Black Sun

By: Rebecca Roanhorse

Narrated by: Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab, Shaun Taylor-Corbett

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Series!

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the “engrossing and vibrant” (Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Riot Baby) first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

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 even 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 a “brilliant world that shows the full panoply of human grace and depravity” (Ken Liu, award-winning author of The Grace of Kings). This epic adventure explores 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 this “absolutely tremendous” (S.A. Chakraborty, nationally bestselling author of The City of Brass) and most original series debut of the decade.

Critic reviews

"This epic fantasy, which includes political upheaval, taboo magic, and a hint of romance, is narrated by an array of textured voices. In this intense, adventurous story, inspired by pre-Columbian civilizations, every voice is clear and grave. While Cara Gee and Nicole Lewis are slightly warmer in tone than Kaipo Schwab and Shaun Taylor–Corbett, make no mistake—all the narrators remind us that everything is at stake in this fantasy. Having four narrators for overlapping storylines may seem like a lot at times, given the numerous characters and the constant movement within this adventure. But each voice is distinct and drives the story forward, leading to an explosive ending."

Great story but lacks any kind of an ending

I really enjoyed this story, and the narration was well done. I regretfully feel the need to dock a star on the story. There is no satisfying ending to this story. Every single storyline we’ve been following through the entire book is left unresolved. I’m okay with a book in a series leaving a cliff hanger, leaving a few things unresolved, but leaving the entire book with no kind of conclusion felt very misleading and dissatisfying. I’m wary of the next book, but I’ll probably listen to it. If that has the same lack of ending, I won’t go further in the series. I don’t enjoy being abandoned in the middle of a story.

An epic myth

Rebecca Roanhorse is a master of mythology. She builds worlds and belief systems that are so original and so fantastic. Then her words pull you into the center of it all, making the story come alive.

Her main characters were all so endearing, there was no way to choose a favorite. Although this book ended in a cliffhanger, I eagerly await the next one and am rooting for all the characters to survive.

Great once you understand the Xe gender

There is a confusing bit to listen to in the beginning. Xe, sounds like shay, is a gender neutral personal pronoun, not a name or rank. And xer, sounds like hear, is the possessive form.

Masterful.

This was an amazing experience, each tale woven masterfully, the emotional waves and experiences so tangible it was almost a shock to come back. I was bitterly disappointed that I will be waiting until next year for the next installment.

Book two me Pronto!

Two words. LOVED. IT. I mean from start to finish it was brilliantly written! I'm so ready for book two!