The Sun and the Void Audiobook By Gabriela Romero Lacruz cover art

The Sun and the Void

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The Sun and the Void

By: Gabriela Romero Lacruz
Narrated by: Natalia Castellanos
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"Evocative and captivating. An enthralling tale of ancient gods, dangerous magic, family and love."―​Sue Lynn Tan, author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Two women embark on a unforgettable quest that draws them into a world of dark gods and ancient magic in this sweeping fantasy debut inspired by the history and folklore of colonial South America.

Reina is desperate.

Stuck on the edges of society, Reina’s only hope lies in an invitation from a grandmother she’s never met. But the journey to her is dangerous, and prayer can’t always avert disaster.

Attacked by creatures that stalk the mountains, Reina is on the verge of death until her grandmother, a dark sorceress, intervenes. Now dependent on the Doña’s magic for her life, Reina will do anything to earn—and keep—her favor. Even the bidding of an ancient god who whispers to her at night.

Eva Kesaré is unwanted.

Illegitimate and of mixed heritage, Eva is her family’s shame. She tries to be the perfect daughter, but Eva is hiding a secret: Magic calls to her.

Eva knows she should fight the temptation. Magic is the sign of the dark god, and using it is punishable by death. Yet it’s hard to ignore power when it has always been denied you. Eva is walking a dangerous path. And in the end, she’ll become something she never imagined.

Praise for The Sun and the Void:

"A rich, enchanting read and an impressive debut.”―Ava Reid, award-winning author of Juniper & Thorn

"A gorgeous epic of family and power, gods and magic, longing and betrayal." ―​Melissa Caruso, author of the Rooks and Ruin series

The Warring Gods

The Sun and the Void

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Gabriela Romero Lacruz (P)2023 Orbit Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy LGBTQIA+ Creators Fiction Magic

Critic reviews

"In The Sun and the Void, a world of misunderstood power, summonable gods, and fearsome danger sets the stage for a gorgeous and gutting exploration of family, ambition, and belonging. Through evocative prose and desperate characters, Gabriela Romero Lacruz weaves a delightfully tangled web of magic and curses, gods and monsters, love and betrayal. This read is perfect for readers who like their fantasy served with a healthy dose of anguish. Prepare to be thinking about this one long after you turn the last page."—M. J. Kuhn, author of Among Thieves

"Set in a beautiful and engaging world with fascinating characters and even more fascinating magic, The Sun and the Void is an excellent addition to any fantasy reader's collection."—Tara Sim, author of The City of Dusk

“Capricious gods, dangerous magic, and ancient vows straining under the weight of her characters’ desperate humanity, Gabriela Romero Lacruz has gifted us a classic epic fantasy with an original, inventive setting. A rich, enchanting read and an impressive debut.”—Ava Reid, award-winning author of Juniper & Thorn

Dear Listener,

What am I excited for you to discover in this story
"I wrote this story to give readers a small glimpse into the exciting things Venezuela has to offer the world, especially viewed through a speculative-fiction lens. Nowadays, whenever Venezuela is discussed in media and online, it is usually associated with polarizing topics. However, I am more interested in showing the world that we have a country of beautiful, varied landscapes, diverse peoples, and imaginative folklore born from a blend of Spanish, Indigenous, and African roots. This setting had never been explored before in epic fantasy, and I personally felt excited about the possibility of more tales of adventure (or misadventure) that borrow from old superstitions, folklore, and Venezuelan settings. This book is important to me because I want my country to be associated with and represented by positive media, to provide sword and sorcery escapism to the millions of Venezuelans living in the diaspora like myself, and to inspire budding storytellers into believing that their words matter." - Gabriela Romero Lacruz, writer of The Sun and the Void
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enthralled until the very end. I can't wait for the second book to find out what happens next. some twists were a little unexpected bit did not take away but in a good way.

Can't wait for book 2!

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I’ll admit this was a hard review to write, however, the way this fantasy novel reels itself in through a journey of fate, self-realization, love, belonging, magic, and adventure, I knew Gabriela Romero Lacruz’s writing had done this book its fair justice. Coming from a similar background as Lacruz, in science that is, I am very impressed with her talent and ability to craft a story so beautiful and magnificent as The Sun and The Void. Gabriela, I whole-heartedly away Book #2. This is your debut honey! Take it all for what it’s worth! #TheSunAndTheVoid

Gorgeous Venezuelan Fantasy

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As much as I love your classic Tolkien-esque takes on fantasy and magic systems, hearing a story rooted in Venezuelan folklore and mythology, as well as hearing all the subtle details about the culture from mentions of food to verbiage used made this book feel like home. This story feels like a warm hug and reminds me of just how beautiful Venezuela is. I can’t wait for the next book!

A fresh take on fantasy

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The beginning of this book is a little slow as you get through the world building but man the second half really takes off and has so many twists and turns! Absolutely love when you can love and hate the characters! So good! I cannot wait for the second book to come out!

Absolutely amazing story

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I really enjoyed the story! The ending has me excited for the next volumes. I enjoyed the descriptions of food and the magic system seems very interesting, especially the different species.

The timing of the book skips around a bit. But I found the story overall very satisfying and well thought out and planned. I find the drama enticing and the characters lifelike. It deals with some heavy topics. But if you enjoy magic and swordplay it's definitely a very interesting read.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the narrator. there was a bit of bleeding between character voices and a few points where dialogue was left a bit flat and then the word shouted or screamed put afterwards that could have been better expressed. But it didn't ruin the work for me.

If you were interested but unsure about the title I hope that you give it a shot.

vibrant and wonderful new world!! can't wait for more!

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This book was a bit difficult for me to get through. The beginning was slow, but it picked up with time and by the end I was excited to read Book 2. I have a hard time getting into the first book of fantasy series because there is so much of the world to learn. So part of the difficulty in getting through the first part is probably a "me thing" and nothing to do with the book. Now that I am familiar with the lore and the different species I feel like I can devote more energy to getting sucked into the story in the next installment.

For me, the biggest let-down was the narrator. Something about her inflection, the emphasis she put on words, felt like she wasn't really paying attention to what she was reading. This happens especially in dialogue, when one character is addressing something another character said, and a specific emphasis is necessary to get across the author's intended meaning. Emphasis in the wrong part of a sentence can change the whole meaning, and unfortunately that happened a lot with this narrator. Also, she ends every chapter with the same tempo and inflection as any other sentence, which missed out on opportunities to build tension and foreboding. It made the ends of chapters feel flatter than they might have with more intentional delivery.

Also I kept getting tripped by words that I don't know whether the narrator was pronouncing them strangely or if the author had picked a close but wrong word (ex. "volted"...did she mean bolted, or maybe vaulted? Or "rackety chair," did she mean "rickety"?). Either way, it took me out of the story, usually at high-intensity moments.

One thing I really liked was how Eva and Reina's stories and experiences mirrored each other. It was an artful storytelling device that set up future events really well without being overly obvious.

I think I will keep reading the series, but I will get the hard copy instead.

Good story, bad narration

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I thoroughly enjoyed exploring a new magical world that is so much different than any other I’ve read about! I personally didn’t have trouble keeping track of the characters/titles/etc. My only gripe is that at the end of the book I was left feeling like….. that’s it??? That’s the end? I feel like it was set up well for a sequel based on some of the story’s elements towards the final chapters but almost wish there was more of a cliffhanger (if the author does intend to write a sequel I suppose).

Mixed feelings

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I really tried to finish this, tried to stay engaged, tried to pay attention, tried to care, but I failed on all fronts. It's not normally such a struggle to stay interested in a story, and the setting and premise seemed perfect, but I just couldn't force myself to care about this one.

I tried so hard

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This physical book almost succumbed to my DNF for the past year. I got the audible version and pressed through. I understand that a lot of descriptions and background go into setting up a fantasy world that shape the characters identities, but this part alone was too much. I was struggling to keep up with each character, creature, ability, and lineage. The action didn’t really start picking up until chapter 20. I appreciate the picturesque descriptions of the landscapes, but they too became forced. The references to Eva’s belly warming up and Reina’s radio chest were beat over my head all the way to the end of the book. Characters all seemed naive, wimpy and willfully ignorant. I was not a fan of this story, but I supported until the very weak ending.

The historical setup and descriptions are lengthy

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I apologize but this book is my 1st ever DNF (40%). I always said I would finish every book and never DNF, but this was a tough read for me. I love books of other cultures that embrace actual history or folklore, but this one I found hard to read smoothly due to just how much different terms/titles/names there were. Not only this but the pacing of it, as well as just the story wasn’t pulling me in. The writing style left a feeling of disconnect, and forced me to try and possibly commit through audible. However, even the performance by the reader wasn’t enough to make me want to listen to it. When she told the story it still felt like a drab and bland reading. This was just my experience though, everyone should read/listen for themselves and decide. I just think this book didn’t hit the mark of my interest, which was on my part, as I specifically purchased the book on looks alone of the (UK edition & illumicrate special edition) book, as well as it being of a different cultural heritage that I was hoping to branch out to and explore.

Tough Read

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