Reviews with content warning for War - Black Sun

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Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

31 reviews

readersbutterfly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book is a read that I will want to devour again and again. It is fantasy separated from its traditionally colorblind ways, with remarkable world building and character creation. It is fun, daring, gory, sexy, queer, and brown! I enjoyed my trip thoroughly!

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brooketreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Did anyone else get The Broken Earth Trilogy feels?
This book was fast paced and had me gripped from that opening chapter with Serapio. Multiple times throughout the book I said, holy sh*t (out loud). It was all a build up and the ending went very fast. I didn’t mind the speedy ending. Would I have loved and been happy to read a longer ending, yes. But, do I feel like it lessened my feelings, no. I enjoyed this so much I want to re-read and take notes. And this is something I don’t do anymore since the time I re-read the first Harry Potter book for a book club and took 14 pages of notes…front and back. It was a very, I have a problem moment.

Anywayyyyy, don’t read beyond this if you don’t want spoilers:

The storm on the sea and the mutiny…!!! That dang guy that Xiala saved in the water, then he lied and tried to have her killed… I hate that guy.
When Naranpa is getting taken from the tower!!!! I was hot! I wanted to fight someone. Naranpa’s talk with her brother was very heart rending.

Little note on the author:
Roanhorse was adopted out of her culture, her birth mother was Ohkay Owingeh. I did read an article from The Mixed Space about controversy surrounding the authors heritage and use of cultural stories. I still loved the book. I just want to be transparent.

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that_boi_eliza's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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tinysierra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Today he would become a god. His mother had told him so.” pg 1

An amazing epic fantasy with intriguing diverse characters. Wow. Also… mermaids! Giant crows!

There was a mix of character driven and plot driven moments. I felt like there was a lot of slow/medium paced moments where there was more focus on character development/interactions but it did pick up in some places with more plot related aspects. It kept my attention either way.

The timeline hopped around a bit, jumping back into the past and then forward into the present. Slowly putting the pieces together. The chapters had the date along with experts from in world media (like journal entries), which really added to my immersion.

I liked Xiala and Serapio’s chapters the most. It was nice to see the story through a blind characters perspective. I hope to see more about Xiala’s powers in the next book.

In this book, queer characters are accepted in some of the societies but not others. There are characters that use neopronouns (xe/xir)! Xiala mentions that she takes pleasure with “men, women, and other genders” which I assume means that she’s bi or pan.

The ending was fast and admittedly a little anticlimactic but I don’t find myself feeling disappointed. I’m curious about where the story is going.

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ameliabee33's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Easily this is going to become my new high fantasy obsession. There is depth to the characters that we get pov chapters from, Xiala, Serapio, Okoa, and Naranpa. I would literally protect all of them with my life, like oh my God the author makes all of their individual life struggles and goals easy to root for. This book is great if you're looking for a new take on high fantasy, as the author states in the author's note the setting for fantasy is typically a rendition of England and various western European countries. It is another book that has multiple pov's in chapters- which I have always liked having more than one character tell a story because you can get more depth about the world and context the book is set in (I think it's a remnant of my Warrior Cats days 😋).

Xiala, I would die for Xiala. She is a boat captain, a lover of beautiful things and people, and with a hidden past that readers just get a glimpse of. She is also a Teek, legendary women known to use their Song to manipulate the sea and men alike. She was such a strong, resilient chatacter throughout the book that I just kept wanting more and more chapters about her.

Serapio is the avatar for the crow god. Grandfather Crow. Blinded by his mother at a young age, he has grown up and taught that his purpose is to be the vessel for the crow god, which will emerge during the Convergence. I just wanted to protect Serapio this entire time 😭 He wanted human connection and love and so much was standing in his way. I will support him always.

Naranpa is the Sun Priest from the wrong side of the tracks, for lack of a better phrase. As a part and leader of the religious order of Watchers, Naranpa tries to implement institutional change in the order, which has a bloody past and prejudice riddled everywhere. I was left wanting more from her chapters, just more history of her ascension to Sun Priest as well as a more in depth description of her tried and failed changes.

Okoa is the head of the Shied for the matron of clan Carrion Crow. He is a fighter and rider of a raven named Benunda. While he grieves the murder of his mother he gets involved with Grandfather Crow cultists, which want the Watchers killed and their power stripped from them. We had the least amount of chapters from this character, but I have a feeling he will play a more important role in the upcoming books.

Overall there was rich storytelling and great world building inspired by cultures in the pre-Columbian Americas as well as Polynesian. I am so glad I picked this one up for Native American Heritage Month 😊

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trippalli's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Too much violence and vengeance for me to enjoy the story despite strong characters

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haylzno's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

My biggest, and only, complaint is the length of the chapters ( I am a short chapter girly) and some of these felt waaayyy to long.

Other than that, WOWOWOWWOWOW

As I am writing this, I have already finished reading the sequel, Fevered Star, and I can tell you the story only gets better.

High/adult fantasy has always intimidated me a bit, but I found this to be very easy to read. The world, magic system, and characters are all amazing.
I can't wait for the third book!

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