Ayuamarca - By Darren O'Shaughnessy

The book was not popular.
Those lucky few that found a copy to read would have no doubt found it a remarkably interesting and unique tale, but overall not many copies were sold - it took eighteen months for Darren O'Shaughnessy to get this book on the shelves after writing it and perfecting it. The 'flop' may have been partly caused by the unusual name - Ayuamarca (eye-you-ah-mark-ah) - which publishers hated, as it made the book harder to market. But Darren Shan stuck by the name and eventually agreed to allow 'Procession of the Dead' to follow the title.

I thought the book was awesome! It combines fantasy, crime and sci-fi in a weird tale that is unexplainable even after the completion of the second book - 'Hell's Horizon: The City: Book 2'. Both Ayuamarca and Hell's Horizon are amazing.

Unlike most sequel stories, Hell's Horizon runs parallel to Ayuamarca. So after the first book is over, the story is over. Hell's Horizon enhances the first book - enhancing the experience.





MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD


I was thrilled to get an e-mail from Darren O'Shaughnessy:



> Hi John,
>
> glad you liked the book -- but I think Hell's Horizon is better too!! (I was
> still very much a beginner when I wrote Ayuamarca.) There's a 3rd book in the
> series - City of the Snakes - which is even better than the first 2, but alas,
> since the others sold so poorly, the series is currently in limbo and book 3
> hasn't been published. Hopefully it'll see the light of day sometime in the
> future ...
>
> As for your query: all of the Ayuamarcans are created from real people who
> have died (the faces the Cardinal dreams of are the faces of dead people).
> Capac develops memories of the person he was because the Cardinal wanted him
> to become aware of his true state of being, and worked this into his psyche
> when he was creating him.
>
> Hope this clears that up!
>
> All the best,
>
> Darren O'Shaughnessy (aka Darren Shan).



My reply:

Hi,

yes, that does explain it!
thank you!

there's a third?!! I NEED to read it, does it run parallel to the first two?
I really hope I get to read it now, living in the knowledge more questions
are answered but inaccessible will be hell.

I was amazed that the book was not successful, in my opinion it is an
incredible story and it has given me a excellent impression of your work.

Ayuamarca should be RE-marketed, you could release the third along with the
first two and re-release it as an revolutionary new style trilogy!

Congratulations on both Ayuamarca and Hell's Horizon, I sincerely hope to
see City of Snakes on the shelves.

Best of Luck.

John

Another reply back from Darren: (I asked if I could mention the third book on the site)

Cheers, John. Yup, my publishers made a pig's ear of marketing the books. I
did myself no favours by sticking with the title of Ayuamarca for the first
one (if it's ever reissued, I'll probably change it to Procession of the
Dead), and I think it was a bit too strange to be a runaway success (it also
wasn't as tight as it should have been -- if we ever reissue, I'll edit it
down a bit) -- but I believe Hell's Horizon could and should have been a big
seller. Hopefully one day we'll reissue the books with a different
publisher, along with book 3 -- which, by the way, is set 10 years after the
first 2; it's told through the characters of Capac and Al (mostly Al),
explains more about how the Ayuamarcans were created, and why Bill did what
he did in book 2. Oh, and a certain Mr Wami also puts in an appearance ...

All the best,

Darren.

ps yes, you can mention the 3rd book on your site if you wish.

And another reply from me - not wanting spoil 'City of the Snakes' if it is released.

Darren Shan wrote:

> Oh, and a certain Mr Wami also puts in an appearance ...

but how?? unless of course you are referring to Al and his 'new life' he may
have chosen. in fact, don't answer that - I'll just hope to read 'City of
the Snakes' some day soon.

or maybe Wami never really died? (he never really lived) so many unanswered
questions already and I haven't even picked the third book up yet - say no
more!!

:)

john