A review by wondereads13
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

adventurous dark 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

4.0

I think my favorite thing about this book was the intermingling between religion and magic; a lot of fantasy tends to separate the two, even making them antagonistic toward one another, but magic in this world is intrinsically tied to the gods. It creates a plot that while rooted in typical high fantasy has some uniqueness to it. Three out of four of the POV characters were interesting and well-written, and I loved finally getting to read a pre-Columbus Latin American fantasy. Unfortunately, the writing was a bit clunky, and not nearly enough time was devoted to the worldbuilding. I wish there had been much more detail about the history of Meridian; many developments didn't hit as hard because I didn't know enough of the context to understand why it was such a big deal. Also, while I like Naranpa, she doesn't read like a practiced, experienced priest or leader; she's older than all the other POV characters, but the way she's written makes her seem young and naive, which doesn't match up with what we know about her. I did like this book overall, but it wasn't as good as I was hoping.