My favorite read of the year.
You’re immediately dropped into a somewhat confusing scene that is interesting enough to make you want to turn the page. We’ll call this Serapio’s beginning. Shortly after we’re introduced to another character who awakes in a jail---not so original, but the actions that resulted in this are funny. This is our introduction to Xiala. Finally, we’re introduced to Narranpa, a character who lives in a religious sanctuary and is known as the Sun Priest.
This books jumps from current day POVs to past POVs that give us brief glimpses of the three main characters’ pasts and how their destinies are intertwined. It continues this as it counts down the “20 Days to Convergence” which is when Serapio is to fulfil his destiny. Each chapter is important and as it jumps from past to present, you do not feel as if you’re being told something you just read from a flashback. Roanhorse’s ability to keep things linear with time skips is a wonder as this can be confusing for a lot of readers.

The detailing of the world is crisp, description of characters clear, and the environment is well fleshed out, creating an easy to imagine world rife with color. The love is fierce and strong, and not so easily given. Everything seems so real, such as the harsh realities of past wrongdoings reflecting upon those who would do better but can’t change the past. From the moment I picked up this novel and read the first page, I was enthralled. When the book ended it felt as if there should have been a thousand more pages because it’s what I wanted.
My favorite read of the year.

Black sun by Rebecca Roanhorse is a must read.
A fantasy inspired by Pre Columbian America's, with mythology and magic intertwined. I could not put this book down. The world building is flawless, cliffside cities sound awesome, along with characters you can't help but enjoy....even if they may or may not become villainous. I can't wait for book 2.

Unlike anything I’ve ever read. A story set in a lush, gorgeous world of magic and mermaid tails and Gods. There’s betrayal, vengeance, and at the heart of it, a man who--in a sense--will become a God.
Almost every single character jumps off the page, I say almost because it extends to the side characters which are usually devoid of any real personality in many other stories.

Xiala, a Teek, a woman whose body is said to hold magic in its bones and who loves drinks and pretty people to spend the night with. A captain who ends up hired to get Serapio to his destination in twenty days during the winter season when all other boats are dry docked to avoid ship killer storms. She can only convince her crew that her Teek magic will get them there safe. It doesn’t go so well.

Serapio, a man meant to become a god since the day of his birth. Everyone who sees him fears him due to his blinded eyes and the ornate scars on his body that tell the tale of the destruction of his clan.

Naranpa, a Sun Priest who wants to remind the people that The watchers are there for them. What happened to her truly made me sad. She couldn’t trust anyone, even the person she’d once cared for. From the outset she loses quite a bit and I was hoping she wouldn’t the entire time.

The relationship between Xiala and Serapio is interesting. Both magical in their own rights, both feared. They are very similar and vastly different. She grows the care for him and he for her in a sort of quasi-relationship that can never truly be. He’s a being of vengeance and she was hired just to move him like cargo. Be that as it may, for the most part Serapio is very human up until the end.

I have truly never read a story like this with magic I’d never experienced. I couldn’t put this book down. With everything going on in the world, I needed an escape and this book provided it. The ending was a little ambiguous and I’m hoping maybe we’ll get a sequel but that’s just the fan in me. It was a fantastic read and even with the ambiguous ending, I still give it five stars.

Rebecca Roanhorse built a world that I didn’t want to leave with characters who pulled me in and a story I’ll be thinking about for days at lest.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse- A very lyrically magical book. A young boy is blinded by his mother purposely so he can become a god. A young woman has pulled herself from the deadly slums and become the new Sun Priest, but must deal with political intrigues and danger. A sea captain is released from jail and tasked with sailing a perilous course, against fearful odds, in order to deliver her special cargo. All this comes together in a land that is at once familiar and fantastic. The sharp, beautiful prose draws you in to a comfortable place and keeps you there for this special journey. If you like Aliette de Bodard or Yoon Ha Lee, this might be what you're looking for. An excellent book.

From start to finish, BLACK SUN was absolutely riveting. Every point of view had a unique voice, and the plot of each point of view gripped me by the throat. The world that Roanhorse created for this manuscript was one of the most fascinating worlds I've read for some time in fantasy, and everything I learned about it was intriguing. That said, Roanhorse did rely a bit too much on info-dumps to explain her world. There was very little seamless prose between the plot/character interactions and the world-building details she gave us, as often action scenes would be interrupted to explain a certain aspect of the world. While this didn't diminish my enjoyment, it did make the pacing a bit disjointed and uneven.

Furthermore, there were certain parts that felt a bit rushed: For instance, the intimate scenes between Serapio and Xiala needed a bit more exploration, as things would happen between them in a matter of sentences and it left me feeling as if I had missed a step on a staircase. The ending, too, was a bit rushed, particularly the ending for Xiala. It felt as though there should have been at least one more chapter from her POV to give more of a conclusion than we received, cliffhanger ending aside. However, I was absolutely floored by the destruction Serapio exhibited, and it was wonderful to read about such destruction, as it's rarely glimpsed in fiction so elegantly. I loved that Okoa found him in the end. I hope their friendship is solid going forward, as I believe they both desperately need each other.

Lastly, the diversity in this book was off the charts. I loved seeing the acceptance of a third gender, and that xir/xe was commonplace in Tova. However, I believe there was one brief slip-up of Iktan's gender, as 61% of the way into the eARC xe was referred to as "she" by someone who knew xir gender. Other than that, I truly appreciated the diversity, as I'm genderqueer and it felt wonderful to be represented.

This book was a knockout.

There’s a unique bittersweet feeling when I finish reading a book I love, close the cover, sigh, take a few minutes to let it drown me again, open my eyes and look around for the next book in the series—as though I had placed it within reach in anticipation of this exact moment, which I sometimes do—only to remember that the next book hasn’t been published yet. This feeling is compounded when the book I just finished is a review copy, and I remember that technically, THIS book isn’t even published yet, so I can’t even relive the story by engaging with friends who have read it. The best I can do is review it in broad, non-spoilery strokes, and badger y’all until publication day, when I fully expect all of you to receive it. Pre-order it now so you don’t have to wait even a day once it’s available, or request it from the library today, so they know to get enough copies.

I only recently stopped reading fantasy written by white men. I felt like it was just the same story over and over again: euro-centric, heteronormative white patriarchy, sometimes featuring dragons or magic or wizards or whatnot, always mirroring the systems of oppression of our reality. It’s fantasy, yes, yet in those books we’re more likely to see an animal that speaks than a woman with agency. I don’t know how it’s possible that male authors can dream of worlds with sorcery and living gods but can’t imagine even one world where they don’t oppress women. Oh wait, I lied, I totally know why they don’t. But this is one of the reasons you see Rebecca Roanhorse’s “Black Sun” compared to the work of NK Jemisin: neither write like white men and we get better stories because of it.

The fictional world of Black Sun is based on civilizations of the Americas and Polynesia, with the advanced architecture and agriculture, astronomy, sea navigation, and belief systems of Pre-Columbian empires. The system of government is a balance between the four high priests of the Celestial Tower and the four matriarchal clans of Tova. These people recognize a third gender like it’s nbd, more than one character identifies as that gender, and nobody uses the wrong pronouns when talking about them. This isn’t a spoiler because a person’s gender isn’t a plot device, and it certainly isn’t used as one here, where it’s just as irrelevant as every other character’s gender, which is why I love it.

We follow the stories of three main characters: Naranpa, the Sun Priest of Tova; Serapio, a mysterious and dangerous young man who needs to get to Tova by the winter solstice; and Xiala, a Teek captain tasked with delivering Serapio to the city for the Convergence, when the lives of all three characters intertwine. Early on in each of their stories, I would stop and murmur, “Oh no, I love them.” It was hard to strike a balance between wanting to devour the book immediately so it would all already be in my head, and pacing myself so I would have more time with them. Ultimately, I got to a point where nothing short of a house fire would distract me from it (this isn’t an understatement: the wires in our electrical meter box exploded and the power went out, and I almost didn’t put down Black Sun because it’s on my kindle and I didn’t need light to read it, but I did put it down because the explosion was very loud. There were no actual flames, and the house and occupants are fine now, thank you, but I can’t think of higher praise for this book than “I almost ignored our electric system literally exploding because I didn’t want to stop reading it.”).

If you’ve read Roanhorse’s other works, you’re going to love this one. If you’re looking for a fantasy series with magic and death but without boring/sexist euro-centric tropes, you’re going to love this one. And seriously, just this one time, DO judge a book by its cover, its gorgeous, gorgeous cover, that binds together a story that will easily be the best book you read this year.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

Black Sun is fantastic and dark, slowly counting down to the fulfillment of an event years in the making. Full of complex relationships and a deep sense of history; interpersonal politics, religious factions, and the (hopeful) fulfillment of prophecy.

The sense of place is beautiful; the descriptions, especially early in the book, are so vivid that it felt like I could walk through many of the spaces in the text. I don’t normally have a good sense of space so it takes some damn good writing to take me there, but this did. The world-building implies complexity early on and then backs up that promise over and over without resorting to info-dumping.

I love the dynamic between Xiala and Serapio, it builds really naturally and is part of some good Big Damn Moments; the kind that make me want to run around and tell everyone about the really awesome thing that just happened; the kind where an emotional arc combines with a spectacular Event in a way that is satisfying on all fronts. The book handles interpersonal relationships in general really well, no two people have the same dynamic with any other two, and that complexity builds to show different sides of people depending on who they're with. That's not unique to this book, but the subtlety of it here is remarkable and was one more thing I loved about it.

The pacing is really good, the timestamp at the beginning of each chapter was very useful and also ominous as it slowly counted down (except for brief forays into the past). It created tension for me as a reader without requiring the action to ramp up for every character (as not all of them had a sense of the deadline).

The political and interpersonal machinations are great, they’re something I generally enjoy that is done really well here. There’s a few points where information is revealed to the reader via one POV character, but we only find out some part of its significance when a different character is made aware of it. It’s the kind of thing that makes the book feel cohesive even as it keep swapping POV characters with each new chapter. The characters have very relatable motives for their actions; generally I understood why the various factions were trying for different goals even though I wasn't rooting for everyone. The book also didn't really pressure me to feel like I need to root for anyone.

I loved the ending and I'm very ready for more in this series whenever it's available.

CWs for murder, massacre.

Thank you so so much for granting my wish to read this book!! I was so excited to read it because I love Rebecca Roanhorse's Sixth World books, and I was not at all disappointed. Black Sun is amazing, but very different from the Sixth World. It is written in a more epic fantasy style, with multiple perspectives and shifting storylines in different times and places. The story is also not as fast-paced, since there is more of a focus on world-building and character development. I love that the world and its people are based on native cultures of the Americas, and I am very excited to read the sequel to see where the plotlines and character relationships go. I loved meeting all of the characters, especially the strong female characters Xiala and Naranpa. I am hoping that those two characters have a chance to interact with each other as the series continues, and I am looking forward to seeing what happens next!! Definitely recommend to all fans of epic fantasy!!

I was walking my dog in a park once when I saw three or four crows throwing a black rag around, taking turns picking it up and tossing it. Bear with me because this has something to do with Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. Getting closer, I saw that it wasn't a rag, but was a black kitten. I chased them off, and caught the kitten , which wasn't easy since my dog was with me.

The crows had pulled the kitten's chin off. I took her home, named her Voodoo, had her for many years, but she never grew back her knobby little pudge-ball of a chin.

So, when you get to the crow attacks in Black Sun, believe it because those beastly things will pull your chin off in a heartbeat. Or pluck your eyeball out. Ugh.

I've read Ms. Roanhorse's books, Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locusts and enjoyed them very much. I used to live across the San Juan River from the Navajo Reservation and that area means a lot to me. At first I was a little sad that Black Sun wasn't in the Southwest like her other books. . And, although I like strong women characters, there was a woman sea captain and women sea captains seem to be a thing now. Gosh, I think I've read four books with women ship's captains in the past twelve months.

Although I got off to a slow start because I thought it was yet another fantasy with a woman captain, after a bit I really got into the story, and cared about the characters. The crow boy's childhood was almost too painful to read. Everybody inflicted physical and mental pain on him.. He grew up to be extremely gentle and a vicious killing machine. This is where the crows come in. You do not want to get on the wrong side of a killer with crows. There is a reason they're called a "murder" of crows. They will rip your chin and other body parts off before you can get a broom to swat them. Being gutted by a crow. Geez, what a way to go.

I even grew to like the woman sea captain, even though the seas are swarming with female captains now.

Read this if you like strong women, murderous women, a murderous crow boy, and murderous crows of all sizes, some humongous. And keep your face mask on. You never know when a crow might go for your chin.

Thanks to Netgalley and Saga press for this ARC of Black Sun.

The first book in the series, the black sun, was a book heavily marketed as an epic fantasy based on the Mesoamerican belief system and matrimony social governance. I started the book believing that it will be heavily influenced by Mesoamerican, pre-Columbian American beliefs and social, however, from what I researched, Mayan women were important when discussing matters of war and peace and have say in religious ceremonies ( yet Aztecs were patriarchal ceremony), however, the book had no hints on what it was heavily marketed on.
The first 1/3 of the book was extremely hard to go through because the introduction of the world and main characters was not made deep enough for me to understand what is really happening and I had to reread a couple of times some passages and only at the end of the book they made sense, not at the point of reading. After that the read was fascinating, but it was very difficult to understand at the beginning what author wanted to deliver and tell.
This book was very interesting to read, however, it is more 3.5-star book for me, because, unfortunately, the queer representation was through left and right, at least 4 characters were presented as LGBTQI+ representatives, which was mentioned and had nothing to do with the plot to characters. I do understand the authors are in need of representation, but at some places, if they do not really dive deep into what difference does that make to the character, I'd prefer not to have any, sorry.
Only because it is expected to have we don't need every single book to have poor representation, better to have none if that is not being implemented into character. We had a trans, bi. lesbian and 3rd gender characters, which just say a sentence and move on. I'd prefer to see one and deeply researched, then just throw a sentence "I had always been a woman, just needed time"... I don't really enjoy and the representation through me a lot from the story. Only because it is expected, it is not necessary to bring in to every single story just for the sake of bringing it in.
I deeply appreciate the character of Nara's brother, who was presented to be a "Mafia Boss" sort of character, but being most informed and smart to wise character, who understands the politics and manipulation techniques.
Nara's character was presented as very unexperienced in this first book, who doesn't even have guts to demand respect from her own people in the presence of other important people.
Overall, I enjoyed the book but wished we had a bit more introduction to understand the first 1/3 of the book and be invested from the beginning and not to see forced & plentiful representation just for the sake of having it. And the climax, the very anticipated interaction on the Rock was so fast, it could have been escalated a bit more, very quick solution...
Anticipating the continuation of the series and I am sure it will be even more interesting since we have a better understanding of the world at this point.
For a more detailed review, please see https://biblioanalytic.com/

This was a book I really wanted to like but just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy. I think it has potential and maybe if I can bring myself to try it again at a later time I might enjoy it more but as for now it’s a DNF that I just couldn’t get into

I just couldn’t get into this book. It’s a little too much. It’s writing is heavy and while it may have potential it’s not my cup of tea.

I finished this book yesterday and I can't stop thinking about it! The world that Roanhorse creates is initially disorienting but very quickly became engrossing due the vividness of the key factions (clans and religious orders both) and the interplay of political and religious plots. The interlocking narratives of the four main protagonists were all interesting, which is a treat in a book with multiple narrators. I did not realize this was the first book in a series, and am now impatiently waiting for the sequel.

This is pitch perfect epic fantasy. Everything works so well together — propulsive pacing, exceptional characters, excellent world-building, and a fascinating mix of cultures, politics, religion, and lore.

The story builds and builds as each chapter moves us closer to the ill-omened “Convergence” (a solar eclipse). I could not stop turning the pages until the explosive finale, which does not disappoint. It also leaves a tremendous amount open-ended, which makes me excited for the future of this series, as it feels like Roanhorse has barely scratched the surface of where to go with these characters and this world. Altogether, this is one of the best books of 2020.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This is stunning-- I feel so lucky to have read it so early. I will be posting a much more thorough, gushing review on Goodreads, but thank you so much to Gallery Books for granting me the "wished" ARC!! This is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year so far and I will be purchasing a physical copy (comes out on my wedding ani!) and raving about it to everyone I know!

UPDATE: Full review not live: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3456979709

This is the best epic fantasy I have read in a long time. I love the world that Roanhorse depicted. This novel is set in a secondary world inspired by the not too distant past (pre-Columbian) America’s with a complex and beautiful society. It follows a few different point of views that really illuminate the scale of this world. I felt fully invested in all of their lives. This was truly magnificently portrayed. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher (Simon & Schuster) for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I am giving feedback on this book without finishing it.

This is a beautifully written book set in a fictional fantasy world with cultures based on pre-Columbian American cultures (which is awesome). It also has LGBTQ+ representation which is really nice to see, including a non-binary character.

Anyway, the plot is focused on the tension between a religious cult that seems to be regaining popularity and its tension with the prevalent religion in the world. This is very slow-burny which isn't an issue but the combo of slow-burn and religious tension being the main drive just isn't something I'm super interested in.

The highlight of what I read was the chapters from the perspective of Xiala, a badass lesbian(maybe bi?) captain who is sort of broken out of jail to help with an important mission related to the main plot. She's an awesome character and I would have gladly read an entire book about her.

Like I said, this is a well-written book, it just wasn't for me. I still wanted to write a review for it since the publisher was kind enough to send me a copy through NetGalley. I'd recommend it to people who enjoy high fantasy with a focus on religious tensions/religious cults.

This is a brutally stunning first novel in a trilogy, with masterful world-building. Told from multiple perspectives, Roanhorse combines pre-Colombian myths and gods at the same time as issues relevant to today’s world. The language is violent, yet the imagery is evocatively beautiful. I was a fan of Roanhorse’s Native American second worlds before, but she has reached another level in this newest saga

OMG! Banging my heads against the door! Why I didn’t notice this remarkably creative author’s work before! ( Right now I’m adding her previous works to my monstrous tbr and I’m not afraid of any eruption!)

The world building already blew my mind with its refreshing view which is inspired by Pre-Columbian Americans (indigenous people)! The story centered on 4 characters: Crow God vs Sun priest is one of the most anticipated encounter I was waiting on for the beginning : breathing heavily, sweat pouring out from my forehead, pumps up, clock is ticking and I’m flipping the pages to find out what is going to happen!

I mesmerized to know about Serapio whose back story intrigued me from the beginning how his eyes are carved and sacrificed by his mother for a greater good and how the crows turn into his only accomplice by turning into own his eyes, protectors and after his training process with the most dangerous and skillful instructors teach him the secrets of defeating the most power enemies.

And Xiala, sailor, mysterious sea creator who gains her magical powers and rules the sea world as she opens her mouth and begins to sing.

Those two characters’ paths crossed as Xiala is discharged from the prison with the help of powerful and mysterious lord and offered a job to reach holy city Tova less than a month, conducting a sheep with misbehaved sailors, carrying a spectacular cargo: yes, you may imagine, Serapio is the cargo who needs to arrive to Tova before the eclipse as the moon gets dark and he can accomplish his longtime plan.

We are also introduced with Nara: sun priest, ( her back story, dysfunctional family relations, her unfinished business with her criminal brother peaked my interest) oracle and Okoa, who recently lost his mother and he is accused to be the murderer of Sun Priest ( he got involved a few chapters later but I think we will learn more about him at the next books).

I have to say: their parts of the story were intriguing but I wished I wanted to turn the pages to read more about Seropia and Xiala ( powerful, entertaining, alcoholic, sea creature who is abused by her own mother just like Serapio, and yes she’s bisexual, living her own life without thinking further, drinking to death, preparing herself for more rejections and betrayal) Their intimate chemistry and their exciting and whirlwind sailing trip was most enjoyable thing about the book.

Overall: two characters beat the hell of the other two and the cliffhanger made me bite the rest of my nails, kept me on my toes! This is fascinatingly promising, dazzling, riveting beginning of the series!

I’m giving 4.5 stars ( because I wanted to read more parts about Xiala and Serapio who definitely stole the show) rounded up to 5! I started to cross my fingers for getting the second book’s arc ASAP because waiting too long could be torturous!

So much special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/ Saga Press for providing this amazing ARC which was at my wish list in exchange my honest opinions.

This made me realize that Roanhorse really is one of my favorite authors right now. At least in the top three. Everything she touches is gold. Most epic fantasies, even when I enjoy them, feel like long slogs where half of it could be cut. Here, I end this reading wanting about a hundred pages more. I adored the politics, religions, and characters of this world and can't wait for the sequel. (Still waiting on the third Sixth World book, too!) Well, I'll be sitting here reading everything Roanhorse writes until the end of time.

(trigger warnings for: body horror)