Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Blurb:

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 event 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 an epic adventure exploring 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 the most original series debut of the decade.

My biggest takeaways from this book:

1. This is the book that got me out of the biggest reading slump of my life. I was able to escape into this book. Into another world that was full of distant, but all too real conflicts. I was close to these characters and consistently root for and dastardly root against the heroes and villains. But like in all good books, Roanhorse does not make it simple… the twists are in there and I grabbed onto each one. I’m not going to go into too much about the details of the book, but I absolutely loved the magic in this one. Xiala’s song = a power of unknown levels, a way to entrust her leadership over the sailors, and a source of pride for a Teek. Serapio’s crow powers = the ability to throw a deadly shadow, the use of the birds’ vision, and even more that will he slowly show to his enemies. I was riveted as Roanhorse sifted through the backstories and added that intriguing depth of character.
2. This book served as further evidence as why Roanhorse should be an auto-buy for every fan of speculative fiction. At least she is for me. I have recommended her Sixth World duology to countless people. And the Star Wars fan in me devoured her book Resistance Reborn recounting the ramp up to Chapter 9: The Rise of Skywalker. I know that every piece of writing is going to have a well-built world and satisfyingly-rich characters. I don’t think you will be disappointed in any of her books.

Thank you to Edelsweiss, Saga Press, and the author for an advance copy for review.