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kennim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
-The writing
-The wordbuilding
-The characters, particularly Serapio and Xiala
-The pacing
-The magic system/religions
Graphic: Self harm and Violence
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Homophobia
char42's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Sexual content, and Violence
barbarella85's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, and Murder
ayvie's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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.
Graphic: Child abuse and Violence
27dragons's review against another edition
- 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
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.)
Moderate: Violence and Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia
alichan459's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror
Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
localqueerlibrarian's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Violence
sarahweyand's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism and Blood
nerodyne's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
nataleaf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence