ABOUT THE BOOK:
The legions of New Serraña have a sacred custom: when a legionnaire falls in battle, a member of their company must bear the body home to the dead soldier’s family. Álbaro Ceynos is the only surviving member of his company. He’d been garrisoned at Presidio Los Primos, known as the realm’s safest assignment, until a fabled monster emerged from legend, crept down from the mountains, and laid waste to the old fortress.
Now, with one horse, one wagon, one sword, and all his slain brethren, Álbaro the bonebearer roams a decaying empire, bringing home his comrades' remains. As he meets an array of mourners who move him to question past choices and future commitments, he’ll reveal how the tragedy unfolded, death by death, and how it is that he yet lives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Victor Ladis Schultz has published short stories in various magazines, including McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Chicago Quarterly Review, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and Chiricú: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures. He lives with his family in the Chicago area, where he serves as a Daily Editor at the Chicago Review of Books. The Book of the Jaguar is his first novel.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER:.
Michael Welch is the Editor-In-Chief of the Chicago Review of Books. His work was named the winner of the 2024 Salamander Magazine Fiction Prize (selected by Kevin Wilson) among other awards and has appeared in Electric Lit, LitHub, Scientific American, Prairie Schooner, North American Review, and elsewhere. He is also the editor of The Great Lakes Anthology, forthcoming from Belt Publishing in 2026.
Michael received a MA in Creative Writing at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He lives in Chicago, where he was born and raised.
