Book Review - Rebecca Roanhorse's Black Sun
Published by: Gallery / Saga Press
Publication Date: October 13th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 496 Pages
Rating: ★★
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A time of celebration and renewal will be upended by a rare solar eclipse. The Sun Priest, Naranpa, is preparing for the convergence and the unbalancing of the world little knowing that she herself is about to fall because of what has been set in motion. A Teek woman, Xiala, has a rare gift that makes her an asset to any seafaring voyage. Which means, if someone wants to get some "special" cargo transported and it's vital it arrives on time, she's the person you hire. The only problem is she's currently in prison. Which is easily remedied if you have the right connections. She doesn't, her boss does. The cargo turns out to be human. Serapio is, unsettling, to say the least. A decade earlier his mother had him look at the eclipse to blind him and then sewed his eyes shut because she was convinced that he is going to be the crow god. She ended the mutilation by killing herself. Xiala herself has trauma and secrets and this brings the two outcasts together. Because while the story makes Xiala understand Serapio she's not quite sure if she believes in his godhood. Though obviously others do. Why else would she have been sprung from prison to take Serapio to Tova? Though the journey to Tova will not be easy. The crew distrust the duo who become closer and closer because of their outsider status. The weather turns and it's not just their deadline at risk, it's their very lives. Which is what Naranpa is also dealing with. Her life is being constantly threatened. What's more, the matron of the Carrion Crow clan has died and her son Okoa is now in charge. Thankfully he views, initially, that he can work with Naranpa. But as her position and her life encounter further threats, she might not be around much longer. She makes her move. As everyone else does. While the conjunction is happening in the heavens a conjunction is about to happen in Tova. The celebrants for the winter solstice have arrived, the clans are going to clash, and as for the priests? Who knows their motives. Or those of Serapio. A reckoning has come to Tova and not all will survive.
Black Sun is an odd reading experience. While the blurb claims it's crafted "with unforgettable characters" I don't know if I've ever read a more forgettable book. When I actually held the book in my hands and was actively reading it I enjoyed it. It was competently written and for a short while it took me to another place. But the second I set it down I would completely forget about it. The book wasn't even on my radar. I'd try to recall what I was reading for book club and look at my nightstand and there Black Sun would be sitting and that was the exact second I remembered that I should be reading it. I'd pick it back up, I'd enjoy it, I'd put it down again, and forget all about it. This happened again and again. And the only thing I can really think of is that without stakes or original worldbuilding this book just was. It exists and some people might connect to it. I'm willing to give it another go, but what if I already have and have forgotten all about it again? All these reviewers are touting the fact that this isn't your average historical fantasy. The worldbuilding is non-European, which, really, it's about time right? The Americas have such a rich historical background and yet time and time again historical fantasy is about the white colonizer who came in and destroyed these cultures. And while Rebecca Roanhorse does use non-European characters and myths they are nothing more than a veneer. Strip this book down and it's nothing more than a lackluster Games of Thrones. So in other words, Game of Thrones. She uses the same tropes and the same story setups. I wanted originality, and I got more of the same. Which, I guess would appeal to a larger market. Look, it's just what you love but with a veneer of pre-Colombian culture! Pick it up today! And no worries, you don't need to know what pre-Colombian is, you don't need to know about the Maya or the Inca, because it all just merges together with historical fantasy tropes of yore and you'll be back on familiar ground. Now, in fairness, I haven't read the next two books in her Between Earth and Sky series, so she might fix her worldbuilding issues, but, like I've said before about Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone, it's a start. It might not be perfect, but someone has to be the canary in the coal mine and get readers to see there are other cultures out there. Here's hoping it opens up a floodgate.
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