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booksthatburn's review
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
FEVERED STAR picks up where BLACK SUN left off, handling multiple perspectives in an excellently crafted way that was easy to follow. Now that Serapio is the embodiment of the Crow God, separated from Xiala, Serapio is dealing with the sudden change from being an isolated person to a religious figurehead, having lost everything that grounded him even as he gains immense power. Xiala is trying to rejoin Serapio, but gets caught up with a charismatic ex-priest, who has xer own agenda. Naranpa is an avatar without a temple, trying to connect to the brother she left behind years ago and figure out whether there's a life where she can fit. The worldbuilding focuses on different areas than what was established in BLACK SUN. No longer insular, many factions have moved in order to take advantage of alliances, and set up for the conflict that seems inevitable.
FEVERED STAR is lull between storms, the midgame when all the players trade promises and pledge loyalties. The Sky Made has several factions, but most of the perspective characters are on the outside in some way, removed from the major factions by training, distance, or a estrangement. This is one of the best examples I’ve read in a while of intricate but understandable politics in fiction, with many factions who all have slightly different goals and motivations. It also does an excellent job of allowing people within the factions to disagree, each having their own motivations. I love political wrangling and intricacy in fantasy and so I enjoyed this middle book of a trilogy where everyone’s trying to reposition after the gods are returned to the world. It could be said that either every character has a new storyline, or no character has a new story of their own that wasn’t present to the previous book. Everyone in their own way of dealing with what happened on the day of Black Sun, it represents such a monumental shift that even ignoring it would have to be a deliberate choice (albeit it one that I cannot recall any characters making). Several people’s access to power has changed either in a political or magical sense, and some minor characters from BLACK SUN gain new importance as they hatch their own schemes, taking advantage of the shifts caused by the eclipse.
This would mostly makes sense to someone who read the first book a while ago, but if they tried to start here without having read BLACK SUN at all, it would likely be confusing for a while. It's a well-told story, but one which fundamentally is concerned with moving things in place for whatever is to come in the third book. Part of how it maintains that balance is that many of the characters have a sense of this as a lull between conflicts, whether literal or metaphorical. Almost everyone is making moves to position themselves better for what is to come, or to control what the next change might end up being.
This is an excellent continuation of the series, and I'm excited to read how it all turns out.
FEVERED STAR is lull between storms, the midgame when all the players trade promises and pledge loyalties. The Sky Made has several factions, but most of the perspective characters are on the outside in some way, removed from the major factions by training, distance, or a estrangement. This is one of the best examples I’ve read in a while of intricate but understandable politics in fiction, with many factions who all have slightly different goals and motivations. It also does an excellent job of allowing people within the factions to disagree, each having their own motivations. I love political wrangling and intricacy in fantasy and so I enjoyed this middle book of a trilogy where everyone’s trying to reposition after the gods are returned to the world. It could be said that either every character has a new storyline, or no character has a new story of their own that wasn’t present to the previous book. Everyone in their own way of dealing with what happened on the day of Black Sun, it represents such a monumental shift that even ignoring it would have to be a deliberate choice (albeit it one that I cannot recall any characters making). Several people’s access to power has changed either in a political or magical sense, and some minor characters from BLACK SUN gain new importance as they hatch their own schemes, taking advantage of the shifts caused by the eclipse.
This would mostly makes sense to someone who read the first book a while ago, but if they tried to start here without having read BLACK SUN at all, it would likely be confusing for a while. It's a well-told story, but one which fundamentally is concerned with moving things in place for whatever is to come in the third book. Part of how it maintains that balance is that many of the characters have a sense of this as a lull between conflicts, whether literal or metaphorical. Almost everyone is making moves to position themselves better for what is to come, or to control what the next change might end up being.
This is an excellent continuation of the series, and I'm excited to read how it all turns out.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide, Racism, Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Murder, Death, and War
Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, and Ableism
rorikae's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
'Fevered Star' by Rebecca Roanhorse is a great follow-up to 'Black Sun' though it definitely feels like the second book in a series. It delves much more into character development and leading characters towards what we can expect will happen in book three. Where in other books this might feel slow or frustrating, Roanhorse has created three characters that I am deeply invested in and seeing their growth was incredibly engaging.
After an explosive end to the first book, it was hard to imagine where we would go next. This is very much a regrouping and planning book with new alliances forged and characters going through significant change based on their experiences in the first book and the first half of book two. The characters and the world building are the two standouts for this series and I can already see that Roanhorse is leading us towards even more in the next book. Though this book did feel like a middle installment, I do think that it sets up a lot for the next book and the character growth made it feel more worthwhile than if it had just been the plot setup.
I can't wait for the next book and to spend more time with these characters. They are all deeply flawed but Roanhorse has made me come to care for them fiercely.
After an explosive end to the first book, it was hard to imagine where we would go next. This is very much a regrouping and planning book with new alliances forged and characters going through significant change based on their experiences in the first book and the first half of book two. The characters and the world building are the two standouts for this series and I can already see that Roanhorse is leading us towards even more in the next book. Though this book did feel like a middle installment, I do think that it sets up a lot for the next book and the character growth made it feel more worthwhile than if it had just been the plot setup.
I can't wait for the next book and to spend more time with these characters. They are all deeply flawed but Roanhorse has made me come to care for them fiercely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, Grief, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent and Suicide
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