Fevered Star: Between Earth and Sky, Book 2

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 2,258 ratings

Price: 17.71

Last update: 01-07-2025


About this item

USA TODAY Bestseller

Return to The Meridian with New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse’s sequel to the most critically hailed epic fantasy of 2020 Black Sun—finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Lambda, and Locus awards.

There are no tides more treacherous than those of the heart. —Teek saying

The great city of Tova is shattered. The sun is held within the smothering grip of the Crow God’s eclipse, but a comet that marks the death of a ruler and heralds the rise of a new order is imminent.

The Meridian: a land where magic has been codified and the worship of gods suppressed. How do you live when legends come to life, and the faith you had is rewarded?

As sea captain Xiala is swept up in the chaos and currents of change, she finds an unexpected ally in the former Priest of Knives. For the Clan of Matriarchs of Tova, tense alliances form as far-flung enemies gather and the war in the heavens is reflected upon the earth.

And for Serapio and Naranpa, both now living avatars, the struggle for free will and personhood in the face of destiny rages. How will Serapio stay human when he is steeped in prophecy and surrounded by those who desire only his power? Is there a future for Naranpa in a transformed Tova without her total destruction?

Welcome back to the fantasy series of the decade in Fevered Star—book two of Between Earth and Sky from one of the “Indigenous novelists reshaping North American science fiction, horror, and fantasy” (The New York Times) and the “epic voice of our continent and time” (Ken Liu, award-winning author of The Grace of Kings).

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Kaylyn Meyers
    5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect sequel.
    Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2022
    in Tova, winged serpents, golden eagles and crows fly the skies as water striders take to the waters below. alliances are born, war is looming, clan matriarchs clamor for control, magics are wielded, Gods are reborn and remade, assassins plot, love is torn and complex, friendships and families blossom and implode, political intrigue is rampant, plotting is thick and our guides from their varied points of view take us on journeys through it all - intermingling at the perfect moments.
    in Fevered Sun we’re brought back to see how our characters, only hours later, are dealing with the aftermath of Black Sun’s blood soaked finale. we watch throughout as they scramble to find their places, their people, and purpose in a now darkened city. we’re also given new, clearer perspectives of characters who were more aptly sidelined in the first novel.
    as invested as i became in our lead Serapio and his equal, Xiala, and their part of the story, i was hungry for and devoured Naranpas chapters. fleshing out her character was one of the absolute highlights of this book. i had my vague opinions on her in Black Sun, but this sequel brought her to a whole other level and shone a truly bright light on her abilities and political prowess. i can not wait to see what she becomes, quite literally, in the next installment of this series.
    one of Roanhorse’s strongest abilities is to write her characters as complex and gray as people, fictional and real, truly are. you are hard pressed to find specific “villains” and “heroes” as each person contains the traits of both and the decisions and paths they follow determine their actions that can be seen as either “good” or “bad” depending on circumstances as they themselves, and we, see them. many are put to the test and stretched to their limits in these 388 pages and i was invested in them all.
    Roanhorse is a powerhouse of a writer. if you are a reader who appreciates and enjoys a slow and precise build of a rich story, complex characters, LGBTQIA+ representation, a fully realized and detailed world, magic systems, politics and a truly epic journey - the Between Earth and Sky series is for you and i could not recommend it more highly.
    Customer image
    Kaylyn Meyers
    5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect sequel.
    Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2022
    in Tova, winged serpents, golden eagles and crows fly the skies as water striders take to the waters below. alliances are born, war is looming, clan matriarchs clamor for control, magics are wielded, Gods are reborn and remade, assassins plot, love is torn and complex, friendships and families blossom and implode, political intrigue is rampant, plotting is thick and our guides from their varied points of view take us on journeys through it all - intermingling at the perfect moments.
    in Fevered Sun we’re brought back to see how our characters, only hours later, are dealing with the aftermath of Black Sun’s blood soaked finale. we watch throughout as they scramble to find their places, their people, and purpose in a now darkened city. we’re also given new, clearer perspectives of characters who were more aptly sidelined in the first novel.
    as invested as i became in our lead Serapio and his equal, Xiala, and their part of the story, i was hungry for and devoured Naranpas chapters. fleshing out her character was one of the absolute highlights of this book. i had my vague opinions on her in Black Sun, but this sequel brought her to a whole other level and shone a truly bright light on her abilities and political prowess. i can not wait to see what she becomes, quite literally, in the next installment of this series.
    one of Roanhorse’s strongest abilities is to write her characters as complex and gray as people, fictional and real, truly are. you are hard pressed to find specific “villains” and “heroes” as each person contains the traits of both and the decisions and paths they follow determine their actions that can be seen as either “good” or “bad” depending on circumstances as they themselves, and we, see them. many are put to the test and stretched to their limits in these 388 pages and i was invested in them all.
    Roanhorse is a powerhouse of a writer. if you are a reader who appreciates and enjoys a slow and precise build of a rich story, complex characters, LGBTQIA+ representation, a fully realized and detailed world, magic systems, politics and a truly epic journey - the Between Earth and Sky series is for you and i could not recommend it more highly.
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  • John A. Folk-Williams
    4.0 out of 5 stars Richly Imagined World of the Americas
    Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2022
    Fevered Star is the second book in Rebecca Roanhorse’s brilliantly imagined series Between Earth and Sky. Picking up directly after the conclusion of Black Sun, Fevered Star pushes its central characters in new directions while building on their gods-driven purposes played out in a richly imagined setting that draws together elements of many pre-Columbian American cultures. The story centers around three people: a young man, Serapio, whose destiny is to become the Odo Sedoh, the crow god of fierce powers, Naranpa, a young woman who has taken in the power of the sun god, and Xiala, a tough sea captain who has magic power in her voice that can either calm a storm or let loose a killing violence. These are strong characters, each beset with inner conflicts about reconciling divine or magical powers with their human identities.

    The world they inhabit is just as compelling. The Meridian resembles many civilizations of different parts of the Americas brought together around the imaginary Crescent Sea. There is the holy city of Tova, built on cliffsides by the Tovasheh River, each district dominated by a Sky Made clan – golden eagle, carrion crow, water-strider, winged serpent – whose leaders fly on giant winged creatures and whose priests keep the world from falling into chaos. It is “wreathed by clouds and held together by silky woven bridges.” There is the trading city of Cuecola, “the hot breath of the world, heavy with humanity and jungle sweat,” the city of the plains, Hokaia, dominated by its great stepped pyramids (inspired by the real Cahokia that Annalee Newitz describes so well in Four Lost Cities), and the island territory of the sea-faring Teek.

    Roanhorse has created a rich background for the Meridian, detailing its rituals, priestly orders, magic traditions, history going back many centuries, writings, complicated geography, as well as its cities that play a big role in shaping the culture and personal outlook of her characters. It’s a world I wanted to spend a lot of time in, but the core of the story, naturally, is the way Meridian shapes the lives and fates of the people who are so vividly brought to life.
    ....

    Black Sun and Fevered Star tell one story (I think a third part must be on the way) and should be read together, as I did. This makes for a very long book, and a reader accustomed to the explosive inventiveness and high energy of Roanhorse’s first duology, The Sixth World (Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locusts) should be prepared for subtler and more inward looking characters. There are surely scenes of exciting violence in both Black Sun and Fevered Star, but there are also complex conspiracies that keep separating the main characters and deflecting them from their inevitable confrontation. Because this is a story with many layers, it is told through multiple points of view, and often it is the supporting characters who hold center stage. They give us new perspectives on the central characters while trying to make them serve the purposes of their own machinations.
    .....

    I find the world of Between Earth and Sky fascinating and powerful. This series is an imaginative triumph, and Roanhorse is bringing us ever richer and more diverse fantasy worlds.
  • Jmaynard
    5.0 out of 5 stars Characters take the spotlight
    Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2022
    I enjoyed Black Sun immensely; a dark fantasy inspired by Native American mythology. However, the world building somewhat overshadowed the character building. The sequel redresses that in a big, satisfying way.

    Black Sun ended with the Crow god reborn and the massacre at Sun Rock in Tova. Serapio was destined to die, but a nefarious scheme to oust the Sun Priest before the slaughter meant his mission was unfulfilled. The two god Avatars, Naranpa & Serapio, are left to figure out what happened and how to resolve the resulting turmoil and unfinished business between them. Meanwhile, the rest of the Nations eye a takeover of the trade-lucrative Tova. Xiala is right on the thick of it, alongside the Priest of Knives. Wanting to save and rejoin Serapio, she may be unable to even save herself.

    This was a fantastic sequel. The geopolitical machinations truly expand the worldbuilding and existing characters get substantial development. I cannot wait for the next book.

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