Black Sun

This book manages to be a real epic fantasy while being really original. As all really good fantasy, it has a fascinating world that is as much a character as any of the protagonists, it has a fascinating plot and actual characters that you come to know and want to discover more about.

Two points for those who are interested in reading this book. Firstly, much has been made of how this is inspired by the pre-Columbian civilisations of the Americas. This gets mentioned so much that I was a bit nervous that I'd have to go read some textbooks so I would be able to follow the references.

Don't worry.

Sure, this is a fantasy world and it's got strange customs and terms - but so has most good Fantasy or Science Fiction, Ms Roanhorse makes sure that her readers will pick things up pretty quick. What is different with this book is that it's fresh.

Tolkien was so successful that many, many authors pretty much copied him for a long time (and some did a great job). In the last couple of decades many authors rebelled against this trend by writing “Grimdark”... which means pretty much copying Tolkien, but it's dark! European castles, the characters all sound either English or American and there's probably an Elf or Orc running around somewhere...but good guys die and sex exists! Shock!

Ms Roanhorse is not doing reactionary “Grimdark”, instead what she is doing is making the genre fresh again - it feels like proper epic fantasy but just as Tolkien was inspired by the traditions of Europe, Ms Roanhorse uses the American palate to paint a fresh picture. So you can approach this as you would any fantasy book, looking to discover the world and meet its peoples, but be ready for a breath of fresh air.

The second thing a potential reader should really know is that the first chapter is a bit of a shocker. I've said this book isn't “Grimdark”, but this first chapter is very Grim and gets literally rather Dark. It is also very different to the rest of the book it involves a child having some pretty nasty stuff done to him - nothing sexual, but it does involve a knife, needle and thread and some dark magic . It is necessary for the plot, but understand that it is not representative of the rest of the story which follows broadly likable people.

This is a fantastic addition to the fantasy genre, I look forward to the sequel and hope that other similarly inspired books are on the horizon.