paperback, 464 pages
Published June 7, 2021 by Gallery / Saga Press.
A god will return When the earth and sky converge Under the black sun
In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.
Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.
I haven't read enough fantasy since I started reading again to say much that can't be disentangled from my reading experience. I will say: I found the characters interesting, their dynamics more so, and the backdrop of the meso-american inspired fantasy captivating. It was so compelling I finished in one sitting. As soon as the book club for this one wraps, I'm starting the sequel.
… Punktabzug für das Cliffhanger-Ende. Dachte die Geschichte sei abgeschlossen, aber das „Ende“ ist kein so semi offenes, sondern richtig offen. Nunja, muss ich wohl auch das Sequel, „Fever Star“ hören. Was mich auch störte an dem nicht abgeschlossen Ende: Es fühlte sich an, als hätte die Autorin sich nicht getraut, bei manchen Charakteren eine Entscheidung zu treffen. Aber wir werden sehen, ich hoffe, dass ich falsch liege. :)
Was die Story angeht: Schönes Fantasy Setting wenn mich auch der arg symmetrische Aufbau (es gibt etwa genau 4 Clans und passend Stadtviertel und so) etwas irkt und zu sehr an Sentai Serien erinnert. Schön, dass queere Charaktere vorkommen und Neopronomen nicht hinterfragt werden. Nicht so toll fand ich, dass die meisten Protagonist_innen Auserwähle oder Royals sind, was mich immer sehr anöded. Ich erlebe lieber Geschichten von 0815 working class Charakteren und ohne Magie (jdf dann wenn nur Auserwählte diese nutzen …
… Punktabzug für das Cliffhanger-Ende. Dachte die Geschichte sei abgeschlossen, aber das „Ende“ ist kein so semi offenes, sondern richtig offen. Nunja, muss ich wohl auch das Sequel, „Fever Star“ hören. Was mich auch störte an dem nicht abgeschlossen Ende: Es fühlte sich an, als hätte die Autorin sich nicht getraut, bei manchen Charakteren eine Entscheidung zu treffen. Aber wir werden sehen, ich hoffe, dass ich falsch liege. :)
Was die Story angeht: Schönes Fantasy Setting wenn mich auch der arg symmetrische Aufbau (es gibt etwa genau 4 Clans und passend Stadtviertel und so) etwas irkt und zu sehr an Sentai Serien erinnert. Schön, dass queere Charaktere vorkommen und Neopronomen nicht hinterfragt werden. Nicht so toll fand ich, dass die meisten Protagonist_innen Auserwähle oder Royals sind, was mich immer sehr anöded. Ich erlebe lieber Geschichten von 0815 working class Charakteren und ohne Magie (jdf dann wenn nur Auserwählte diese nutzen können, das ist mir immer zu elitistisch und rassistisch).
Schön fand ich am Hörbuch, dass es mehrere Sprecher_innen gab. Leider fand ich nicht alle überzeugend, einer schien mir wesentlich zu apathisch für die Rolle, die er sprach.
Listened to this over a weekend where I REALLY needed to escape, it was fun and engaging and I definitely got really wrapped up in the world. I didn't know very much going into it but I'd read another short story by this author that I really liked and I saw it recommend a bunch / nominated for hugo, etc. I thought the setting was extremely sick and want to learn more about how the author built the world. Lots of fantasy elements which is unfortunately not totally my jam, but I enjoyed it a lot nonetheless.
As it says on the wrapper, part one of an epic fantastical adventure based in pre-columbian mesoamerica-ish with high priests and dark magic and factional intrigue and primarily women and enby characters.
This book blew me away with how good it was. It's set in a fantasy world based on the pre-Columbian Americas, and is chock-full of interesting, diverse characters. The bulk of the story is set in the city of Tova, religious center of Meridian, where the different Sky Made clans and their matrons live, and the priests of the Celestial Tower try to shape society. Not long ago, there was a massacre of the Crow Clan, instigated by the Celestial Tower, and cultists who do not follow the priests' beliefs are waiting for the return of Grandfather Crow, to take revenge.
The book starts 20 days before the Convergence, a rare solar eclipse during winter solstice, and Grandfather Crow is traveling towards Tova in the form of a young man named Serapio, one of the PoV characters. Since childhood he has been groomed towards the day of the Convergence, to …
This book blew me away with how good it was. It's set in a fantasy world based on the pre-Columbian Americas, and is chock-full of interesting, diverse characters. The bulk of the story is set in the city of Tova, religious center of Meridian, where the different Sky Made clans and their matrons live, and the priests of the Celestial Tower try to shape society. Not long ago, there was a massacre of the Crow Clan, instigated by the Celestial Tower, and cultists who do not follow the priests' beliefs are waiting for the return of Grandfather Crow, to take revenge.
The book starts 20 days before the Convergence, a rare solar eclipse during winter solstice, and Grandfather Crow is traveling towards Tova in the form of a young man named Serapio, one of the PoV characters. Since childhood he has been groomed towards the day of the Convergence, to kill the Sun Priest in Tova. Aiding him in getting to Tova is Xiala, a vivacious Teek captain who likes to play hard and soothe the seas with her song.
The other PoV characters are Narapa, the young Sun Priest, who is beset by political machinations on all sides as well, plus Okoa, the son of the Crow Clan's matron who died under mysterious circumstances.
The Convergence of all those characters is skillfully done, I was at the edge of my seat as the day count in each chapter got smaller, and could easily have read 500 more pages of the good stuff. The flashbacks to Serapio's youth were always very interesting too. Serapio must be the most tragic character I have read of in recent times.
The world is vibrant, colorful, gripping. Hooray for non-European centric Fantasy, get me more of this stuff.
Roanhorse has created a lush world and a set of flawed yet endearing characters. The story is the first in a series, so you are left wanting to read the sequel (which isn't done at the moment), so it succeeds as a delicious tease too.
