Book Review: The Dying Sun by LJ Stanton

Last summer, I attended Narrativity, a convention (vaxxed, masked, socially distanced) for storytelling. While there, I became friends with LJ Stanton. Because of that friendship, I purchased a copy of her first book, The Dying Sun, when I got home. I finally got around to reading it in January. If I had not met LJ, there is a good chance I never would have picked up this book, mostly because I would never have heard of it. But the book, a fantasy set in a desert empire, is totally up my alley, so I was excited to read it. 

My favorite thing about the book were the characters. They all felt like well-rounded individuals. I understood the motivations of each of the point of view characters. Even among the antagonists, there is only one character who I actively hate (pretty certain this was done by design), and even then, that character feels fully rounded and acts completely in character. Their bad acts are not random, but fit in fully with the character’s motivations.  

I care about all the protagonists and even when I do not agree with their actions, those actions make sense from the character point of view. There was no time that I felt a character was doing something just because the story demanded it.  

This book is the first in what I assume is meant to be an epic series. The world is on the brink of change, with old gods coming back into a world, with the ruler using that to their advantage to gain the upper hand in their long-term struggle for power against the established church. For some characters, the representatives of the old gods, the struggle is very much about religion/religious freedom, but that is not the case for the two main characters, the Shahanshah – ruler of the empire, and his new wife. For them, this is about holding on to power. At this time, the only character who has shown actual care for the common people is one of our antagonists. Though most of the characters see the common people simply as pawns. No one is fully good.

What the book could mostly use is some tighter editing. If you have read previous reviews by me, you will know that I often recommend developmental editing. That is not what this book needs. LJ knows the story she wants to tell, and she is telling it. The book also does not need copy editing. No, what the book needs is a little more cutting. This is always hard to say, partly because I cannot say exactly what I would have cut. But there were scenes entire scenes that were for world building and character back story that perhaps could have been worked in in other ways. Every scene served a purpose, but perhaps only one. Finding a way to make a few more scenes due double duty and cutting some others would just tighten up the book and make it read more quickly. There were times that I felt a little bogged down in scenes when the story should have been zipping me along. 

However, none of that prevents me from wanting to read the next book. I want to know what happens to the characters, to see what plays out. I honestly do not know who the hero of the story is yet (if there even will be one). I think that is deliberate, and I am here for the journey LJ is taking me on.  

If you enjoy fantasy novels and are good with no clear heroes, I definitely recommend this book.