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Black Sun  By  cover art

Black Sun

By: Rebecca Roanhorse
Narrated by: Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab, Shaun Taylor-Corbett
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Interview: Rebecca Roanhorse Celebrates Indigenous Fantasy

'...my heart is really in the world building and the grandeur of epic fantasy.'
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  • Black Sun
  • '...my heart is really in the world building and the grandeur of epic fantasy.'

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the “engrossing and vibrant” (Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Riot Baby) first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

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 even 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.

Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created a “brilliant world that shows the full panoply of human grace and depravity” (Ken Liu, award-winning author of The Grace of Kings). This epic adventure explores the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in this “absolutely tremendous” (S.A. Chakraborty, nationally best-selling author of The City of Brass) and most original series debut of the decade.

©2020 Rebecca Roanhorse. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Editor's Pick

Redefine what you think of high fantasy
I’ve known Roanhorse can deliver a mean genre-bending tale ever since the first and second installations in her Sixth World series were among Audible’s best fantasy picks of the year in 2018 and 2019. This time around she’s completely crushing the high fantasy genre with a new world that draws upon the mythologies of pre-Columbian America. Roanhorse’s hallmark swift plotting, one-of-a-kind worldbuilding, and likable but morally ambiguous characters are all here, which means potential listeners shouldn’t hesitate to dive into this out-of-the-ordinary epic fantasy. Four narrators, portraying the four main points of view, round out the experience with a cinematic feel. It’ll get you right away, I promise. —Melissa B., Audible Editor

What listeners say about Black Sun

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love love loved it!

So many amazing characters with lush backgrounds and cool magic systems. I'm ready for book 2!!!

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omg I'm so sad it's over

this book was excellent. I laughed I cried I'm way too attached to all the characters. this universe feels really old and also fresh and this trilogy is destined to be fantastic. the voice actors are wonderful and the story complicates the duality of darkness and light and good and evil in a way that feels very relevant and refreshing. I will be listening to this book again soon

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    4 out of 5 stars

Really Good, but...

I really loved Black Sun. Roanhorse creates such an interesting world that I enjoyed hearing about. Well written characters and story also kept me hooked. Black Sun takes it's time letting us get to know the characters and building the story. It starts getting really good but unfortunately ends on a low note. It stops without actually resolving the plot in a satisfying way, at least for me, and leaves us with a lot of cliffhangers. I'm guessing the book is part of a series and we'll have to wait until the next one to find out. To be honest, I felt a little cheated out of any actual resolution to any of the characters stories. I would not have mind the book being longer, as I said the story is really great, but the ending is where I have the problem. I'm fine with books that are part of a series but I also feel like a book should be able to stand on it's own.
I loved the performances. All of the narrator's did a wonderful job.

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Loved it! Can't wait to read/listen to the sequel!

I discovered Rebecca Roanhorse through her middle grades novel Race to the Sun, which I loved. So, when I spotted this book which also highlights Indigenous Pre-Columbian peoples, I snagged a copy. Having finished listening to it, I have now decided that if Rebecca Roanhorse writes a book, I will read said book. I think you should join me in that, but since you probably won't just take my word for it, let me tell you why.

The book follows four main characters, though two of them definitely outshine the other two. I think the lesser two will get more time in the next book, though, which should help balance out the characters. As the book starts, we learn about a prophecy that is poised to come to fruition as there is going to be a solar eclipse on the same day as the winter solstice. According to the Sun Priest, this event will cause an imbalance in the world.

The four characters who all play major roles in this prophecy are Serapio, a blind man who describes himself as a vessel, Xiala, the captain of the ship charged with transporting Serapio to Tova for the festival to be held on the solstice who also happens to be a mermaid, Naranpa, a sun priestess who is struggling to stay alive while others attempt to see her dead, and Okoa, who recently lost his mother and is accused of killing the Sun Priest.

Throughout the book, there is a steady increase in the tension brought about by the events, which was really nice. Still, even with the tension steadily increasing, I was not ready for that ending. I don't know how anyone could be ready for that ending. It was just *chef's kiss*. I loved the complexity of this story and this world. There was so much intrigue, with plotting, back-stabbing - sometimes it was front-stabbing with no subterfuge - and danger that added to the story, I frequently found myself listening to various parts again - either because I couldn't believe I'd heard it right and wanted to hear it again to make sure or because it was so good that it deserved to be listened to more than once.

I have already added the sequel to my TBR, again because I will now read anything written by Rebecca Roanhorse, but also because I HAVE to know what happens next. For those of you who also listen to audiobooks, this book was narrated by Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett. Though I don't often listen to books with more than two narrators because I think too many narrators can lead to the book getting lost in the mess of all the narrators, I thought this book was very well done. Though there were four narrators, at no point did those narrators get in the way of the story. As such, given the opportunity, I will listen to Fevered Star as well.

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No spoilers

If you liked other titles by Rebecca Roanhorse you will love this. A bit hard to follow at first, but if you pay attention to the dates announced with each chapter it makes perfect sense. Excellent character development—not one is ‘perfect’ as in so many tales, but there are certainly some that will make your blood boil! Warning to bigots—while I don’t consider this an LGBTQ book (it’s not what the story is about)—there are queer characters (just like real life), so either get over it or don’t read it.

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amazing multiple narrators

having the multiple narrators was a wonderful experience. the voice acting was very good, well beyond just reading

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I binge listened

I usually listen to books on my commute to and from work. I binge this.

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FANTASTIC!!!

Great book, great characters, great performances!!! highly recommended! ordering the rest of the series now

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Unique Setting, Great Characters, Great New Series

(No Spoilers) This book moved to the top of my TBR pile after receiving a Hugo nomination, and now I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to pick it up. This was a very well written and unique Fantasy book!

THE GOOD

Unique Setting: A welcome departure from classic European Fantasy tropes, this series is set in a world similar to America before Columbus came and screwed everything up. The seemingly effortless world building made the world feel real and lived in, right down to the small details like cacao beans for currency, round houses, and casual mentions of a third gender. I loved this world, and the author clearly mined her Navajo culture for inspiration in the best ways possible.

Characters: I either liked or loved all of them, though Xiala was the clear winner for me, followed closely by Serapio. Their sections of the book were always crackling with energy and humor.

Structure aka The Final Countdown: I'm a sucker for a good "Catastrophic Countdown", and the book being structured to lead up to the conjunction (eclipse) made for an enjoyable and gradual escalation of dramatic tension.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD

Clunky Prose: Usually if the prose isn't exceptionally pretty (see Guy Gavrial Kay, etc.) I don't really notice it. In this case, the solid if workman-like prose knocked me out of my suspension of disbelief a few times with some questionable word choices. The author served up such scintillating sentences as:

"A thrill thrilled through her body."

Not exactly Shakespeare, eh?

In addition, some distinctly modern words were being thrown around that felt out of place in this setting, such as "tourists". It made me think of Hawaiian shirt clad Dad-bods on a beach, which is distinctly not in keeping with the Pre-Columbian America vibe.

There were also a few too many guys described as having "sensual" mouths for my taste, and I would get a disconcerting trashy-romance-novel feel every time it happened.

That being said, it's a minor quibble and if that's the only thing I didn't enjoy about a book, then you know I'm scraping the barrel to find something to gripe about.

THE VERDICT

I loved this thoroughly, and am now bummed that I have to wait for the sequel. Highly recommend!

4.5 out of 5

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  • GG
  • 08-27-22

Devoured

I could not stop reading. The perspective shift in each chapter left me wanting more and more and more! Each story thread was perfectly woven together and I can't wait for the sequel.

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