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Black Sun

 



If you are looking for some good fantasy that is a bit different from the normal fare, I recommend reading books by people named Rebecca. A few weeks ago, I reviewed The Poppy War by R. F. (Rebecca) Kuang. A fantasy that seems not-so-loosely based on Chinese culture and history. The very next book I read was Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse which is a fantasy that seems modeled on pre-Columbian Native American and maybe some Polynesian culture. Now I love The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire etc., but it is refreshing to find fantasy that doesn’t look like medieval England.

In Black Sun we follow several seemingly unconnected people. There is a blind boy, Serapio, who has an appointment with destiny. We see his mother’s severe preparations for her child. We see his brutal training. When the metal is forged to a sufficient hardness, passage is booked for him on Xiala’s boat where the point of his existence will be tested at the city of Tova.

We follow the Sun Priest named Naranpa. She struggles to bring power back to her priesthood that has waned in recent times. She fights battles both external and internal. Born in the “wrong” section of the city, she has risen far. But if she is not careful, the fall is a long way down.

I think my favorite character in the story is Xiala. She is a boat captain who comes from a race of magically inclined women: the Teek. Outside of their own community the Teek are often feared, or just despised for being different. Xiala is feisty and smart. She knows how to take care of herself. That doesn't mean that she always does so. 

The city of Tova itself is a fascinating place. It is divided into sections where the different clans live. The elite of them, the Sky-made clans, occupy the high ground on raised mesas interlinked by bridges. The lower orders are literally lower as they occupy the low ground, forever enshadowed by the sky-made. It is a society that is stratified in every sense of the word. At the apex is the priesthood . . . or it was at one point in time. Naranpa knows that there are members of her own priesthood that she cannot trust. But we know what she does not. Something else is coming that she will have to deal with.

The name Black Sun implies an eclipse, and indeed there are two important eclipses in the story, one at the beginning and one at the end.  Just what do the eclipses mean? What do they induce? Are they a source of power, or only random events?  There is magic in Black Sun, but it is not overdone. The characters seem grounded in realism. I recognize some of these characters from the real world. They are not unlike the people you would find in your own community: the good and the bad, the devout and the pompous, the schemers and the dreamers.  But the stakes are high for Naranpa, for Serapio, and even for Xiala, though she doesn’t know it yet. Black Sun is the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy. I look forward to the next installment.

 

(My science fiction novel Star Liner, is now available in paperback or as an e-book through Amazon and other online sources).

Star Liner

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