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.
Excellent worldbuilding, likeable characters - it actually pulls off the thing I've seen a few times where characters on opposing sides are all presented as likeable. Often, I end up not caring about any of them; here, I find myself wanting things to go well for all of them.
Selling points: South/meso-American-inspired setting; bi rep; nonbinary rep. (Also blind rep but I'm not sure I can recommend it on that basis - Rebecca Roanhorse obviously made an effort with the disability rep here, but he's also a reincarnated god, and as someone who's not blind on that level myself I don't think I can fairly judge whether or not she hit the balance well.)
Warnings: violence; child abuse; child neglect; ritual injury of a child by a parent; a sex scene, tasteful but fairly explicit; end on quite a sequel-hungry note.
Warnings:
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.
