Inca

Sidewise Award nominee 2000.

What if the ancient Inca had defied the Spanish Conquerors?

1532 A.D. The Inca, weakened by a civil war, were vulnerable when a Spanish galleon approached their shores-and the cunning leader of the Conquistadores, Francisco Pizarro, used this advantage well. Within a year, he seized the ruling Inca, Prince Atahualpa, received a room filled with gold for his ransom, then executed him and enslaved the natives.

But were these events fated to be? Or could a few crucial alterations have allowed the Inca to prosper?

In this startling alternate history Prince Atahualpa, which means Exemplary Fortune, does not become emperor but is instead sent away by his father, to discover the purpose of the strange ship that has come to their shores.

Soon he discovers the threat the Spanish pose, and he realizes that, even as an outcast, he must not cease in his quest to warn an unbelieving empire, and save his people from ultimate destruction.