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I'm real surprised to see a review for this years after release, but man I'm hopeful that more people will check it out, it's such a unique book that really just wow'd me.

I started this book yesterday. I'm currently halfway through, and I love it. The character interactions are amazing. I love how she writes people who quickly become friendly but in a realistic way. Many authors have a tendency to just make people be friends fast because the plot needs that. I love how Roanhorse manages these interactions (especially Serapio and Xiala).

Glad you’re talking about this book. I read it a few months ago. I took a chance at the bookstore and picked it up for the world inspired by pre-Columbian America, something there is (or at least I have experienced) a dreadful lack of, and finished it in like 3 days. I didn’t feel the same slight negative on the characters Daniel did (the “lack of oomph”) so take that for what it is. Weakest parts for me were Serapio’s flashbacks, but we don’t hang on them too long. Highly recommend.

i've had the book waiting on my shelf for quite a while now and was pushing it away for other reads, so i'm really happy to see this video and the comments recommending it! it's next on my list now for sure

So glad to see you talking about this one! I listened to the audio last year and was blown away by how addictive it was, and the worldbuilding is definitely a masterclass. Definitely deserves way more hype!

Yay! Love the review! My favorite thing about Roanhorse is how much power and energy she invokes in her books. They always pack a punch

Loved this review! I do understand that they aren’t the most viewed on your channel, but it does give me great glimpses into a good new read for me to recommend

Ok you stated my issues with lgbtq+ rep SO PERFECTLY! I would always say if felt so blatant and in your face but you saying it being their only thing and making them feel like a caricature is EXACTLY what I mean! Thank you!

Great review! I like to read/listen to books/audiobooks inspired by cultures and communities other than my own, and I really enjoyed Black Sun and its followup Fevered Star. Looking forward to the next in the series.

Just added to my TBR Do I need another book? According to my finances, no Am I getting the book anyways? Yes

I KNEW there was a reason you used to always wear that beautiful rainbow watch in your videos! So happy for and proud of you 🏳️‍🌈 Also, I can't wait to read this book! You totally put it on my radar. .

Black Sun is a great read! I need to continue this series.

Love this review! You have me so pumped to try it out based on how expansive the world building sounds!

I'm looking forward to reading Black Sun, thank you for a great review! And how did I miss your coming out previously?! Congrats and, if you've not heard it yet (or often enough), welcome to the community, you bright and adorkable you! 🦄🏳‍🌈😀

Hey! I’ve been hoping you’d do this review, the book is so good and deserves more hype than it got on release

I wanted to love Black Sun, but I couldn't. The world building was fantastic, but there was at least one character (Narumpah, probably not spelling that right, but the priestess) drove me up the wall. I couldn't understand why she was in the position she was in with the skillset she had. I loved the world, but her character felt like putting Aang in Game of Thrones. I could not get past it. I hated her in a way that drove me from the book. But the world building was SO good. I wanted the same world but with different characters. Or maybe just one different character.

@GordyYates

10 ай бұрын

Agree! I wasn't head over heels about any of the characters, but I HATED Naranpa. She couldn't do anything on her own. How in the world did she become the Sun Priest? And what does the Sun Priest even do? Is the Celestial Tower they even a religious organization? Cuz Naranpa and none of the other priests seemed particularly religious, more political. Which I know is part of religious leadership, but I have no idea what the organization believes or teaches. Actually didn't really like the book. Lots of potential, but it missed the mark

Freaking loved this book. One of my favorite reads last year.

Loved Black Sun and it moves so quickly, if you're wanting to smash something out and feel good for completing something, this book is an easy one

The way I was thinking about how pretty your hair is in this video and LITERALLY a second later you’re like “quick word from today’s sponsor” and then it was hair related. I LAUGHED SO HARD FROM THAT TIMING

Great heartfelt review Daniel, and sold me on many aspects you mentioned about this book. Hope your eye heals soon, until then let Kayla handle the power tools. 😁

The most disappointing part of Black Sun is that it could have been the coolest name for the final Red Rising book if Rebecca hadnt taken it first. Damn you Rebecca I shan't forgive this, no matter how intriguing your fantasy literature may be or the fact that I already bought it.

Yay I'm glad to hear this gets your thumbs up. I picked up this book a few months ago based on the recommendation from the bookseller, but it's still in my TBR pile. Same bookseller also recommended The Tiger's Daughter by K Arsenault Rivera which I also haven't read, but it apparently has LGBTQ rep as well. PS thank you for bringing that song back to my attention, I used to listen to it a lot back in the day!

Nice to see you getting around to this. It’s so solid.

I’ve been thinking about picking this one up as well, but I got like 46 other books on my radar first.

@DanielGreeneReviews

Жыл бұрын

Reader struggles

Black Sun was amazing and I was excited to see what happened next. But Fevered Star was on another level and now I NEED THE ENDING! 🧜‍♀️

Another book review, hell yeah!!

Loved this book and love that she's an indigenous author! Great world and magic and the right balance mystery, whimsy, nuance, and darkness. I listened to it and the audiobook was quite well done. It was a treat to hear Cara Gee (The Expanse) in one of the POVs.

LOVE to see a book review

I'm so excited to go read thisss!!!

TIL that Black Horse And The Cherry Tree is over 18 years old. What a throwback. Oh and I guess Black Sun sounds cool too

I love that KT Tunstall song!

I feel the exact same way about her other book Trail of Lightning. It's got great world building and the characters are interesting but are missing just something of more substance. I felt frustrated as well reading that series but fell in love with the world and native culture portrayed. If you haven't read it already I would love for you to give Trail of Lightening and Storm of locusts (it's sequel) a shot. I'll definitely add this to my to read list this year though!

I loved this one too and loved hearing your thoughts.

Black Sun is such a fantastic book and I am excited you covered it to get it in front of more readers, the second one was just as good in my opinion. The world and storytelling is fantastic, and I absolutely love the philosophical dilemma the reader gets in as these characters realities develop.

Just recently started this one and Im really enjoying it so far.

Read this book a few months ago. I really enjoyed it. I haven't gotten to the sequel yet unfortunately.

Damn you for extending my already long list which won't be finished in a lifetime ;-;

Just finished the book recently! It was a great read.

If this book was called black eye this review would have been perfect

About damn time you read this one, especially because I picked it up when it first came out because of your Fantasy News when you showed the map. I think the book did everything at a good level not great, except for the Mesoamerica world building which was just great. I enjoyed the second one a lot more since I feel like she developed the characters and magic in interesting ways. Glad to see you having read it though, hopefully you can give the second one a read here shortly. Third one should be out this August.

Idk I really wanted to like Black Sun, but I decided to DNF the book after the first couple of chapters. The worldbuilding was sometimes a bit too much for me and I somehow failed to connect with the characters. I appreciate that the author brought a non-eurocentric perspective into the genre and on its own, I would rate the book 3/5. My problem was probably the fact that my expectations were a bit too high based on all the 5-star reviews I've seen from others and it just didn't live up to my personal hype.

Solid review dude!

I hadn't heard about the "official" announcment, but let me say welcome to the queer community, then! :) Love your channel, you were partly the reason I got back to reading and updating my view of what I should look for in a good (fantasy) story/book! Thanks a lot! And this one is an insta-buy for me. :D

This sounds like something I can enjoy I'll try to check it out

This book was a blast. The second has middle book syndrome BUT I think the third is set up to be fantastic. I look forward to reading it

The last line of this review is so important as a reader. A good book doesn't need to restore your faith in literature, all it needs to do is remind you why you love reading. After the slog that was book 4 of malazan, and i DNF'd the series, i couldn't pick up anything for a month. Untill I finally pushed myself to read cradle. Is it a hallmark of literature that 50 years from now, we'll be handing down to our grandchildren? No. Is it fun, excellently written and makes you wanna never stop reading? ABSOLUTELY

I'm always very skeptical about mesoamerican fantasy because often times it doesn't feel authentic but I'm curious about it. My favorite book growing up was called "Oros Viejos" and it was a collection of Mesoamerican Folk tales. So I'm really looking forward reading something like this.

oooh i am very excited to read this novel now

I'm gonna like/comment/view this now and come back when I finish the book

Well, I'm sold on it! I think I'll wait to get it 'til the sequel comes out in paperback, though. Also, cat cameo! Precious cat cameo. 😺

3:40 that's enough goblin... you've convinced me to read it!

YES YES YES, an engaged audience absolutely imagines far more than what's there. Beginning singers, trying to reproduce a skilled performance from memory, will use way too many notes. Beginning dancers over-dance because they remember more than what happened. I believe Daniel is 100% correct about how excellent worldbuilding invites the audience to run with it; I'm only offering non-book examples because imo they're easier to observe.

I'm looking forward to reading this. The world building sounds intriguing, and I completely agree with your comments on LBTQ+ representation. If a straight man was always bragging about how much of a "ladies man" he is and talking about his sexual conquests all the time, it would be super annoying, so why is it OK for LGBTQ people to behave that way? Sexuality is obviously an important part of one's identity, but when you let that single trait define someone, it becomes boring.

I was having plenty of issue in regards to writing lgbt characters in my story, being gay myself. Thanks to this I've noticed how on the nose I was being instead of leaving space for the characters to just exist as characters and to naturaly have them bond with each other. Honestly this has applied to romance in general, that I've made it too on the nose without really thinking it was such.

Yes! Loved this book

I know I’m supposed to pay attention to the book review, but damn that thing left a mark on him!!!

Interesting that you thought Xiala was the main character. I saw her as a secondary to Serapio's perspective. I saw Serapio as the main character and Narampa as a co-main. It seemed like all perspectives were part of those two narratives.

I will now be able to date videos from the thumbnail as before or after the Drill Incident of 2023. Added Black Sun to my "To Read" list. Thanks!

i keep seeing this book at the bookstore.

hey daniel, i wonder if you are going to pick up hell bent? i remember you gave a very rave review of ninth house when it came out so i’m curious if you would continue with the sequel!

And the second book gets even better and bigger.

2:20 The thing about Middle-Earth is that it doesn't use the iceberg approach, at least not in the way modern authors use it, the it's not the illusion that there is so much more. The "so much more" is really there.

I know this comment is not related to the video, but your black cat is so cute!

Oh man did Daniel join the black eye club

Its kind of stunning to see how many anti-lgbtq+ comments there on this, questioning why promote this aspect of the book. Maybe its time for a discussion on why colorblind and tone deaf aproaches to literature don't make sense.

@UberOtaku001

Жыл бұрын

I'm queer and I like seeing queer stuff in books. Fiction that focuses on queer topics can often be too depressing, but I want happy fantasy stories that include queer stuff. Being told about it makes me more likely to read it but it won't make a bad story good.

@afnanbogey

Жыл бұрын

@@yogeybogeybear3542pretty much agree. No problem with the content, but race/sexuality doesnt need to be at the forefront of every character. Just as it matters to varying degrees to different people. But moreso, it seems to commonly be an empty branding slogan/categorisation from companies that hurts the product. From creators, it can often be a crutch. That goes for any labelling category, of course, but the hot topics of the generation seem to be race and sex, so they get abused the most.

@VancePetrol

Жыл бұрын

@@afnanbogey The problem I have with a lot of modern progressive fiction is that the extent to which the queer experience matters is often just superficial. It's there for them to recognize and thereby feel acknowledged. That is fine, good even, but for anyone that doesn't share that lived experience it isn't very compelling. People aren't advocating colourblindness, they're demanding complexity, nuance and understanding. How can you convince someone that doesn't readily agree with your viewpoints if you don't show that you DO understand THEM? How do cis-people empathise with the queer experience if there is nothing else for them to relate to? How do you educate someone on the struggle queer people experience if you don't go beyond acknowledging that they do?

@afnanbogey

Жыл бұрын

@@VancePetrol I’m down for nuance. I’ve just frankly not seen much of it in modern literature when it comes to progressive causes. And it’s not a politics or right/wrong thing, it’s a putting the cart before the horse thing. A lot of creatives seem to be so compelled about displaying the correct thing, they create very stale fake-edgy cookie-cutter characters. This goes for lgbt+ and ethnic minority characters alike, but really could apply to any cause-of-the-day. I have different criticisms of the right too, but this is what irks me about art from the modern left anyway.

Anytime I read the title I kept reading Black Hole Sun lol

9:39: How do you write good gay characters? "It's that simple. You just need to write people and make their sexuality different but treat it the same way maybe a little different from the politics and the beliefs of the world you're crafting. It's just a key part of who they are, without being a core part." Completely agree! Thank you!! I needed this. I know I have a gay character in the book (book series) that I'm writing and I can't tell you how much I struggled with this question and wanted to make it so that I'm not creating a caricature. This was spot on. You hit the mark. Also at 0:40-Worldbuilding. "Becoming more and more partial to worlds that really show me the author really trusts the reader to take an inch and run a mile with it". This right here. I feel like fantasy writers could follow this example. I know that for my book I, too, want to make it so that there's an exploration through its characters' travels and sort of trust that the reader will go with it and trust where we're going. I'll certainly look into Black Sun. Thanks for this!

Will you make a list of your "best" LBGTQ fantasy books? That would be amazing! I do collect that specific kind of books, but it's a bit hard to find really good ones.

DANIEL I FUCKING LOVE BLACK HORSE AND A CHERRY TREE!!! MY CHILDHOOD JAM!!!!

Sad when I found out this is not about "Kamen Rider Black Sun", but still a nice video

Oh crazy I just finished this a few months ago

(Around 9:20 ) “We’re getting way better about that, especially in fiction.” I would exclude TV and Movies from that, but otherwise I’d agree.

You give a strong recommendation, I buy easy

3/5 for me. It was a bit too on-the-nose. Felt a little preachy. The world-building was the best part.

Curious to know your reaction to the Nick Offerman performance of Bill in TLOU show.

sorry if this has been answered, but i haven't watched the past few videos, what happened to daniel's eye?

Clicked because I thought this might be about Black Sun Rising by CS Friedman - even though it isn't new 😅 Will stay because I like what you have to say

@zPencilPirate

Жыл бұрын

Omg I love Coldfire

I kept yelling 'Its Xiala!!!' (Zee-a-la) whenever he would pronounce Xailia 😂

I frankly do not agree that Black Sun had great worldbuilding (or any at all for that matter) because I sincerely do not see where other people noticed said worldbuilding at all. That's truly unfortunate considering how excited I was for the book before reading it.

Sounds like an awesome book! I must say I am rather disappointed by the amount of people in these comments criticizing it for literally just having a bi character, especially as a queer person myself. Anyways, thanks for the video! Still waiting for something about Tlou episode three, because that was awesome lol

What happened to your eye?

The way you pronounced Xiala completely through me off for a second, thank goodness for audiobooks 🤣 The sequel is not as engaging as Black Sun, it's quieter and slower and I feel it has a bit of middle book syndrome, but I'm sure the conclusion will be epic again.

As much as i neglect to practice much of this, this vid might inspire me a bit to jump. A genre of writing i have labeled myself, the "paradise/vision" genre. Roughly- the author's idea of paradise/vison put into narrative form. Derivation of the "vision board" idea. And plus, the experimental "method" of intrinsically motivative writing. -write, as if you are also at the sametime reading the book you want to read.

Daniel reviewing Black Sun while holding his black son 3:12

@dookieshoe2905

Жыл бұрын

All while sporting a Black eye. XD

I thought he was gonna say Rebecca Rose Rushmore. “It’s a shame about Marshall Nevada’s emotional unavailability.”

One of my favorite books of all time! The second is good, but much slower and more political. Also, dang that drill did a number on you.

Have you read Magitech Chronicles by Chris Fox?

Glad you enjoyed the book, but I had a very different experience then you. I found the world not very fleshed out and not much happened. The characters were not great to me, feeling very one dimensional or super special awesome and I hated the romance story. I came into reading this with high expectations from the word of mouth and felt like I read a completely different book from the rest of the world XD

Aw, I'm bi too! Congrats on coming out! I definitely want to pick up this book!

Have yiu read " the priory of the orange tree?"

Nice, you got the lgtbq+ box checked. Good work.

i guess i'll have to read it then xD

Who gave Daniel that shiner?

disappointed at some of the comments. I wonder if covering certain mediums and genres means your auidence leans more conservative

@vos7619

Жыл бұрын

Oh for sure. I think they come from the fantasy and scifi news segments. I see a lot of weird comments on those videos

You might want to check out Legacy of the Brightwash for more good bisexual rep. SPFBO finalist too.

Thank you for the review! Sounds like this could be just what I was looking for. Would love to get more LGBTQ+ recommendations for fantasy and sci fi books.

daniel, when a "novella recomendations" will come out?? :v

7.5 IS DAMN GOOD?! Then what has he scored higher??

The second book in the series is just as good - less exposition/more action - looking forward to the 3d