CITIES OF GOLD

Astronomer and geologist Hartmann (Mars Underground, 2002, etc.) turns from SF to history for a rambling thriller about conquistadors and modern land barons.

Kevin Scott is an idealistic city planner in Albuquerque in the late 1980s, on the rebound from a failed marriage and an unfulfilling job. Mr. Rooney, a real-estate developer, hires him to work on a project near Tucson: Coronado Estates. The bait Rooney offers is the hint that Coronado camped on the land during his quest for the Seven Cities of Cibola, rumored to be even richer than Mexico and Peru. A history student in his college days, Kevin signs on, convinced that the developer’s commitment to the past matches his own. As he digs into the historical record, he becomes fascinated by Marcos de Niza, the Franciscan priest whose report on the territory gave Coronado’s expedition its raison d’être. The narrative shifts back and forth between Kevin’s story and Marcos’s narrative, here reproduced at length. Unfortunately, Kevin’s determination to exonerate the priest from the charge of exaggerating his discoveries does little to spice up Marcos’s dry descriptions of his anticlimactic journey. Kevin’s dalliance with Rooney’s pretty receptionist Phaedra is the most developed relationship in the contemporary plot, but even then neither character really comes to life. There’s a flash of suspense in a visit to a Mexican village where Kevin hopes to find early documents, but it is over too quickly to provide much momentum. And the ultimate bursting of Kevin’s idealistic balloons comes as no surprise. The story is most vibrant in Kevin’s journeys, when he attempts to retrace Marcos’s route by following descriptions in the priest’s written report.

Southwest history buffs may find a good bit to enjoy here, but for others Cities of Gold falls short of the promise of its raw material.