Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse follows multiple perspectives about the politics of the main religion in this world as an equinox is coming soon.

I guess I have an unpopular opinion about this book since everyone loves it so much. First off, I thought this was a science fiction set in space. I guess it was my bad for not looking into that deeper. I personally think the same plot in space would have made the book more interesting though.

For the setting, I don't find books set on the sea interesting at all, so I was really bored following half of the perspectives.

The world building was lacking for me. I have found a lot of authors have started to hold back world building as a plot device and I find it doesn't add to the book. I'd rather be immersed in the world rather than things be described for the purposes of shock value.

The plot was not very strong. The plot is essentially laid out early on in the book: a prophesied god is going to the religious capital and this will cause unrest. The rest of the book is watching the characters learn this. This leads to no tension and I had no interested in seeing what was going to happen because I already knew.

I didn't find the characters interesting at all. Their goals, actions, and interests had nothing that pulled me in and care about them. I found that the character work fell flat because it felt like they were being pulled around by the author's whim rather than having the desire to actually do the prescribed action or conversation. The romances in here were so flat I wish they weren't there.

I found Xiala to particularly grating. Half of her thoughts are about her bisexuality or wanting to sleep with something within her eyesight. I found this annoying and it pulled away from intense conversations (such as her conversations with Serapio where her life is in peril). I personally felt Xiala's bisexuality was thrown in so the author could show how inclusive they can be. She constantly had to remind herself about just how much she enjoyed women and I didn't find that realistic for someone like Xiala who is so comfortable being bisexual to begin with.

I found the writing to be nice and enjoyable to read.

Overall, I think this book is better suited for people who like low fantasy with heavy character work.

2.5/5

*Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for the chance to read this title in exchange for an honest review."

"A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun"

Black Sun is the first book in the Between Earth and Sky series and is told from the pov of four characters all leading up to a convergence/solar eclipse. All of the characters are comingled however Serapio and Xiala are connected along with Naranpa and Okoa are connected. The story starts with Serapio a young boy being prepared by his mother to become the crow god and vengeance of her clan Carrion Crow. Xiala is a foul mouthed ship captain by profession and Teek by blood. Teek are basically siren's with the power to manipulate the ocean to some extent and deemed good luck charms by people, or at least their bones are. Naranpa is the new sun priest and yearns to change the priesthoods relationship with the clans in hopes of a more harmonious future. Okoa is the head of clan Carrion Crow's Shield (the group of people that protect their leader.)

All four characters are memorable in their own right but there relationships with each other are what stuck with me the most. All four characters would in theory actually get along and agree on a lot of things had they not all possessed a dark shared history of genocide. The Sky Council had prior sanctioned the massacre of Carrion Crow leading to distrust, a need for vengeance, and horrible communication between the groups. Unfortunately, Naranpa's desire to mend bridges does not mesh with the rest of the council's desires, and Serapio's destiny leading to a collision course of death and destruction. With Xiala delivering Serapio closer and closer to his destiny unbeknownst to Naranpa only bad things can happen.

The concept of this book sounded amazing but the pacing felt incredibly slow. The entire book is setting up the backstory of all the main characters and pushing them to the event of the convergence but that's it. There's very little drama or plot pushing, an event here or there but only to bolster backstory. If I didn't know that this was supposed to become a series I would not have gotten that impression from the ending.

Typically when I read fantasy books, I'll go into them all gung-ho and then end up abandoning them about halfway through because they've turned totally repetitive, simplistic, or the world-building is just not good.
Rebecca Roanhorse has broken that streak for me with Black Sun, the first in a series set in the Meridian, a culture that is built from ancient South American civilization and mythology.

From the very beginning, we are thrust into nonstop action told from multiple points of view that are all engrossing and overlapping leading to an upcoming eclipse. There is a sun priest who does not have the typical noble background and thus is constantly questioned and threatened but just wants peace, a mysterious man on a long journey who has been subjected to painful training and rituals for some unknown end, and a free-wheeling, independent ship captain who is sprung out of jail by a lord because she may be the only one with the expertise to get his cargo where it needs to be on time.
The ending tied everything together but left me on the edge of my seat for the next book.

Dang. This one was good. I’m not even sure how to quite explain it. Set in a world inspired by pre-Colombian Americas, we get prophesies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic. There are 3 main POVs, Xiala, a disgraced ship captain, Serapio, a “helpless” blind young man that needs to make it to the holy city of Tova in record time, and Nara, a Sun Priest with big ideas. All three intersect in fascinating ways, even if they don’t officially meet. We have religious sects vying for supremacy, we see a god being created and even a mermaid (ish). This book has so much going on. Be ready for a big ride. To be honest, Xiala carried the book for me, I couldn’t wait to switch back to her POV. She is brass and fantastic while still being a human with flaws. If you like solid characters with forbidden magic AND intrigue, this one is for you.

One of the things I was most impressed by in this first novel of Rebecca Roanhorse's new epic fantasy series is how effortless it all feels. She's created a brand new universe using the indigenous cultures of the Americas as its basis, and there isn't a single moment of self-conscious telling instead of showing. It's a wonderful repudiation of the default Euro-Mediterranean settings of most English-language adult epic fantasies, centering an under-explored/represented facet of world history in a way that feels natural, as if to show how perfectly suited the cultures are to this sort of interpretation, and how much we as readers have been missing out by not encouraging fantastic fiction from authors with roots in those traditions.

The next thing I was most impressed by was how our protagonists feel less like conventional heroes and more like real people with complex motivations just doing their best to survive their extraordinary circumstances while still remaining true to themselves and their beliefs. The two native Tovans, the Sun Priest Naranpa and the trained Shield Okoa, are the characters closest to being traditional heroes, as they explicitly seek to do the most good for their peoples. Teek ship captain Xiala is mostly a hedonist but won't hesitate to put her own life in danger in order to save her crew. And even Serapio, the enigmatic figure blinded as a boy and intended for use as a vessel for a dead god, acts not out of selfishness or small-mindedness but because he's been trained for no other purpose than to challenge the priestly Watchers who decimated his clan of his grandparents' generation (trigger warning for the abuse he endured as a child tho. His mom and teachers were some truly fucked up people.)

The paths of our four protagonists are set on a collision course when Xiala is hired to carry a mysterious passenger from the southern city of Cuecola across the open waters of the Crescent Sea to Tova, the holy city from which the Watchers rule after quelling the old gods and blood magics in favor of their more scientific religion. Xiala's unique heritage makes her the captain most likely to be able to bring Serapio to Tova in time for the Solstice, when he will fulfil a dark and bloody prophecy. But travel across the open sea carries more challenges than even a Teek can overcome on her own, and she and Serapio soon find themselves bonding in unlikely ways.

Meanwhile, Naranpa has risen from literally lowly origins to hold one of the highest positions in Tovan society. Mindful of the Watchers' history and concerned at their growing insularity, she wants to spread good works amongst the Tovan people, but finds herself involved in deadly politics both in and outside her religious orders. Then there's Okoa, called back from training at the military college to serve as his sister's Shield when she takes her place as the Matron of their clan. Cultists among his people want his aid in training them to fight back against the priests, but Okoa is loath to encourage bloodshed, even when a misunderstanding with the Watchers causes a riot that nearly costs him his life.

The way that these narratives are woven together is complex and wildly entertaining, expertly drawing together disparate plot threads into a brilliant first installment of quests and prophecies, politics and survival, all in a unique setting that's drawn with such easy familiarity as to feel no more exotic than any other fantasy world's. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the rest of this series and seeing how all this plays out.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse was published October 13th by Saga Press and is available from all good booksellers.

Unique, inventive and devastating.

I don’t have enough words to describe how amazing this book is. The world! The mythology! The characters! The plot! I honestly don’t know what to say except ‘preorder this book and read it immediately upon release!’

I’ll make an effort to review once my heart rate has gone back to normal. 💀

<I>An ARC was provided by SagaPress for an honest

In Rebecca Roanhorse’s Black Sun, the story alternates between three main POVs: a disgraced sea captain, a blind man, and a Sun Priest

One day, a drunk sea captain is sprung out of jail in exchange for transporting cargo to the holy city of Tova in time for the Solar Eclipse. She agrees--only she ends up more than she signed up for. The cargo is actually a blind young man shrouded in shadow and mystery.

Meanwhile, the Sun Priest in the holy city must navigate social politics while struggling with growing civil unrest from fanatic cultists, and all the characters' storylines converge as we approach the eclipse.

Really, the one of the most interesting parts of the story for me is its setting. The story is set in the pre-Columbian Americas, which is something I have yet to see in high fantasy. I also found it cool that the author researched and integrated antient Mayan mariner techniques in her novel. In fact, one of highlights of the story for me (asides from the gripping opening), was when Xalia, the captain, drew constellations on the palm of the blind man’s hands to share how she charted the seas using celestial navigation. Not only was this a touching moment between characters, but it was a fantastic way to include worldbuilding as well. I actually wished the worldbuilding had been fleshed out MORE for the Sun Priests so we could have a better glimpse into their way of life and see what sort of technology they use since we’re told science is such an important aspect of their life principle. I'd like to see that as well.

Overall though, Black Sun is a gripping tale filled with political and social intrigue, mysticism, and gods--perfect for fans of N.K. Jemisin. I just wished the author had taken the idea of high-tech ancient Mayans and run with it, delivering something more along the lines of Mayan arcanepunk, but since this is the first of a series, it looks like this story has more time to develop and flesh out its world.

Black Sun blew me away, there is no other way to say it. From the first page, I was completely hooked. And I am going to attempt to coherently explain why.

►The world building was phenomenal, and just luscious. Look, this is a complicated world! But instead of feeling lost and overwhelmed, I felt like this world was being explained to me in a way that I was able to absorb. Piece by divulged piece, I was able to understand it better. I wrote a note in my Kindle at one point that said "This is how you world-build!" and that sums it up.

►Speaking of, the Pre-Colombian inspiration was simply incredible. I mean, I have not read pretty much anything about it before, which is unfortunate because it is beyond fascinating! And I cannot wait to delve even deeper!

►I fell in love with the characters. Oh, what a flawed bunch we have here! Heroes, no. But neither are they not heroes, if that makes sense? They each have a huge potential to change the world, but truthfully none is more deserving than the next, which makes it so compelling. Which faction will come out ahead? No idea, because there isn't a clear "good guy". And just as everyone* knows, there are no good guys. But they are all, regardless, incredibly sympathetic and well developed, which I am always here for.

►Obviously, gray morality is huge. We all know I am a complete sucker for this, but it is done so well in this book, which is definitely one of the reasons I loved it so much.

►I was completely and totally immersed in the story. Without giving much away, I just fell into the book, from the start, and never once wanted to put it down. I had to, because life, but I didn't want to. And I think I shall re-read it before the next book comes out, because I feel like there is just so much, in the best possible way, to consume in this story!

Bottom Line: Black Sun is a damn work of art, there's nothing else left to say. I need the next book!

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
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This is the first book in the new Between Earth and Sky trilogy by Rebecca Roanhorse.
This book is an epic fantasy with multiple POVs in a land with a rich culture, gods and magic.
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We have Xiala, who is from a mysterious culture of people who use magic that some people are afraid of. She is hired to escort a young man to Tova for the solstice celebration. He seems like a harmless yet strange young man.
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We have Narampa, who is serving as the current Sun Priest in Tova. She is younger than people expect and not “sky born”, can she win the people in the tower over?
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We have Serapio. A blind, scarred young man.
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And we have Okoa, trained at the war school to be the matron of his tribe’s Shield.
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I really enjoyed this book! As an epic fantasy, a good portion of the book was spent in world building. Which made for a slow start, but the book got better as it went. From the very beginning I loved Xiala’s character! She is a bad-ass who doesn’t care what other people think about her (but she has a heart so she kind of does actually). But by the end I really liked Serapio as well. Narampa’s character was pretty annoying but her POV was probably the most stressful one for me.
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I gave this book 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and am really looking forward to the next installment in the series.

Trigger Warnings: Suicide, abuse, death, gore

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Black Sun is the first in a brand new epic fantasy series, the Between Earth and Sky series, by Rebecca Roanhorse. Roanhorse is best known for her Sixth World series, an urban fantasy series in which climate change has altered our world (known as the Fifth World) into one it’s hard for us to recognize. Black Sun starts a very different series, set in a very different time and place, on an epic scale.

Black Sun
Rebecca Roanhorse - Black SunIn a world inspired by the pre-Columbian Americas, Serapio was born to be something greater. Serapio was born to be the vessel to the Crow god. He learns this at an unfortunately young age, when his mother ritualistically blinds him (this is a pretty gory book!) and then dies of suicide. Over the years, he is tutored by three people, with the goal of getting him strong enough to serve the god’s purpose.

20 days before Serapio is meant to fulfill his destiny, his journey to his mother’s homeland begins. Xiala, a sea-captain with stigmatized magic of her own, is pressed into taking him to Tova. However, the journey is not an easy one, and Xiala does not trust what she sees of Serapio. Are Xiala’s instincts right, and will she continue trusting them?

His mother’s homeland is having some issues of its own. Naranpa, the Sun Priest, wants to change her order for the better. She grew up in the surrounding area and knows better than most that the priesthood does not really serve the people. Therefore, Naranpa is trying to reach out to the land’s people, including the Carrion Crow clan. This makes her fairly unpopular with just about everyone. Sooner rather than later, she has more assassination attempts than she can shake a stick at, and still no idea that Serapio is coming. How can Naranpa survive when it seems like there’s an untrustworthy knife around every corner?

Modern Expectations of the “Past” in Black Sun
Roanhorse does not want the reader to forget that this book takes place in a year modern readers would associate with “the beginning of civilization”. Most of the action takes place in 325, year of the Sun. In this world, there are societal norms that we don’t associate with any past, especially not our own. Women are in positions of great power, both because they’ve earned gender-neutral positions, and because some of the societies displayed are matriarchal. A major secondary character uses xe/xir pronouns, and there are a few more characters who pass by on-screen who aren’t cisgender. Point-of-view character Xiala expresses attraction for both male and female characters. It’s wonderful to see.

Roanhorse isn’t restrained by our perceptions of the “past”. In letting those go, she gives the reader more queer representation than most epic fantasy generally has. More should follow her example.

Conclusion – Black Sun is a Gorgeous Epic, With More to Come
Black Sun is a gorgeous and atmospheric epic fantasy. Fair warning, it can also get pretty dark. Not all books are for all people, but if you don’t flinch at the aforementioned trigger warnings, I recommend at least giving this book a try.

I received this title from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Black Sun is available at Bookshop.org.

this was a really great start to a series, the characters were great and I really enjoyed how strong of a start this is. I can't wait to see where this series is going.

I’ve read Rebecca Roanhorse’s work before, so I thought I knew what I was getting myself in to. But, wow, was I ever surprised – in the best way! This is an enthralling character-driven epic fantasy inspired by Meso-American cultures. And, just a note, this is the start of a trilogy, so of course there’s a massive cliffhanger.

“Now, tell me who I’m taking to Tova,” she said.
“A single Obregi man,” he said lightly. “Blinded. Scarred. Some kind of religious affliction, as I understand it. Harmless.” The last he said too quickly, as if he was hiding something.
“Usually,” Xiala said carefully, “when someone describes a man as harmless, he ends up being a villain.


The book starts slowly as we’re introduced to each of the three main POV characters: Serapio, a noble’s son and the inheritor of a prophecy; Naranpa, the sun priestess in Tova; and Xiala, the Teek captain of the ship hired to bring Serapio to Tova. The story is told mostly linearly as a countdown to the Convergence, when the sun, moon and earth will align and cause an eclipse, what the Teek call a black sun. There are a few flashbacks to Serapio’s past that help explain why, exactly, it’s so imperative that he arrive in Tova before the Convergence. Of all the characters, Naranpa was my least favorite, not because of her idealism – though she made me feel extremely old and cynical at times – but because so much of her storyline involved the political machinations around her. Watching everyone discount her because of her age and that idealism was infuriating, and seeing how much it hurt her when her ex-lover Iktan did that as well was even worse. Xiala was my favorite: brash, brave, and a bit foolhardy, but ultimately kind. She loves the sea – for very good reasons – and loves being captain of her own ship, even though it means dealing with superstitious and sometimes downright hostile crew. Serapio was a close second, also for very good reasons.

“Definitely a man but perhaps a bit of monster, too? The same could be said of her. And did it matter at all, these labels and categories, when it was just the two of them here, together?”


There’s a romantic subplot between Xiala and Serapio which was just *chef’s kiss* for its pining, star-crossedness brilliance. For all their superficial differences, they’re two sides of the same coin. They’re both monsters, according to most people, and they’re both separated from their homelands for complicated reasons that revolve around their difficult relations with family, and sometimes the very idea of family. Serapio has been raised to understand his place and what he’s been prepared for, and there’s no room there for love. Xiala has her own reasons for avoiding anything more serious than a temporary fling, but it doesn’t take long before she’s noticed the similarities between them. She also knows there’s a hundred reasons why there can’t be anything between them (and Serapio has about a hundred more) but their relationship progresses so slowly that it sneaks up on them both.

“The crow god a god of justice?” The old priest scoffed. “I’ve not heard that before.”
“Vengeance, then. But what is vengeance if not justice?”
“Vengeance can be for spite. It can eat you up inside, take from you everything that makes you happy, makes you human. Look at what it did to your mother. Would justice do that?”


While I did find the slow pacing challenging at times, where this book really excels is how each facet of the story is revealed. While there are several action-packed scenes, they’re broken up with longer chunks spent building up the characters and world. It’s the slower scenes – a quiet revelation of betrayal, the realization of similarity in someone completely different – that hit hardest and move the story to its inevitable conclusion. It’s a story of righting wrongs, of vengeance and atonement for atrocities that occurred before the main characters were even born. There’s really only one way that can end, isn’t there?

“There is no home for us between earth and sky.”


Overall, this was an excellent start to a new series, and I’m already bemoaning the fact that there’s no release date yet for the second book. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys character-driven fantasy!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

First, I need to start off by saying that this book is absolutely incredible. The world that Rebecca Roanhorse has created in Black Sun is just *chef kiss* perfection.

Black Sun is a pre-Columbian American fantasy epic for the ages. Set in a world of magic, mythology, political intrigue, and adventure, this book boasts a fantastic cast of characters with so much wonderful Indigenous and LGBTQ+ representation.

This is not one of those fantasy books that takes 100 or even 200 pages to really get interesting. Instead, Roanhorse throws you into the plot head-first, giving relevant background and building her world as the story goes on. The first chapter of this book alone is absolutely jaw-dropping and sets the tone for the entire story going forward.

There is so much original magic and world elements in this story… it was fresh and exciting, and yet none of it was difficult to conceptualize and I never once got lost in the story. This kind of accessible fantasy writing makes me so happy because it invites new readers into the genre, and makes it fun for everyone!

All of that being said, cliffhanger-haters, be warned… this one is brutal. I was on the edge of my seat, racing through the pages, so excited for all of these wonderful characters to finally come together in a gigantic, action-packed climax… and suddenly it was over?! I flipped back and forth through the pages, and even checked the table of contents, hoping I missed a chapter or something… but no. It was really the end.

As a whole, Black Sun was an incredibly fun and exciting fantasy read and I can’t wait to obsess over future books in this series in the future… hopefully not too far in the future though, because I need book number 2 ASAP!!

TITLE: Black Sun

GENRE: Fantasy

SYNOPSIS: As winter solstice approaches in the holy city of Tova, set to coincide with a solar eclipse, prophecies awaken and draw close around the city. The priesthood, long a force of stability and unity among the people of the Crescent, is in a moment of crisis, as old powers press against the control of new ways. And skimming across the seas toward the city is a ship, captained by a fierce woman with a voice that calms the waves, and a blind young man named Serapio, who is destined to challenge the order of the world. Set in a world inspired by pre-Columbian America, this dark fantasy is full of complex cultural and political machinations, dramatic action, and misfit characters pushing against what society deems possible.

THOUGHTS: Black Sun is one of the best epic fantasies I have read in a while, probably since The Rage of Dragons last summer. The world building is spectacular — the pre-Colombian inspiration provides a rich backdrop, but Roanhorse also isn’t setting the book completely in a real world context. In this universe, mermaids walk among men, and gods come to live among mortals. Cities tower in the skies. It’s a diverse and heterogeneous world, with a range of cultures, religions, and genders represented. Beyond the fantastic setting, the plot is gripping. Honestly I still don’t know who the villain is, or if there is one going forward—and that is my favorite kind of story, full of complex motivations and nuanced characters. My least favorite part about this book was that it ended, and I cannot wait for the second installment!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was tough to put down to do the other items on my list. I genuinely can’t wait for the next book to find out what happens next as I few for the characters. Thank you so much for a great read.

It is so unbelievably refreshing to finally get epic fantasies within adult fantasy that are NOT eurocentric (I know this one isn’t the first, but I am loving the trend). From the diverse cast to the casual queerness, I was here for every minute of this story.

Inspired by the pre-Columbian Americas (yes Indigenous rep!), we have a tale that spans different cultures and continents and we watch them inevitably collide with one another. The story closely follows four characters: Serapio, Xiala, Naranpa, and Okoa. I’ll be honest, Serapio and Xiala were my favorites. I loved watching them develop a relationship even though their respective cultures would’ve normally dictated otherwise. Naranpa was my least favorite of the characters just because she seemed to be the most immature. I am hoping that this is addressed in later books though, so not all hope is lost.

I absolutely loved the normalcy of queerness in this book. Furthermore, one of the cultures has a third gender. And it is presented as if everyone else is the barbarian for not understanding such, and y’all, that TOOK ME OUT. This is how you address queerness and gender identity. Period. Thank you Rebecca Roanhorse for that.

Now onto the world building. OMG, it was incredible. I was mostly drawn to the pirate scenes that took place with Serapio and Xiala. I absolutely love the unease and tension of the ocean, and Roanhorse absolutely delivered!

Overall, this is a stunning start to the Between the Earth and Sky trilogy, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Thank you to Saga Press (Gallery), Simon & Schuster Audio, & Libro.fm for providing a review copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

Let’s start with how strikingly beautiful this cover is. They say don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but damn a pretty cover really helps to draw you in.

I love that this story was set in a place based on Pre-Columbian societies. It was a spectacular foundation for a fantasy world that felt fresh. I apparently read a lot of fantasy that either borrows from old European cultures or alternate worlds. The fantasy elements were beautifully twined into the religious and cultural elements of the book which made everything feel more organic rather then the “a ren faire with magic” feel that seems a rather popular choice in fantasy. This book absolutely made me want to seek out other fantasy worlds with similar foundations, which I plan to do. Her world building was rich and her beautiful detailing of the environments allows you to build and amazing visual in your mind.

I didn’t expect so many POVs, we get four in the book. I expected to get frustrated with characters I was less invested in (which can be the case for me with books with several POVs) but each one had an interesting character and story. It was satisfying watch them all slowly converged as the story approached, well, The Convergence. Additionally, I particularly enjoyed the featured romance.

I thought this was a stellar book, let alone a debut. I’m will be putting book two on my tbr.

I was initially drawn to this book just because I'm a lover of epic, sweeping fantasy novels and that's all I knew of Black Sun. When I learned it takes place in pre Columbian era America and includes native peoples I was even more excited to read this story! The initial scene draws you in and connects on an emotional level with the reader, piquing curiosity and inspiring you to read just one more page.
Rebecca Roanhorse creates such distinct, interesting characters. They have their flaws, as we all do, which make them more relatable and well developed. We follow three protagonists, and a forth to a certain extent, in this story and I found I enjoyed each POV, which is usually not the case for me. Each individual plays a part of the overarching narrative and the reader learns aspects of the back story, when necessary, and how each character connections to the present storyline. I found myself on the edge of my seat waiting for the count down of days just to know how and what was really going to happen; how were each of these lives going to be drawn together and forcefully pulled apart. And it was awesome! I feel like I didn't get enough of that event; I need to know more. What happens next?
I loved the cultural references included in this story and how the author draws from both fantastical and actual historical references. She's taken an amazingly diverse, colorful tapestry and made it that much more beautifully intricate. I found myself wanting to know more of the world and the beliefs of each culture.
Overall, this was an interesting, expansive, and beautifully imagined work. I cannot wait to go back into this world. This is one of my favorite books of 2020. I recommend to all fantasy lovers. Read it and come back and discuss with me as I need others to talk to about this. :)

Spellbinding, mesmerizing, and absolutely captivating, BLACK SUN immerses the reader into a cutthroat adventure with fantastic world building and character development. We are blessed with four POVs that serve in creating an epic atmosphere full of cults, religion, and strong female characters. This is a strong entrance into a new series.

<i>Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Highly creative and captivating, <i>Black Sun</i> is the first novel in the Between Earth and Sky series. Inspired by pre-Columbian American civilizations, this is a story about prophecy, magic, tragedy, and revenge, shown through the lens of multiple points of view.

Roanhorse's writing style is excellent. Although I typically struggle with the fantasy genre, I was hooked by the first chapter. Detailed and clever, each character is unique and whole, all with their own admirable characteristics and flaws. The plot builds at a steady pace, definitely maximizing the effects of the last few scenes.

I also immensely appreciated the diversity. There were a variety of gender identities and sexualities represented (including a person who uses xe/xir pronouns!). These identities were normalized, which was a refreshing break from constantly seeing non-cis/het characters being bashed and belittled in fiction--we have enough of that in real life.

Overall, I would highly recommend <i>Black Sun</i>. I rarely read fantasy or adult, let alone adult fantasy, so I was surprised that I found this to be incredibly enjoyable.