You Dreamed of Empires

A Novel

By: Álvaro Enrigue, Natasha Wimmer - translator

Narrated by: Gabriel Porras

A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF 2024

A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR

"Short, strange, spiky and sublime.” —Dwight Garner, New York Times

“Funny, ghastly, eye-opening, marvelous.” —Wall Street Journal

From 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 to the city, the Spaniards are greeted at a ceremonial welcome meal by the steely Aztec princess Atotoxtli, sister and wife of Moctezuma. As they await their meeting with the emperor – who is at a political and spiritual crossroads, and relies on hallucinogens to get by – Cortés and his entourage are ensconced in the labyrinthine palace. Soon, one of Cortés’s captains, Jazmín Caldera, overwhelmed by the grandeur of the place, begins to question the ease with which they were welcomed into the city, and wonders at the chances of getting out alive, much less conquering the empire. And what if... they don't?

You Dreamed of Empires brings Tenochtitlan to life at its height, and reimagines its destiny. The incomparably original Álvaro Enrigue sets afire the moment of conquest and turns it into a moment of revolution, a restitutive, fantastical counterattack, in a novel so electric and so unique that it feels like a dream.

Original point of view

This was a brutal book with a bit too much rape, cannibalism murder etc for me.,

Humor is missed in audio version

I tried listening to the audiobook after reading it and stopped because the dry humor that is so crucial to the story is completely absent in the audio version. The narrator reads character interactions with such straightforward seriousness that their remarks and choices lose their meaning in this context. It’s a fantastic and darkly funny revisionist history, one of my recent favorites. Skip the audio version.

Increíble

Enrigue speaks directly to the heart and soul and captivates the reader from the very start . The narrator’s style, pacing, and emphasis add a richness to the incredible text. A text that feels like a second skin and elicits a sense of pride for Mexico and for Mexicans everywhere. The blending of languages helps the reader to appreciate the encounters amongst the tremendous personalities of this story. I await the next book in this series and a movie adaptation!! 10/10

Dramatic imaginary

Dramatic imaginary from a perspective seldom heard. You can picture yourself walking along the empire.

Hard to understand the reader

I would rather read the book now. I feel like I missed a lot because I was just struggling to understand the reader.