SOJALS rating:

Awful (1/5)

I first read this in December 2001.

Elizabeth Butler is an archeologist. She specialises in unearthing and interpreting Mayan remains. Her current dig is at Dzibilchaltun, so far it's not been very successful.

As an archeologist, Elisabeth is very good, but as a person she has a few problems. Many years ago she went crazy and she had to abandon her baby daughter. Now she's largely recovered now, but is still plagued by hallucinations. As she wanders her dig, she sees and talks to ghostly figures of ancient Mayans. She knows they're not real, but still sees them.

Now her daughter Diane has joined Elizabeth at the dig, and the daughter also has her own problems.

Somehow they've got to work together, as

Great quote by Samuel R. Delaney on the cover: "A lovely and literate exploration of the dark moment where myth and science meet." Well, Delaney is top man in my book and he clearly likes this book, and it is a very good book. But it's a supernatural fantasy rather than SF, and as such it's not my teacup.