High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy set in an invented or parallel world to the one we live in. Some of the most famous and popular books in the epic fantasy genre include The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin, and The Witcher Saga by Andrzej Sapkowski. While these series have had immense success and even on-screen adaptations, one thing is very clear: this is a genre dominated by white men. And anyone who is familiar with the “woman written by a man” concept can guess exactly how female characters are depicted in these books. Though these stories are entertaining, the sexist and homophobic undertones make them difficult to read.
Rebecca Roanhorse is a Black and Indigenous author from Arkansas whose work takes inspiration from Indigenous cultures – including her 2018 series The Six Worlds which features Navajo characters. She released Black Sun in October of last year and it was nominated for the 2021 Locus Award, the 2021 Nebula Award, and 2021 Hugo Award. It is part of her new epic fantasy series, Between Earth and Sky.
Prior to European colonization, most indigenous cultures accepted and embraced the fluidity of gender and sexuality. Their concept of non-binary was also called Two Spirit and they were considered to have their own ceremonial and social role in their societies. The world of Black Sun is set in a pre-Columbian inspired fictional world where this norm is widely accepted. For the first time in my life, I saw a character who used neopronouns (xe/xir) with those pronouns repetitively used throughout the novel. Another minor character is a transgender woman, who only needs two sentences to address and explain her identity: “I was always a woman. I just needed some time to become who I am.” Their stories become more than their identities, and the inclusivity of such characters is unheard of in most epic fantasy worlds. In the acknowledgement, Roanhorse even states: “So much of epic fantasy is set in analogs of Western Europe that I think most readers believe that all fantasy must be set in a fake England in order to be considered epic.”
Black Sun follows four main characters. The first is Xiala, a bisexual ship captain who is marginalized because of her ability to connect with the sea. There is Serapio, believed to be a god by his fanatic mother, who had been blinded and scarred in his youth. Then there is Naranpa, the respected Sun Priest whose life is constantly in danger of assassination because she has enemies everywhere. And the last is Okoa, who is part of the enemy clan, Carrion Crow. The novel follows the stories of these four characters as they approach a world-changing solar eclipse. Each of them has complex, interconnected storylines that are skillfully written to make you want to root for all of them.
The novel received immense praise from other BIPOC fantasy writers. Rebecca F. Kuang, author of The Poppy War, said the series was “riveting from the beginning—Roanhorse is at the top of her game here.” S.A. Chakraborty, who wrote The Daevabad Trilogy, wrote that it was “absolutely tremendous. Roanhorse knocks it out of the park again with an epic tale about duty and destiny that will sweep readers away and broaden the horizons of an entire genre.” The paperback novel is $13.99 at Barnes and Noble and is also available for hold at the East Lansing Public Library. A sequel, Fevered Star, is expected to be released in April of next year, hopefully continuing the invigorating story of these destiny-bound characters.