Firstborn of the Sun
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Average rating4.5
A HEART-POUNDING YORUBA INSPIRED FANTASY NOVEL SET IN AN EPIC WORLD OF COURTY INTRIGUE AND FORBIDDEN POWER . . . In Oru Lóre has a secret. She is the only one without agbára - the ability to harness power from the sun. On pain of death must conceal it from everyone. Including her best friend, Alawani. But when the gods declare Alawani an Àlùfáà - a great honour where he will serve the gods and the Kingdom - he must be stripped of his power in a brutal trial likely to kill him. Unwilling to bear his death, Lóre vows to rescue him. When she desperately attempts to channel agbára an icy shadow magic instead pours from her hands; a power she learns originated from a forbidden, secret land beyond the six rings of Oru. One which she and Alawani must now seek sanctuary and discover a secret that could bring the Kingdom to its knees . . .
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Update May 2025:
Review:
Thank you for allowing me to be an ARC reader for Firstborn of the Sun. This story was amazing, eventful, full of culture, emotional and beautifully written. It captured my full attention before I even got done reading the Prologue. By chapter five I was invested.
Now, the ARC did have some flaws that looked like that pesky autocorrect caused. But… that’s not why I didn’t give it a full five stars. I’m not giving it a full five stars because… now I need to go back in & reread it without the pressure of being an ARC reader.
Notes during my ARC reading:
Prologue:
The prologue is a strong opening to this book. However, there are a few small errors on page 9.
1) Second line from the top has “view.s”
2) Second paragraph, fifth line down. The spacing between “herself again” doesn’t match the rest of the formatting.
3) Second paragraph, 13th line down has “mó . rèmi”.
But overall… that prologue is absolutely amazingly and truly grabs the attention of the readers.
Loved the translation from prologue to chapter 1.
Chapter 1:
On page 17 the second line from the bottom there is a spelling mistake “form”. Which I think it was AutoCorrect's fault but it should be “from”
On the top of page 18, there is a wording issue of “one of one” instead it should be “one-on-one”
Chapter 3:
On page 39, 5th line from the bottom “… their bodies and leather short leather skirts…”
Not sure if a comma is supposed to be in there or if it’s supposed to be one or the other.
Page 44 the line said by Alawani “who are you?” was marked by another read as "needs new line?" because it might confuse the audience.
Page 45, 4th line from the top of page it was marked by another reader that before the word “Earlier” it does not have the start of speech marks but it ends with them.
Chapter 4:
Page 57, 3rd line from the bottom, another reader underlined this quote and asked if it should be italicized like the other memory quotes.
Chapter 5 to the end the mistakes are limited but I don’t remember because I was invested and forgot to mark them.
But... Overall, I believe another round or two of editing to check & fix the grammar, spelling and other small mistakes throughout the book (especially in the first 5 chapters.) (Not sure if it has already been mentioned/done). However, it is a beautiful story that packs a lot of emotions.
The quotes at the end of the chapters/start of new chapters are perfect and resonate with me.
It's truly one of the most diverse, emotional and amazing books I've read so far in 2025
October 2024:Y'all don't understand how excited I am for this book. I've been following the progress of this book since the very start. This is the one book I'm looking forward to in 2025.