So much of the heavy lifting of representation is in my reading. I spent so much time trying to quantify why I felt so automatically connected to Sunbearer Trial characters/story in a way that I was not with Rings of Power or House of Dragon.ī. Starting up House of Dragon & Rings of Power while in middle of reading this really made me think so much about representation.Ī. The trials were interesting at certain points but not as cool as they could have been. Repetitive? Towards the latter half of the story, I felt it was not moving forward enough. I enjoyed being on the tour of the Mexican inspired fantasy world. Not to mention there is a softness/peacefulness to this story in general.ī.

There is something peaceful about representation just being automatically the default/ fabric of story. Reading this while experiencing the first few episodes of Rings of Power & House of Dragon (and all the discussion around them) I’m just excited to be in the middle of something that is: centering folks of different skin tones, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, disability and body types. There are so many peaceful things about this story.Ī. Friendship and folks being nice is always a plus for me.ĭ. The story could have easily made certain people villains but did not.Ĭ. The kids chosen for trials feel like teenagers and good people.ī. Teo is determined to get himself and his friends through the trials unscathed-for fame, glory, and their own survival.Ī. Worst of all, Teo’s annoyingly handsome ex-best friend and famous semidiós Hero, Aurelio is favored to win. Now they must compete in five trials against Gold opponents who are more powerful and better trained. Teo, and Xio, the thirteen-year-old child of the god of bad luck. Sol chooses not one, but two Jade competitors. His best friend, Niya is a Gold semidiós and a shoo-in for the Trials, and while he trusts her abilities, the odds of becoming the sacrifice is one-in-ten.īut then, for the first time in over a century, the impossible happens. Teo, a seventeen-year-old Jade semidiós and the trans son of the goddess of birds, isn’t worried about the Trials. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser has the greatest honor of all-they will be sacrificed to Sol, their body melted down to refuel the Sun Stones, protecting the world for another ten years. Sol selects ten of the most worthy semidioses to compete in the Sunbearer Trials. I’m not a real hero.”Īs each new decade begins, the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the chaotic Obsidian gods at bay.

“Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. Welcome to The Sunbearer Trials, where teen semidioses compete in a series of challenges with the highest of stakes, in this electric new Mexican-inspired fantasy from Aiden Thomas, the New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys.

The sunbearer trials barnes and noble