Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, #1)

by Rebecca Roanhorse

"While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do monsters. Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last best hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much more terrifying than anything she could imagine. Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel the rez, unraveling clues from ancient legends, trading favors with tricksters, and battling dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology. As Maggie discovers the truth behind the killings, she will have to confront her past if she wants to survive." --amazon.com.

• ISBN10: 1534413499
• ISBN13: 9781534413498
• Publish Date: 26 June 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[Minx]

Trail of Lightning was a fantastic story! Maggie is a protagonist that you can't help loving. She is perfectly imperfect and her struggles are what make her feel so real. The story itself kept on giving as Maggie and Kai (he is a character I am growing to like) start off on a rocky partnership of sorts. I love a character driven story and Trail of Lightning really delivers. I cannot wait to dive into the next book!

[Berls]

And another DNF. This one started FANTASTIC. I was hooked. And then it got boring. Nothing happened for lots and lots of pages. Then my library wanted it back and I didn't feel compelled to either rush through it before the deadline or buy it to continue. So yeah, it didn't work for me. Perhaps it got exciting again, but I didn't make it that far.

[bumblingbookworm]

DNFed at 39 pages. I think this is more my issue than an issue with the book, but I don’t want to read anything dystopian right now. I haven’t read this in over a week and I don’t see myself picking back it up again anytime soon. Maybe one day, but not for now.

[nannah]

When I first started Trail of Lightning, I was reading some of the best prose I’d seen probably all year, and maybe all of last year too (or longer? Maybe longer!). This could’ve been a book and a universe I could finally really dig my teeth into and fall in love with … until the plot and a bunch of tired tropes messed that up.

Content warnings:
- sexual assault
- past domestic abuse (heavily hinted)
- LOTS of heavily described gore (I don’t think this is YA … Actually, it’s published by Saga, an adult imprint. It should probably be shelved as adult; actually, it's shelved as adult in my library, too)
- ableist language!

Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah Monsterslayer in a post-apocalyptic world where the Dinétah land (formerly Navajo reservations) are some of the only land still standing after climate change’s surging waters covered most of the earth -- and nearly all of the United States. In this new world (aka the “Sixth World”), the old gods have awakened, including the tricksy Coyote and Maggie’s immortal mentor, Neizgháni.

On her first monster-hunting mission without her mentor, Maggie discovers a new kind of synthetic monster that sends her on a new journey with a new partner, Kai, a medicine man who’s more than meets the eye.

The beginning promised epic world building, beautiful writing, and an wide-spanning plot involving reborn gods and magical weapons. But halfway the book kind of lost its vision. Maggie and Kai received some magical hoops and a mission from the Coyote. I expected things to pick up, but instead the two protagonists hopped between two locations. They forgot something, then went back to the other one, then went back to talk to someone, etc. Past halfway, and there was no increase in momentum, no plotline actually ever taken hold of. Was it the hoops? Was it a witch-hunt to find who made these new types of monsters Maggie came across in the beginning? Was it just this aimless slingshotting?

And then … the end. Suddenly the book’s plot became a romance about love triangle that felt like it shoved this book back in the YA/(is NA still a thing?)NA categories. Not only was it out of the blue (I don’t want to spoil too much), but it contained so many harmful and awful tropes that if I wasn’t so close to the end, I probably wouldn’t have finished the book. There was a kiss that should actually be considered sexual assault, and it was never challenged or mentioned as such -- it was only called “the kiss”, and no one, not even the “love interest” talked about it in any other way. Even the third triangle point’s treatment of Maggie was abusive, and it’s never considered abusive -- by anyone! Till the end, he and his relationship is just another option for Maggie.

Also, disappointingly, Trail of Lightning is one of those books that acts as a prequel to the rest of its series. That explains its lack of plot and direction, I guess. Its only purpose is to set up the world building and character introductions.

And … I know, this is mostly something that bothers me, but I lost track of how many times Rebecca Roanhorse used the word “cr*pple/cr*ppled”. As a noun, as an adjective (especially things that aren’t related: “cr*ppled emotional range” or something). Here’s the thing: you don’t get to use this word if you’re able-bodied. Sorry! You especially don’t need to use it like fifty times in one book when there’s a whole language at your disposal. Pick something else.

I’d like to leave with something I stumbled across. It’s a letter by the Diné Writers Collective objecting to the book (e.g. it makes caricatures of their deities) and asking people to read content by actual Diné writers instead (Rebecca Roanhorse is Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo and African American).

[kalventure]

"Lightning without a cloud in sight means one thing. Visitors."

What an incredible debut from Roanhorse! I absolutely fell in love with the characters and the world that Roanhorse crafted, engaged from the first page to the last. If you are looking for a fast-paced story that is both character and plot driven, I highly recommend Trail of Lightning!

This urban fantasy is set in an alternative America. Most of the world has been destroyed due to cataclysmic flooding, bringing about what the gods call the Sixth World (kind of like a new era for humanity), and the Navajo have taken back their own land and built a wall to survive. In the Sixth World gods walk among humans, but so do monsters... and everyone has their own agenda.

"But I had forgotten that the Diné had already suffered their apocalypse over a century before. This wasn’t our end. This was our rebirth."

Trail of Lightning is told in Maggie Hoskie's point of view (first person, present tense), a skilled Dinètah monster hunter with as much a reputation for being difficult as fierce on the battlefield. You can tell that Maggie's experienced a lot of loss in her life; she is guarded and mistrustful but still has a big heart. She is joined by Kai Arviso, the nephew of an old man that she loves as if he were blood named Tah. Together they embark on an adventure neither are prepared for to try and uncover the truth.

The apocalyptic and dystopian setting frames the story nicely, and throughout the book we are given glimpses into just what happened, but it isn't the main focus of the story. The reader is given just enough to situation themselves into the world, but this book is driven by Maggie and Kai's quest to find a way to stop the monsters. I am excited to learn more about the world after Big Water. References were made about what happened during and after, before the Wall was built, and I expect that the post-apocalyptic world and the political machinations will come into play more as the series progresses.

The characters in this book are so well developed, even side characters that you only encounter for a few pages. Everyone comes alive on the page and helped to drive the sense of urgency in finding a solution. Interestingly the monsters that Maggie and Kai face are not all of the supernatural variety; they have to outwit and battle human enemies and corrupt Lawmen. After Big Water it seems that the law has gone the way of the Wild West, and it is an interesting look at how society fractures and bad people will take any opportunity to exert force and gain power.

"The sad truth you do not wish to face, Magdalena, is that sometimes the ones we call our heroes are the greatest monsters of all."

One of the main threads of this story is of morality. What is it that separates monster from human in a world that is more gray than black and white. I think one of the things that I loved the most is that every character is shrouded in their own mystery and straddling that gray. Everyone has something that they do not want to share... or perhaps we just don't want to see it.

The book is written eloquently with lyrical prose, instantly captivating me with its first line. It's a fast-paced plot that kept me engaged throughout, and while I guessed plot points in advance, I did not feel disappointed when doing so. It just made the heartbreak I felt more bitter because I saw it coming and could do nothing to stop it.

Overall this is an engaging and beautiful urban fantasy, and is hands-down one of my favorite reads of 2018! The characters are all wonderful and the worldbuilding offers just enough to whet the appetite, and while there are Navajo words and phrases used I never once felt lost. I honestly cannot recommend this book enough and I cannot wait for Storm of Locusts!

REPRESENTATION: anxiety (panic attacks), gay side character, Navajo
CONTENT WARNINGS: abuse (psychological), violence, murder

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[Beth C.]

It's always interesting to read debut authors, particularly when they have been winning awards left and right for their debut title! Trail of Lightning is a duology, and yes - it has a *massive* cliffhanger at the end. While I wasn't so fond of that part, the story itself I found interesting and sort of compulsively readable. Maggie is a character I enjoyed - she's flawed in so many ways, but has a strength of will that just doesn't quit. I look forward to the second book and seeing where events from book one have led!

[Heather]

I've been excitedly waiting for this debut novel ever since I read Rebecca Roanhorse's story, Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience.

The book did not disappoint.

When most of the world flooded, the elders raised a magical wall around Diné land.  The gods and mythological beings are back.  Some people are manifesting clan powers.  Maggie's clan powers make her a powerful monster killer.  She was taken in and trained by a mythological warrior after a tragedy until he left her a year ago.  Now she is a deeply emotionally damaged monster hunter for hire.

Now she is on the trail of monsters that she has never seen before.  They are wiping out whole towns.

This book reminds me a lot of the early seasons of the TV show Supernatural, if the lead was a no-nonsense Diné woman driving a 1972 pickup.  There are different groups of monster hunters.  There is even a safe house/bar/weapons depot/first aid station run by a older black woman and her children.

I loved a scene in a nightclub where Maggie is able to see the patrons as embodiments of their clan powers.  That is the type of imagination that I love to see in books.

The ending is magnificent and just a little bit of a cliffhanger.  I'm looking forward to the next book in 2019.

(There is a lot of graphic violence depicted including violence against children so if that bothers you a lot you might want to skip this one.)This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

[nightingalereads]

RTC

[layawaydragon]

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I am having SUCH a great string of books at the end of the year. It's hard to stop reading and actually review, which is a shame on multiple levels, but I swear I will come back to do this justice.

EVERYTHING is amazing. This is world building and setting is what you get with #ownvoices!! This is great for fans of paranormal, or post-apocalyptic or action adventure types. It's like Mercy Thompson meets Mad Max Fury Road without any appropriation worries! There is a convo with Maggie and a guy that's into traditionally feminine things where she acts like a hetero normative ass but gets straightened out quickly.