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char42's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I wanted to finish Black Sun in one sitting. Roanhorse has depicted a world I’ve never seen in fantasy fiction before with characters I always wanted to see more of. The plot kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. There are dark themes but always balanced against a wonder for the beauty, both grand and simple, of the universe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Sexual content, Death, and Animal death
barbarella85's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Murder, and Blood
ayvie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
5.0
This book can get incredibly dark. The book starts with a mother (CN: abuse) scarring and drugging her son, making him stare into an eclipse, and then sewing his eyes shut . All to make him the avatar of a god for revenge. There are other descriptions of abuse and violence throughout the book, but nothing felt gratuitous. It happened, it occurred, and then the story moved on, letting the characters deal with it and move on as well.
Black Sun is set in a world inspired by civilizations of Pre-Columbian Americas. The world is incredibly vivid and deeply fleshed out.
We spend time with three (primary) point-of-view characters, and one occasional POV character, and honestly I love them all. Even more on re-read. Xiala and Serapio remain my absolute favorites though.
It's becoming more common lately to casually include gender and sexually diverse characters in books - a fact of which I can only be thankful. Sometimes it's done well, and sometimes it feels forced. Here, it felt casual and beautifully comfortable.
Characters are just who they are. Nonbinary (Xe/xir and they) and third genders are casually mentioned, identified as, and accepted without issue. There’s a character who is reintroduced to another from his childhood and says “But now you are a woman,” without judgement, and when she replies “But I was always a woman,” it’s accepted as absolute truth – a real truth that has no alternative.
Black Sun is set in a world inspired by civilizations of Pre-Columbian Americas. The world is incredibly vivid and deeply fleshed out.
We spend time with three (primary) point-of-view characters, and one occasional POV character, and honestly I love them all. Even more on re-read. Xiala and Serapio remain my absolute favorites though.
It's becoming more common lately to casually include gender and sexually diverse characters in books - a fact of which I can only be thankful. Sometimes it's done well, and sometimes it feels forced. Here, it felt casual and beautifully comfortable.
Characters are just who they are. Nonbinary (Xe/xir and they) and third genders are casually mentioned, identified as, and accepted without issue. There’s a character who is reintroduced to another from his childhood and says “But now you are a woman,” without judgement, and when she replies “But I was always a woman,” it’s accepted as absolute truth – a real truth that has no alternative.
It’s incredibly refreshing to experience a story, a world, that is so accepting of these characters – whether they’re pansexual, genderless, gender-fluid, nonbinary, or anything else that a person can be. They – and we – exist in the world. Except in this world, they are accepted without injury to their souls, without questioning their truths, exactly as they are and always have been.
Also - the audio narration for this book is fantastic and I'd highly recommend it. I listened to this book while I did all my chores, worked, and took my showers because I couldn't stop listening.
Also - the audio narration for this book is fantastic and I'd highly recommend it. I listened to this book while I did all my chores, worked, and took my showers because I couldn't stop listening.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Child abuse
27dragons's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-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
4.0
Amazing worldbuilding inspired by indigenous American cultures (think Olmec, Mayan) which is an unusual approach that took some brain power to keep track of but was absolutely worth it. Fantastic LGBTQ+ representation, including a bisexual main character, a couple of nonbinary characters (xe/xir pronouns used) and one minor transwoman character. Another main character may have been asexual but it was hard to tell if it was lack of sexual attraction or simply dedication to his cause.
One thing I particularly loved: at the end of this first book of the series, I'm still not entirely sure who the "bad guys" actually are* - there are POV characters on all sides of the central conflict and all of them seem to be doing what they feel is right and important, within the scope of their personalities and positions. (*There are some definite individual villains, but that doesn't necessarily invalidate the purpose of their greater cause.)
One thing I particularly loved: at the end of this first book of the series, I'm still not entirely sure who the "bad guys" actually are* - there are POV characters on all sides of the central conflict and all of them seem to be doing what they feel is right and important, within the scope of their personalities and positions. (*There are some definite individual villains, but that doesn't necessarily invalidate the purpose of their greater cause.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia
alichan459's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Confinement, Death, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexism
localqueerlibrarian's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
sarahweyand's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.25
How wonderfully surprising! I didn't know much about this book going in but I had a great time and am looking forward to reading the sequel. I thought the worldbuilding was well done and I really loved the characters and the range of emotions Roanhorse made me feel about each of them. Normally I'm more of a hard magic system girlie, but I enjoyed the ways the author incorporated different types of magic into the world; it really enhanced the story instead of being the focus of it. I also really liked the influence of the precolonial Americas on her worldbuilding and plot, I found it to be unique and compelling.
I will say I felt like Black Sun took me longer to finish than I expected, and I think the book dragged slightly in the middle, but that did little to lessen my enjoyment of an overall wonderful start to a trilogy.
I will say I felt like Black Sun took me longer to finish than I expected, and I think the book dragged slightly in the middle, but that did little to lessen my enjoyment of an overall wonderful start to a trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Alcoholism and Blood
nerodyne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
I genuinely adored this book. The world building was phenomenal and felt vibrant in a way that I've never read before. The way that each perspective change was balanced to never lose the tension that was being built up was masterful, I can't think of any other book that handles POV changes quite as well as this one does. Even the plot points that I don't particularly care for never weighed down the story or made my opinion of it lessen. It's a story that deals with themes that I already am fond of and I feel it handled them well and I can't wait to see how they're expanded on in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child abuse, Violence, and Murder
nataleaf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
5 stars i’m so obsessed idc idc
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
bersblue's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Torture, and Violence