‘The Sunbearer Trials’ Review. “Every ten years, the sun’s power must…

“Every ten years, the sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can continue their path through the sky, keeping our world safe from the Obsidians and monsters that have been locked in their celestial bindings. Ten eligible semidioses between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are selected as the worthiest to compete in the Sunbearer Trials.”

The Sunbearer Trials duology by Aiden Thomas is a young adult fantasy adventure story following a young semidios and his friends as they save the world.

The highly anticipated finale, Celestial Monsters, was released recently, so I read both books consecutively and decided that The Sunbearer Trials deserves a better review than the one posted after my first time reading it.

Summary of The Sunbearer Trials:

Teo, the teenage son of Quetzal, diosa of birds, is shocked when he is chosen by Sol to compete in the Sunbearer Trials, a competition held every decade where ten of the most talented semidioses partake in a series of trials. The winner becomes Sunbearer, the loser is sacrificed. Teo must work with his best friend Niya and the young powerless Xio to survive.

To explain the world building, I’ll show some quotes from Celestial Monsters’s prologue:

“Not all gods were created equal. First, Sol shaped the Golds, who were powerful but ruled by vanity. Second, Sol crafted the Jades, who were kind but ruled by duty. Third, Sol forged the Obsidians, who were clever but ruled by cruelty. Finally, Sol made humans, who were mortal but capable of boundless joy and passion. Reino del Sol was bountiful with love and light. It didn’t last.”

“The Obsidians grew bitter in their temples of black stone, festering in their resentment of Sol’s favouritism to the mortals, and the imbalanced delegation of godly gifts. They planned to enslave their human wards”,

“When Sol gave their life to trap the traitor gods beneath the earth, the Golds and the Jades devised a system to keep the stones of Sol’s flesh lit. They would call it The Sunbearer Trials. It was a chance for children of the gods to show their worth.”

Teo, our delightful protagonist, was fun-loving, a prankster, and very entertaining. I enjoyed watching his confidence in his strength and abilities grew over the books. His relationship with his mother and the citizens of Quetzlan was very heartwarming.

Niya, the super-strong, boisterous daughter of Terra, was my favourite character. With her endless optimism, her self-confidence, her endless loyalty, how could one not adore her?

Aurelio was an interesting character, one who developed a lot through the duology. His romance with Teo was perfectly paced in my opinion.

Xio* was a character that I could not dislike at any point. I won’t mention much about them as that would be spoilers, but I was delighted when in Celestial Monsters they got a POV.

Other semidioses in the Trials include the lightning-summoning Atzi, flowery Xochi, Aurelio’s short-tempered twin Auristela, the self-centred Ocelo, the enticing Dezi, and the water-controlling Marino. All were very unique and interesting characters.

*In Celestial Monsters, Xio asks people to refer to them with they/them pronouns. The character card released with the book states that Xio’s pronouns are he/they.

The real star of The Sunbearer Trials was the setting description, particularly Quetzlan and the cities visited during the Trials. I could so easily visualise every location, it’s unique qualities and styles. The character description was also superb.

Overall, I did find The Sunbearer Trials far better than Celestial Monsters. It absolutely blew my mind in a way I knew the sequel never could, it was just such a high bar. Celestial Monsters was brilliant, the best ending to the duology we could’ve received. I highly recommend this duology to lovers of powerful teens, a world controlled by dioses, and the most wonderful (and very diverse) cast of characters.

Queer representation:

Queernormative world (they CELEBRATE people coming out as trans!)

Nonbinary dios who created everything

Trans boy protagonist

Nonbinary protagonist (book 2)

Lesbian sc

Achillean (unlabelled) sc

Nonbinary sc

Many other queer side characters