Black Sun

I'm a huge fan of non-European/Western fantasies because it opens a whole new world of belief systems, values, and understanding of the world. Black Sun did not disappoint!

It's a very immersive experience filled with lush descriptions and supernatural mystique. It's more character focused which allows us to learn about the world, conflicts, and sources of power through their eyes. Loved that the book doesn't focus on the distinction between good vs. evil or traditional notions of morality. I also appreciated the reversal of gender roles and the normalcy of queerness (Xe/Xir pronoun is used).  

There's uneven pacing at times but it felt intentional, like representational of the setting. I wasn't expecting romance so that threw me off a little bit. Overall I really enjoyed this book and am excited for this series!

The whole book felt like the prologue. 
I feel very unenthusiastic about the world, characters and plot of the story, there was no big twist, the world didn't feel immersive and two of the four POV weren't very interesting to read. Nevertheless, the writing and pacing was good.

I'm half-mad I read this without the rest of the series being completed. This is one of those books where I'm impressed by what an author can do in short amount of pages, it managed to have an epic fantasy feel. I became enraptured in the story and characters early on and loved the magic of the world and imagery throughout. Perhaps if I'm going by my rating rubric this would be a 4 out of 5 stars, for some very minor lack of character depth and plot arc issues, but I so thoroughly enjoyed this book I'm going with my gut. 5 outta 5!

3.5/5 stars

This was interesting and I am not sure what to make of it. It's hard to accurately rate this book since it felt much more as a first act than a book that can stand on its own. On it's own I can only give it 3.5 stars since I am not a fan of stories that end in a cliffhanger and this one ends with a big one.

We experience the story mainly through 3 characters.
Naranpa - The Sun Priest (think pope)
Xiala - a half human, half teek sea captain
Serapio - a young man groomed to fulfil a prophecy

I liked Xiala und Serapio, they have a nice dynamic and are interesting characters and interesting to read. Naranpa I did not know what to make of her. She is rather naiv bordering on dumb and it's a bit frustrating to read her parts and I am not sure if its intended but she comes of as a villain, kind of.

The story is overall somewhat predictable in great parts which did not negatively influence my enjoyment though, there were enough surprises to keep me interested. What is very cool Is that I have not figured out who the ‘bad guy' is in the story. Everyone has their comprehendible motivations, minus one annoying side character maybe.

This books makes use of the Xe/Xir pronouns, as a non American, non native English speaker I had a hard time getting used to that, it was very confusing at first. I thought Xe was a name and Xir was a typo but when it was repeated I had to look it up. Turns out it's a twitter thing ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Broke my flow and pulled me out of the story every time I encountered those since I had to reread the line to understand it, at first. Got a lot better near the end of the book when I got used to it, I expect to have internalised it by the end of book 2, which I instantly preorder after finishing this.

One great thing to mention here is the settings. It's influenced by South American culture which is refreshingly new and unique to read, at least for me who mainly read western themed fantasy. In my opinion the author could have used a bit more time to describe the world and people to a greater detail though, the book was very much focused on the story. But the description that we do get paint a wonderful, interesting and, to me, foreign picture of a world I want to know more of.

Lots of open questions, lots of untold lore lots to look forward to in book 2.

This book is a solid debut novel in a series, and while this is out of my comfort zone, it was a good start to a fantasy world that I want to immerse myself in. However, I would like better character development.

Omg! I'm hooked. April 2022 for the next installment? Dies

An entertaining fantasy read. The book ends on a cliffhanger and feels unresolved, so I didn't really feel a sense of satisfaction when I finished reading it, though :(

A skip-the-line loan from the library, reshelving at chapter 20—nearly halfway—because I found myself not getting invested in the characters. The doddering Sun Priest annoys me.

Interesting enough to finish but missing the pull that many other books have. Not my wheelhouse, but some of the topics feel a little forced. The ending felt rushed, and this book doesn't stand on its own. Likely won't continue the series.

This book is sooooooo god, I am in love. The writing, the plot, the characters!!!!!! I need both Xiala and Serapio TO BE OKAY

(23/04/22) Yes, still a page turner. A few more niggles this time around but not enough to lower the rating. Moreso this time it struck me how good this book would be for beginners to fantasy; it manages to be sweeping and present a realised world without being an 800 page brick (800 page bricks remaining, of course, my favourite kind of fantasy book). Onward to book two!

(22/02/21) A great start to what is (hopefully!) going to be a great series. Feels like a breath of fresh air in the genre and truly original, with world building inspired by the pre-Columbian Americas. The opening chapter was certainly memorable, propulsive and shocking and had me gripped from the start. Characters are fun, pacing is solid, lots of questions left in the (somewhat rushed) ending feels a tad annoying but the knowledge this was first in a trilogy let me let that slide.

Black Sun is everything I love about new-age fantasy epics. It's diverse, it's speculative, it's smart, and it's a big fuck you to colonization! Based in the pre-columbian (aka pre-colonized) Americas, Black Sun highlights the vibrancy and beauty of cultures that are often overlooked. Everything from the world-building to the characters and magic was so VISUAL. I truly felt like I was right there alongside Xiala and Serapio. Roanhorse beautifully introduces the reader to a world/society that is INCREDIBLY complex in a way that is (For the most part) super accessible! I did feel at sometimes there were characters or groups mentioned where I was a bit confused, but I honestly think that was more an error on my part.

This book pretty much checked all of the boxes for my ideal fantasy epic— the cast was incredibly diverse and used inclusive language throughout. Sexuality and gender were fluid in a way that felt to me educational and important to the story. I know a lot of times people feel like inclusive language feels “preachy” but I did not feel that at all (nor do I ever really, though). The characters had clear motivations and grew a lot throughout the story.

The magic system (my favorite part) was definitely VERY interesting and complex; I'm excited to see where Roanhorse takes it. It did feel like some characters had seemingness limitless potential, whereas others barely had any ability at all, which is usually a red flag to me in world-building (re: HP). The magic itself also seemed to play a bit of an odd role in society. For example, MAGIC magic is forbidden (i.e. raising the dead, gods, etc.), but like, “fake” magic governs their entire society (astrology, reading the starts)? But, all of this to say, the magic felt really intentional to me, like Roanhorse was prepping us to really DIVE in in future books— so I can't wait!

I could literally go on and on about the world-building and writing, but I will let you all read and decide for yourselves! If you've read it, let me know your thoughts below!