This is one of several book written by this author, built on factual individuals and events discovered in Mayan ruins.
K'Inuuw Mat of Palenque had desired to become a Priestess of Ix Chel her entire life. She had been eager for her 12th year to go to Cuzamil to live with her aunt and trained to be whatever type of Priestess her talents deemed her worthy of. She had shown promise of becoming a seer.
She only needed to show evidence of "becoming a woman" then request a meeting with the main Oracle to receive permission. Her first cycle in "becoming a woman" was fulfilled, but when she voiced her request to the Oracle, she was, shockingly, refused. She was to serve a different mission.
Soon, K'Inuuw Mat, was entreated by her father to accept a marriage proposal from an ally, in order tot strengthen their countries. The second brother came to negotiate on behalf of his younger brother. If the younger brother was as appealing as this one, she could willingly accept the offer.
On her journey to meet her betrothed, she used her seer skills to discover a view of the brother who she was to create a royal posterity with. He looked nothing like the brother she had met! He was huge and gruff looking!
After arriving, the next day the family met her in the Palace. Her betrothed looked much like his brother. Who was the image she saw through her seer stones?
This was a very interesting interpretation by the author, of what may have happened. The records recovered were extremely "sketchy". The author added much speculation and intrigue in "filling in" the missing events. It definitely added "spark" to the possibilities.
The characters were portrayed in an interesting way. The Book Title and Cover were very-well chosen and appealing to the ?browser".
I did have some issues with quite a lot of repetition and excess "wordiness". However, the factual information the author provides, additionally adding a map, pronunciation, explanation of terms, etc., made up for a lot of the lacking literary technique. i learned a lot about this aspect of the Mayan culture I never knew and am looking forward to reading more of this author's Mayan leader's adventures.
I offer a Four Stars rating.
*This book was gifted me, with no request for a positive review. This is my honest review. ( )

K'inuuw Mat is the daughter of the ruler of the city of Uxte'kuh. It is expected she will follow her matrilineal line by being the daughter of her generation who will serve the goddess Ix Chel on Her island of Cuzamil. However, an oracular prophecy says she will serve the goddess in a different way. At first, K'inuuw Mat resists this and contemplates escaping back to the island. In the end, she accepts Ix Chel's will for her. The prophecy comes to pass when she becomes bride to one of the sons of the ruling family in Lakam Ha. She does her own divination to see what her future husband looks like and is granted a vision of a man who turns out to be her husband's brother. What does this vision actually mean, and how will it affect her people?

It's clear Martin has put a great deal of research into this story. I'm somewhat familiar with Mayan history & archaeology, and it was enjoyable to find things I recognised. It was a just as enjoyable to learn new things. This was a complex, quite advanced culture. They managed to plot calendars far in advance. Indeed, the ‘infamous’ 2012 was the ending of an impossibly long cycle. And they did it all without computers or digital calculators. As a person notoriously poor in mathematics, this boggles my mind.

Martin mentions that the Mayan language was very flowery and formal (at least as we understand it), and I liked that not only was the dialogue written this way, but the entity of the story was. I would have liked a pronunciation guide at the beginning though. Most things I actually remembered, and part of that was the various pronunciations of 'x’. What I didn't fully recall was what sound is used when. Some words, like Ix Chel, I remembered. Words new to me were the problem. However, I imagine these words would confuse readers unfamiliar with this fact.

The First North Americans series by archaeologists W Michael & Kathleen O'Neal Gear is one of my all-time favourite series, and this book (and series) made me think of a South/Mesoamerican version. K'inuuw Mat was the first book of this series that I've read, but I went and purchased the previous ones. I'm looking forward to reading them. A highly recommended book for those interested in the ancient Maya, or archaeology in general!

***Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. This book was reviewed for the Seattle Book Review. ( )