City of the Beasts

Isabel Allende wrote several novels but one of them that is her most popular one is City of the Beasts, which was published not too long ago in 2002. The novel was named to the San Francisco Chronicle Book Review and Book Magazine’s list of best science fiction novels of 2002. It was first written in Spanish because Isabel Allende is a Chilean-American and then later translated to English by a lady with the name of Margaret Sayers Peden. The story was set in the Amazon rainforest and it all begins with a story about a 15 year-old boy by the name of Alexander Cold. He and his family are going through a family crisis where as his mother has cancer so his parents leave for Texas to treat it, which is why him and his sisters are sent to live with their grandmothers. Alexander is sent off to stay with his grandmother Kate Cold who is a pipe smoking, vodka-drinking reporter for International Geographic Magazine. His sisters, however are sent to live with their grandmother Carla. Meanwhile Kate announces that when Alex arrives she will be taking him with her to the Amazon rainforest. When Alex and his grandmother reach to the jungle they join the rest of the expedition group: Timothy Bruce (photographer); and his assistant Joel Gonzalez. Accompanying them is the famous anthropologist, Ludovic Leblanc, the beautiful Venezuelan physician Dr. Omayra Torres, who is coming along to vaccinate natives, and Cesar Santos, their Brazilian guide. Alex soon befriends Nadia, a girl several years younger than him, who is the daughter of Cesar Santos. The entrepreneur, Mauro Carias, is the man responsible for drawing the magazine's interest to the mysterious Beasts. Outside of a small town in the middle of the Amazon named Santa Maria de la Lluvia, Alex is introduced to a friend of Nadia's, Walimai. After informing them that the two of them have been "called", he disappears without a trace. That night, the two children wake up to the sound of voices. They overhear Captain Aristo and Mauro Carias (the Entrepreneur) discussing a plan in which the expedition is used as a cover to hide what they're really doing: getting rid of the Indians so that they can prospect in the World's Eye. Upon visiting Carias's house the next day, the members of the expedition are shown a captive black jaguar. Alex is mesmerized by it and has a vision by which it is revealed that his totemic animal is a jaguar. Cesar Santos kills the jaguar so that it will not have to live in bondage. Nadia begins to call Alex Jaguar, because that is his "true name". The group then leaves by boat, traveling upriver toward their destination. On their adventure upriver several people are either attacked by animals such as anacondas or killed by poisoned darts. When they are left alone, Alex plays his grandfather's flute to relieve the tedium. The music attracts the mysterious People of the Mist, who kidnap the two children. They travel farther into the forest and arrive at a waterfall, which they must climb to reach the World's Eye. After they reach the top they set off for the home of the People of the Mist. When they reach the village, they are welcomed by the Indians - but their happiness is tempered by the death of Mokarita, which follows shortly after. He is given a traditional funeral, which unfortunately sends up a great amount of smoke from the pyre. During the funeral, everyone is given a drug which reveals to Nadia her totem of the eagle. Jaguar and Eagle are initiated into the clan. Alex, being fifteen, is put through a rite of passage into manhood; during the ceremony, unusual things happen. Firstly, he turns into a jaguar, his totem; secondly, he receives a vision of his mom in the game is on her hospital bed and talking briefly with her. After the ceremonies, the Shaman takes them to visit the Beasts, who live in a city deep within the forest. These Beasts are considered gods by the People of the Mist. Jaguar correctly suck assumes their city to be the famous El Dorado, and he embarks on a journey to visit this place and its inhabitants with Walimai; the mystic's spirit wife, who will guide the group; and Nadia. The city is located inside of an inactive volcano; the only entrance is through a confusing labirynth of lava tunnels and caves. They all decide what to do and how to do it. Upon arrival, Alex and Nadia meet with the “Beasts”. The creatures, which look something like giant sloths, function as the living memory of the tribe by remembering long epic poems recited by Walimai and his predecessors. Fearing the capture of these ancient creatures by western scientists, they warn them to be careful of foreigners (such as the expedition group they both belonged to). In exchange for protecting them, the two children ask for gifts: Nadia the "crystal eggs" and Alex the water of life to save his mom. They both manage to get them, but only by giving up that which was really important to them. Upon returning to the village, they discover that it has been taken over by the Expedition, Carias, and Ariosto. After Nadia convinces the Indians to receive vaccinations, the children realize that the vaccines are actually deadly doses of the measles virus, part of Carias's plan to destroy the Amazonian Indians. Karakawe, an expedition member, is revealed to be an officer of the Department for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples; he is shot by Ariosto. The Indians flee into the woods as a full-fledged gunfight breaks out. Luckily, it stops quickly. Ariosto and his soldiers take captive all of the members of the expedition, while Carias (who was given a serious head wound during the fighting) is airlifted to a hospital. The two children manage to escape; the rest of the men are knocked unconscious by the smell of one of the Beasts. Ariosto is knocked out by the stench and then killed by the Beast. After the People of the Mist reach an agreement with the remaining members of the expedition (they will protect that area with all the power, influence, and money they can muster), they leave. In the end, Eagle and Jaguar must part. She gives Alex the three "crystal eggs", which turn out to be giant diamonds. With the money gained from their sale, it was hoped that they would be able to fund a foundation to keep the World's Eye safe. Alex tells her that the best thing about the trip was meeting her, and they agree that they will be best friends forever.