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A review by jennamcclendon
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? It's complicated
4.5
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***
I can totally understand how this book won all of the awards that it did. The way this was crafted and the attention to detail and all of the little bits of representation were so amazing, and there was never a time when I found myself wondering why the hype was so high. I totally understood it. This was a PHENOMENAL read.
First, I want to mention the worldbuilding. I read something (it may have been in the acknowledgments of the book) where the author mentions how there are always books based on like old Victorian England and other European eras of history, but there aren’t a lot of things taking place in the Americas, and least of all the pre-Columbian Americas. There is so much rich history and innovation and culture between all of the ancient civilizations, and there were so many little details scattered throughout the book. The clothing was the biggest thing that I liked, especially since I visualize so much when I read, but I also loved all of the touches with the navigation on the boat and the importance of religion and the gods in society. I had never read a book quite like this, but I LOVED it.
In addition to the cultural influences, the general worldbuilding was also amazing. The Sky Made clans were each so unique, and I can safely say that Carrion Crow is my favorite. (Cue the Buzzfeed Unsolved audio: “I’m here for the cult stuff!” LOL). The priesthood was also so vivid, and even though I didn’t like the priests (except for Iktan, tbh), the people’s reliance on the star charts and divination like that is SO COOL to me. I also want to know so much more about Xiala’s Teek culture. I mean, come on. SIRENS? I NEED TO KNOW MORE. She was definitely one of the most interesting characters! I feel like all of the stuff with Serapio and his connection with the crow god and all of the other gods and their followings will be explained more in the second book, and I hope it is because I LOVE learning about the religious groups in books.
Now. I’m going to rant about my favorite character. Serapio. Serapio, Serapio, Serapio. I love him SO MUCH. He was BY FAR my favorite. Even from the first chapter with him going through his ritual to become the Odo Sedoh I was hooked on him. That chapter immediately established a connection in me to him because I kept waiting for his point of view to come back. All of the times where we got to hear about his past and his tutors were heartbreaking, except for Powageh who was actually pretty chill. He had such a terrible childhood, but I know that knowing his destiny and what he was meant to do with Odo Sedoh and his crow friends made it slightly better for him and gave him a reason to keep going. And then after he met Xiala, he had another reason: her. From the moment they first *met* they were drawn to each other, and their relationship developing on their journey together was so sweet to read even though it couldn’t have ended well. (Although their little scenes on the boat and in the bathhouse and with the honey… OMG. Anyway.) And I love how he was a strong, powerful, incredible warrior and person and how he was able to work with being blind and even using it to his advantage with the crows and stuff. And he was such an interesting character as well because of his relationship with good/evil and how he perceived himself and his destiny and how it affected other people, Xiala included. Long story short, I am so scared for Serapio now and he needs to be okay because I love him.
Not only was the insane research the author did on pre-Columbian culture extremely evident, but the representation was also SO WELL DONE (in my opinion). There was so much thought put into Serapio’s blindness and how it impacted his character and his abilities and seeing a character like him was so nice. I also admire how Xiala’s sexuality was done. She wasn’t ashamed of it at all, even though she knew others discriminated against her for it (since she was in jail for flirting with a woman in the beginning), but that also didn’t stop her from flirting with Aishe on the ship and making jokes with her crew (before they all betrayed her and tried to kill her and before Serapio murdered them lol). Not only that, but I also really love how gender was presented here. Iktan and Powageh (I think both of them, definitely Powageh) were both non-binary (a third gender in their culture) with xe/xir pronouns (WHICH YOU DON’T SEE MUCH OF IN LITERATURE AND I AM ALWAYS SO GLAD TO SEE NEOPRONOUNS), and Maaka’s wife from the cult was a trans woman! I believe this also ties into the culture of the pre-Columbian civilizations, and I am so glad to see it now. I’m always a sucker for good representation. :)
The only reason that this is only a 4.5- and not a 5-star book is because I didn’t really like Naranpa. As a character, I think her arc is very well done with her losing her position as Sun Priest and all and having to go through those assassination attempts and all of the drama with Abah and Ekhe trying to overthrow her, but I just found her POVs boring. I kept skimming through them because there wasn’t a lot of action (with exceptions, of course), unlike how there was always something happening with Xiala and Serapio. I kept wanting to go back to them and be done with her parts. I’m still impartial on Okoa for now, although after the ending with him finding Serapio after *that* whole thing happened, I think he’ll play a much bigger role in the second book, along with Naranpa as well hopefully after her little ritual too. I have hopes for them, but I don’t think the first book did them justice. :/
Overall, this was a fantastic book. The worldbuilding and representation were so vivid and the characters were so lovable and interesting and have a lot of potential for book two. That cliffhanger at the end was BRUTAL. I’M SO CONCERNED. I will definitely try to read book two when I can find the time, but in the meantime, I’ll just be thinking about Serapio and Xiala and how much I want to see more books with this culture as inspiration. I LOVED it.
I can totally understand how this book won all of the awards that it did. The way this was crafted and the attention to detail and all of the little bits of representation were so amazing, and there was never a time when I found myself wondering why the hype was so high. I totally understood it. This was a PHENOMENAL read.
First, I want to mention the worldbuilding. I read something (it may have been in the acknowledgments of the book) where the author mentions how there are always books based on like old Victorian England and other European eras of history, but there aren’t a lot of things taking place in the Americas, and least of all the pre-Columbian Americas. There is so much rich history and innovation and culture between all of the ancient civilizations, and there were so many little details scattered throughout the book. The clothing was the biggest thing that I liked, especially since I visualize so much when I read, but I also loved all of the touches with the navigation on the boat and the importance of religion and the gods in society. I had never read a book quite like this, but I LOVED it.
In addition to the cultural influences, the general worldbuilding was also amazing. The Sky Made clans were each so unique, and I can safely say that Carrion Crow is my favorite. (Cue the Buzzfeed Unsolved audio: “I’m here for the cult stuff!” LOL). The priesthood was also so vivid, and even though I didn’t like the priests (except for Iktan, tbh), the people’s reliance on the star charts and divination like that is SO COOL to me. I also want to know so much more about Xiala’s Teek culture. I mean, come on. SIRENS? I NEED TO KNOW MORE. She was definitely one of the most interesting characters! I feel like all of the stuff with Serapio and his connection with the crow god and all of the other gods and their followings will be explained more in the second book, and I hope it is because I LOVE learning about the religious groups in books.
Now. I’m going to rant about my favorite character. Serapio. Serapio, Serapio, Serapio. I love him SO MUCH. He was BY FAR my favorite. Even from the first chapter with him going through his ritual to become the Odo Sedoh I was hooked on him. That chapter immediately established a connection in me to him because I kept waiting for his point of view to come back. All of the times where we got to hear about his past and his tutors were heartbreaking, except for Powageh who was actually pretty chill. He had such a terrible childhood, but I know that knowing his destiny and what he was meant to do with Odo Sedoh and his crow friends made it slightly better for him and gave him a reason to keep going. And then after he met Xiala, he had another reason: her. From the moment they first *met* they were drawn to each other, and their relationship developing on their journey together was so sweet to read even though it couldn’t have ended well. (Although their little scenes on the boat and in the bathhouse and with the honey… OMG. Anyway.) And I love how he was a strong, powerful, incredible warrior and person and how he was able to work with being blind and even using it to his advantage with the crows and stuff. And he was such an interesting character as well because of his relationship with good/evil and how he perceived himself and his destiny and how it affected other people, Xiala included. Long story short, I am so scared for Serapio now and he needs to be okay because I love him.
Not only was the insane research the author did on pre-Columbian culture extremely evident, but the representation was also SO WELL DONE (in my opinion). There was so much thought put into Serapio’s blindness and how it impacted his character and his abilities and seeing a character like him was so nice. I also admire how Xiala’s sexuality was done. She wasn’t ashamed of it at all, even though she knew others discriminated against her for it (since she was in jail for flirting with a woman in the beginning), but that also didn’t stop her from flirting with Aishe on the ship and making jokes with her crew (before they all betrayed her and tried to kill her and before Serapio murdered them lol). Not only that, but I also really love how gender was presented here. Iktan and Powageh (I think both of them, definitely Powageh) were both non-binary (a third gender in their culture) with xe/xir pronouns (WHICH YOU DON’T SEE MUCH OF IN LITERATURE AND I AM ALWAYS SO GLAD TO SEE NEOPRONOUNS), and Maaka’s wife from the cult was a trans woman! I believe this also ties into the culture of the pre-Columbian civilizations, and I am so glad to see it now. I’m always a sucker for good representation. :)
The only reason that this is only a 4.5- and not a 5-star book is because I didn’t really like Naranpa. As a character, I think her arc is very well done with her losing her position as Sun Priest and all and having to go through those assassination attempts and all of the drama with Abah and Ekhe trying to overthrow her, but I just found her POVs boring. I kept skimming through them because there wasn’t a lot of action (with exceptions, of course), unlike how there was always something happening with Xiala and Serapio. I kept wanting to go back to them and be done with her parts. I’m still impartial on Okoa for now, although after the ending with him finding Serapio after *that* whole thing happened, I think he’ll play a much bigger role in the second book, along with Naranpa as well hopefully after her little ritual too. I have hopes for them, but I don’t think the first book did them justice. :/
Overall, this was a fantastic book. The worldbuilding and representation were so vivid and the characters were so lovable and interesting and have a lot of potential for book two. That cliffhanger at the end was BRUTAL. I’M SO CONCERNED. I will definitely try to read book two when I can find the time, but in the meantime, I’ll just be thinking about Serapio and Xiala and how much I want to see more books with this culture as inspiration. I LOVED it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Gore
Minor: Homophobia and Suicide