Book Review: Blood Fortune

IndieBookView

Dec 21

Blood Fortune

by Brock Rivers

Genre: Science Fiction / Thriller

ISBN: 9798988341017

Print Length: 326 pages

Reviewed by Erin Britton

A dual-timeline novel in both 1518 and 2057, Brock Rivers' Blood Fortune is an action-packed and conspiracy-laden mashup of the science fiction and historical fiction genres. Grounded in historical legend and characterized by innovative futuristic technologies and scenarios, it centers on a satisfyingly complex secret behind a treasure with its origins in the distant past and its consequences in the near future.

In a faintly dystopian 2057, where both technological advancements and covert curtailments to personal freedoms appear to have progressed rapidly, Doctor Roland Mathias is the Director of Technology at a top-secret government facility known as the Vortex, which is hidden beneath the New Mexico desert. His major achievement is the rather frighteningly advanced Minerva AI system:

"… he'd built Minerva into an incredibly powerful and intelligent system. Its primary functions were monitoring worldwide communications and creating weapon technologies. With each passing year, the system improved its capabilities through progressive learning algorithms. It became a better, more evolved version of itself by way of its own cognitive decisions."

In 1518, a bloody conflict rages in the Gulf of Mexico as conquistadors with impressive warships and advanced weapons lay siege to the Hall of Huitzilopochtli. The Aztecs understandably fear that the Spanish have "come to steal Huitzilopochtli's great treasures and poison [their] hearts" and so prepare to mount a counterattack. Meanwhile, under the leadership of elite warrior Zolin, a group of 100 Aztecs are dispatched to the Caves of the Mother to hide their people's treasures.