There are many ideas that permeate science fiction and fantasy, seeming to exist simply because they exist. In science fiction they are a bit harder to see because they are painted in actually scientific ideas, but in fantasy they are often conjured entirely in the genre and so become more clear. One of those that I’ve seen in many works is the idea (and even used a variation of in one of my stories) is the idea that the gods are created or powered by the worship of mortals. I’m not entirely sure where I first saw it, but the earliest thing I remember is the video game “Black And White”. In it you were a god who gained power by having people worship you and fought other gods who were powered the same way. I’ve of course also read a few books, including a notable one by Neil Gaiman, which uses a similar idea.

I find it a bit strange in part because gods are historically used to explain origins, but a god created by humans can’t really do this. So instead they become metaphors. “Gods of Jade and Shadow” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia fits well into that category. Well enough that in some superficial ways it almost feels as if it could read alongside “American Gods” with the major differences being the writing style and that the gods aren’t from the United States. For people who feel novelty is the most important thing, this may sound bad, but by not focusing on being entirely original in the book's premise, it leaves far more room to explore the details and the characters.

What Happens in “Gods of Jade and Shadow” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia?

The story starts with a somewhat normal day in the life of the main character, Casiopea. A young woman who is living in Mexico in the 1920s. When her father died, she moved into her grandfather’s house along with her mother. As the poor relations, she and her mother are treated more like maids and cooks than family members. Casiopea is punished for arguing with her male cousin when he tells her to shine his shoes and so left home when the rest of the family goes out. All of this feels fairly normal, but while cleaning she sees a chest in her grandfather’s bedroom that she has been forbidden to open. Desperate to escape, she suspects it may be full of money so opens it but instead finds human bones.

She seems remarkably un-phased by seeing that her grandfather has human bones. Perhaps his abusiveness has made her comfortable with the idea that he may have murdered someone and kept their bones. But rather than think about that, she digs in the bones looking to see if he has anything hidden under them. As she does, she is pricked by a small piece of bone that embeds itself in her hand.

This is enough to create a connection between the bones and her. A few minutes later a handsome naked man is standing in front of her and orders her to get him some clothes. Being 1920s Mexico, the girl seems more shocked by the nudity than the resurrection. She gets him clothes, and he explains he is the Mayan god of the underworld, but he was deposed by his twin brother who took his eye, his ear and his finger but left the rest with his grandfather. Those missing pieces mean he is without most of his magic, but the connection created between Casiopea and him by the bone will give him strength, but only by taking it from her meaning that if she doesn’t help him regain his missing body parts, she is going to die.

With little choice, and having always wanted to travel anyway, Casiopea goes with him. He first goes to a demon who will deal, but wants a promise. The gods, and demons it seems, cannot travel freely in other realms and get weaker when they are further from their source of power and this demon has been trapped here. The god agrees, and he tells him that a weather god has the ear. This is the first of the many characters they meet, and those meetings are more central to the plot than what actually happens. The demon tells Casiopea that there is a second option. She can, if she chooses, cut off her own hand, which will sever the connection between her and the god. This would please his brother, and so she may even be rewarded.

This is when Vucub-Kame the current ruler of the underworld discovers his brother has been woken and by who. He recruits Casiopea’s cousin to help him and trains him to understand the black road, as that is likely where a contest between mortals used to decide the fate of the gods is likely to happen.

Casiopea also discovers around this time that Vucub-Kame’s plan is to change the world so they once again worship him. Since the Mayan religion practiced human sacrifice, this would not be a good thing and gives her even further motivation to help stop him. Hun-Kame, the god she is connected to, is also becoming more mortal as he drains more of her strength. This is both a good thing and a bad thing as he is clearly learning and growing in a way that a god cannot, but he is also more vulnerable.

Getting the ear is not as difficult as finding the weather god, and the primary cost seems to be time, of which they have little. With his ear returned, the god gets some amount of his power back and can communicate with a spirit who gives him directions towards the rest of the things he needs. While waiting, Casiopea goes on her own for a short time and meets her cousin, who tries to convince her she should abandon the god and come home. Their family’s wealth is built on the deal his grandfather made and will be lost if the god is replaced.

Most of the middle of the good is a growing but unspoken romance between Casiopea and the god. He is becoming more human, and she is growing more confident. This continues as the confront a wizard who has his eye, but time is running out and getting the last piece is going to be the most difficult. To do this, the two god brothers agree to a contest of champions, Casiopea is one and her cousin is the other. But Hun-Kame makes another suggestion. If she pledges herself to his brother and kills herself and then Hun-Kane allows his brother to kill him, they may find an agreement that would let them live together as humans. But Casiopea can’t agree because she believes that Vucub-Kame will kill far too many people.

The trial is difficult as the black road is the path to the underworld and dangerous, and Casiopea’s cousin is ordered to kill her. This is where things began to be surprising to me as he refuses to kill his cousin. But her cousin rushes forward and is going to reach the city first. Seeing this, Casiopea understands that there is another way to get to the city of the dead and sacrifices herself. She dies and reaches the end first. She is resurrected by Hun-Kame who has regained his power and she is given her freedom, the thing she wanted, but she isn’t able to stay with the god who she has grown to love. But it isn’t entirely bittersweet because she has changed the god, convincing him to show mercy to his brother and bring a hint of beauty into the afterlife.

My thoughts on Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The part of this I found most interesting was the setting and the mythology. The entire story is told in a style that makes it feel more like some ancient legend than a typical style, and the narrator had enough personality to make it feel a bit like sitting around a campfire hearing the story. This is mostly good, but it put some distance between me and the characters. And while Casiopea was a good character, her reactions sometimes felt strange. The most obvious is her lack of real reaction to finding a human skeleton hidden in her grandfather’s room, and that isn’t the only one.

Beyond that, the romance part of the story while important to the plot wasn’t something I ever really connected to. I’m not the audience for any type of romance book and so I wouldn’t assume other people wouldn’t like it, but to me it felt more like part of the plot than an actual connection between two people. On top of that, the innocence of Casiopea made it feel less appropriate.

Conclusion

This is an excellent book, and I can compare it largely favorably with something like “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman. More than that, the exploration of Mayan and Mexican ideas was interesting, and setting it in the 1920s, with things like American Prohibition being a thing that had some interesting effects on the narrative. And while there were aspects of this story I didn’t love they were still at the least acceptable and for people who like those themes more they would likely enjoy them more.