The Sunbearer Trials
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas is a young adult fantasy novel published by Square Fish on August 6, 2024. This edition spans 432 pages and is presented in English. The story unfolds in a vibrant, Mexican-inspired world where teen semidioses engage in high-stakes challenges to replenish the Sun’s power and protect their realm from chaotic forces. The narrative follows Teo, a seventeen-year-old Jade semidiós, who grapples with the unexpected selection of two Jade competitors for the Trials, including himself and a younger rival, Xio.
Readers will find a blend of adventure and personal struggle as Teo navigates the Trials against formidable Gold opponents, including his ex-best friend, Aurelio. The book explores themes of friendship, identity, and the pressures of competition within a richly imagined fantasy setting. With elements of LGBTQ representation and a focus on Hispanic and Latino culture, The Sunbearer Trials offers a unique perspective on heroism and sacrifice in a world where the stakes are nothing less than life and death.
Official synopsis Publisher
A New York Times-Bestseller!
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.
“Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. I’m just a Jade. I’m not a real hero.”
As each new decade begins, the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the chaotic Obsidian gods at bay. Sol selects ten of the most worthy semidioses to compete in the Sunbearer Trials. 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 melted down to refuel the Sun Stones, protecting the world for another ten years.
Teo, a seventeen-year-old Jade semidiós and the trans son of the goddess of birds, isn’t worried about the Trials . . . at least, not for himself. His best friend, Niya is a Gold semidiós and a shoo-in for the Trials, and while he trusts her abilities, the odds of becoming the sacrifice is one-in-ten.
But then, for the first time in over a century, the impossible happens. Sol chooses not one, but two Jade competitors. Teo, and Xio, the thirteen-year-old child of the god of bad luck. Now they must compete in five trials against Gold opponents who are more powerful and better trained. Worst of all, Teo’s annoyingly handsome ex-best friend and famous semidiós Hero, Aurelio is favored to win. Teo is determined to get himself and his friends through the trials unscathed—for fame, glory, and their own survival.
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