Rebecca Roanhorse (The Sixth World series) continues to prove herself a mighty talent in Black Sun, the stunningly fresh and imaginative opener to her Between Earth and Sky trilogy.
A storm of reckoning is trained on Tova, the city of the Sky Made Clans, where the last Sun Priest ordered his deadly Watchers to massacre the Carrion Crow clan years ago. Vengeance comes in the form of Serapio, a young man with sewn-shut eyes and an immense power he plans to unleash during Tova's solstice celebration. Xiala, a tough, hard-drinking outcast from a legendary people with a magical connection to the ocean, captains the ship transporting him. In Tova, newly appointed Sun Priest Naranpa works to mend ties with Carrion Crow and reform the priesthood, but factions within the celestial tower of the priests rebel against her progressive ideas and lowborn origin. Xiala clashes with her suspicious crew and bonds with Serapio, whom she considers "dangerous, unfathomably attractive, and clearly on some single-minded mission that made him entirely unavailable." However, brewing unrest may upset the city's fragile balance before they can arrive.
This pre-Columbian-derived fantasy stands relatively alone in a genre dominated by European- or Asian-inspired settings, and Roanhorse does justice to the setting with diverse and detailed cultures, a complex political landscape and fantastical creatures and magical systems rooted in a blend of ancient Indigenous mythology. Bold, richly emotional and expertly crafted, Black Sun shines brighter than even the highest expectations. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads