This book was a fun, unique experience once you get into it. I had to start several times because the first couple of chapters were not sticking with me. However, once I got going - I was gone. Personally, I felt like this was a blend of Holmberg's Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet and The Fifth Doll with the best parts taken from both books. The mystery of the machinery and Pell's memories were the most intriguing parts. As the book unraveled, I made some guesses but none were correct. And I loved that I was wrong. What this book is truly about is way more interesting than any theories I had made.

As in true Holmberg fashion - the characters were outstanding. Pell was funny, kind, serious, and stubborn in all the best ways possible. I have definitely read enough of Holmberg to have immediately known who the love interest was going to be. And the slow burn was there as it always is. I really enjoyed Pell's revelations of what was happening. It was enjoyable discovering the truths with her and the ending was so well done. When you look back on the book, it doesn't seem like much happened but this is not an action fantasy book. It's all about the discovery.

Overall, Still the Sun by Charlie N Holmberg had a slow start but once you get going, be prepared to go. I thought the mystery behind the machines and Pell's memories were interesting. These aspects wanted me to keep going until I discovered what was going on. Pell's personality was so enjoyable in this book. Her cleverness and sharp tongue made her memorable. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy mystery fantasy novels.

AUDIO REVIEW
Natalie Naudis slayed the narration as always. I really enjoy listening to her narration and thought she was an excellent choice for this book. I think it was easier to listen to and I'm glad I opted to listen to this story.

I.... am not 100% sure what I just listened to. I think I liked it? This book is like a fantasy & sci-fi mash up with gods and technology and a sprinkle of romance. If I didn't trust the author, I probably wouldn't have stuck it out but the end is pretty satisfying when everything finally comes together!

Natalie Naudus is one of my absolute favorite narrators so it was a joy to listen to her! My only issue with the audio of this story is that it was really difficult to determine what was current storyline and what was a flashback.

Thank you to the author for my complimentary copy. All opinions here are my own.

Absolutely a must read!
Big thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Brilliance Publishing for the audioARC in exchange for an honest review.

The original idea is what drew me to this book immediately. Well, that’s not entirely true. The first thing that drew me in was the incredible cover design. Mad props to the designer/team. Great job!
I’ve been looking for a story that both holds my attention and intrigues me with plot, and “Still the Sun” definitely fulfilled that lofty pursuit. Our main character is a grave digger and tinkerer on a plant where the sun never sets, or moves for that matter. She lives in a small town where there is never a stranger but there is a lot of love shared in the community where everyone has their jobs and life is hard. Crops and water are scarce, and there is ancient technology that is both an intrigue and a necessity for the metal they provide. One day everything changes when a white-haired handsome stranger knocks on her door and makes all Pell’s dreams come. She must fix an ancient and mysterious tower (with its two equally mysterious male inhabitants) whose inner workings are huge machines. She has no idea what they are for or how the machines were broken (or destroyed), but neither can she deny that the tinkerer inside her WANTS to get her hands dirty. She’s not allowed to tell anyone in the town that she is working on them, but in return her community gets all the scrap metal they could hope for.
Then Pell starts to have headaches and visions or memories of the machine and of herself that she knows never happened.
This story becomes a race against time and a for much more powerful than even time itself.
You won’t want to pass this one up!
But/download now!
No Regretts!!!!

This was also my very first and unique experience with Audio Book.

I have read and enjoyed many books by Charlie N. Holmberg. She was the first author I stumbled upon when I got my first subscription to Kindle Unlimited. I enjoyed her previous Paper Magician series a lot and was thrilled to get an opportunity to review her latest work, "Still The Sun."

As I was listening to the book for the first time, I struggled to grasp the names, but I eventually managed. The story started slow, with too much talk of machines, making me space out. Info dump, but perhaps it's necessary to understand. I would have preferred a slightly less technical approach, though I was impressed by the knowledge and details the author plugged into the story about machines. The genre feels like Steampunk fairytale sci-fi.

The protagonist, Pell, lives on a planet called Tampere, which only does daytime with a bit of mist instead of night for relief. She is an engineer fascinated by the tech left by the Ancients, who may also be responsible for the barrier surrounding her village, Emgarden.

The initially impenetrable tower near the village may hold secrets to help Pell save her people. The mysterious keepers of the Tower, Heartwood and Moseus, want Pell to fix the complex machine structure in the tower, which may be the key to solving the village's problems.

As Pell sets on the task of rebuilding and connecting the broken pieces of the machines, she is haunted by visions that may be more than just hallucinations.

I was relieved when the story picked up the pace after a few chapters, and the plot twist was exciting. The romance, yes, there is that too, was a slow build-up but in the sweetest way. Will there be a part two? The ending, though somewhat resolved, does give a little hint of more to come, and I look forward to it.

I had not read much sci-fi titles but seeing this book has this genre plus my favourite two genres, fantasy and romance, I had to check it out.
I am glad that picked up this book because the plotline was so refreshing and unique. The characters were amazing specially our protagonist, she was .h favourite throughout the book.
The characters were well drafted and similarly the plotline was executed well too. Overall, I had a great time reading it.

It was an interesting book. The first half of the book was slow, and I couldn't grip where the book was going but all the good stuff was in the last 50%.

Heartwood and Moseus need help so they asked Pell, an engineer to help put a machine back together.

The author does a brillant job of building this elaborate story, filling in the sights and smells in such a rich and entertaining way.

I always find that sci-fi books do really well as audios and the narrator did a brillaint job of weaving the story into a bueatidul narrative.

The last part of the book is where all the magic happens. The first part is basically Pell figuring out the machines and the two men living in the tower.

I was really entertained by the book as a whole.

4 stars

This was such a magical, captivating, enthralling audiobook and I absolutely loved it! It captured my attention right off the bat; and kept me hooked the whole time!

This brand new science fantasy is creative and mysterious. It follows an engineer female main character living on a desert planet who repairs the artifacts left behind by previous inhabitants. When she is asked to repair some unique and complex machines she starts to have disturbing visions and realizes there are some mysteries she needs to uncover.

The narrator was easy to listen to and enunciated everything well.

The beginning took me a little while to get to into but once things got going I was drawn into the intrigue and trying to figure out how everything was connected. There were twists and reveals and interesting connections throughout. Some of the world building was a little unclear to me even after reveals but still overall enjoyable.

I grew up surrounded by many engineers so even though I don’t have an engineer mind myself it’s almost nostalgic to have engineer main characters and seeing their ideas churning. In a fun coincidence I actually read a couple books about women in STEM really close together!

Trigger/content warnings: No major triggers stood out to me. Minor language. Steam level is passionate kissing and closed door intimacy.

I couldn’t read this fast enough!
I devoured 60% in one sitting then you know my body required sleep 😅
I finished the other 40% in another sitting!

I absolutely loved being back in the world’s Charlie N. Holmberg creates and this did not disappoint!

This book kind of had it all! It gave Indiana Jones vibes, magic and portals to other places, a little mystery, ancient gods, the plot was just amazing and for a Romantasy it had twists and shocking reveals I didn’t see coming!

Holmberg does an amazing job as always creating super swoon worth romance between her characters that just is so sweet but also hot that it melts your heart.

I seriously loved the story so much, I loved Pell and Heartwood and all the side characters as well! Super fleshed out and detailed side characters are a fave!

The audio was amazing I loved the cast !

I first discovered this author through the Paper Magician series which I devoured! I have since loved many of her books and have a handful on my TBR/wishlist list still.

Still the Sun has an interesting premise. As far as the story, Charlie Holmberg always does a great job at world building and the same is true for Still the Sun. I did find this book to start a bit slow as everything was built and set up and unfortunately found myself wandering a bit to the point that I had to start over. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get lost in this book, or immersed in the story and eventually switched the audiobook.

This book was a bit of a puzzle hinting at the hint of a whisper of a shadow of something, but you just were not sure what. I think the hints were so subtle that kept me a bit distant while reading it. 

The magical world and layering is creative. Although this wasn't my favorite, I look forward to the author's next book(s)

I absolutely loved this book! I loved how unique it was and loved the characters. I loved how there was information given in small amounts so it kept you hooked and wanting to know what would happen. Definitely worth the read.

This story was a really intriguing fantasy read. I quite enjoyed how the twists in the story played out, particularly Pell's "visions". I don't want to spoil anything so I'll stay somewhat brief, but the story was really creative to me and hooked me from the start. I was very invested in what Pell was doing to try and start the machines in the tower and all the cloak and mystery that covered her time there. The last part of the book was really well-paced and I did not want to put the book down, needing to know how everything was going to culminate and ultimately resolve.
I liked the romance thread in this book. Again, I don't want to spoil anything, but the way the romance pieced together was really neat to me and I liked how original it was and how it worked in the plot. There is some implied intimacy, but I'd say it's more fade to black/closed-door as far as content goes. There is nothing on the page and it's not descriptive or graphic in any way.
I listened to the audiobook version. I liked the narrator and found it easy to follow along and catch the details as I was listening and multitasking occasionally, though the story had my attention so strongly at the end, I definitely gave it my full focus so I could catch every detail. I recommend this book.
I received an advance reader copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Audio review: I absolutely loved this book when I read it, so I jumped at the chance to listen to the audio so I could relive this amazing story. And this audio did the story justice. The narrator’s voice was so perfect for this story. All the emotion was right where it needed to be, she sped up when the story needed it and kept a slower, steady pace the rest of the time that really made you fall into the cadence and stay there, enthralled. I loved listening to this and never wanted to stop when life told me I needed to. Another fantastic audio by one of my favorite authors.


Book review: Wow. Just wow. I could not put this book down. Every word played out like a movie in my head, and I Devoured it. Holmberg always comes up with the most magical worlds, and this one is something I never could have fathomed.

I loved Pell and her little village. I loved the way her mind worked and all the little Easter eggs that were strung throughout the story. More than anything, I loved how this story unfolded, unfurling its secrets bit by bit until I was sucked in and unable to let go.

Heartwood had me intrigued from the very beginning. I loved how Casnia was portrayed and I love even more the reason behind it. Each of the characters were wonderful and I wish there was more. I would love to see a little more, a glimpse into the future to see how it all turned out after the end—partially because I think there is more story to tell, but mostly because I’m not ready to let it go.

Sigh. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time to come.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Still the Sun had everything I would expect from a Charlie Holmberg book and like every other CH book I've read, it did not disappoint. I felt the world was well built and the story seeds were woven beautifully, allowing me to see and not see, at the same time. So when those ideas sprouted, it all fit so perfectly. I loved Pell, and loved the connection between her and Heartwood. The townsfolk were all enjoyable and the way she pulled everything together was really so well done. Then she wrapped it up so the ending was satisfying, leaving a door open for more, but not leaving me feeling in complete emotional turmoil over what would happen next.