This was an impulse library hold, I was scrolling through the new arrivals on my library app and saw this beautiful cover. I knew Rebecca Roanhorse was a respected author. I had to admit as I was staring at the library app that I had only read her Star Wars novel. I could tell she was a talented writer but she had the shitty task of writing a novel leading into that disaster of a narrative that was Rise of Skywalker. I remembered that I promised myself to give one of Roanhorse’s novels a read after that.
So I should say straight out of the gate that epic fantasy is not my thing. I read heavily in this genre when I was a teenager but George RR Martin burned me out for this genre long before HBO got its dragon claws into Song of Ice and Fire. My favorite fantasies are Chinese Wuxia novels. I totally get that Roanhorse wanted to write a non-euro feeling fantasy. That is not that weird to me as I have read TONS of Chinese fantasy.
That being said this is a unique epic in the sense that the setting is essentially pre-Columbian Mexico in the same that Middle Earth is pretty much set in fictionalized Europe. There is plenty of Aztec themed fantasy and horror probably the most noted example would be Silvia Moreno Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow. This is different as the cultures and worlds that Roanhorse are totally her invention just very influenced by that region and those cultures.
Black Sun is powerful stuff. I know I am not the target audience so I think epic fantasy readers are almost a surefire five-star experience. Worldbuilding is in my wheelhouse and Roanhorse is clearly a master at weaving these details into the narrative without slowing the story or distracting. No info-dumps and the story never strays or over explains like many of the doorstop fantasy novels tend to do.
The story has a great cast of characters but mostly focuses on the core of a few main characters. Serapio is the character is closest to the typical hero’s journey who is traveling to the grand city of Tova while evolving into a Crow-god. He is also blind, so it is no little thing giving your hero a major disability. He has to confront the Sun-priest in the big city during the winter solstice. Similar to how Luke learns of his powers in the force. Serapio’s process of learning his powers are helped long by a wizard. This character Xiala is Obi-wan and Han Solo rolled together, she uses songs as magic spells and is a sea captain.
It is Xiala who takes Serapio on the epic month-long journey to Tova. They are certainly the strongest characters in the book, their chapters had a richer more driving feeling to them at least for me. That is not to say that the intrigue in Tova didn’t come with interesting drama. The sun priestess Naranpa learns to deal with power while surviving various attempts on her life.
As a grand adventure, we have a dangerous journey across unknown waters, sea creatures, magic, battles, diverse and interesting characters. As an adventure story, there is plenty of fun to consume. As a deeper more thought riff on the epic fantasy, there is context to dive deep into…
“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.”
I am always looking for quotes that feel like mission statements for novels. The power of the stories carries weight in this world. Much of the narrative is told to us in stories that we hear in the same exact words of the characters. This is a risky tactic for authors with less skill. Roanhorse has the skill that most readers will naturally fall into the spell of the stories inside the story's format. I love the idea that the stories being told is how Grandfather Crow intends to learn about a person.
Is this novel about the glories of war or the value of relationships? This has been the struggle of progressives who write in this genre, the inherit glorification of war and conflict that inspired Spinrad to spoof Lord of the Rings in the Iron Dream. In that sense, at times I felt this novel had more kinship with Leguin’s Earth Sea than anything by Tolkien or Martin.
This book values nature, magic, and the spirit of adventure with-out the callous violence of many of its peers. The duty and destiny are there but I am not sure if Joseph Campbell ever mused on hero’s journey with this cast. To say this book is Inclusive is an understatement, but it is as casual and naturally delivered as the world-building. The casual off-handed reveal that our main hero is bisexual and disabled is refreshing and a host of queer and transgender characters are all very welcome. Representation matters and here it is done right.
“If you are neither man nor woman, what are you?”
“A third gender, one I don’t believe you acknowledge here in this little backwater country. I am bayeki. But what should concern you more is that I am a Watcher.”
There is a glorious spiritual nature to the journey the characters and the reader take with Black Sun. The power of the ocean delivering some of the most powerfully scary moments balanced by magic carried on the notes of beautiful songs. No one has to explain how the magic of this novel is tied to the ocean, the land of the sky.
“The sea herself," she said. "I am her daughter, and when I'm with my mother"--she exhaled gustily--"nobody fucks with her children.”
“That all is the same,” he said, understanding immediately. “There is no difference between yourselves and the land.”
Powerful stuff, the only weakness for me was minor. there were a few times when there was language or things that felt like our world. Like the F-bomb dropped above. I liked the sentiment but it felt a little out of place. Total nitpick and nothing that was not totally outweighed by the hundreds of exciting details I did love.
Black Sun is the first of a trilogy, and at 450 pages it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Perfect length because it is epic but not exhausting. While this is generally not the type of genre fiction I like. I am a dystopian or space opera reading this novel still worked for me. Roanhorse is a powerful writer who builds a world and characters that never lacks heart. Big Thumbs up.
No comments:
Post a Comment