader some surprises. Rickford rises to that challenge with considerable aplomb, balancing evidence with imagination, research with flights of fiction. Fueled by a complex narrative tension and a deft deployment of detail, The Serpent and the Eagle is unpredictable in all the right ways.""

-Matthew Restall, Professor of Colonial Latin American history, Director of Latin American studies at Penn State, author of When Montezuma Met Cortés

""Edward Rickford knows his history. The Serpent and the Eagle is a masterpiece of historical fiction. It's filled with surprises and heart-rending characters, but it's Rickford's attention to cultural details, both native Mexica and Spanish, that puts this book one step above its competition. Plan a long weekend of reading. You're going to love this book.""

-Kathleen O'Neal Gear, New York Times bestselling author of People of the Canyons

""A captivating, well-plotted, bicultural dramatization of the months prior to Motecuhzoma's meeting with Cortés, deftly transporting the reader 500 years back into the eyes and intimate relationships of key participants-Mesoamerican and European, emperor and counselor, conqueror and slave.""

-Andrew Rowen, author of Encounters Unforeseen: 1492 Retold

""Difficult to put down. Well-written, fascinating, and full of wonderfully diverse points of view!""

-Zoe Saadia, author of the Pre-Aztec Trilogy and the Rise of the Aztec Series

""The Serpent and the Eagle is another literary text that may offer the reader exits out of the colonial wound of indignity and entrances into the enunciative reclamation of silenced historical, social, and cultural spaces.""

-C.T. Mexica, Ph. D, Arizona State University

""The story weaves a rich tapestry of Spanish conquistadors and native Mexica-commonly known as the Aztecs-as well as the neighboring native tribes, that transports readers to the lush jungles and grand cities of pre-Hispanic Mexico. The writing is clear and easy to read, with just enough Spanish and Nahuatl to add deep flavors without slowing the pace.""

-Casey Robb, author of The Devil's Grip"