Between Earth and Sky
#1564.14 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2020–2024 Reading commitment Medium Rebecca Roanhorse Last reviewed 2026-08-06
Overview
Rebecca Roanhorse's Between Earth and Sky trilogy is an epic fantasy set in the invented secondary world of the Meridian region, drawing broadly on pre-Columbian American cultures and mythologies rather than European ones. Black Sun (2020) opens the story of a sun priestess, a ship captain, and a young man raised to be a living god's vessel, as their fates converge on the city of Tova during a rare solar eclipse. The trilogy concluded with Mirrored Heavens (2024) and went on to win the 2025 Hugo Award for Best Series. Surfaced by cross-referencing recent major-award winners.
Epic fantasy, Mythic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
Between Earth and Sky Rebecca Roanhorse
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Black Sun | 2020 | 1 | core | 4.16 (56,891 ratings) |
 | Fevered Star | 2022 | 2 | core | 4.07 (23,075 ratings) |
 | Mirrored Heavens | 2024 | 3 | core | 4.21 (10,937 ratings) |
Complete trilogy set in the invented secondary world of the Meridian region, inspired broadly by pre-Columbian Americas. No Expanded-canon short fiction exists for this specific universe as of this research.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Between Earth and Sky? Between Earth and Sky's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for Between Earth and Sky? Publication order, starting with Black Sun. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Between Earth and Sky finished? Complete (2020–2024).
- How much reading does Between Earth and Sky take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books · ~1,435 pages).
- How is Between Earth and Sky ranked? #156 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 90,903 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #156?
Ranked #156 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.14 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (90,903 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 3 rated core books rate within 0.14 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #155, The Folk of the Air (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 3 books · Complete · 91k ratings · Ranks #156 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- Black Sun (2020)
- Fevered Star (2022)
- Mirrored Heavens (2024)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- Hugo Award (Best Novel), 2021: finalist: Black Sun; Lost to Network Effect (Martha Wells).
- Nebula Award (Best Novel), 2021: finalist: Black Sun
- Locus Award (Fantasy Novel), 2021: finalist: Black Sun; Placed 4th in the Locus poll.
- Ignyte Award (Outstanding Novel (Adult)), 2021: won: Black Sun
- Lambda Literary Award (LGBTQ Speculative Fiction), 2021: nominated: Black Sun
- Locus Award (Fantasy Novel), 2023: finalist: Fevered Star; Placed 9th in the Locus poll.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.14 across 90,903 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Between Earth and Sky admitted as a single-author universe accepted 2026-08-06
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-06
Rule: Core = the complete 3-novel trilogy (Black Sun, Fevered Star, Mirrored Heavens), one continuous plotted narrative in an invented secondary world. No Expanded Canon currently exists for this universe.