Black Sun

There has recently been a bounty of Mesoamerican inspired fantasy, with Black Sun following close on the heels of Anna Stephen's ‘The Stone Knife'. This has to be a good thing as it opens up a whole new set of cultural references to be given a fantastical take. I cannot help but be happy that fantasy is moving on from the tired Medieval European tropes!

Black Sun has all the hallmarks of great fantasy, with some priesthoods riven with power struggles, a mysterious blind man with strange powers and a sea captain who has a greater affinity with water than might initially be assumed... Everything builds as these different elements march towards a meeting during the eclipse - the Black Sun of the title. Wrap this all within a Mesoamerican setting and you are left with this delightfully brutal and dark story.

I absolutely loved this, the world created, the mythology and the characters were all brilliantly realized and wrapped in an easy reading prose and a borderline grimdark plot. Highly recommended!