This was such a divergence from almost any other fantasy book I’ve read. And for the most part, that has been a good thing. I’ve really got to hand it to Rebecca Roanhorse here, she’s crafted an explosive start to a series set in a time and place not normally seen in this genre. Consider me thoroughly impressed.

The first book in the Between the Earth and Sky trilogy, Black Sun begins with a brutal opening scene that sets the tone for the rest of the book. The story picks up several years later following Xiala, a rogue Teek ship captain with a chip on her shoulder and not much left to lose. As she sets out again on a near impossible mission, we watch as her and the paths of the three other POV characters start to move together towards Convergence.

Serapio, a formerly scarred boy, but no longer scared, Naranpa, the Sun Priest who wants to prove herself worthy of her station, Okoa, a young man trying to preserve his clan as best he can and Xiala are all working towards the same event during the winter solstice in Tova, even if they don’t know it yet. There’s adventure and betrayal on the high seas, cunning palace intrigue behind closed doors and a lot of untapped magic just waiting to be put to use. So much is going on in Black Sun that it’s a triumph in and of itself that Roanhorse is able to tie it all together.

That said, I do think the ending was a little rushed, where so much is unresolved. I won’t know if that was the best ending point in the story until the next book is released, but I do feel like I was left hanging somewhat. There’s so many questions left and though some are probably left that way intentionally, I wonder if I just maybe missed a few resolutions on my first read through while trying to get to the ending. Maybe I’ll try a re-read before the second book comes out.

Either way this was an excellent start to a series from my first experience reading this author! I believe she has a short story in an anthology I’m about to read, but I’m very interested in picking up more from her. And for anyone who’s looking for more diversity in their fantasy, Black Sun has some of the more inclusive characters I’ve come across, especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ characters. I’d recommend checking the series out!

This was my first book by this author and I was disappointed at all. This had me on the edge of seat through out the reading because I just had to know what happen next. I can't wait to see what's going to next.

I enjoyed this, but nearly as much as Race to the Sun. I think this is because I was keeping my 6th graders in mind, and this book is probably a bit too mature for them.

"Today he would become a god. His mother had told him so."

From the very first chapter, Black Sun grips you and takes you on a wild journey. It's violent and powerful and breathtaking. The world building is absolutely incredible, something I expected from Rebecca Roanhorse because Trail of Lightning is the same. Her worlds are so immersive and so well written. Also check out the gorgeous map endpapers!

Her character building is amazing as well. The cast of characters in Black Sun is so good and I was rooting for all of them, even though they were clearly at odds with each other. I loved the dynamic between Serapio and Xiala, and I loved how Serapio was written. I also really loved Naranpa and how fiercely she loved her city, and also the idea that she loves a city that does not love her. It hurts and I just want to protect her.

If you're looking for an epic fantasy then I highly recommend Black Sun.

I was super excited for this book and honestly I was a bit underwhelmed. Not because the book wasn't good but I just never really felt engaged with it. I really liked the world and the characters were also great. It is very different from anything I have read before and I mean that in such a positive way. I honestly can't come up with any flaws for this book and if you loved it I am so happy for you. However, I don't know why but I just didn't connect to this book and kind of felt indifferent while reading. Don't let that stop you from reading this book though because I repeat and I can't think of a single flaw that this book has. It was truly of case of 'it's me, not you' with this book and I kind of hate myself for it.

5/5 Stars

Without a doubt one of my favorite books of the year, Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse is an epic multi-POV adventure that is engrossing from start to finish. The author brings a breath of fresh air to the fantasy genre with this unique tale inspired by the civilizations of the pre-Columbian Americas. It's fast paced with tons of action and the ending will leave you reeling.

Roanhorse weaves an intricate, vivid world that bursts from the page and this lush setting is home to gods, prophecies, magic and more. Religion and politics take center stage as a solstice approaches and the author is able to explore multiple religions that coexist as well as fanaticism. She also delves into struggles against the confines of society, history, and power.

What truly makes this story standout though is the intriguing characters that give voice to the narrative. There's Serapio a quiet, controlled blind man with unimaginable power; Xiala, a disgraced pirate with unique skills of her own; Naranpa, priestess of the sun, navigating the ever shifting hierarchies of Tova; and Okoa, the son of a murdered clan matron.

As their stories intersect and converge, the vast scope of the novel is revealed and the future of these characters and this world reach a tipping point. Don't let the size of this story scare you though, readers will have no trouble keeping up with this standout saga. If you haven't read any of Rebecca Roanhorse's work previously, Black Sun is the perfect place to start.

Black Sun is a gorgeous, devastating book. It is always challenging to write an ensemble cast story where each perspective character is equally interesting, and Rebecca Roanhorse pulled it off with a flourish. I was so invested in each character's lives and struggles. I did not want to put the book down. It was high tension, high stakes story, which made the moments of lightness that much more powerful. Beautiful weaving of Indigenous culture into a fantasy world. So many queer and gender diverse characters! I will not stop thinking about it until the next one comes out!

Pre-Columbian myth and magic. Old World gods and epic world building. Flawed characters who challenge the status quo. All of this can be found in this new high fantasy series.

I love Roanhorse's urban fantasy The Sixth World series so I was curious as to how well she would do with a high fantasy story. I sometimes find high fantasy can get a little full of itself, and it can be hard to build an entirely new existence for readers to immerse themselves in, but in here my curiosity was certainly slaked.

The setting and mythology are unlike any others that I've come across in the YA arena as many have a Euro-centric feel. Each character is distinct, their actions true, and their motivations real. Everything seems to fit very organically.

But outside of that, it's just an awesome story, bouncing back-n-forth in time as each individual journeys to the epoch, crossing oceans, skies, and social strata. It ends on a good note leaving the reader eager for the next installment which I'll unfortunately have to wait until next year to read.

If this isn't already on your TBR list, go ahead and add it. You won't be disappointed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

I enjoyed this more than I initially expected to. The world of Black Sun is incredibly well researched and a great mash up of historical elements blended with fantasy. It is steeped in South American culture and history. The building blocks set up here promise an epic world in the rest of the series. I really liked all the characters, and the fact that we aren't given a straight up villain. Xiala and Nara are both strong female characters. I did find Nara to be a. bit naive, but that tends to happen when one has a lofty goal set in mind. I was unsure about Serapio initially, but I ended up adoring this morally gray character. He takes a lot of abuse and honestly doesn't have the best future, yet he is genuinely curious about the world he's been sheltered from. His and Xiala's interactions are really sweet. The character building is really well done for a first book of a series. None of them felt one dimensional, and I'm really excited to see where this series goes. The magic system is also fairly solid. There are certain aspects that are a little open ended, like how a person gets magic, or has the ability to obtain magic.

QUICK TAKE: The first in a new trilogy from the NYT bestselling author, #BlackSun is an epic adventure “inspired by the civilizations of the of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.” I really enjoyed the story, but did I love it...hmmm, kinda on the fence. The stories felt a little disparate for me, and I could have used a little bit more fantasy/magic (more giant birds and water magic, please!). I do think the book does a nice job of introducing a lot of characters and story, but the abrupt ending means I'll have to wait for the next book to see the set-up start to come together.

This is a multi-POV story, with all the storylines weaving and converging on one another. At the heart of the story is Serapio, who was blinded as a small boy, and is cloaked in mystery. He’s being escorted across the sea by Captain Xiala. She’s a Teek, and has the ability to control water. She’s also fucking hilarious & kinda rowdy and just…Xiala is AMAZING and the relationship that develops between her and Serapio is…everything. Oof.

On the other side of things is Naranpa, the Sun Priest in the city of Tova. From the moment we meet her, her life is constantly under threat. She has a number of other Watchers around her, all with different abilities. Most notable among them is the deadly Iktan, whose pronouns are xe/xir, and is a former lover of Naranpa’s.

Look, I feel like nothing I write here is going to adequately convey how much I loved this book. This just felt breathtakingly original & refreshing. This is a story you get completely caught up in…all these different characters have their own destiny, some of which feel a bit more…doomed than others. But all sort’ve crashing into one another and changing everything about the way this world works. A mind-blowing, beautiful, thrilling fantasy novel, and clearly the start of something incredibly special.

I have literally loved everything Roanhorse has written and this is no exception. While the beginning was slow due to world-building, there was enough action to keep me interested until the story picked up speed... and when it did... wow. Just wow. I can't wait until the next book comes out!

The first book of what looks to be an engaging and epic series, Black Sun sets up a universe in what the book description says is ‘inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas.’ In this new universe, regional borders and distinctive communities, cultural practices, and their relationships with one another are tied to both external and internal politics. Rebecca Roanhorse, author of Black Sun, has done a compelling job of setting up a plot where each of the components lend themselves to breathing deeper life into a well-calculated Chosen One story.

Who is the Chosen One in Black Sun? This distinction would go to one of the four point-of-view characters, Serapio. Serapio has a childhood colored by his mother’s strategic fanaticism and her physical abuse of him, which leads to his paternal neglect punctuated by the strict teachings of three lethal teachers. Serapio grows into adulthood a sheltered, lonely person driven singularly for vengeance carried on by his commitment to the path his mother gave birth to him in order to achieve. The more interesting parts of this story picks up as Serapio’s life connects with one of the other point-of-view characters, Xiala, a Teek captain with no real ship or crew who hopes to redeem her purpose in life after several personal and professional failures. She takes on the commission to get Serapio to the holy city of Tova shortly before the solstice hoping to regain some dignity and without any knowledge of who Serapio is and what he means to the Crow people he’s set to seek vengeance for. By learning more about each other and their hardships, we see Serapio and Xiala examine and rethink their values and goals without truly wavering from who they are.

The other two point-of-view characters lead more politically complex lives as one is the male heir of the matrilineal Crow line, Okoa, who has stayed away from the intrigues of court by remaining in military school, only to return to chaos and inter-community turmoil after family duties bring him back home. When he returns home he runs into Naranpa, a Sun Priest who grapples hard with maintaining and growing her political power, and whose intentions seem different than those who held the position before her. This is particularly intriguing to Okoa, as one of the former Sun Priests called for the genocide of the Crows not long ago, something the Crow community continues to smart from. For Naranpa, our final point-of-view character, having her ambitions realized is practically impossible. Because she comes from the Dry Earth community of Tova, which is heavily derided by the Sky people who rule the city, her peers within the priesthood are not shy about voicing their destain for her and her efforts, even working behind her back to detract from any of the relationships she builds with the high houses. Between the actions of Okoa and Naranpa, as well as the people who surround them, we see the fallibility of chosen naïveté and inability to recognize people for who they are, working to their later turmoil and endangerment.

From the powerful abilities displayed by Serapio and Xiala to intricacies of navigating nobility and high priesthood embodied by Okoa’s and Naranpa’s journeys, Black Sun is a read full of calculated intrigue, strong character development, well-developed worldbuilding, and a liveliness that makes this adult fantasy a page-turner.

I wasn't wild about Black Sun, but I didn't not like it at the same time. For me, this book was a mixed bag, On the one hand, the world-building in this book is absolutely impeccable and vibrant. I loved how Roanhorse drew so much inspiration from pre-Columbian American cultures and gives exposure to these cultures who too often get ignored in the writing of epic fantasies that tend to trend toward western Europeans. The different settings, the traditions of the people, the magic, and the religious beliefs all vibrantly shine as they help the reader imagine vivid worlds and peoples. I also enjoyed the intrigue of much of the plot, and the complicated characters that are actors in the plot were enjoyable to get to know. Unfortunately, the pacing was not a home run for me, as it goes really slow. That with what seemed like constant shifting of the POVs in this book made it a confusing read at times, and I found myself losing track of the plot at multiple junctures throughout my reading of this book. Frankly, that is probably just a me thing, but I don't enjoy not knowing what is going on while I am reading a book. But Black Sun has a lot of good things going for it, and the ending is really action-packed, so if you are a reader who desires a richly developed fantasy world and don't mind a slower pace, this is a book for you.

Wow! This book is one of my favorite reads of 2020–hands down. This book has great representation of LGBTQIAP!

What I loved:
🌞 It’s an epic Fantasy book that DOESN’T take place in London (like so many other high fantasy books 😶)
🌞 It was inspired by Pre-Columbian cultures of the Americas
🌞 Well developed characters that are unique and thought provoking
🌞Dramatic storyline with lots of suspense
🌞 Touches upon prejudices, selling human remains on the black market, and bearing the burden of our ancestors after they have left us
🌞 Representation! Characters who are queer, transgender, and non-binary

I couldn’t read this book fast enough. I finished this several days ago and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. I can’t wait to read Rebecca Roanhorse’s other books.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for my advance reader copy!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC which in no way influenced my review.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt I loved this. It even has a few things I don't normally care for (a cliffhanger ending, more on that later) but I didn't mind because it was just that great. The earliest buzz I saw for this said it was based off South/Central American culture and that's now been changed to inspired by which is far more accurate (I can definitely see some of the Aztec in this) but it is purely fantasy.

It follows three main characters, (lifting two of them right from the blurb) <i>Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny.</i> And the third is Naranpa, the Sun Priestess born into the poverty of the Maw but lifted to a position of power, a place many feel she, as a slum born, has no rights to.

Our three main characters share one thing: a hard-knock, underdog life. Of the three I was least invested in Nara and that's not because she's not an interesting character. It's just the Machiavellian scheming and political power struggles weren't that interesting to me. They rarely are and reading this during the last weeks of the election didn't help me any with it. Nara is caught between political infighting among the priests, her own attempts at reform and the dyed in the wool traditions of the Sky-Made clans (the ruling powers of Tova). Her only protection is one of the Knives who protect the priests, her non-binary ex lover who may or may not be on her side.

I instantly bonded to both Serapio and Xiala. Serapio has the exact type of tragic backstory I am a sucker for. As part of the Tovan Carrion Crow clan (a clan that has suffered at the hands of the Sun priests), though raised in a different land, Serapio has been left scarred and blinded and filled with both skills and magics that will serve his destiny (and let me leave it at that vague term from the blurb so not to spoil anything). I had Xiala's reaction to him. I wanted to hold and comfort him. His story is told from both today's view point and from his childhood which is very important to the story. He has to cross the sea to get to Tova by the solstice. He's an extremely well developed character and I absolutely loved him.

I also adored Xiala, a delightful bi-disaster who drinks a bit too much, sleeps with the wrong people but is one helluva sea captain. She's also a teek, a strange group of seafaring women whom others often fear, despise and see as having magical importance (in a creepy way). She is a great deal of fun and I want much much more of her.


I was sucked into the story line burning my way through it quickly (which is unusual as ebooks give me headaches so I'm pretty slow at them but that's how netgalley does their ARCS). As I said it does end on a cliffhanger, however it didn't feel bad or like a cheat to make you buy book two which is often how cliffhangers feel to me. Instead pretty much all the plot lines resolve in book one but now you're sucked into seeing how all the changes those plot lines will make in these characters' lives and to their world. I can't wait for book two. Also anyone who can talk to crows gets kudos from me (loved Serapio, truly)

I received a review copy of Black Sun from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. According to the Acknowledgments, this novel drew inspiration from the following pre-Columbian cultures of the Americas: Polynesian, Mississippian, Pueblo, Aztec, and Mayan. Note that the book is lightly influenced by these cultures, inspiring Roanhorse's own epic fantasy world. As is the often the case for me where multiple characters are introduced one at a time, I found the first third of the book to be a bit of a slow burn, but soon afterwards was deeply immersed and time flew by as main characters began to interact with each other and plots began to interweave and deepen. There is a little bit of everything here to love: romance, mystery, weaponry, political intrigue, and mythology. A highly recommended read :)

Yass!
Have you ever had a book where you enjoyed it so much you had to stop reading it? Because if you finished then it would be over and your time with it would be done. I experienced this with Black Sun.
Stopping and starting a few times because I didn't want it to end and I didn't want to see my favorite characters die. My absolute favorite was Xialia. I liked her strength, her vulnerability and her snarkiness. I also liked the mystery in which Roanhorse shrouds Serapio. Even towards the end of the book you are unsure whether he is supposed to be a hero or a villain. Is he blind justice or sightless vengeance?

Thank the gods that <b>Black Sun</b> is the start of a series and that there was something more to come. My only complaint is that the next book is not out yet :( and it might be a while before I get a chance to stay with these characters again.

4.5 stars. I don’t normally read epic fantasy, but wow am I glad I picked this one up! Roanhorse weaves an incredible saga set in pre-Colombian Americas with four distinct POV’s. I fell into the story right away. Normally I don’t like it when the story goes back and forth on the timeline, but Roanhorse worked her magic as it flows seamlessly. The world building is top notch and the characters... wow! I definitely preferred a couple of the POV’s over the other two, but their voices were necessary to complete the story. This is one of the times where I was rooting for the anti-hero :) I absolutely loved Xiala and can’t wait to find out more about her siren background. The ending... eeeep! Now just to wait for the next installment :)

Set in pre-Columbian times but with a lot of extra thrown in as well, the story begins horrifically as a mother maims her 12 year old son. The explanation is that Serapio’s body is simply a vessel being prepared for the Crow god who will soon take over his flesh to seek vengeance on those who massacred his people on the bloody Night of Knives.

Ten years later, the world is split into powerful tribes-Golden Eagle, Winged Serpent, Water Strider, and Carrion Crow-all of whose Sky-Made Haves reside in opulence high in the splendid cities while the Have Nots reside hungry and desperate in the Coyote’s Maw’s pleasure streets which serve the vices of the rich.

I’ve simplified the world because it’s too marvelously intricate with its scheming politics, classism, and cultural differences to explain in a few lines. But there’s incredible amounts of detail to enjoy without feeling overwhelming. Some of my favorites are the giant flying insects and crows which are saddled and ridden. And magic is everywhere. Action and some violence as well. All the characters, main and secondary, are amazing to read. Good diversity with bi and nonbinary folks as well.. No romance yet but there is a non-graphic m/f connection in this one. There’s a matriarchal hierarchy in play so I’m hoping that there will be a f/f romance later in the series that will somehow play a part. Some of the key people:

Naranpa who escaped the poverty of the Maw and is now the elite Sun Priest, hated by her colleagues for not being Sky Made.

Xiala, a Teek sea captain, with the power to sway all with her song. She’s also a bit of a drunk and a charmer of both men and women. This is all too personal for her now.

Okoa, the son of the powerful Matron of Carrion Crow who is thrust into the middle of the chaos as the Night of Convergence draws near.