THE WATER AT THE END OF THE WORLD

In Easterling’s novel, based on an Andean folk tale, a teenage girl with mystical abilities seeks a cure for the Incan emperor’s sick son.

Yana Mayu’s aunt always told her she had special powers, but the girl’s visions were few and far between. She experiences one such vision right before the Capac Inca—emperor of the Inca—passes through her drought-ravaged village of Qomermoya: seven magnificent birds with yellow and blue feathers. As the imperial procession rolls through, the emperor’s son, Topa Inca, leans out of the royal litter and vomits right in front of Yana. It turns out that Topa Inca is deathly ill, and, according to an oracle, he “must drink of the water at the end of the world” in order to be healed. Yana, who believes the prince’s sickness is connected to the drought affecting her village, sees an opportunity: If she can locate these mysterious waters, she’ll not only bring the rains and save the boy but will likely raise the status of her peasant family, release her father from his forced military service, free her brother Charapa (who, having already failed to locate the water, has been imprisoned by the emperor), and win the heart of the young man she desires. With her pet llama, Chumpi, by her side, Yana sets out across mountain and jungle, deep into the heart of the continent—and deep into her own heart as well. Easterling’s prose, as narrated by Yana, takes on a slightly mythic register, as here, during a moment of doubt: “The thought of my village drove away the pleasure of my bath, for what would it be like to return to Qomermoya without having found the water at the end of the world, without having found a way to free Charapa from prison? With a sad heart, I walked from under the spray to sit and think while I let the air dry me.” Filled with rich material details, the novel captures the mythos and majesty of the Incan Empire while delivering a classic tale of heroism.

An old-school adventure novel set in the Incan Empire.