A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun
In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.
Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.
I first read this back in 2020 and for some reason never picked up the rest of the series. Thankfully Dini was interested in a buddy read and I think it’s safe to say we will definitely be picking up all three books… especially after the ending to book one!
Normally, the way this book was told wouldn’t work for me. It’s a lot of set up, a slow burner until the last 25% or so when the story absolutely takes off, but Roanhorse is one of those writers whose strength lies in her world building and characters, something we get plenty of in Black Sun. I did read that the world is loosely based on Pre-Columbian America’s, but it’s safe to say that Roanhorse makes this wholly her own. She describes her world so vividly it’s hard to believe it doesn’t exist somewhere, her ability to plant us firmly in the present whilst still giving us an abundance of history is truly brilliant and despite how heavy the world building is, it never get’s overwhelming in any way, never feels like an info dump. It’s woven so intricatly into the story that it almost feels it would be weird to not know the information, even the smallest bit of lore important to the overall story.
Black Sun follows four main POV’s: Narampa, The Sun Priest. An idealist, which is easy to understand when you learn her history. A beggar turned Priest, there are plenty who feel she doesn’t belong in her position, and plenty who feel that Tova and it’s people would be better off with her out of the way. She’s a little naive, a little too intent on trying to change the priesthood too quickly, and despite her having the best of intentions, there are those who see her and her ideas as a threat to the lives they have been living so far.
Xiala, a Teek. She has power over the sea, something that her people are both reviled and feared for. Never one to shy away from someone to share a warm bed with and always one to find the nearest drinking hall, she is unsure what to expect when a Noble commissions her for a near impossible journey. But she knows the riches he promises will make the risk worth it, even when she meets the cargo she is meant to be ferrying to Tova. She’s feisty and unapologetic in her wants, and she quickly became my favourite character. She may give off a hard exterior, but that’s just a front meant to protect her from those wishing to use her for her powers, underneath it all she’s quite vulnerable, unsure of herself and her heritage.
Serapio, someone who believes he is to be a villain, but who can blame him when his mother birthed him for one purpose alone. To become the vessel for the Crow God, a destiny that will change the world if it comes to pass. Blind, he uses his Godly given powers to see the world through the eyes of the Crows he calls friend. He’s a tricky character. Someone who feels he has no choice in his destiny, someone tortured as a child, by strangers and those who claimed to love him, and he is someone who revels in his powers of death, as much as he longs to be normal.
Okoa, the son of the Carrion Crow clan Matriarch. His people live in Tova in a strained peace with the priesthood after a massacre that occurred years ago. He had been shipped off to a war college to train as her shield, the person that will stand between his matriarch and danger. But when he returns, he returns to a changed Tova, the priesthoods rule is under question, and there is a rogue group within Carrion Crow that are awaiting the return of thier God to bring them down once and for all.
All of the characters, whether they have a POV or not are so well developed. Roanhorse gives them their own distinct voices, wants and needs. It’s a story filled with characters with contradicting agendas, but one that you almost want all of them to succeed, even though you know it’s not possible.
The story is told mainly in the present tense, but there are some flashbacks throughout so make sure you read the chapter headers as these let you know where in the story you are. That being said, I really enjoyed the different time periods, these allow you to empathise with the characters, whilst also allowing Roanhorse to give us a deeper insight into her world and mythology. Black Sun is certainly shocking in parts, the first chapter opens with Serapio and his mother (trigger warning for harm to a child) that was eerily violent, and just takes off from there. Roanhorse blends her action with the slower scenes expertly so, even though the first 80% or so of the book is slower, it never feels like a slog to get through, she instead uses it to build our anticipation of whats to come, teases us about an ending that was shocking violent and brilliantly foreshadowed.
I mentioned this before when talking about the depth Roanhorse go’s to to build her cultures, but the world building in Black Sun was some of the best I have ever read. The crescent style design of her continent was easily traversable and we get to see it from edge to edge. Her depictions of the different cities and the clans that call them home completely bring the world she creates to life and make is easy for us as the reader to get completely enveloped in the story.
This has easily got to be one of the most queer norm stories I’ve ever read. Filled with LGBTQ+ characters, as well as an MC that is Blind and one culture has an openly accepted third gender. The representation is so well built into the cultures and clans that Roanhorse writes and openly accepted within the wider world, it never feels like representation for the sake of representation, rather just as it should be, a normal way of life for a portion of the population. I’m so glad that Dini asked to buddy read this with me, especially because I feel like I enjoyed this so much more the second time around. It’s morally grey in so many ways, filled to the brim with epic worldbuilding and characters you would die for, even if you’re not sure if they’re a villain or not. The ending was shocking and brutal in the best way, and I can’t wait until our buddy read of book two.
