Maztica Trilogy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may not meet a proposed guideline for notability (see Wikipedia:Notability (books)). If you are familiar with the subject matter, please expand or rewrite the article to establish its notability. The best way to address this concern is to reference published, third-party sources about the subject. If notability cannot be established, the article is more likely to be considered for redirection, merge or ultimately deletion, per Wikipedia:Guide to deletion.
This article has been tagged since January 2008.
This article or section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style.
Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective.
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)
The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject.
Please help improve the article with a good introductory style.



The Maztica Trilogy is a set of 3 fantasy novels set in the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms.

The series were written by Douglas Niles, and the books are:

  • Ironhelm (1990)
  • Viperhand (1990)
  • Feathered Dragon (1991)

The books are essentially a translation of the Spanish conquest of what is now Mexico in the 16th Century to the Forgotten Realms world.

The name 'Maztica' is itself a portmanteau of "Maya" and "Aztec", the two major stone-age civilizations of Central America.

The plot of the trilogy closely follows real-life events. The main character, Cordell, is similar in name to real-life conquistador Hernan Cortes. The states of Maztica resemble the Aztecs and other mesoamericans in that

  • they have Stone Age technology
  • they worship many gods and offer human sacrifices
  • they build large stone pyramids
  • there is a warrior class with particular uniforms
  • there is one powerful civilisation dominating the continent, from which some tribes are independent and others subjugated

The principal difference is the existence of magic in the D&D fantasy world.

External links