The Plot Thickens: Fevered Star

In Fevered Star, we return to the Americas as conceived by Rebecca Roanhorse for her Between Earth and Sky series, introduced to us by the hit novel Black Sun in 2020. 

As we catch up with the point of view characters from Black Sun—Serapio, the Crow God who escaped death; Naranpa, the Sun God who survived betrayal and murder attempts; Xiala, a siren captain with a mysterious past; and Okoa, the second in line to the Crow clan—we see the after effects of generations of court intrigue and distrust among the clans that make up The Meridian. True to its place as the second book in a series, Fevered Star expands our understanding of the power dynamics among the clans while also introducing us to parts of the world heretofore unseen. A great deal of this exploration comes from the point of view of a new character who calls upon a jaguar god and has a hand in motivating Serapio, Naranpa, and Xiala’s choices—often without their knowledge.

Given the emotional toll the events of Black Sun had on each of the characters, it is small wonder that we meet them in varied levels of chaos. Roanhorse does an excellent job of showing the intensity behind the choices presented to each character as well as how these choices change how others interact with them. This is no small undertaking given the number of personal and political machinations proding major sects of The Meridian. From the militant religious followers of the Crow God, to the coyote bosses of disenfranchised Tova, to the roundtable of unknown political leaders from across the countries that make up The Meridian, no character’s allegiances are straightforward and everyone must be on guard at all times. Thankfully, Roanhorse’s maneuvering of these dynamics is masterful and by the end of the book you are primed to see where the character development and courtly intrigue culminates. This is definitely a book that will keep you longing for more, just as a sequel book in a series should.