Review: Black Sun

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rebecca Roanhorse made her name with futuristic post-apocalyptic fantasy inspired by the legends of the Navajo, and now she's set her sights on the past with the start of an all-new epic fantasy inspired by pre-Columbian Indigenous civilizations. Combining not only Native American (especially Aztec and Maya) influences, but also Polynesian as well, Roanhorse gives us a world of gods and monsters, magic and mayhem, pirates and prophecy, and oh so much riding on what happens when a blind young man hitches a ride on a ship of dubious repute, captained by a powerful Teek (a people whose unique magic reminds me, at least, of sirens.) There are several POV characters we've got in this story - though by far, my favorites are Serapio, blinded at a young age and meant to be connected to a certain crow god, and Xiala, the Teek sea captain whose dynamic with Serapio is intensely shippable and shippably intense. I'll admit, when the POV brings us back to the mainland and a few dramatic reveals about the Sun Priests whose power is threatened by Serapio and the forthcoming Convergence, I really find myself wishing to be back at sea just because I love Serapio and Xiala so much more as characters and as people. But it's a damn fine story, full of vibrant characters (and pretty extensive diverse representation, not only of disability but also LGBTQ+, as Roanhorse makes frequent inclusion of bi and/or pansexual characters, nonbinary and trans characters complete with neopronouns, etc. etc.) and movie-quality visuals from the cover on down deep. While we may be waiting quite a while for a third book in the Sixth World series, if we get more adventures in this series during that time - especially a much-needed Book 2! - it'll be so worth the wait.

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