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Summer Reading 2021: Black Sun

Why Sarah picked Black Sun

I want to read Black Sun (the first installment in a planned trilogy) this summer because it was recommended to me by an Urban alum who shares my literary taste. It's high fantasy set in pre-Columbian Americas and was a finalist for many awards this past year and won one of my favorites, the Alex Award, given to adult titles that appeal to young adults (and me, lol). Join me in reading this epic novel by an award-winning author!

About Black Sun

Black Sun

by Rebecca Roanhorse

 

The 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 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. - Goodreads

 

[Check out the interview with the author below!]

An interview with the author

About the reader

  Sarah Levin, Library Director

Past books picked by Sarah:

  • This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
  • Metamorphosis by Peter Kuper and Franz Kafka
  • The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
  • Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou
  • Stitches: a memoir by David Small
  • Pride of Baghdad written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Niko Henrichon
  • Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
  • The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan