I’ve had Black Sun on my radar since it was first announced, especially with how much I adored Roanhorse’s debut, Trail of Lightening. Her world building and character development always has me enthralled and I find it nigh impossible to put her books down. Black Sun was no different. Note, I read via audio, and if that’s a format that jives with your brain I highly recommend it!
Black Sun follows four main protagonists – Serapio, a young man blinded and scarred who is the ancient crow god reborn; Xiala, a Teek woman who gets the task of sailing Serapio across the open sea to Tova; Naranpa, the Sun Priest in Tova, the leader of the religious order who is dealing with machinations beyond her awareness; and Okoa, son of the matron of Carrion Crown and trained at the war college. All four have their own reasons and motivations for making it to Tova before Convergence, an impending solar eclipse.
There are so many threads at play at any given moment, and the way history is revealed and how the events of the past created the present utterly enthralled me. Serapio is probably my favorite of the central characters, though Xiala is a close second. In many ways Serapio’s journey and existence being made into the perfect vessel to house the Carrion Crow god reminded me of Gem from H.E. Edmon’s recent release, Godly Heathens. Both characters are forged in pain and trauma and loss, and the way those elements made them into the people they are, I don’t know, it hurt in the best way to read these stories.
Also, the world building truly hit so many happy brain notes for me, as elements that were revealed in one part became important in another. A prime example is the Teek way of navigating the ocean, they split the sky into 16 sections and each section is called a House, and those houses match the four Sky Made clans – Carrion Crow, Golden Eagle, Water Strider, and Winged Serpent. At another point we learn of a game played in a part of Tova that is seen as lowest class but also where the well-to-do go to slum it, and it is also split into the same sixteen houses the Teek use. I really hope there’ll be more exploration of these parallels between the different cultures and what it means for the lore of the lands!
I highly encourage picking up Black Sun, especially as the second book is already available (and I plan to read that soon!) and the third (and final) book will be out June 2024!