I Can’t Wait For…Firstborn of the Sun by Marvellous Michael Anson
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Firstborn of the Sun by Marvellous Michael Anson!

Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Representation: Yoruba-inspired cast and setting
Published on: 23rd October 2025
Goodreads
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A HEART-POUNDING YORUBA INSPIRED FANTASY NOVEL SET IN AN EPIC WORLD OF COURTLY INTRIGUE AND FORBIDDEN POWER . . .
‘Absolutely Radiant’ BEA FITZGERALD
‘A Dazzling Debut’ ANDREA STEWART
‘Enthralling and epic’ ANNA DAY
‘Readers are going to LOVE THIS BOOK!’ ANGELA MONTOYA
In Oru L'ore has a secret. She is the only one without agbára – the ability to harness power from the sun. On pain of death she must conceal it from everyone. Including her best friend, Alawani.
But when the gods declare Alawani an Àlùfáà – a great honour where he will serve the gods and the Kingdom – he must be stripped of his power in a brutal trial likely to kill him. Unwilling to bear his death, L'ore vows to rescue him.
When she desperately attempts to channel agbára an icy shadow magic instead pours from her hands; a power she learns originated from a forbidden, secret land beyond the six rings of Oru.
One where she and Alawani must now seek sanctuary and discover a secret that could bring the Kingdom to its knees . . .
_____________
‘Absolutely radiant. Anson has created a captivating, intricate world with characters who will stay with me for a long time. A perfect balance of political machinations and aching romance, wrapped up in a fast-paced action packed adventure. I loved it!’ BEA FITZGERALD, author of Girl Goddess Queen
'A dazzling debut, with characters that leap off the page and burrow into your heart. Filled with love, betrayal, and questions of loyalty, the twists and turns this story takes will keep you reading late into the night' ANDREA STEWART, author of The Gods Below
‘Fierce, exciting and utterly original, Firstborn of the Sun is an enthralling and epic fantasy, with a beautiful and tender romance at its center’ ANNA DAY, author of The Girl who Grew Wings
‘A rich and confident fantasy with expansive world building and a magic system as vicious as it is unique. Filled with intricately woven twists and action from beginning to end, readers will have a hard time putting this book down. Readers are going to LOVE THIS BOOK!’ - ANGELA MONTOYA, author of Sinner’s Isle and A Cruel Thirst
We just got the cover for this one, so OBVIOUSLY I had to feature it!
Yoruba-inspired fantasy where everyone is supposed to have magic? To the point that it’s a DEATH SENTENCE if you don’t?! That is IMMEDIATELY fascinating; imagine what a culture like that must look like!
Sun-magic and a Yoruba-inspired setting just sounds SO COOL, like nothing else I’ve read, and it’s always exciting to see fantasy that isn’t fake!Medieval-Europe. Will the plot and prose pull from Yoruba storytelling traditions, in the way that Black Leopard, Red Wolf did? (Although as far as I know BLRW isn’t specifically Yoruba-inspired – I did try to look up specifics, but I only found it described as African, not a specific nation or people.)
And I’m so curious about where the shadow-magic is sourced from, if the usual magic is from the sun. The moon? That seems obvious, but if so how could it be linked to another nation? HMM!
Is this going on your tbr too? Let me know!
The post I Can’t Wait For…Firstborn of the Sun by Marvellous Michael Anson appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.