Black Sun

By: Rebecca Roanhorse

Narrated by: Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab, Shaun Taylor-Corbett

Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins

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.

love love loved it!

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

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

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.

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.

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.

if you love crown of thorns series you'd love this!

Captivating, tense, amazing world... this story has everything. There are even mermaids. I am shocked it isn't more popular. Read it! I can't wait for the second book.

A great combo

This title shows the rare combination of being extremely well written, a great world full of mysteries as well as some truly captivating characters. To top it off, the narrators are easy and captivating to listen to.

The only downside for me was that the book ended too soon, because I want more.

I'd recommend this to fans of soft magic systems and people who enjoy a fantasy world that isn't a poor copy of 12th century England.

I didn’t want it to end!

It’s a little slow at first with the build up but when it finally gets going, it’s so good! The way the story unfolds and the narration really makes the listener care for each character and hope everything turns out well for them all (which is unrealistic but also very hard to do as the author so kudos to Roanhorse for that).
Waiting impatiently for the second book next year!

The revenge of the Crow.

A mythic quest that encompasses the struggle between waring religions and social structures. These characters are not cut from cardboard.

Action packed!

This book is phenomenal. It was quite a journey following Serapio from page 1. His opening scene grips you and you feel immediate empathy for him, but you know that he’s going to be such a strong character even amidst his soft spoken nature.

I adored each and every character! And I need the next book like now!

Definitely recommend!