The Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

 With her first foray into Epic Fantasy, Rebecca Roanhorse has jumped straight up to the top pantheon of my go-to writers for anything fantasy. I was already a fan of her writing, having devoured the urban fantasy books, The Trail of Lightning and The Storm of Locusts. And now, with this stunning towering feat of imagination inspired by Pre Columbian civilisations, The Black Sun, she just blew my expectations away. 

The Black Sun is set in a time and place, possibly inspired by the early pre-columbian civilisations that dates back to the times before America was discovered by Columbus. Myths, magic, Gods and faiths rule the society. There are class divides, painfully evident in both the history and the present of this world on the edge of a cataclysmic event - that of the Winter Solstice and an impending solar eclipse. Now we know the Sun God has been a chief deity worshipped during such times but Rebecca's fertile imagination weaves up multiple 'clans' in this society - each with a Demi-god associated with those clans. The most persecuted among these 'Sky-Made' clans are the Carrion Crow; Hardcore worshippers who believe that their Crow-God will one day come back to devour the sun and rule this world. Persecuted for their persistent belief in their God and hunted down by the guards of the High-Priestess of the Sun, a lot of the crows were killed in a bloody massacre known in the history as the Night of the Knives. 

As our story opens, we witness the miraculous backstory to Serrapio, a boy destined to be the avatar of the Crow God, being prepared for this eventuality by his own mother, thirsting for revenge against the atrocities borne on the crow clan. He is blinded during a solar eclipse, to capture and retain the prowess of a prophesied return of a God. 

In the present times, starting twenty five days to the cataclysmic event of this impending solar eclipse 'converging' with the winter solstice in the city of Tova, we encounter chiefly two main POVs. Xiala, a drunk captain thrown into a prison for having thrown over-board a 'Lord' and now awaiting punishment. And Narunpa, a lady who has grown up from the trashes of the lowest dregs the Tovan society known as the Coyote's Maw but who has risen up to be the Sun Priestess of all the four clans and presides over all the functions within the high place known as the Tower. The lives of Xiala, a member of a female-only clan known as 'Teek' who can use her magic to bend the will of the sea and winds to help sail ships, Serrapio - the tragic destiny's child honed to be the weapon of revenge by his own people and trained to be the vessel for a God one day - and the gritty woman who broke the shackles of her rigid social classes to rise to a position of power and yet is powerless in the face of internal political conspiracies by the high-borns - intersect and rewrite the lines of destiny in a world where faith and magic can be used to bring down a God or elevate one.  This is the main narrative of The Black Sun, an impossible-to-put-down-adventure like no other. 

First up, it's an absolutely stunning work of imagination, this. Black Sun has in-depth world-building that beats anything I have read in the recent past, filled with memorable characters and a thrilling adventure that culminates into this big-bang apocalypse, which keeps us turning pages late into the night. 

Inspired by years of reading up on the Pre-Columbian meso-american cultures, the world of Black Sun is a big step away from our normal fantasy worlds. Rebecca throws light on a lot of interesting tidbits of cultures by meshing in our main characters, each of them bringing something unique and refreshing about this world. The different cities thrive on trade and trade-routes are mainly land or the sea - and with Xiala, our main character a sea-faring badass captain, we get a lot of peekaboo into a lot of Polynesian inspired sailing nuances. And then there are the crows. Fascinating creatures that bend to the will of a shadowy bloodthirsty God - and now, man destined to be a hero or a villain of the ages. 

Serrapio is a classic study of what it means to be a hero or not. Trained over the years to bear this burden of the return of a God, he loathes pain, he empathises with the fate of a downtrodden clan and his love for animals is unmatched. And yet - when it comes to achieving the goals of revenge for a genocide of monumental proportions for reasons misunderstood, he doesn't flinch away. While ready for violence and murder at the drop of a hat, Serrapio is still in many ways a young man, still finding his way, stumbling through life as a young adult. His tender relationship with Xiala on the ship that transports them to the city of Tova was definitely was one of the most endearing take on relationships and unspoken love. Xiala herself was another of my favorite characters, her love for the sea and her verve for life in general, makes her possibly the easiest character to like. And then of course, there is her fabulous magical ability to Sing, influence people and sail ships that is unique and brilliantly rendered. Naranpa, sadly has the toughest job on hand - to fight the ingrained beliefs of a society rigidly divided by a class-system and right the wrongs done ages ago, fighting against her own peers who would backstab her in the blink of an eye. Of all three, her chapters were a bit drab, focused on politics but ones that are integral to the central story. I loved the chapters where Naranpa is back within the Maw - a dark underbelly of this rich city that oozes with malice and atmosphere of dread, run by gangsters. While there are other characters of note that throw light on various other parts of the stories that all tie up back to the 'convergence' , these three are mainly the tour-de-force of the whole story. 

Easily one of the best books I have read this year, The Black Sun is a Masterclass on non-white Epic Fantasy, with due focus on diversity, class politics, religious corruption and charting out the bloody cost of vengeance on a misguided society. There are no heroes here, but men and women who try hard to throw away the heavy yokes set upon them by their zealous misguided ancestors and fight hard to stay alive to see the sun for one more day. Part of a series (Between Earth and Sky) that I am definitely going to watch out for. Highly recommended.