One of those strange settings which are probably SF, but all the protagonists are living a feudal/bucolic fantasy life. Although none of characters know anything of this, much as one of them might be beginning to suspect, it seems like sometime in the distant past a catastrophe struck the moon, or maybe earth itself, moving it much closer to the sun. The survivors had two distinct strategies - shadowkin remain close to baseline humanity,living in communities of permanent shade but civilized enough, with trappings of hierarchy farming et al. Skykin however manage to spend their time out in the brilliant permanent sunshine and have adapted to their new world flora and fauna in it. They do so by mutating when they approach the cusp of adulthood they leave their shadow creche's and are given an animus - a potent spirit that binds them to the world imbuing them with senses and abilities, and changing them to survive in the harsh conditions of the rest of world - unless it fails to take.

We follow two scholars in two different shadow communities, one a ruling Duke's cousin, and the other the head of the local religion. Both approach knowledge from different directions and privileges but with understanding. the third character is a rebellious skykin teenager, who fails to bond with her animus and becomes clanless. However possessing a fierce will to survive and indeed flaunt her continued presence at an uncaring universe. It's initially quite unclear how these story-lines will intersect, and they mostly don't until perhaps the very last quarter. The world-building is very well thought through, with all the changes that such an environment might create over millennia, and how different species might adapt. I found the pacing a little bit disjointed as we frequently switched from one character to another in totally different situations.

Enjoyable and different, I'm looking forward to the sequel. ( )

Note: I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.

My favorite genre is science fiction, even though I started out loving fantasy twenty years ago when I started developing my own tastes. I have always read some fantasy, mainly those works described as the best in the genre, or works that are some sort of crossover (like post-apocalyptic novels were old technology/knowledge is magic). Anyway, when Hidden Sun by Jaine Fenn, published by Angry Robot, came up for review on NetGalley I was intrigued by the description of a noblewoman scientist on a quest in the skyland. Fenn describes it as science-fantasy, and while I like a bit more science in this mix, at least there was some science and technology to be found in Hidden Sun.

Rhia Harlyn is that noblewoman. Her mother died giving birth to her brother, and after her father, a natural enquirer died, she took up his research, even though it isn't proper for a woman. This has brought her trouble in the past, as she doesn't want to marry, afraid her husband might forbid her research. Her brother is the head of the family, but she's the older and wiser one. One night, after another fight with her brother about his drinking, drug use and general unwillingness to take his role seriously, he disappears. Months later she joins the search party for him to a rival city, travelling by caravan from one Shadowland to another. This caravan crosses the Skyland, a place where the sun is so bright, the life so hostile, that Shadowlanders cannot live there. The Skylanders escort the caravan. Skylanders are humans, but after being raised in a crèche in the Shadowland, they return to the Skyland to be bonded with an animus. In this story we meet Rhia, the noblewoman from the Shadowland, Dej is a Skyland youth in a crèche, and Sakhat is a priest in another Shadowland-city preforming some kind of experiment.

As my attempt at a short summary shows, there is a quite a bit of world-building in this book. It is already planned to be the first part in a series, and it shows. A lot of groundwork is done by describing the world, the politics, the traditions, the people and the characters. The stories of each characters feel like a long prologue to establish them, with a short bit of action in the last quarter of the book. The character of Rhia is the main character, and while the other stories do influence hers, they do seem to be there sometimes just to provide a bit of backstory or world-building. I too have read the scathing one-star review on Goodreads, discussing the three rape-ish scenes in the book. They felt unnecessary to me too, although I wasn't that upset or triggered by them. They just felt out of place, and I do wonder if there wasn't any other way to influence the characters.

I liked the world Fenn created, I am intrigued by the whole Shadowland/Skyland setup. I did feel that some elements, like Rhia's scientific discoveries didn't have much to do with this story, and are probably (hopefully) a start on something for the next novel. The story itself... I don't know. Like I said, it shows to be part one in a series, and that takes away some of the story on its own. Still, an interesting world, and a good tale, so four out of five stars from me. ( )

This is a promising start to a new sci-fi/fantasy series. I will be looking forward to the next installment.

(A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher. ( )