The Broken Binding Fantasy Sub #9: August-October 2025
It’s wild to think that another three months have flown by, and I’ve once again completed a full trilogy from my The Broken Binding Fantasy subscription!
When I first joined this subscription, I think I underestimated just how quickly these series would start piling up on my TBR shelf. But because The Broken Binding is so consistently brilliant at creating stunning, collectible editions, I rarely even consider skipping a series. Since I started back in April 2023, I’ve only skipped one trilogy, so you can imagine how many sets that means by now!
The trilogy announced for August, September, and October was one I already had my eye on for a while. In fact, I even own the first book in paperback already: the Between Earth and Sky trilogy by Rebecca Roanhorse.
In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse — a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.
Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as “harmless”, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as “harmless”, he usually ends up being a villain.
Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse’s epic adventure exploring the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts is the most original series debut of the decade.
The first book, Black Sun, first caught my attention thanks to a few reading vlogs by some of my favourite BookTubers, all of whom were absolutely glowing in their praise, especially about the worldbuilding and the unique cast of characters.
I hadn’t heard much about the sequels until recently, when I learned that the entire series had just won the Hugo Award for Best Series. That’s no small feat! But even without that accolade, I was already deeply curious about diving into it.
As usual, each instalment arrived during its respective month, neatly and securely packaged in TBB’s signature style: sturdy cardboard box, bubble wrap, honeycomb paper, and that familiar gold wrapping paper tied with a black ribbon. These unboxings always feel like a little celebration.
The new covers, designed by @raqmo, are seriously impressive. They nod to the originals in terms of palette and focus, but the overall design is strikingly unique and nothing short of epic.
I especially love the choice of a white background for these illustrations. Fantasy books often lean dark and dramatic, but the white really makes the artwork pop. Stunning!
The naked hardcovers themselves are black, with gorgeous Aztec-inspired foil designs on the front. Each book features its own metallic shade — gold, silver, and blue — and unique linework by @claymorecovers.
The back covers were also given the same attention to detail, with complementary Aztec-style designs by @claymorecovers. At first glance, I thought all three had the same illustration, but on closer inspection, I noticed the subtle differences: the landscape stays consistent, but the celestial bodies above and the sea below shift slightly with each volume.
The spines are simple yet elegant and cohesive with the overall design.
And then there are the sprayed edges. TBB has built up a bit of a reputation for designing edges that form a continuous image across multiple volumes, and once again, they absolutely delivered. Each book stands beautifully on its own, but together they form the phases of a solar eclipse, as the moon slowly moves across the sun and back again. It’s clever and very fitting for the series.
The endpapers completely stole my heart. The soft, dreamy watercolour illustrations by @kara_malikova.art are breathtaking. The way the scenes are composed adds so much intrigue to the world of Tova before even reading a single page.
As always with my Tier 1 sets, each book is numbered and signed by the author, a small detail, but one that makes the set feel extra special to me.
And of course, the matching bookmarks with quotes are always a joy to receive. They complement the design perfectly and make for a lovely finishing touch.
All in all, this is another masterful set from The Broken Binding. Absolutely breathtaking as a whole, with illustrations from multiple artists who each bring their own flair yet manage to blend together beautifully. A truly stunning trilogy set that’s going to look incredible on my shelf… and hopefully one I’ll actually read before too long!
Cheers,
Charlotte
