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).
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