Black Sun

Black Sun is the first book in the Between Earth and Sky series by Rebecca Roanhorse. It is an epic fantasy novel that focuses on Indigenous characters, settings, and mythologies. The book is a secondary world fantasy; its setting is distinct from the real world. Black Sun uses a fictionalized setting and cultures as allusions to real-world, pre-Columbian cultures. Roanhorse is an Indigenous writer dedicated to representing Indigenous cultures and characters within her science fiction and fantasy work.

The title, Black Sun, refers to an event which happens during the book’s climax called the convergence. The convergence occurs during the winter solstice and when the moon eclipses the sun, causing the sun to appear black. There is a prophesy that the balance of the universe’s power will shift during this event. The convergence will give power to the Odo Sedoh, who is the human vessel for the old crow god. As the balance of power is shifting, the eclipse stays in the same place in the sky. This is unusual for cosmic events, even in the fantasy world in which this novel is set.

Black Sun was nominated for the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 2021 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, and the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror. This study guide refers to the 2020 Saga Press hardcover edition.

Plot Summary

Black Sun makes extensive use of flashbacks to move temporally and illustrate connections between past and future events. There are a few places in the book where back-to-back chapters narrate chronologically sequential events, but this is rare. The narratives of the four major characters are braided into threads that move the plot along, albeit with big differences in pacing. Although all of the main characters are affected by the plot arcs and subplots, they are not all interpersonally interconnected.

The same plot event is narrated several times from the point of view of multiple main characters. Serapio, Xiala, and Naranpa are the primary three; only Serapio and Xiala meet and interact at length.

Serapio is the Odo Sedoh, the vessel for the old crow god. He is the weapon of the Odohaa, believers in a unique crow religion. He has trained his entire life for the day in which he will go to the city of Tova to exact revenge upon the celestial tower, an academy focused on astrology and astronomy, and shift magical power from the Tower’s priesthood to the Odohaa. When he was a child, his mother prepared him for this duty by blinding him, believing that he would become the crow god. Serapio has received extensive training from tutors in combat, perception, and the use of magic.

Serapio travels on a ship captained by a woman named Xiala. The ship sails from the port city of Cuecola to the capital city of Tova. In Tova, Serapio confronts the Sun Priest. Along the way, he accidentally falls in love with Xiala: they bond over their shared status as outsiders. Violence perpetuated by the crew against them draws them closer. Xiala is a bisexual Teek exile who becomes captain to buy a better future for herself. Heartbroken over the loss of her people and culture, she seeks solace from Serapio and through alcohol.

Naranpa is the Tovan Sun Priest. She tries to make the spiritual and religious powers of the priesthood better serve the people. She struggles against classism and inter-clan strife as she works to improve and unite the priesthood. She fails and is demoted from her role as Sun Priest in a big power shift from within the priesthood. However, this works to her advantage when Serapio kills the person wearing the Sun Priest garments, as Naranpa is not inside the ceremonial mask and robes.

Okoa is the Carrion Crow prince and son of Yatliza, the matron who leads the Carrion Crow. Yatliza dies under mysterious circumstances, bringing him back to the city of Tova. At the funeral, he greets Naranpa, the Tovan Sun Priest. He’s pushed into her in what other priests erroneously interpret as an assassination attempt. In the scuffle, he’s stabbed with a poison knife; members of the Odohaa save him and provide him with an antidote. When he recovers, he cannot find his giant crow, Benudah; he discovers that Benudah has spent the night protecting Serapio after Serapio launched an attack as the crow god’s vessel. The book ends with Okoa carrying a half-conscious Serapio as he rides Benudah to a rookery in the mountains and to safety.