Grabbed me instantly.

I think this was a very good story. very intriguing concept and I feel like the cultural bits were exciting to explore. I think it could be longer though there were some parts where I thought more of the interactions could be shown or explained.

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epic, beautifully read

epic, beautifully written and read. 5 stars for all. Please ms roanhorse keep writing and producing these awesome stories.

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Good, Fresh, Unique Fantasy Setting/Story

While I wasn't blown away by the story, its unique style/setting (and the excellent narration) was definitely enough to keep me interested throughout this audiobook.

The setting is conceptually, culturally, and linguistically inspired by Indigenous Central/South American peoples, histories, and mythologies, which is a nice change from the Medieval European archetypes that tend to dominate the fantasy genre. This gave the story a freshness that made up for a general lack of depth in certain areas/characters.

There were a couple of characters belonging to a third gender that used its own unique pronouns (shay/sheer, as opposed to she/her or he/him), and while I'm not opposed to this philosophically or ideologically, I did find it somewhat confusing, or even annoying, especially at first. There seemed to be no reason for it, and no real discussion/commentary of the nature of sex/gender (even though there was also another minor character who was transgender), so I'm not sure what the author was going for here.

Regardless, an enjoyable listen overall, and I'll be listening to the rest of the trilogy for sure.

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Can’t wait for the next instalment

Love the uncolonized vision Roanhorse has created. It’s a definite “free your mind” experience based on an Indigenous perspectives, values and cultures.

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1 person found this helpful

A Dark, Mysterious Fantasy Thriller

Black Sun opens strong. A mother maims her child for religious reasons and then sacrifices herself. We're left wondering whether she was criminally insane, a religious zealot, or the mother of a true prophet. Perhaps all three. And so we begin.

There are a few main characters here, including the standard Han Solo sort of character, a girl named Xiala, captain of a ship, living for pleasure and quips. Normally, these characters bug me, but for some reason, this one didn't. I liked her, and I loved how her secrets were slowly revealed.

Xiala is tasked with transporting a blind priest to a faraway land, but she suspects that there is something sinister about him. Ominous.

The other main characters are Naranpa, a priest, and Okoa, a guard. Both are immensely likeable, but they are in opposing factions, and these factions are headed towards war. This adds even more tension to the mix.

The prose is engaging and vivid, the worldbuilding is fantastic and fresh, there are mysteries buried everywhere, and a looming tension weighs on everything. And the plot moves fast, too. This is a true thriller.

One of my favourite things about this story is the horror of a moral system unlike our own. Characters who seem nice in every way can commit vile deeds from a place of selflessness. And because this moral system is foreign and unpredictable, it gives us the sense that almost anything can happen.

My only complaint is that the book ends on a cliffhanger. It seemed like a different, more satisfying ending was coming. But we're robbed of that. Perhaps in the sequel. Ah well.

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Dang! So so good

I'm not usually a fan of books that switch between multiple characters (I'm impatient) but this author is so skilled and does it really well. A very unique story, I couldn't help procrastinating everything else in my lofe to finish it.

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Can't Wait for the Sequel

From the synopsis, I knew it was going to be epic, but nothing could have prepared me for the sheer brilliance of BLACK SUN. I feel like any words I use will minimize what I feel about this book. It's like standing before the Grand Canyon and trying to take a selfie with it. It's impossible. No photo will do it justice just as my review will never be good enough.

With an eye-widening first chapter, Roahhorse pulls you into indigenous myths inspired by pre-Columbian Americas. The setting is visually stunning in its world-building, and the magic systems and political intrigue accompany you into a world of Sun Priests, giant crows, and mermaids.

This is a multiple POV book. We have a blind young man, a magical captain, a Sun Priest, and a beast rider. All on their own paths that converge with a thunderous roar at the book's conclusion. I loved the different POV's personally, but I know some people have a hard time with them especially with high fantasy such as this one. I connected with each character on a personal level. The author excels in placing humanity in her characters so well that you learn to empathize and cheer for them. The pacing of this book is fast, packed full of action and heart. Everything was superb.

This is definitely one you want to listen to because the audio narrators totally make you BELEIVE the story in a way just reading it doesn't. I thought that it was so well emulated, so well articulated, and the emotions and story got that much deeper in my soul because of that.

There is a HUGE cliffhanger at the end of this one, so be prepared for that! At least the sequel will be releasing fairly soon so you can pre-order it (like I did) so that you can read it right away!

The author set out to write epic fantasy and she hit the mark a million times over. I would compare BLACK SUN to books such as THE FIFTH SEASON, THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER, and KUSHIEL'S DART to name a few. With a YA comparison to THE SEVENTH SUN and SOULSWIFT.

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aaahhhh-mazing!

the story was amazing, the narration was good and kept my attention. I really enjoyed this novel!

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Intriguing

Full of great characters and vivid ideas, and very well read. A tad predictable but the rich detail and humour kept it satisfying.

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Disappointing

This book is good, but compared to Trail of Lightning and especially Storm of Locusts, I found myself disappointed.

Maybe it was the points of view. There are four in the book, one introduced so late that I never connected with him as a character but only saw him as showing parts of the story the others couldn't. The crow god was the most fleshed, past and present melding seamlessly to form a complex picture of who he is and the sort of people who would try to manipulate him. I hope those machinations show in the sequel, because they fell flat here.

The sun priest was the least fleshed. Here was what purported to be machinations and political intrigue but was really just finger pointing that conveniently thwarted a plan with no real intention to do so. I was intensely disappointed in this "political maneuvering".

I was also disappointed by the disability rep. It wasn't good rep at all, but rather a regurgitation of stereotypes of the blind "overcoming" their disability. He was still blind in the end, but the work arounds so he could see and move through the world without difficulty annoyed me. Even the (mermaid) captain, whose body parts are prized for magic, had only one joint of her littlest finger removed. It wouldn't do to have the love interest be disfigured in any real way. (Shocked gasp!) Come to think of it, maybe I'm more angry than disappointed.

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