Daniel Peters, novelist

New York: Harper & Row;
A Selection of the Quality Paperback Book Club. 

EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS
     Daniel Peters combines autobiography and social history to produce a chronological fiction built around a Yale senior who faces the prospect of being drafted into the Vietnam War.
     The university youths of 1969-70 are here with their long hair, drugs, four-letter words, their favorite books, tapes, and records, their sexual involvements, their courses and professors, from “hypocritical, pompous old men with their cheap talk about integrity and academic freedom” to a stimulating, outspoken young woman professor from Berkeley who is a gay libber.
     Peters knows the techniques of selective detail and of cutting from scene to scene. His love and friendship scenes . . . touching. . . . He concentrates on bright but confused young people in search of self-respect who are en route to responsibility and maturity.
        -- Richard G. Lillard, LA Times.

      Matthew Craft, a Yale senior during 1969 and 1970, faces decisions posed by career choice, love, and the Vietnam War. Peters has placed him in an Ivy League context that includes: a lesbian faculty member irresistible in her courageous directness; a transplanted Southern rebel on the verge of mysticism; drugs; political trials; and campus demonstrations. The novel presents these characters and their milieu with historical accuracy and a sensitive awareness of the complexities inherent in moral responsibility.
          -- Inez Martinez, Library Journal

This novel is currently out of print. Used copies are available on Amazon.com.

New York: Random House
Alternate Selection, Book of the Month Club

German edition: Das Gluck des Azteken
          Munich: Eugen Diederichs

This novel is currently in development as a major television movie series.

EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS
    Spellbinding, dramatic, powerful, magnificent, blockbuster—these are the words generally used by critics to describe a successful epic novel. Daniel Peters’ second novel, The Luck of Huemac, is such a novel. It spans four generations, from 1428-1520, and its backdrop is the Aztec civilization. . . .
     Peters is so secure in his ability as a storyteller that he doesn’t have to build the story to a big closing with the arrival of the Spanish. The intrigue, the big dramatic lift is not whether Cortes comes and destroys the highly developed Aztec civilization. We know what’s going to happen. Peters builds excitement and interest all the way through the book. If Cortes never comes, it would not diminish the characters or the intensity of the story.
          -- Rod Steier, Hartford Courant

     Let’s journey vicariously to another land. Another culture. Another time. Another civilization. Join Daniel Peters in this novel about the fascinating Aztecs in their gory, erotic, temple-building, god-worshipping lives. . . . No other recent book offers so many hours of unremitting interest. . . . 
          Aztec history from 1428 to 1520 is delineated carefully. Huemac foresees the fire and death of Tenochtitlan at the hands of the Spaniards. Huemac’s destiny of greatness and misfortune carry the story. . . . a superb novel.
          -- James E. Alexander, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

      The Luck of Huemac, one of the finest historical novels I’ve ever read, illuminates nearly 90 years of Aztec history (1428-1520) and the coming of the Spaniards. . . . 
          Huemac, born into a noble Aztec family during a period of famine, is destined to be unlucky but to achieve greatness. Fate has given him uncommon powers and he will find uncommon ways to use them. The gods enter him as a youth and give him strength and a taste for vengeance that it will take him years of struggle to control. He becomes a great warrior, a great ball player in the games played for life and death on the Ball Court of the Lords. He possesses powers of sorcery and magic, but also the dreadful knowledge, brought to him in a vision, of the holocaust that will destroy his world of Tenochtitlan and his life. Throughout his long years he must prepare for that greatest test.
       . . . utterly absorbing, reading this novel is like reading about the fall of Troy; Peters has written a kind of Aztec Iliad.
          -- Eugenia Thornton, Cleveland Plain Dealer

    Daniel Peters’ monumental The Luck of Huemac . . . depicts the closing decades of the Aztec civilization and its final destruction by Cortez in 1521.
          . . . . a compelling narrative with all the requisite ingredients of an historical novel: a cast of hundreds, civil war, famine, intrigue, sorcery, bloody duels, conspiracy, violent deaths for the unjust, tender romance and bittersweet courtship—even a court jester who, while feigning allegiance to the corrupt emperor, is a secret ally of Huemac, the title character. . . .
          When the Spaniards arrive, Huemac is among the minority who believe that the foreigners are ordinary men, not gods. But the equivocation of Montezuma proves fatal, and the tiny Spanish force, aided by Indian confederates, gains control. Huemac’s magic is ineffective against them, and he dies in a final siege of the capital.
    . . . we are fully absorbed in the events of these characters’ lives. Peters does a superior job of holding our interest.
          -- Dave Walsten, Chicago Tribune Book World

    An exotic empire re-created . . . a historical romance about Mexico’s ancient Aztecs. . . . the characters are individuals, fully rounded and alive....
    This book’s pages offer us insight into a lost world, and marvelous entertainment.
          -- David Traxel, Philadelphia Inquirer

     . . . an overwhelming and prodigious fiction. . . .           Most readers will immediately be struck by the strangeness of the world Peters creates. . . . Fortunately The Luck of Huemac greatly repays anyone who wades into the thick of it. . . . Peters skillfully initiates the reader into the fascinating mores and beliefs of this extinct way of life.
       What’s his strategy for reconstructing the glory and power of Aztec life from the period of its early military triumphs—the Aztecs created one of the greatest standing armies in the history of warfare—on through its final clash with the Spanish? Peters dramatizes the waxing and waning political, aesthetic, and psychological fortunes of this brutal, mystical, and fascinating people by means of the life and education of the fictional Huemac, a warrior turned champion ball player. A man born into a time singled out by the Aztec calendar as most unfortunate, Huemac acquires great skills as sorcerer, athlete and soldier. His own initiation into adult life steeps the reader as well in a world now lost but one that seems at times all too familiar.
    . . . an engrossing and intelligent historical novel, . . . . The Luck of Huemac embraces moments of great horror, but also scenes of deep affection (as in the multiple marriages of several characters), political intrigues and masterfully drawn events on the ball courts and the battlefield. Peters’ book is a true act of Discovery which illuminates one of the most intriguing moments in the history of the west.
         -- Alan Cheuse, Los Angeles Herald Examiner

This novel is currently out of print. Used copies are available at Amazon.com.

New York: Random House

Italian edition: Tikal
          Milan: Rizzoli
German edition: Tikal
          Munich: Eugen Diederichs

EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS
     A powerful, even majestic novel about the beginning of the end of a great civilization.
          -- Publishers Weekly

     The time: the distant past. The place: the ancient Mayan city of Tikal, mysteriously deserted by its people. The novel: an intriguing tale, irresistible to anyone fascinated by Pre-Columbian culture, yet accessible to those seeking only to unearth a satisfying story. . . Peters is a skilled and efficient writer; his people have depth, detail and consistency.
          -- Chris Wall, Los Angeles Times Book Review

     Daniel Peters will be enthusiastically remembered by adventure buffs as the author of The Luck of Huemac, a fast-moving and highly imaginative novel about the Aztecs. Tikal continues his exploration of pre-Columbian civilization with an equally exciting tale of the Mayas living in that ancient city. It is the late eighth century A.D., a time of strife and trouble, and a rebel prophet, Balam Xoc, the Living Ancestor, has risen from the Jaguar Paw Clan to lead a rebellion against an evil king. It is a full, well-peopled story and as technically accurate as careful research can make it. . . . Enjoyed either for its own vivid narrative or its genuine insight into Central American prehistory, Tikal will be welcome fare. A final book about the Incas will eventually conclude Peters' series.
          -- B.H.H., The Anniston Star (Alabama)

     In Tikal, Peters observes the Mayan social crisis through the saga of an influential and gifted family. Each member of the Jaguar Paw clan has a different, intimate relation to Tikal's power. . . . The father of the clan, the Living Ancestor, shaman of the clan, is its elder statesman and charismatic leader, Balam Xoc. 
     Trouble begins when Balam Xoc balks at performing a ritual to celebrate the hierarchical status quo. He has had a vision warning of decadence: religious rites will no longer predict rain, guide farming decisions, or sustain social relationships. Each family member soon lives the reality of that vision. . . .
     Mayanists can't resist this book. . . . Peters has delivered speculative fiction that leaves you thinking about the role of religion in political life and the function of charismatic leaders. That's why I put it in the same category as Ursula LeGuin's The Dispossessed. 
          -- Pat Aufderheide, The Village Voice

     Stone by stone, Peters has rebuilt the city of Tikal. . . He has created men and women to walk those streets to live out a story of vanity and salvation."
          -- Susan Dooley, Washington Post Book World

This novel is currently out of print. Used copies are available at Amazon.com.

New York: Random House
Alternate Selection, Book of the Month Club
Main Selection, History Book Club

German edition: Der Inka 
          Munich: Eugen Diederichs

READERS' COMMENTS
     Daniel Peters has done a prodigious amount of work in reconstructing the history of one of the most interesting of the peoples inhabiting the Americas, and one of the least known, the Incas of Peru. Using this knowledge brilliantly, he has written a beautiful, tragic, heroic account of their last years, from 1511 to 1530, when these superior Indians were overwhelmed by their Spanish conquerors. It is written with beauty and compassion--an amazing accomplishment and a compelling reading experience.
          -- James A. Michener

     Magnificent. . . a spiritual journey, a historical travel guide, a tremendous novel as powerful as the sunlight over the Andes, a work of art that makes the reader blink. The Incas thought that there was nothing so great that it could not be lost to memory, but readers of this splendid epic will spend their lifetimes remembering the story and Cusi and Micay. Traveling these pages is a wondrous journey worth every hour you spend on the trail.
          -- Ruth Beebe Hill, author of Hanta Yo

     . . . new view of the Inca empire informs The Incas, Daniel Peters' ambitious and absorbing new novel. It is a saga painted on a broad canvas that spans the vast and varied empire, set against the turbulent historical backdrop of the last decades of Inca rule. The novel tells the story of Cusi, a courageous and shrewd Inca warrior, his kin and comrades, as they wander through the rugged landscapes and varied cultures of the Andes. Along the way, Inca Cuzco and Macchu Picchu are brought to life, as are conquered Chimor and colonized Cochabamba, but they are only a few of the places and peoples portrayed in this sprawling epic. 
     It is a tale of ambitions and intrigue, negotiations and battles, loyalty and betrayal, arrogance and wisdom. . . . 
     . . . a compelling evocation of a lost world that is a triumph of the historical imagination. 
        -- Peter Winn, author of Weavers of Revolution 

EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS
     Intrigue, betrayal, warfare and family relationships form the fabric of this absorbing epic of the Inca empire in the two decades preceding the Spanish invasion. The love interest in provided by Cusi Huaman, a young Inca warrior once scorned as a weakling by his father, and Micay, a healer and daughter of a Chachapoya rebel chief. Around them swirl dozens of historical and fictional characters, including three war chiefs who become the last Inca emperors. Peters recreates ritual initiations, internecine feuds, the crushing of rebellions and the active presence of the gods in daily life. . . . this expansive novel plunges the reader into a maelstrom climaxed by the arrival of Francisco Pizarro and the "Bearded Ones" in 1532.
          -- Publishers Weekly

     The Incas is the third novel in Daniel Peters' vast and impressive trilogy about the glories and sorrows of princes and warriors and courtiers and stone carvers and magicians and just about everyone else who must have walked the earth at that time and place in antique America south of the Rio Grande. With its publication, the North American public now has the opportunity to complete its education into the lives of the three great civilizations--Aztec, Maya and Inca--that the conquering Spaniards covered over with churches built with bricks of pyramids and washed with blood and mixed with semen. . . . 
     The Incas certainly serves its purpose--which is either to teach as it entertains or to entertain as it teaches. And that makes Peters into something like the James Michener of Macchu Picchu, a sturdy, serious, intelligent and enlightening writer who gives us substance with our pleasure. . . .
     . . . a grand fiction about empires won and lost.
          -- Alan Cheuse, Chicago Tribune

     The story stretches from 1511 to the arrival of the conquistadors in 1532. Whatever grand pax existed earlier in the empire's 100-year history is fractured by the Sapa--or supreme Inca--whose bungling aggressions corrupt honor codes and alienate the military.
      The Inca empire is relived through Cusi Huaman, a fierce young soldier and "Inca of the blood," and Micay, a beautiful provincial girl taken against her will into the convent-like House of Chosen Women. Through them readers tour the length of the 3,000-mile kingdom and explore hidden inner sanctums: a mountaintop mausoleum, where a long-haired priestess in a gold mask attends a golden-eyed mummy, and an underground tunnel, where the fertility goddess voices her predictions. . . .
      Romance, suspense, heroes, and villains are all confined to realistic proportions. . . . the strength of The Incas is its "you are there" realism and subtle diatribe against empire. 
          -- Shawn Michael Smith, Christian Science Monitor

     The Incas is masterfully written from both a literary and a historical perspective. The difficulty with reading such expansive epics is the sadness one feels when it finally does end. 
          -- GoodReads.com Community Review

New York: Random House

EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS
     Personal choice and historical discovery are at the center of this absorbing novel, which, unlike Peters' pre-Columbian trilogy . . . is set in the present: at an archaeological dig in Mexico, near the Guatemalan border. . . . throughout Peters skillfully grounds his central character's journey of self-discovery in the mundane, grueling details of the archaeological dig. And the plot, with its layers of history, has a fullness to it, as do the lively characters. . . . The deeper you dig into this rewarding novel, the better it becomes.
          -- Publishers Weekly

     . . . . sweet and entertaining. . . . 
     The reader is engaged by these characters and cares about what happens to them. . . . Peters writes seductively, drawing one into the lives and concerns of his people. 
          -- Hart Williams, The Washington Post Book World

     A serious, sophisticated adventure yarn.
          -- Brad Hooper, Booklist

     . . . in studying why the Mayans lived and died, the central character and his associates learn about themselves and why they live in a world of opportunities. . . . Peters is subtle in his often humorous, always-respectful-of-Mayan-culture approach. . . .
          -- Dean Sims, Tulsa World

     Daniel Peters is a first-rate storyteller. . . . 
     And now Peters has written Rising from the Ruins, the story of a contemporary man, depressed and aimless, saved by joining an archaeological dig in Chiapas, Mexico, at the ancient Mayan site of Baktun. Harper Yates, a draft resistor in the '60s, can find neither a place nor meaning for himself in the Reagan era: His novels are ignored; he and his wife inhabit a dreary rented house. "Why pretend he had a destination when his feet knew better?" he thinks, as he moves without direction in the suburban landscape. 
     A friend from Harp's past invites him to join the dig at Baktun in Chiapas, which gives Harp direction and interest. Though he is not an archaeologist, Harp is increasingly interested in the evidence of a possible Mayan revitalization movement. While Harper is the joker among the modern archaeologists, he finds a sense of reverence as he tries to imagine the ancient Mayans as people, like himself, disgusted with political reactionaries and trying to revitalize their culture. . . . 
     The story takes on another layer of meaning when a stealthy group of Mayan Indians, hunted by Guatemalan soldiers, make their appearance near the ancient Mayan site. The archaeologists and Harp must consider what response to these shadowy and persecuted people makes sense in the mysterious light of what is known and not known of their forebears--and of their own time as well.
     . . . this fascinating and humorous mix of personalities and events. . . . 
     I was not two pages into this book before I was hooked. . . . Peters has mapped the moral and spiritual journey of our time. This book, like the Baktun dig, is a treasure.
          -- Liane Ellison Norman, Sojourners

     The story is about a writer who hasn't written anything lately and is getting depressed. He jumps at an invitation to go on an archaeological dig in southern Mexico, though it means leaving behind his wife, an academic who's going through a difficult job situation. But the decision pays off. Studying Mayan culture, living in the jungle, digging in the ruins, and getting caught in the rivalries, romances, power struggles, and scholarly debates of the camp brings the writer back to life and gives him material for a novel about the civilization he's helping to unbury. 
     But the best part is the way the narrator keeps in touch with his sensations and feelings. I perspired along with him in the jungle heat, smeared myself with bug repellent, slept under mosquito netting, watched for snakes, drank mescal, smoked cigarettes. Stole kisses and got into fights. If you like Mexico, the dream of ancient civilizations, and the nitty-gritty of sensory detail, you'll enjoy this story. . . . subtle, salty, acute, and likely to surprise you with his sharp, sly wit.
          -- Jane Tompkins, Raleigh News and Observer (North Carolina)