DONDE SE ACABA EL NORTE/WHERE THE NORTH ENDS

A debut literary novel in Spanish explores life, death, and faith.

“¿Estoy muerto o dormido?” (“Am I dead or sleeping?”), the protagonist asks at the outset of this tale. Known in the modern world as Uriel Romero, he finds himself in New Mexico in the 1600s. In this time period, he is Diego, a man attached to a Franciscan mission. His goal, or so he is told, is to bring the nearby Apache into the fold of Christianity. In his normal life, Uriel was an aspiring novelist. He was raised Roman Catholic though, as an adult, he became an agnostic. He finds the idea of preaching to the Apache terrifying. He explains, to no avail, that all he wants to do is wake up from this absurd dream. But his life only becomes more bizarre and complicated. Things start out oddly enough (including Uriel’s encountering the angelic sounds of Mahler). Later, the action shifts to other times and places while examining Uriel’s past. Whether Uriel is hearing the mini-Moog of Yes’ Rick Wakeman in his head, learning about karma, or wandering around his small apartment in Ithaca, New York, in 1996, the possibilities are many. Where will Uriel’s strange journey finally come to an end? Moreno’s story is surreal to say the least. One moment, Uriel’s Apache guide, Refugio, is his normal self. Then, in the next instant, he is suddenly speaking Spanish. Refugio is now someone named Doctor Hogan. While such transformations can be startling, they evoke the eerie sense that anything or anyone may be just around the corner. Uriel is the type of ordinary individual stuck in an extraordinary situation whom readers will empathize with. How can a man who has a taste for progressive rock and an urge to write a novel suddenly make do with the life of a 17th-century monk? Never mind the many dangers that abound—or the troubles of Uriel’s personal life. But some conversations prove bland. For instance, when Uriel is told that his karma is in play, his response is a flat “¿Mi karma?” (“My karma?”). Yet the inventive story ultimately delivers an intricate adventure beyond the normal constrictions of time and space.

An imaginative and unpredictable time-travel tale.