Black Sun

This book has been a long time coming. I added it to my tbr when I first heard of it, was very excited when I got the arc and also got the audiobook immediately upon release. But I never did get to reading it because my head was a mess last year, and I completely avoided reading all books which I had high expectations for. But I finally braved it this month, at a time when I am again in a bad reading slump, but this had me completely in its grips from the first word and wouldn't let me go till I was done.

What a refreshing world the author managed to create here. While creating European inspired worlds is pretty common in the fantasy genre, I have tried to diversify my reading in the past year or two to try and pick books where the worlds are created by authors with Asian or African heritage, taking inspiration from their own cultures and mythologies. However, I never even gave a thought that a world could be based on pre-Columbian indigenous American cultures, and I was completely in awe as I discovered with epic wide world created by the author. We have cities and towns and tribes, each with its own set of cultures and belief systems, bound by a treaty to ensure peace in the world, and watched over by a priesthood who believe themselves capable of reading the stars and predicting the future. I am obviously ignorant about the history and couldn't discern which aspect of the world building was inspired by which culture, but nevertheless the author managed to create something which felt real and lived in, and very much a part of the daily lives of its people. The various magic systems are also lightly described and I was amazed by the scenes where it came into play, but I also have a feeling that this aspect will be more prominent in the next book. And also except for some personal prejudices/superstitions, this is also a very queernormative world, with all forms of genders and sexualities just accepted as part of the normal and where this aspect of a character doesn't drive the plot.

The writing is really engaging and mesmerizing from the get go. All the descriptions were quite vivid and I could feel the cold, the pain, and the fear that the characters were experiencing; as well as the feeling of being on the sea in the middle of a ship killing story, the air hitting your face when on the back of a giant corvid, and the dread of being on the edge of a cliff just before falling down. The pacing is also just right, never slacking off even for a bit, making me excited to keep turning the page without ever putting the book down. I was frankly quite surprised by the use of neopronouns, because I have personally never encountered them before, but they felt very organic to the world that the author created. All the POVs are woven seamlessly through the story, and I was so glad that I loved everyone equally and was looking forward to read about each of their adventures. Listening to the first half of the book on audio also helped because the full cast of narrators are brilliant, and I loved getting to know how to pronounce the words correctly.

The way the collective history and the trauma of the people is told through this story felt very raw and painful. Each of the clans or tribes has suffered in the past and while there maybe peace currently, the hurts nor the pain have been forgotten, and every generation inherits this trauma, alongwith a deep seated need for vengeance (or justice) for their peoples. Add to this a dose of religious fanaticism and belief in vengeful prophecies, and it makes for a powder keg of a world which is always on the verge of the next riot, or maybe even outright war. I thought the author's handling of the topic of generational trauma and the cycle of revenge was very realistic and hit me quite hard.

And it was this writing that made me very empathetic towards most of the characters, despite whatever action they were keen on taking. Serapio's life has been traumatic since his birth, first with his mother treating him like a vessel to fulfill her goals, and his father ignoring him either out of fear or disgust. He has been told and trained and prepared to fulfill his destiny, but I couldn't help but feel bad that he never got much of a choice. It was hard to see him determined to achieve his goal as vengeance for a people whom he didn't even know, but at the same time I also wanted him to succeed.

Xiala on the other hand was a delight. Belonging to a people who are feared because of their abilities, she has to navigate a lot of misogyny, prejudice and fear to be able to work as the captain of a ship. She is also open with her affections, just wanting to have a good time with some drink and a chat with the people around her. But it's not always easy to find that camaraderie that she so desires, and that's why I really loved her developing relationship with Serapio.

And the last one is the sun priest, Narampa. She is admirable for having risen up to her position despite being from a humble background, and believing so thoroughly in the responsibility of her role and the priesthood as a whole. But she is also naive enough to think only her beliefs are right, as well as that she alone can reform an age old status quo. I honestly wasn't surprised to see her encounter many obstacles, and despite her sometimes questionable decisions, I did want her to be safe.

There are also a good number of side characters as well as creatures who make this a very memorable read, and though most of them had very less page time, I can assure you that they leave an indelible mark and it hurts when something bad happens to them.

In conclusion, this is what epic fantasy feels like. A vast world with scope for being more expansive, characters who are not always likable but still very much will find a place in your heart, a fast paced plot with multiple threads that all converge with an impending sense of doom, and an unexpected ending where you are left wondering if any of your favorites made it. I'm extremely happy that I seem to be having great luck with fantasies these days and I can only hope it continues. And now I'm eagerly waiting for the sequel news, which the author promised would be coming soon.

I thought it would be about the boy, but he is a grown-up and the romantic angle was icky to me (he was sheltered and lived basically inside his whole life, there's no way he was able to fully understand the world).

Made-up fantasy, too visual, too many classes. I'm blind, I don't do made-up worlds in general. Not the book's fault. I should have read the blurb before picking it up. Someone recommended it because there's a blind character somewhere, but this is clearly for sighted readers. Just not my kinda genre.

Stopped on chapter 24. Not for any reason of dislike, but my motivation to read this book just dropped for no reason. I'll probably be back to read this at a later time.

This book is sooooooo god, I am in love. The writing, the plot, the characters!!!!!! I need both Xiala and Serapio TO BE OKAY

Loved the world this created - The characters, the lore, the world building (taking fantasy away from a vaguely European setting and placing it in pre-Columbia Americas). However, it definitely felt like an introduction to a series. It felt sort of plodding and that it was just prepping the reader for what was to come in the next book. I will certainly read that one too due to the brilliance of the world that was created here.

Black Sun.

I'm have no idea how to rate this book. I also have no idea how to properly articulate my thoughts.
I did enjoy many of aspects of the book. However, here are more things I didn't like or felt bored reading.
I loved how I got to look through the perspective of someone else about generational trauma.

Like... holy cow yall!!!

I did enjoy how inclusive this book was. I'm not an expert in this topic but I believe it was written appropriately. Now, I do believe majority of the characters are fascinating. There was only one that I felt was... okay/not as compelling as the rest.

The writing style is heavy and one needs to take it slow.
However, I felt as though there was no room for interpretation but instead feed all the information. Which for me, it's a love-hate relationship.

The word building is... good?? but not the best imo. I appreciate it and this an area I don't know how to articulate my thoughts. With the three primary storylines we see... I didn't feel the different levels of danger that the characters faced. After a while I only like one storyline (Serapio) & wished the others would just... stop because I was becoming... unfocused/bored??

Y'all. It's a Solid book. I do recommend it. I just think im not in the correct mindset to read it.

Interesting enough to finish but missing the pull that many other books have. Not my wheelhouse, but some of the topics feel a little forced. The ending felt rushed, and this book doesn't stand on its own. Likely won't continue the series.

The whole book felt like the prologue. 
I feel very unenthusiastic about the world, characters and plot of the story, there was no big twist, the world didn't feel immersive and two of the four POV weren't very interesting to read. Nevertheless, the writing and pacing was good.

I'm a huge fan of non-European/Western fantasies because it opens a whole new world of belief systems, values, and understanding of the world. Black Sun did not disappoint!

It's a very immersive experience filled with lush descriptions and supernatural mystique. It's more character focused which allows us to learn about the world, conflicts, and sources of power through their eyes. Loved that the book doesn't focus on the distinction between good vs. evil or traditional notions of morality. I also appreciated the reversal of gender roles and the normalcy of queerness (Xe/Xir pronoun is used).  

There's uneven pacing at times but it felt intentional, like representational of the setting. I wasn't expecting romance so that threw me off a little bit. Overall I really enjoyed this book and am excited for this series!

This book is a solid debut novel in a series, and while this is out of my comfort zone, it was a good start to a fantasy world that I want to immerse myself in. However, I would like better character development.

it didn't feel long, but it did feel epic and large in scale

just as good as everyone says it is

A quick-paced, plot-tight read of indigenous fantasy, of which there needs to be much more of. But at the same time — it was almost too quick-paced, and too plot-tight.

The points I enjoyed:
— The character voice of Serapio. The gentleness combined with the “doomed to be a monstrosity and what is that, truly?” question was wonderful to read, whether in flashback or in present day.
— The way each chapter was woven together. It truly was an air-tight plot. It flowed seamlessly one point into the next. Everything did have a purpose, however strong or weak that purpose was in the actual narrative.
— The world. Reading about a pre-colonial world that wasn't “we're stuck in a period piece” was a breath of fresh air. You could smell and taste the rich traditions. There was no shying away from what others might deem as “harsh” or “backwards” or “grotesque.” (Leaving out details to avoid spoilers.)
— The ending. I was relieved it didn't end the way I thought it would — or rather, the way that we were led to believe that we were doomed to read, so to speak.

The points that missed for me:
— The other character voices. Although I enjoyed all of them as concepts, what they could do, and how their arcs sustained them — their voices weren't unique enough for me to grasp. If I didn't have dialogue tags every sentence, I would have no idea who was speaking because after a while, they all blended together and sounded the same. Naranpa and Xiala mirrored each other in their voices (frustrated, coming from rough backgrounds, had enough and taking action) — and Okoa was not there long enough for me to connect to, and was overshadowed by Serapio until the end. Serapio was the strongest for me.
— The air-tight plot. It read quickly. I've seen some perspectives indicating that the beginning was slow and painstaking — but I didn't find that to be the case. I found it to be the right pace; and then, the rest of it after they were established, characterisation was cast aside for the sake of the plot moving quickly. There were times where I wished the writing had lingered. On the environment, on the action outside of the POV, on the characters' emotions, just lingering in general. I felt like I would just get comfortable sitting in someone's POV, and then, we would switch or something else would happen. I felt a bit like I was underwater without a lot of air to breathe in.
— The world. Because I could taste its richness, I wanted to taste more. I got a clear picture, again, in the beginning and sometimes in the middle — but otherwise, I found the descriptions to err on the side of blandness. I'm not sure if there was a lot cut to meet word-count or page-count, but I think it was cut to a fault, if that's the case. This could have benefitted from being a fantasy of truly epic proportions — The Wheel of Time length, LOTR length. Let us have flesh.
— The writing style. Not in the sense that Ms. Roanhorse has a weak voice; she has a strong one and a commanding one. However, despite this being marketed as adult ... it read as YA to me.

It was good, and I will read the sequels in the series to come. But it left me a bit on the “...damn” side instead of the “wow!” side.

A fantastical glimpse into the stories of South America.

A skip-the-line loan from the library, reshelving at chapter 20—nearly halfway—because I found myself not getting invested in the characters. The doddering Sun Priest annoys me.

uncertain 3.5 rounded up.

I'm not sure why I didn't enjoy this book more, it has so many elements that are interesting and characters I sould have just loved, maybe I wasn't in the right headspace for it.
That being said, I really struggled to get invested or more exactly to stay invested in the story and the world building seemed lackluster to me after the first half of the book.

For the aces in the room: one of the MCs is very keen on the spicy stuff (by which I don't mean food though she does enjoy that type of spicy too as far as I can tell) in the most adorable way (at least I found it cute). But the actual spicy stuff wasn't over the top or heavy, it's implied or talked about after the fact without details mostly and there's one pretty tame scene.

3.5/5 stars

This was interesting and I am not sure what to make of it. It's hard to accurately rate this book since it felt much more as a first act than a book that can stand on its own. On it's own I can only give it 3.5 stars since I am not a fan of stories that end in a cliffhanger and this one ends with a big one.

We experience the story mainly through 3 characters.
Naranpa - The Sun Priest (think pope)
Xiala - a half human, half teek sea captain
Serapio - a young man groomed to fulfil a prophecy

I liked Xiala und Serapio, they have a nice dynamic and are interesting characters and interesting to read. Naranpa I did not know what to make of her. She is rather naiv bordering on dumb and it's a bit frustrating to read her parts and I am not sure if its intended but she comes of as a villain, kind of.

The story is overall somewhat predictable in great parts which did not negatively influence my enjoyment though, there were enough surprises to keep me interested. What is very cool Is that I have not figured out who the ‘bad guy' is in the story. Everyone has their comprehendible motivations, minus one annoying side character maybe.

This books makes use of the Xe/Xir pronouns, as a non American, non native English speaker I had a hard time getting used to that, it was very confusing at first. I thought Xe was a name and Xir was a typo but when it was repeated I had to look it up. Turns out it's a twitter thing ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Broke my flow and pulled me out of the story every time I encountered those since I had to reread the line to understand it, at first. Got a lot better near the end of the book when I got used to it, I expect to have internalised it by the end of book 2, which I instantly preorder after finishing this.

One great thing to mention here is the settings. It's influenced by South American culture which is refreshingly new and unique to read, at least for me who mainly read western themed fantasy. In my opinion the author could have used a bit more time to describe the world and people to a greater detail though, the book was very much focused on the story. But the description that we do get paint a wonderful, interesting and, to me, foreign picture of a world I want to know more of.

Lots of open questions, lots of untold lore lots to look forward to in book 2.

The first chapter was already amazing and engaging. I haven't had many books that are great right from the beginning and throughout. This had great stories and great characters. Once I started I could not put it down. I also always love when a book has small things before a chapter begins. This had sayings and poems and bits of journal which was great. 

I was afraid the ending would be too vague or in the middle of the story but it did feel like the main story had ended and a proper time to stop and start the next book. Which I will definitely be reading. 

“There was magic in the world, pure and simple. Things she didn't understand. Best get used to it.”

I'm waffling hard on whether to give this the 5 stars that I feel like it deserves, and the 4 stars I want to give it out of consistency with my other books I really loved but didn't stick the landing. I'm definitely sure this was a favorite book of this year for me so far, though.

The story this book tells is from the point of view of four different characters. Xiala, a Teek captain tasked with ferrying a blind man to a distant city within a very short time for an urgent date with a Sun Priest before the Convergence (an eclipse on the solstice). Serapio is the blind man, blinded by his mother at a young age to be the vessel for a crow god bent on vengeance against the priests for a wrong done to its people, clan Carrion Crow. Naranpa, the Sun Priest, a low-born priest given the highest rank amonst the priests by the previous Sun Priest and having to navigate office priesthood politics as a result, and Okoa, reluctant leader of clan Carrion Crow, having to deal with the potential fallout a vengeful crow god on the loose will bring his people.

We get a lot of character development between Xiala and Serapio on their voyage to Serapio's appointment which I loved, and we learn a bit about Xiala's people, the Teek, and the strange powers she inherited. I loved Okoa's viewpoint as well, as he feels his way through leading clan Carrion Crow through potentially turbulent times. I thought Neranpa's viewpoint was the weakest of the four, but also necessary to show how fractured the priesthood is. She's a bit naiive, a bit annoying, and a bit gullible, and I found her chapters a bit boring but necessary to tell the larger story.

I feel like the ending of this book was super weak though, and while the second book is out for me to dive into at the time I'm writing this, I think I'd be a bit harsher with docking the book a star if it wasn't. After the buildup, the ending is a bit of a slap in the face.

All that said though, this was a really great read, and I look forward to reading the second book.

Yep. This is as good as everyone is saying. Deserves all the hype!
Not only it has a fantastic worldbuilding, but oh my god was I invested in the characters!

Yep. This is as good as everyone is saying. Deserves all the hype!
Not only it has a fantastic worldbuilding, but oh my god was I invested in the characters!

-1 star for apache helicopter pronouns. It only makes it harder to read and does not bring anything to the story or characters.

Apart from that, book is fine. Not genius-like good, but fine.

The story is simple, I don't see any major twists happening. Still enjoyable.
Pacing is slow. Overall, I'm under the impression that not much happened. This feels like a giant prologue for the next book(s).

I didn't have any problem with the writing style.
Xiala and Serapio are ok. Okoa felt dull and Naranpa annoying.

Overall an ok read.

3.5. Good in parts, but I never really found myself caring for most of the characters. Not sure whether I'll read the next in the series...

I thoroughly enjoyed this take on a dystopian, fantasy world. The characters were richly developed with unique perspectives and interesting backstories. I found the world building to be fascinating and deeply engrossing, and the blend of typical dystopian fantasy tropes with a perspective that was unique to the author was really refreshing. The main plot contained a fair amount of mystery and the pacing was superb as it drew me in and kept me interested without giving away too much of the end game until the satisfying conclusion. The slow burn pace may not appeal to everyone but it was a nice change of pace from how breakneck others in this genre can feel. Additionally, the ending felt quick, and I was surprised upon reaching the conclusion as I was hungry for more. I am eagerly looking forward to the second installment as there are some big threads left unresolved.

Deeply mixed feelings. Roanhorse's new world is imaginative, rich and vivid. Her pacing is excellent. The characters, unfortunately, fall completely flat. They're mere plot devices to move the story on: they have little agency of their own, no inner lives; the relationships between them are for the most part contrived and unsatisfying. The Doomsday Device guy docilely goes along with his preordained fate; the High Priestess is a sappy milquetoast consistently three moves behind everyone else; the Dashing Adventure Heroine — okay, she shows a lot of promise, but she has a lot of shit to get together first.

The story itself is disappointing: it all hinges on a Great Prophecy, and visions of revenge, and a lot of seriously unlikely events coming together in just the right way. There are hints of some Grandmaster-level scheming, but all of it predates the events in the book, those characters having set things in motion before dying, and then those events all happening decades later as planned. (The story clearly takes place before Murphy's Law was discovered). This leaves very little for the characters to do aside from move according to the script, which they do with an ad-lib here and there. And, too much is not adequately explained: they had years to get Doomsday Guy to his assigned place and time, why did they leave the sea trip for the very very absolute last minute? The priest society, what purpose do they serve? And, seriously, cacao beans as currency?