44 pages • 1 hour read
Black Sun
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Chapters 29-32Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 29 Summary
Four days before the convergence, Xiala arrives at the mouth of the Tovasheh River; the city of Tova is on the same river, further down. It’s cold and rainy; Xiala is uncomfortable. She docks at the port in the rivermouth and Serapio sets off to sell their cargo and find them separate transportation upriver. Xiala finds the harbormaster and is pleased to discover she’s a woman.
They sell the cargo and ship; they find transportation upriver. Xiala internally berates herself for her inability to hold on to money or stay stable in one place. She meets Serapio on the riverboat, where he hands her new clothes he bought from one of the pilgrims onboard. The pilgrims are traveling for the solstice celebrations in Tova, and they occupy themselves on board the ship with gambling and drinking.
An attractive woman and her brothers ask Xiala to spend the evening having a good time with them, but she turns them down to spend more time with Serapio. She dreads what will happen when they reach Tova and go their separate ways. He offers to tell her, but she pushes him aside and goes to take a bath.
Chapter 30 Summary
When Xiala returns from her bath, Serapio is dozing; he feels her register more brightly in his awareness. She slides into bed next to him and cuddles with him. He explains that he’s a vessel for the crow god; that his mother blinded him so his eyes could serve as an entry point for the god’s power.
Xiala admits to Serapio that she can’t go back to the Teek homeland because her mother was “an abusive monster” who banished her with the threat of death should she return (354). Xiala assumes that Serapio’s journey to Tova means he’s returning home, to the Carrion Crow; he counters that he’s there to meet with the Sun Priest.
Xiala worries about what the future will hold for her after they get to Tova; she falls asleep against Serapio, crying.
Chapter 31 Summary
Five months before the convergence, Serapio meets again with his tutor Powageh. Powageh asks Serapio directly whether he killed the other tutors and Serapio, not answering, asks how Powageh knows. They discuss what makes a person good or bad, and Serapio admits that he killed the first tutor because the tutor beat him and the second because she threatened the clan. Powageh fears for his own life, but Serapio does not plan to kill him.
Powageh instructs Serapio on his duties during the day of convergence. The eclipse will happen for only twelve minutes, and during that time Serapio must kill the Sun Priest by speaking his true name and letting the power of the crow god destroy both Serapio as the vessel and the power invested in the Sun Priest, thereby shifting the balance of power in the universe from the sun god to the crow god.
Chapter 32 Summary
Three days before the convergence, Xiala wakes up alone on the riverboat. She goes out to see what’s making the boat move so fast and spots a water strider harnessed to the front of the boat, pulling it along. The attractive woman from the night before introduces herself and offers to let Xiala pet the water strider if she wants. She admits that she and her brothers are not pilgrims, but boat security for the travelers who might be making their way to Tova for the solstice.
Serapio is sparring with the brothers, and Xiala watches him fight. Although he is blind, he wins against the brothers repeatedly. Serapio tells the brothers that he trained with a spearmaiden and a celestial tower guard—true, as they were his first two tutors. This makes the family extremely interested in Serapio and his business in the city during the solstice. Uncomfortable, Serapio returns to their room to rest. Xiala decides to play gambling games with the family, and when she goes back to their room she’s won back more than what they spent on the riverboat fare.
In their room, Serapio shows Xiala the carving he’s making for her: it’s her shapeshifted form. They discuss the inquisitive family and what they might want from Serapio. Serapio thinks they’re followers of the old crow god and pray for the god’s return. He finally admits to Xiala that he is the vessel for the crow god. At first, she doesn’t believe him; when she realizes he’s telling the truth, she nearly vomits at the thought that he is going to Tova to die.
Chapters 29-32 Analysis
These chapters detail at length Serapio’s exact plans once he arrives in Tova for the convergence. The big reveal shapes everything about the plot from this point forward: the reader knows what is likely to happen next, and though Roanhorse foreshadows the outcome, she leaves details for later chapters. The dread that Xiala feels creates tension in place of the book’s climax being a mystery.
Serapio and Xiala are outsiders in the places where they find themselves—on the sea and in Tova—neither of them has a complete home to which they can return. In these chapters, Xiala reveals her permanent outsider status even among her own people, the Teek; Serapio reveals that even though he will be among others of the Carrion Crow, he will still be set apart, an outsider—though his outsider status is primarily due to an elevated status rather than that of an outcast.
Neither of them will ever be able to live an average or normal life as part of the cultural and religious communities to whom they belong; however, their response to this reality differs greatly. On the one hand, Serapio is at peace with his role in the greater plans of Carrion Crow; on the other, he never had a choice. His mother initiated him into the role when he was young and ensured that others would train him after her death. Both Xiala and Serapio take home with them wherever they go; they find only a temporary home in each other.
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By Rebecca Roanhorse
