Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse
Published by Simon & Schuster
Publication date: October 13, 2020
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Vacation Reading

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When I was young I was fascinated by the cultures of the Mayans and Aztecs so discovering a fantasy trilogy set in the pre-Columbian Americas when the fantasy genre is working well for me felt fortuitous. Black Sun begins with a mother mutilating her young son because she believes him to be a god. The past with its violence against tribes like his is about to come full circle as decades later he is heading towards the holiest city of his world to fulfill his destiny and avenge the atrocities his people suffered 300 years ago.

The city is Tova, and the man, Serapio of the Carrion Crow Clan. His enemies and targets are the Watchers, a group of priests who’ve ruled the Meridian for almost half a century. The highest position in the land is held by the Sun Priest, but Nara, the newest is facing dissent within the ranks due to her humble background and questions about what role the Watchers should maintain. The third main character in Black Sun is the woman captaining the ship on which Serapio is sailing. Xiala is a Teek, a mysterious clan of women only that lives on isolated islands and is known for their ability to summon aid or destruction from the elements by Singing. She knows nothing about her lone passenger, just that she’s been paid handsomely to get him to Tova. There the Sun Priest will be presiding over an upcoming solar eclipse, called the  Convergence, which, given its rarity, has been foretold as an event that will change their world order.

This is a small snapshot of the world author Rebecca Roanhorse brings to life around the reader. A real place and time that has held onto its mysteries, making it a ripe setting for fantasy. By combining the elements of flying beasts and humans with magical powers with the realities of life in the Americas at the time she creates a heady blend of history and fantasy. She also chooses to forego the high-tech, mechanized world of many fantasy series to stay aligned with the more Indigenous beliefs in the symbiosis between Mother Earth and the planet’s inhabitants.

This isn’t to say that all is idyllic in Tova or Meridian. Man and beast may be working more in tandem, but throughout Black Sun there are still power struggles, subjugation, betrayal, within the clans. In a larger sense Roanhorse probes the themes of entitlement, identity, and, in the case of Serapio, religiosity. He is hailed as a god by a cult within their clan—a young man being sent on a suicide mission.

But while the overarching themes of the novel provide its tension and momentum it’s the more intimate aspects of Black Sun’s characters that kept me reading. Nara, Serapio, and Xiala have all been victims of childhood trauma and are all isolated from their clans, left to exist in a society alien to their own. The loneliness of each is palpable as they try to establish their own identities without any of the framework of familiar society.

Liking or not liking a fantasy novel comes down to the world building done by the author. For some readers, the action or plot are the key, but my imagination and enjoyment are enhanced by the creation of a place so thoroughly I can see it as I’m reading. For this reason as well as the inner lives Roanhorse gives her characters Black Sun is the kind of fantasy reading that provides a total escape.

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