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erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This is a book I picked up because I got a recommendation of the second one and then realised I needed to read this one to catch up. Oops.
There are three main characters. In a harsh world, a young boy is taken from his life to be turned into the vessel for a Godform. The whole story starts in abuse, physical mutilation, and sacrifice, and that's pretty harsh. Although his life is harsh it is not without love. At least the kid has his crows.
A young girl is brought up in poverty in the back streets, and through savvy and devotion she is elevated to the head of her religious sect, but her underlings aren't happy about it.
A woman of an Amazon-like minority culture, and who are said to have magical powers, is the captain of a ship that takes a strange cargo on a tight deadline, at the wrong time of year, and she has to deal with an unruly crew, and dangerous weather.
The plot is just an underpinning though. The characters are really fun, and through the narrative there are many characters of many different genders and sexualities. There are at least two obviously NB characters with xe/xer pronouns and one side character is a trans woman. It's normalised, but not all cultures have the same attitudes toward sex, gender roles, or even nudity.
Although there is some combat and training-montage type scenes I was not bored and it was not blow-by-blow or glamorizing. The pace was good, the character interplay was fun and I bought in, and I've always been a sucker for prophecy stories... This one is hopped up on monk juice, scary mermaid energy and seriously full of crows (and crows are cool). Some of these babies are riding size.
Where's MY crow mount?? ok I'm off to read the second one.
There are three main characters. In a harsh world, a young boy is taken from his life to be turned into the vessel for a Godform. The whole story starts in abuse, physical mutilation, and sacrifice, and that's pretty harsh. Although his life is harsh it is not without love. At least the kid has his crows.
A young girl is brought up in poverty in the back streets, and through savvy and devotion she is elevated to the head of her religious sect, but her underlings aren't happy about it.
A woman of an Amazon-like minority culture, and who are said to have magical powers, is the captain of a ship that takes a strange cargo on a tight deadline, at the wrong time of year, and she has to deal with an unruly crew, and dangerous weather.
The plot is just an underpinning though. The characters are really fun, and through the narrative there are many characters of many different genders and sexualities. There are at least two obviously NB characters with xe/xer pronouns and one side character is a trans woman. It's normalised, but not all cultures have the same attitudes toward sex, gender roles, or even nudity.
Although there is some combat and training-montage type scenes I was not bored and it was not blow-by-blow or glamorizing. The pace was good, the character interplay was fun and I bought in, and I've always been a sucker for prophecy stories... This one is hopped up on monk juice, scary mermaid energy and seriously full of crows (and crows are cool). Some of these babies are riding size.
Where's MY crow mount?? ok I'm off to read the second one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Gore, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
meira_gumbo_v's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I enjoyed this book more the first time I read it than the second, but overall it's an interesting and engaging adventure story.
bookish_boy_mom's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I read this as a buddy read (shocking 😂) and this is another one I may not have ever picked up otherwise. This is the first in a trilogy and the third installment, Mirrored Heavens, is out 6/4/24.
First let me say, Rebecca Roanhorse writes one heck of a story. Chapter one had me wide eyed, shocked, and wanting to know more about this world and its characters. I was invested the whole way through. And the end! The end left us on the steepest of cliffs, setting us up for book two which I now need to read immediately.
We have main characters Naranpa the Sun Priestess, Xiala the sea captain, and Serapio the alleged villain of this tale. Each of their stories is fraught with sadness and generational trauma. With destinies seemingly predetermined, you can’t help but root for each one of them in their own ways.
The magical aspects of the story were so interesting and well crafted. The political intrigue provides tension and conflict. The world building was so well developed. And the character development was thorough and so well done. Though there are three main characters, there are a plethora of side characters who each served a purpose and added to the story.
I did this one on audio and I’m so glad I did because being able to hear the words out loud was so beautiful. The gender neutral verbiage was STUNNING. And with a cast of four narrators the whole experience was beautiful.
daumari's review against another edition
4.0
Recommended to me by Zhian at the beginning of 2023- finally got to it a year later, thank you for the suggestion! If I'd read this first, I wonder if [b:The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi|61294937|The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi #1)|S.A. Chakraborty|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1663869260l/61294937._SX50_.jpg|68668927] would've reminded me of Black Sun rather than the other way around (mostly in Xiala's sections because of having a lady sea captain in a non-European based historical fantasy), but Black Sun didn't have nearly the same levity that Amina does. They both, however, end feeling a little incomplete: our characters reach one goal that has reverberations on the rest of the world at large, and there's inevitably more volumes that will detail that fallout (and maybe shake the world's fate even more).
I appreciated the use of neopronouns for nonbinary identities, as pre-columbian societies weren't as rigid as our western-influenced modern society tends to be! I also think that there was more than one identity switched with masks at the end, but I guess I'll find out in a future volume...? Less clear on the priesthood side of the story, but again, will RAFO.
I appreciated the use of neopronouns for nonbinary identities, as pre-columbian societies weren't as rigid as our western-influenced modern society tends to be! I also think that there was more than one identity switched with masks at the end, but I guess I'll find out in a future volume...? Less clear on the priesthood side of the story, but again, will RAFO.
sigo06's review against another edition
4.0
4.3 - wow, I really liked this story! Super accessible read like many others have said and I don't think it was so ubpruptly ended. The writing wasn't super detailed which I'm glad for (for a beginner fantasy reader like me). I honestly can't wait for the next book since there were definite cliff hangers !
_mizu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
scheermagnetism's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
nolemdaer's review against another edition
characters act so dumb and are just generally naive about what's happening around them. the thirty-year-olds come off as teenagers. the writing is also seems immature (as in not developed or polished as much as it could have been).