Scan barcode
A review by sapphistoire
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I'm really struggling to start this review because I just finished the book and my brain is still screaming over it! Black Sun is the first book of an exciting new high fantasy series inspired by the Indigenous cultures of the Americas, and boy is it a good one! We follow four main perspectives throughout the book - Serapio, a blind man who is the Crow God reborn; Xiala a ship's captain who is reviled for being a Teek; Naranpa, the Sun Priest who, unlike the other priests, is from a poorer background; and Okoa, the son of the Carrion Crow matron, one of the four Sky Made families. I absolutely love high fantasy novels that are told through several different perspectives (take Priory and The Bone Shard Daughter as examples), and this was no difference. My favourite perspectives to read from were definitely Serapio and Xiala and hoo boy did I have to put the book down a few times and just scream over their connection! Something else I loved about this book was the casual queerness - Xiala is bisexual and frequently talks about people from different genders she finds attractive, and there are several trans and nonbinary characters, too, some even using the neopronouns xe/xim, which was really exciting to see. I also loved Indigenous inspired world and languages and I can't wait to see how it is developed upon in the following books.
The one reason I docked a star from my rating is because this book is very quiet. There's not a lot of action, and for a book with a reborn god wanting to rain destruction upon the world, you'd expect a lot more. And honestly, I think that it needed it. Pretty much the only action we got was in the last 100 pages or so. That being said, I love character driven novels and this definitely gave me that (the yearning and angst in this book is unmatched!) and for that alone I highly, highly recommend you pick this one up!!
The one reason I docked a star from my rating is because this book is very quiet. There's not a lot of action, and for a book with a reborn god wanting to rain destruction upon the world, you'd expect a lot more. And honestly, I think that it needed it. Pretty much the only action we got was in the last 100 pages or so. That being said, I love character driven novels and this definitely gave me that (the yearning and angst in this book is unmatched!) and for that alone I highly, highly recommend you pick this one up!!