It oughta be a movie: Black Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse
This book seems to be the start of a very promising and unique fantasy series. Set in a world inspired by the various cultures of pre-Columbian America, it follows three primary characters: Xiala, a hard-drinking bisexual ship’s captain, who has been released from prison with the assignment to reach the city of Tova within 20 days; her mysterious and rather spooky passenger Serapio, a blind young man who communicates with crows; and Naranpa, a young woman who rose from the slums to become the Sun Priest of Tova. The story has romance and action and a lot of visual details that would translate well to the screen in either animated or – if you could get sufficient budget and proper casting – live action format.
I really liked the first two characters and their dynamic. Xiala is worldly and cynical and earthy. Serapio is…not sheltered, exactly. His mother and guardians have actually been quite cruel to him, making him the vessel of a god without any regard for his life or autonomy2, and his father neglected him. But there is something kind of innocent about him even when he is wreaking havoc1. Xiala and Serapio are at first drawn together mainly through being outcasts - though Xiala initially assumes they won’t get on, since something about her always pisses religious types off. Xiala is a Teek. Her people are basically mermaid Amazons living in a cross between Themyscira and Atlantis. She can never be sure if people are going to value her water magic, try to lynch her as an evil spirit, or try to steal her finger bones or her multi-colored eyes as good luck charms. Serapio discovers, once out in the world, that his ritual scars and black robes mark him as a cultist of Grandfather Crow, a group that is viewed with a high degree of suspicion in Tova. Which is exactly why he is going there – his people were once slaughtered in an event known as the Night of the Knives, and he is meant to be an agent of vengeance.
But, on the journey, he’s been discovering so many aspects to life he never knew before. Seriously, watching these two is like seeing Mermista and a less obviously angry version of Zuko fall for each other, and it is adorable:
“So…?” the woman asked, dragging a finger down Xiala’s arm… “No,” Xiala said, resolute, “but thanks for the offer.:…Xiala listened to their laughter trailing away into the night, and exhaled heavily. “Why didn’t you go?” Serapio asked. “She seemed very interested in you.” “Shut up,” she muttered… “Apparently, I don’t want to have a good time with fun attractive people. I want to sit morosely in an empty room and drink with you instead.”
So when Xiala realizes he’s supposed to die to accomplish his mission…will she be tempted to use her mind-altering Voice to save him? And would he ever forgive her if she did?
1. There’s one scene where my reaction was: “Aww, he’s coming to her rescue! So sweet! But also…auuggh, there are a billion crows eating people’s eyeballs!”
2. It was his mother who sewed his eyes shut, and he actually kills some of his tutors because they were so rough with him he feared they’d hurt his birds.
.
On paper, Naranpa is equally cool. However, in practice she felt way too naïve for someone who made it from desperate poverty to the highest religious office in the land by her late 20s. Someone like that should be very adept at the game of thrones, as it were, but she keeps getting caught off guard by assassination attempts and double-crosses and the fact that there is a conspiracy to instigate another genocidal attack on Carrion Crow. That’s why I really liked her estranged brother Denaochi, who is basically the leading gang kingpin of the Coyote’s Maw, the literal under-city of Tova. He’s also clawed his way to a position of power3, and even though we only spend a few pages with him it is clear that he has the scars and streetwise vibe that you would expect to come with that. Granted, Naranpa’s path was “softer”, but still!
3. Seriously, I really want the back story on how he got from teenage sex slave to THAT.
I really enjoyed the details of this world. It isn’t just superficially Indigenous; aspects of traditions from throughout Central and South America are woven all throughout. Cacao seeds are used as one form of currency. People wear huipils, or skirts and leggings for all genders, or feather cloaks and headdresses. They eat stews of squash, beans, and turkey; drink hot chocolate flavored with chili; and consume corn in all forms. Blood sacrifices are given by jabbing a stingray spine in your tongue. The four directions have major symbolic importance. And there are two important third-gender characters4 – also quite authentic, as many Indigenous cultures had or have more than two recognized genders. There’s a binary trans character too5, full switches in gender also being recognized by some groups.
4. Iktan, Naranpa’s ex and Priest of Knives, is amazing in a slightly scary way! Naranpa is worried for xir near the end of the book because of a coup, but I’m pretty confident Iktan will only be DOING the stabbing for the forseeable future. Also xe is pretty protective of Nara, so I don’t think the conspirators disclosed their full plans!
5. “Maaka’s wife smiled. ‘You don’t remember me, do you, Okoa? We played together as boys.’… ‘Feyou…But now you are a woman.’ ‘I was always a woman,’ Feyou said. ‘I just needed some time to become who I am.’
I didn’t realize this wasn’t a stand-alone book at first, but about 150 pages from the end I started hoping it was since there didn’t seem to be enough time to wrap up all the plot threads. Also, I was promised flying feathered serpents and hadn’t seen any yet! The resolution is very dramatic and a bit sad, with two out of the three protagonists being mostly dead. But, (as Miracle Max would say): “There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.” So I’m really eager to find out what happens next!
Adaptation issues:
If this were adapted as live action, the special effects, set design, and costuming would be pretty expensive but spectacular. Animation, of course, could capture all of it with no compromises! Another key aspect would be casting. One really ought to get all Native American or Chicano actors if doing this live action, and to voice at least the main named cast if animated – which would be a really cool opportunity for any actors of those backgrounds looking to get discovered!
