The Storm Runner

Mayan mythology consists of a vast collection of stories that originated amongst the Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica; today, their descendants still inhabit areas of Mexico and Central America. The term “Maya” was not used by these people and has only been applied in modern times as a collective term for all those who subscribed to certain overarching beliefs or lived in the areas indicated above. These beliefs included a specific creation myth which is outlined in the collection of stories called Popol Vuh, which is translated as “book of the community.” This creation myth offers tales of how humankind came to be, along with descriptions of how the ancient gods ruled the world. In the tales, the gods wished to create humans with the capacity to think and to worship them. Their first three attempts to construct animals, wet clay humans, and wooden humans proved fruitless, but their fourth attempt, which involved creating humans out of maize, or corn, brought the results they sought. This is one reason why maize was so highly regarded by the Mayan peoples. Cervantes uses this myth in her world-building, creating a rich and imaginative origin story for Zane; these details profoundly affect his journey as he learns about his heritage, and the myth also provides a basis for Ah-Puch’s threats. Cervantes presents her Mayan gods as fickle beings who have no qualms about destroying everything and starting again. Thus, one of Ah-Puch’s main motivations is to construct a fifth race of humans that will primarily worship him rather than the other gods.

In addition to her creation of the antagonist, Cervantes also adapts a variety of other important figures from Mayan mythology throughout The Storm Runner. In particular, the hero twins play a significant role; in the original myth, these two figures a major part of an alternative creation myth in which they inspired the fourth creation of humans. In this version, the gods wanted to create humans to worship them but failed three times, causing the lords of Xibalba to call upon the hero twins to best the gods at a momentous ball game—much like the game that the twins challenge Zane to during their party. In the original myth, the twins won and then rose into the sky to become the sun and moon. This event prepared the Earth to grow corn so that the gods could make their fourth and final version of humanity. Cervantes also adapts the gods who rule over these humans, for Ah Puch is a representative of the lords of Xibalba (the Mayan underworld), and others, like Hurakan (Zane’s father) come directly from the Mayan pantheon. The polytheistic Mayan religion was based on the powers of nature and animals, and the gods who could access the elemental forces held the greatest power. Prime examples of such gods include Hurakan, the god of storms, and Kukulkan, the god of the sea and the wind, who makes an appearance to help Zane traverse the waterway to the Old World.