Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Black Sun

Hits you right in the first book of a trilogy, managing full story arcs for the many viewpoint characters while setting up a longer tale to come. The worldbuilding (definitely the strength of the book) makes the universe feel lived in even as it oozes epic fantasy tropes of noble houses and magic animal allies and such. The prose is evocative and lush and the pacing is excellent.

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troisha's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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ehmannky's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

I found the first half of the book to be kind of a slow start as all of the world building is put into place and you get acquainted to the many different point of view characters and their situations (this is not a criticism of either, it just takes time to do this), but once you hit that halfway mark it just zooms right along. I couldn't put it down. The political intrigue, the wild religious stuff and the cult magic, the wonderful relationship between Serapio and Xiala, and everything that Naranpa was up to was just so much fun to read. I feel like the tragedy of being the subject of prophecy and the person everyone puts their hopes on to save (or break) the world was just so up front and center, and I can't wait to read the next installment.

Among the many things that I appreciated about this book, beyond it just being a really good epic fantasy, is that the world is so effortlessly queer.

It was just as good the second time around! I still didn't care about the Okoa chapters that much, but overall this is such a good series.

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stacey_the_chapter_conundrum's review against another edition

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mysterious relaxing sad slow-paced

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

2.0

My CAWPILE score: 3.93/10 - definitely in the 2 star range.

Things I liked:
-The storytelling/oral history style was great and the writing fit that style very well!
-The audiobook narrators did a great job!
-Some of the lore and atmosphere was interesting and enjoyable.
-A couple of the characters are memorable.

Things that didn't work for me:
-I thought the ending was pretty abrupt and I wanted more falling action!!
-Most of the content was setup for the series overall and ended up not being very relevant to the plot in this book.
-There was a lack of exploration of motivations behind characters actions.
-The plot felt hyperfocused on one event and it ultimately didn't feel satisfying for me due to the ending. We're introduced to some plot threads that end up going completely unexplored, there were missed opportunities in that area, such as:

Naranpa's note to Okoa, the death of Okoa's mother, what the Carrion Crow clan actually did.

-There were several elements that were seriously underdeveloped that could have added a lot more intrigue, such as:

Okoa's relationship with his sister, clan dynamics, what any of the 4 clans actually stand for & what they do, the magic (including the "witchcraft" & the Teek magic), the other Gods/deities.

-There was the odd moment that was lacking in logic that didn't end up being explored. One example of where this stood out to me was:

in chapter 15 when we find out Okoa's mom is dead and his cousin tells him that nobody could have entered her room since the door was guarded BUT we literally just got through learning that 3 of the quarters/clans have aviaries and obviously her room had a window if she supposedly jumped.

-The descriptions were lengthy and got boring in my opinion. I would have preferred if they were sprinkled in throughout the story instead of taking over large chunks at a time.

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aclaman's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

Black Sun is fantastic and dark, slowly counting down to the fulfillment of an event years in the making. Full of complex relationships and a deep sense of history; interpersonal politics, religious factions, and the (hopeful) fulfillment of prophecy.

The sense of place is beautiful; the descriptions, especially early in the book, are so vivid that it felt like I could walk through many of the spaces in the text. I don’t normally have a good sense of space so it takes some damn good writing to take me there, but this did. The world-building implies complexity early on and then backs up that promise over and over without resorting to info-dumping.

I love the dynamic between Xiala and Serapio, it builds really naturally and is part of some good Big Damn Moments; the kind that make me want to run around and tell everyone about the really awesome thing that just happened; the kind where an emotional arc combines with a spectacular Event in a way that is satisfying on all fronts. The book handles interpersonal relationships in general really well, no two people have the same dynamic with any other two, and that complexity builds to show different sides of people depending on who they're with. That's not unique to this book, but the subtlety of it here is remarkable and was one more thing I loved about it.

The pacing is really good, the timestamp at the beginning of each chapter was very useful and also ominous as it slowly counted down (except for brief forays into the past). It created tension for me as a reader without requiring the action to ramp up for every character (as not all of them had a sense of the deadline).

The political and interpersonal machinations are great, they’re something I generally enjoy that is done really well here. There’s a few points where information is revealed to the reader via one POV character, but we only find out some part of its significance when a different character is made aware of it. It’s the kind of thing that makes the book feel cohesive even as it keep swapping POV characters with each new chapter. The characters have very relatable motives for their actions; generally I understood why the various factions were trying for different goals even though I wasn't rooting for everyone. The book also didn't really pressure me to feel like I need to root for anyone.

I loved the ending and I'm very ready for more in this series whenever it's available.

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