Whenever I read a new fantasy, I love learning about the world. I had huge expectations for the Sunbearer Trials, as whilst this was the first novel I’ve read written by Thomas, I have heard nothing but high praise from my friends.

I will always be a fan of taking elements of popular YA books from the early 2010s and making them queer. I was so excited when I first heard about this. Stories with deadly competitions are always my favourite. Those books got me started on reading, and the Hunger Games made me fall in love with books. The first book I ever read for fun was Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Now they must compete in five mysterious trials, against opponents who are both more powerful and better trained, for fame, glory, and their own survival. In fact, he chooses two: Xio, the 13-year-old child of Mala Suerte, god of bad luck, and…Teo. Teo wouldn’t mind taking Aurelio down a notch or two, but a one-in-ten chance of death is a bit too close for Teo’s taste.īut then, for the first time in over a century, Sol chooses a semidiós who isn’t a Gold. He also can’t help but worry (reluctantly, and under protest) for Aurelio, a powerful Gold semidiós and Teo’s friend-turned-rival who is a shoo-in for the Trials.

His best friend Niya―daughter of Tierra, the god of earth―is one of the strongest heroes of their generation and is much too likely to be chosen this year. Teo, a 17-year-old Jade semidiós and the trans son of Quetzal, goddess of birds, has never worried about the Trials…or rather, he’s only worried for others. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser has the greatest honor of all―they will be sacrificed to Sol, their body used to fuel the Sun Stones that will protect the people of Reino del Sol for the next ten years. Ten semidioses between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are selected by Sol himself as the most worthy to compete in The Sunbearer Trials. I’m not a real hero.”Īs each new decade begins, the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the evil Obsidian gods at bay. “Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. Welcome to The Sunbearer Trials, where teen semidioses compete in a series of challenges with the highest of stakes, in this electric new Mexican-inspired fantasy from Aiden Thomas, the New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys.

The sunbearer