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Black Sun Volume 1

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Black Sun Volume 1

By: Rebecca Roanhorse
Narrated by: Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab, Shaun Taylor-Corbett
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About this listen

 Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Series!

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the “engrossing and vibrant” (Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Riot Baby) first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

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 even 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.

Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created a “brilliant world that shows the full panoply of human grace and depravity” (Ken Liu, award-winning author of The Grace of Kings). This epic adventure explores the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in this “absolutely tremendous” (S.A. Chakraborty, nationally bestselling author of The City of Brass) and most original series debut of the decade. Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Historical World Literature Royalty Native American

Critic Reviews

"This epic fantasy, which includes political upheaval, taboo magic, and a hint of romance, is narrated by an array of textured voices. In this intense, adventurous story, inspired by pre-Columbian civilizations, every voice is clear and grave. While Cara Gee and Nicole Lewis are slightly warmer in tone than Kaipo Schwab and Shaun Taylor–Corbett, make no mistake—all the narrators remind us that everything is at stake in this fantasy. Having four narrators for overlapping storylines may seem like a lot at times, given the numerous characters and the constant movement within this adventure. But each voice is distinct and drives the story forward, leading to an explosive ending."
All stars
Most relevant
The story starts and it is brutal and you are left reeling wondering WTF is going on here. And I was hooked. The words were descriptive spinning a story that you could almost see in front of you. And although you were following several characters stories i never got lost because they worked so well together.World building is beautiful and real. And I really liked that they threw the traditional family unit, that is part of most stories I have read, out the window in this story. It was refreshing and I really loved this story. Can’t wait to read more.

Hooked from the beginning!

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a very different perspective and really interesting. well told and entertaining. can't wait for bood two.

surprising

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With an incredible story rooted in Mesoamerican and North American indigenous cultures, you'll love blowing those cobwebby old European fantasy tropes out of your brain with something completely new and fresh. Added bonus that Cara Gee who plays Drummer on The Expanse is only one of the four excellent voice actors for this book. The only downside of reading this is waiting for the next installment.

Blow the cobwebby old European fantasy tropes away

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I honestly found the romance aggravating, but that did not diminish the epic storytelling Roanhorse did. It was great!

I wanted to hate it, but I couldn’t | Talent >

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beautifully written. the world building & the characters are flawless. i look forward to reading book 2!

amazing!

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I loved the story and relationships and setting and everything
what an ingeneous way to create a god, and in a way so fitting to the cultural imagery
great to hear native voices, great performances

fantastic beautiful harsh wonderful

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Started well and two of the three storylines were interesting. A bit anticlimactic ending as well.

Promising start but didn't deliver

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.