Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Black Sun

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

I can totally understand how this book won all of the awards that it did. The way this was crafted and the attention to detail and all of the little bits of representation were so amazing, and there was never a time when I found myself wondering why the hype was so high. I totally understood it. This was a PHENOMENAL read.

First, I want to mention the worldbuilding. I read something (it may have been in the acknowledgments of the book) where the author mentions how there are always books based on like old Victorian England and other European eras of history, but there aren’t a lot of things taking place in the Americas, and least of all the pre-Columbian Americas. There is so much rich history and innovation and culture between all of the ancient civilizations, and there were so many little details scattered throughout the book. The clothing was the biggest thing that I liked, especially since I visualize so much when I read, but I also loved all of the touches with the navigation on the boat and the importance of religion and the gods in society. I had never read a book quite like this, but I LOVED it.

In addition to the cultural influences, the general worldbuilding was also amazing. The Sky Made clans were each so unique, and I can safely say that Carrion Crow is my favorite. (Cue the Buzzfeed Unsolved audio: “I’m here for the cult stuff!” LOL). The priesthood was also so vivid, and even though I didn’t like the priests (except for Iktan, tbh), the people’s reliance on the star charts and divination like that is SO COOL to me. I also want to know so much more about Xiala’s Teek culture. I mean, come on. SIRENS? I NEED TO KNOW MORE. She was definitely one of the most interesting characters! I feel like all of the stuff with Serapio and his connection with the crow god and all of the other gods and their followings will be explained more in the second book, and I hope it is because I LOVE learning about the religious groups in books.

Now. I’m going to rant about my favorite character. Serapio. Serapio, Serapio, Serapio. I love him SO MUCH. He was BY FAR my favorite. Even from the first chapter with him going through his ritual to become the Odo Sedoh I was hooked on him. That chapter immediately established a connection in me to him because I kept waiting for his point of view to come back. All of the times where we got to hear about his past and his tutors were heartbreaking, except for Powageh who was actually pretty chill. He had such a terrible childhood, but I know that knowing his destiny and what he was meant to do with Odo Sedoh and his crow friends made it slightly better for him and gave him a reason to keep going. And then after he met Xiala, he had another reason: her. From the moment they first *met* they were drawn to each other, and their relationship developing on their journey together was so sweet to read even though it couldn’t have ended well. (Although their little scenes on the boat and in the bathhouse and with the honey… OMG. Anyway.) And I love how he was a strong, powerful, incredible warrior and person and how he was able to work with being blind and even using it to his advantage with the crows and stuff. And he was such an interesting character as well because of his relationship with good/evil and how he perceived himself and his destiny and how it affected other people, Xiala included. Long story short, I am so scared for Serapio now and he needs to be okay because I love him.

Not only was the insane research the author did on pre-Columbian culture extremely evident, but the representation was also SO WELL DONE (in my opinion). There was so much thought put into Serapio’s blindness and how it impacted his character and his abilities and seeing a character like him was so nice. I also admire how Xiala’s sexuality was done. She wasn’t ashamed of it at all, even though she knew others discriminated against her for it (since she was in jail for flirting with a woman in the beginning), but that also didn’t stop her from flirting with Aishe on the ship and making jokes with her crew (before they all betrayed her and tried to kill her and before Serapio murdered them lol). Not only that, but I also really love how gender was presented here. Iktan and Powageh (I think both of them, definitely Powageh) were both non-binary (a third gender in their culture) with xe/xir pronouns (WHICH YOU DON’T SEE MUCH OF IN LITERATURE AND I AM ALWAYS SO GLAD TO SEE NEOPRONOUNS), and Maaka’s wife from the cult was a trans woman! I believe this also ties into the culture of the pre-Columbian civilizations, and I am so glad to see it now. I’m always a sucker for good representation. :)

The only reason that this is only a 4.5- and not a 5-star book is because I didn’t really like Naranpa. As a character, I think her arc is very well done with her losing her position as Sun Priest and all and having to go through those assassination attempts and all of the drama with Abah and Ekhe trying to overthrow her, but I just found her POVs boring. I kept skimming through them because there wasn’t a lot of action (with exceptions, of course), unlike how there was always something happening with Xiala and Serapio. I kept wanting to go back to them and be done with her parts. I’m still impartial on Okoa for now, although after the ending with him finding Serapio after *that* whole thing happened, I think he’ll play a much bigger role in the second book, along with Naranpa as well hopefully after her little ritual too. I have hopes for them, but I don’t think the first book did them justice. :/

Overall, this was a fantastic book. The worldbuilding and representation were so vivid and the characters were so lovable and interesting and have a lot of potential for book two. That cliffhanger at the end was BRUTAL. I’M SO CONCERNED. I will definitely try to read book two when I can find the time, but in the meantime, I’ll just be thinking about Serapio and Xiala and how much I want to see more books with this culture as inspiration. I LOVED it.

Content Warnings

lolajh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

Such a beautiful and interesting book that had each chapter being in a different place of the world in the book and a different point of view for each character, with the point of views being shown being Xiala (a queer woman), Serapio (a blind man) Naranpa (another queer woman) and a few minor chapters from Okoa’s point of view.

Xiala was an amazing character to learn about throughout this book. A pirate captain who had to work hard to gain the respect of her peers due to her being a female captain as well as a Teek, which is a female-only race in this world. She is targeted by racism, sexism and homophobia and is very confident and accepting of all her identities. There are minor flings and attraction between her and women throughout the book, and the highlighted romance being between her and a man. Seeing a heterosexual relationship with queer characters was really interesting because of how different love is experienced compared to typical heterosexual relationships. Xiala is also so strong independent from her love interest with her own goals and ideals. Her character arc was wonderful and relatable. Loved it

Serapio’s chapters were of great interest because of how the author describes his perception of the world being blind. This is done so well that when the chapter ends and switches to a different character I am still experiencing Serapio’s blindness and get confused on why appearances of things are being described because of how immersed and realistic his blindness is conveyed. Serapio’s disability also does not in any way weaken him; he is a strong physical fighter often underestimated by his opponents and him being able to see again is never a goal of his - it’s just accepted which was lovely to see.

Then Naranpa, my beautiful underrated queer ball of sunshine. In many reviews she is described as naive, which she can come across as at some points, but I just think she is a person trying to see the best in everyone and just has a lot of bad things happen to her. I love her very much. Naranpa’s chapters were also interesting because of her assassin ex-lover Iktan who is nonbinary and goes by xe/xir pronouns that are never disrespected by the characters except for

at the end where Okoa describes xir as a woman which I personally think took away a lot of xir character and I can’t really understand why the author decided to put that in

Iktan is my absolute favourite character of this book. Xir character was so interesting because of how badass and talented and feared xe is and if ONLY we got an Iktan pov so I could know how xe thinks and seeing xir having a character arc with different ideals that aren’t just what Naranpa thinks xe is thinking. There were also several more nonbinary and trans characters in this book going by they/them or xe/xir. One of these characters, Powageh, explained xir identity as being a “third gender” which wasn’t my favourite wording of it as it puts a binary onto something that is literally not binary. Something like “neither man nor woman” would have been better phrasing, but gender can feel different for everyone and if “third gender” feels like the right wording for xir then to each their own. Anyway, still loved this book and the diversity of the poc and queer characters all in a fantasy and science fiction world.

Content Warnings

drinaiscold's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective 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

Content Warnings

itendswithe's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

[-0.25 star for a cliffhanger first book. I feel strongly that first books in series should be able to stand on their own].

A dark fantasy set in a pre-Columbus America that hooked me within the first few pages.

Four character perspectives (and in the audiobook, by 4 narrators) converging together in a battle between the old crow god and the new sun god. This book has magic, adventure, and a dose of blood - it's one of the best books I've read so far this year.

Covers some heavy topics, so check out the content warnings.

I would recommend if you like: diverse fantasy stories, characters with some edges, queer rep, and old magic.

Content Warnings

romiress's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

A whole star taken off for that awful ending.

I absolutely hate books that just stop, leaving me feeling frustrated and wondering where the next bit is going to be.

My feelings are frankly a bit muddled about this book - it feels almost... generic? Tropey? Just with an added layer of something unique on top. I guess I just feel meh, completely uninvested in what I was reading. I think I'd describe it as a generic fantasy story, reskinned

Content Warnings

sarah_speaks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

5.0

Content Warnings

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