I am absolutely in love with this book. Rebecca Roanhorse’s writing is masterful. The world building was interesting and the character development was really good. Every character that got a pov I truly cared about, and there aren’t many authors who do that for me. The build up in this story is so good and had me turning pages and not wanting to put it down. My only disappointment in the whole book is having to wait for the next one. We do get left on a bit of a cliffhanger and I’m dying to know what happens next. Everyone who loves fantasy should give this one a try. Five stars from me!

This book is PHENOMENAL. The lore and characterizations are so perfect, rich, and enthralling. The ending is impeccable, and I cannot wait to devour the next book in the series.

This is the first in a new series. I really loved the world building of this book. We get an untraditional approach to the world, not basing it off of medieval Europe, but on precolonial America. I have entranced by that world, it was so rich and diverse, the lore was spot on, and I absolutely was engrossed by it. My only complaint is that there are a ton of characters, and a bunch of them have nothing to do. Kind of made me feel like....what's the point of these chapters. I enjoyed the plot, of the Crow God coming to devour the Sun, and how we get to that point. However the book itself is left on a cliff hanger that doesn't really get resolved, and that often irks me in the first of a multi-book series.

Overall it's worth the read.

I LOVE love loved this book. I was hooked from the very start. Absolute epic fantasy, that contains magic, prophesies, political intrigue, sea travel, romance, and so much more. Set in a mystical land in the pre-columbian americas, it is such a refreshing medieval fantasy. Everyone read this book!

I was able to read a physical ARC of this great 2020 Fantasy novel. I loved it and cannot wait for another novel in this series. Thank you for the early copy!

This series has so much potential. While I feel like the world building was slightly lacking in this installment, I feel like we will get so much more in the sequel. The writing was excellent and it was such a unique book!

Inspired by pre-Columbian Americas civilization, this inclusive epic fantasy was fantastic! A cliffhanger ending left me wanting to know so much more. I can't wait for book #2.

I haven't owned this book for the longest time, but it is the book that I have the most copies of that has been unread, so I'm very happy to finally be able to move this into the read column.

Here's the thing. All of the pieces of this book were there for me to enjoy this book, or at least enough of them to at least get a solid rating. Of the nice things I can say, I really enjoyed the setting in this book. I really felt like each of the cities and the cultures were there. I felt that I understood enough of the dynamics between them and the history presented in the scope of this story to get a good feeling about it. Even the characters to a degree felt like I understood them, I got their goals and literally, every chapter of the book is tied into the overall plot in a way that felt tight.

On the flipside I kept wishing that the book was longer. I kept wishing for the character interactions to be something that wasn't tied into the plot, that could exist for just them. Maybe that's silly and bad advice for writing a book. That is to say that there were several moments in the book where things made sense for characters because it was clear that was where Roanhorse had set them out to wind up, but the steps along the way often felt more calculated and stuck to a formula than as part of an organic person's journey. The book also does this thing where it is framed by a ticking clock, but then will jump forward through time. This was most jarring when the main timeline of the book for the two hundred pages at the beginning is just two days and the remaining half of the book speeds through the remaining 19 so that the story can get to where it needs to. Again, Roanhorse does a great job allowing the reader to be able to predict the culmination because every character scene feels so telegraphed that in some ways it was hard to enjoy the final sequence of the book because it was so telegraphed. Though I will give credit for setting up a twist and following through instead of attempting to some last-minute plot twist that comes out of nowhere.

The writing was also approachable in a way that I appreciate in fantasy. It wasn't dry and never read like a textbook, but it also wasn't weighed down with overly descriptive text that usually ruins a reading experience for me. Speaking of the overall reading experience, it was fairly average. This isn't a book that I'd say I feel strongly for one way or another. The pieces were there, but there was something about the execution that still has me wishing for more. Or like there was a piece missing and if that had been added the rest of the book could click into place.

I won't be rushing out to purchase the sequel, but I could be interested enough to pick it up from my library just because I wouldn't mind being back in this world and seeing the ramifications of how this book ends could make for an interesting time.

Started out a little slow and confusing but it worked itself out beautifully. The representation in this book was fabulous and I can’t wait to see the relationships more in the next book.

Xiala was everything I love in a heroine and she was such a joy to read. I’d also love to wrap Serapio in bubble wrap and keep him safe.

I've read one of Rebecca's books in the past and at the moment I saw this book I knew I had to read it.
What an amazing decision I made! This is a remarkable story that will take the reader to an impressive world filled with astonishing characters and breathtaking landscapes.

Roanhorse proposes a new set in fantasy, focusing on pre-columbian cultures and civilization. This makes Black Sun a must-read for all fantasy readers. A book that gives a fresh feeling into the genre and opens the door for new stories to be explored by new and current authors.

Thank you so much for letting me read this book, I want to personally apologize for giving such a late review, last year was tough and it included a couple of movings. I really enjoyed the book!

Is the book going to be published in spanish? I'll be more than happy to help with promotion in latin american countries!

Rebecca Roanhorse has been on my radar for a while. I've been meaning to read Trail of Lightning since BookCon 2019 but haven't gotten around to it. When I saw Roanhorse was coming out with a fantasy novel set in the Pre-Columbian Americas, I was intrigued and excited.

Throughout the book, we follow four characters:
-Naranpa, the Sun Priest in the holy city of Tova.
-Serapio, "a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny."
-Xiala, "a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind."
-Okoa, a student who must travel home to bury his recently-deceased mother.

I thought the structure of the plot was really interesting. From page one, the chapters are counting down the days to the Convergence, or the winter solstice; while usually cause for celebration, this solstice also coincides with a solar eclipse, which is going to bring imbalance to Tova and to the world. We follow each of these characters - Naranpa in Tova; Serapio and Xiala on the seas as they journey toward Tova - as time inches closer and closer to the inevitable. This worked really well because each day that elapsed brought a greater sense of urgency and suspense, all ultimately leading to the chaos of the day of Convergence.

I also loved the characters themselves. They were complex and intricately wrought. I also loved the queer-norm world that Roanhorse built. Roanhorse treated each of the characters with respect, and I loved the inclusion, including the casual mention of f/f relationships and the use of nonbinary pronouns xe/xir for several characters.

I knew this was the start to a series, but I still can't get over that cliffhanger. I really can't wait for the release of the next book in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an eARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

This book was phenomenal! The world building was so detailed. The one main aspect of the book I loved is how I felt i was right there in each scene following the characters and they went along. I love Xiala. She had her issues but she is a powerful character in the story. I love books that have strong females. I did get some chuckles out of the book too. Humor is always welcomed. I have nothing negative to say. Fantasy at its’ best!

This is a stunning epic fantasy, and I devoured it in two days (in two marathon reading sessions each night, really). I love Rebecca Roanhorse, which is why I was so eagerly anticipating this book, but I was hesitant because I don't always love historical fantasy/high fantasy. I shouldn't've worried, though, because Roanhorse's signature immersive/seamless writing style immediately drew me in, and I was hooked from basically page 2. I love all of the characters, and they're drawn out so fully that it was difficult closing the book and knowing I'd have to wait however long for the sequel. (The semi-cliffhanger ending didn't help matters here!!) The seamless way she develops queer characters, be they pan [or bi], non-binary, or trans, is great, and the way this book plays with and reconfigures pre-Columbian indigenous American belief systems, mythologies, and cultural/social elements, mashed up with purely fantastical elements, is stunningly done. It's also one of the few books about which I can honestly say I wanted MORE, not just in terms of answering the cliffhanging questions at the end, but moreso developing the world and getting more backstory on the secondary characters. I'm hoping we get tons more of that in book 2, but I did wish there was ~100 more pages of this to savor. (I NEVER want a book to be longer, so this is very much a testament to Roanhorse's characterization and world-building skills.)

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

Rebecca Roanhorse's Black Sun is a fantastic entrant into the world of epic fantasy - her characters are vivid and authentic, the setting is deep and imaginative, and the overall impressions and drive of the story is second to none. She does a great job at allowing the reader to learn and discover the world without too much exposition, and isn't afraid to leave questions unanswered (until the next book, I hope). The setting feels unique, with factions and races that reflect their setting. All in all, Black Sun sets the stage nicely for what should be a very successful series.

4.5 stars.

This book was a totally wild ride. A complex, but terribly exciting and intriguing fantasy with great writing. This is my first read from Rebecca Roanhorse, but after this experience I will not only be anxiously awaiting the sequel, I will be searching out her backlist as well. Her writing is immersive, descriptive, dark, and just plain enjoyable.

This story is so amazingly intricate and phenomenally constructed. The inclusion of South American forklore influence is something I found both intriguing and new. The atmosphere was rich and beautiful. I was lapping it right up.

The characters are very diverse, with great representation that felt seamless and natural. There are multiple protagonists as well as several important supporting characters and I found them all to be so amazing and tangible. The balance between them is well done as well and the construction of the story for multiple timelines felt fairly seamless in transitions.

I love being able to broaden my horizons with a read that keeps me gripped from beginning to end, which this did. There were admittedly some issues with pacing that slowed a few spots for me and prevented a full 5-star reading experience, but I was so wrapped up in the story and wondering where it would go that I plowed right through the slow parts to get my teeth sunk in a little further. The ending was a complete whirlwind that left me wanting more to the detail, but also left me salivating for the next installment. I mean...wow. I'm going to need this sequel soon.

** Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. **

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
A city-state controlled by priests whose houses have avatars. The house of the sun’s high priestess is a progressive and wants to change the way things are done. Her roots are in the Maw, a dark slum in the shadow of the city. She finds that her bureaucracy is not progressive.
This house of the Crow was attacked years ago for unclear reasons. The night of the Knives is burned into the psychic of the Crows. Some huge, sentient crows are used to fly some of the members of the Crow house.
Serapio was brainwashed from an early age to reap havoc on those who had humiliated the Crows.
He meets Xiala, a Teek sailor whose own differences breeds a mutual acceptance. Teeks have power of their own and Xiala uses it to captain a ship to get Serapio to his fate.
This story had many captivating moments but, for my taste, far too many loose ends. I felt, at least, a cursory conclusion could have been made. I’m guessing this is to lead to a sequel but I prefer some sort of wrap-up to enable the book to better stand alone.

Roanhorse's new epic fantasy follows a man who should be a god, a woman who has power over the sea, and a priestess from the wrong family trying to change her world. The worldbuilding is rich and beautiful, the people vibrant and the culture breathtakingly diverse. The author weaves a pre-Columbian world drawn from Aztec and Mayan traditions, with a bibliography for good measure (which, as a librarian, I love!) The characters are diverse, with gender fluidity as a part of the culture.

Black Sun is a fantastic start to an adult fantasy series. Following a cast of characters, Roanhorse crafts an intriguing narrative that sets up a well-crafted world explored by a diverse cast of characters.

The characters are all interesting in their own right with more diversity packed into this story than some whole series contain. Formatted into two storylines, the characters are split evenly and we see the plot points through various eyes. Something that often worries me when a book is written in this format is that one half of the story is usually more compelling than the other one. This is not the case here. While I did enjoy following Serapio and Xiala around more than Naranpa or Okoa, I was still equally as invested in both time/storylines. As someone who is not a fan of religious-based stories, I found Naranpa's fight to prove herself as a priestess compelling anyway based on just the political undercurrent that followed that story. And I loved how grey all these characters were at times, even Naranpa in my opinion. Well-rounded characters in a well-rounded world always make for an enjoyable experience that takes you away from our world.

The writing is masterful and atmospheric. The world-building lays the foundation for a complex magic system with some familiar tropes while including some innovative systems in these societies that Roanhorse takes us through. I did think the book was slow to get started in comparison with other books I was reading at the time but even so, around the 30-35% mark, the book already had a lot of stakes and intriguing plot points you had to follow through with. This is to be expected from an adult fantasy like this. Thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait to continue with the series, especially with the cliffhanger ending. Roanhorse really proved that this is a series worth investing your time in.

4.5/5 Stars

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse is unlike any other fantasy book I have read. From the very first page, I could sense a dark edge to this story that was sharp and precise. This story was absolutely riveting. I usually have a bit of a hard time getting into muli-POV stories, but I found each perspective to be varied and engaging.

Roanhorse truly excels at crafting well-thought out cultures and worlds. The setting and culture of this story bled from the page, and was so vivid and distinct that I found myself wanting to know more and more about the different races, religions, and creatures of this tale. I am so glad that this is only book one of a series and that I will have more time to enjoy this awe-inspiring world.

Another area that was very well done in this story was the characterization. Each of the main characters in this story was in a very unique situation and role, but I found their humanity to be so clear and sympathetic: whether they were struggling with confidence, loneliness, rejection, or destiny. Serapio in particular was such a complex character- I could not get enough of his perspective.

This really is an amazing fantasy book. I look forward to the day when I finally have book two in my hands!