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A review by barrettbooks
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
5.0
Black Sun takes place in a fantasy world full of peoples and societies inspired by those of the pre-colonial "Americas." It's a gorgeous world. The cultures are rich and varied, revealed through exposition that doesn't feel bulky and keeps things intriguing without being too confusing. A lot of the book is political intrigue, with both tensions between different groups, and power struggles within. I'm on the edge of my seat wondering how those conflicts will continue in book 2.
The book is delightfully queer. Several of the societies that are mentioned in the book are queernorm (there's mention of homophobia in one of the other societies, but it is brief and the characters don't stay long.) There is a bi main character and a nonbinary secondary character who uses neopronouns (xe/xir.) There are also several minor characters who are queer. It's so refreshing, always, for queer people to just exist in epic fantasy. The only other work I've read by Roanhorse was a queer short story, and combined with the inspiration of pre-Columbian Americas, I'm not surprised that the book has queer people but I'm still very happy. :)
The characters are what really sell this book for me (as with most books I love.) We get to see (third person) POV from people with very different lives, backgrounds, and interests in the conflict. And care about all of them and just want them all to win. While the characters are all flawed (some...more so than others) they are still deeply compelling and I love them. A personal favourite is Xiala, the heavy drinking, brash, secretly-kind-of-soft bi sailor lady of my dreams, but tbh the only characters don't like are the ones I am clearly not supposed to.
This is mostly gushing, but I just really recommend this book. It boils down to that. :)
The book is delightfully queer. Several of the societies that are mentioned in the book are queernorm (there's mention of homophobia in one of the other societies, but it is brief and the characters don't stay long.) There is a bi main character and a nonbinary secondary character who uses neopronouns (xe/xir.) There are also several minor characters who are queer. It's so refreshing, always, for queer people to just exist in epic fantasy. The only other work I've read by Roanhorse was a queer short story, and combined with the inspiration of pre-Columbian Americas, I'm not surprised that the book has queer people but I'm still very happy. :)
The characters are what really sell this book for me (as with most books I love.) We get to see (third person) POV from people with very different lives, backgrounds, and interests in the conflict. And care about all of them and just want them all to win. While the characters are all flawed (some...more so than others) they are still deeply compelling and I love them. A personal favourite is Xiala, the heavy drinking, brash, secretly-kind-of-soft bi sailor lady of my dreams, but tbh the only characters don't like are the ones I am clearly not supposed to.
This is mostly gushing, but I just really recommend this book. It boils down to that. :)