“Black Sun” is proof that Rebecca Roanhorse can weave her talent and her heritage into powerful stories over and over again.
And Grandfather Crow said to First Woman, tell me your stories so that I might know who you are and what you value. If your stories are of the glory of war, I will know you value power. If your stories are of kinship, I know you value relationship. If your stories are of many children, I know you value legacy. But if your stories are of adaptation and survival, of long memory and revenge, then I will know you are a Crow like me
Whoa. I did NOT expect this story to end the way it did, but I want to read Book 2 NOW!!!
Great characters, amazing world-building and excellent plot points. The magic and the sorcery balances this fantasy between fantasy and magic realism (I’ll explain more in my review).
All 4 protagonists are complex people who find themselves being responsible for a group of people, and their choices affect those around them and everything they care about. As ‘The Day of Convergence’ approaches, each of the protagonists develop into the individuals their roles demand of them to the point where not even the secondary characters can divert them from their path. Without getting into too many spoilers, two of the protagonists were predestined to be part of ‘The Day of Convergence,’ but an argument can be made that they could have chosen to resist that fate at any given time before that day. In fact, the choices of the other two protagonists should be noted as well because they all have no choice but to live with the decisions they make leading up to the winter solstice. History and folklore aside, the use of foreshadowing and of characterization enhances the story to the point where readers known what is going to happen and why, and that there was no way to prevent the events from happening. By the time everything is revealed, the protagonists have made their decisions, and what is going to happen, happens. This leaves the reader(s) stunned, yet anticipating what will happen next during the aftermath of those events. It’s a shocking and an impressive move by the author.
“Black Sun” is proof that Rebecca Roanhorse can weave her talent and her heritage into powerful stories over and over again. If you need a reason to read one of her books, or if you want to read a fantasy series that will take your expectations to another level, then you really should read this book. It has everything from magic and prophecies to political power struggle based on a moment in human history, in which it all could have happened, but its setting is a fantasy world.
Go read this book!!!
For my complete review, go here: https://mistyaquavenatus.com/2020/09/…
Check Out some of our other reviews
Review – The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Review by LOIS YOUNG
“Episode 31: L.A. Young- ‘Race and Oppression in Sci-Fi’”–an episode recorded for the “Sisters of SciFi” podcast
“Storytelling in Speculative Fiction Reveals a Buried History”–an essay I wrote for the SFWA Blog.
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