Book Review: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of The Sixth World
Publisher: Saga Press (June 26, 2018)
Length: 287 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Trail of Lightning welcomes us to the “Sixth World”, a post-apocalyptic future in which our planet has gone through a number of drastic changes. Rising sea levels and devastating tsunamis have wiped out most of the earth’s coastal cities, killing billions and leaving only the inland regions and high elevations above water. In the southwest of what was once the United States, the Navajo Nation of Dinétah has survived, shielded by a magical barrier. However, their people too have seen plenty of hardship since the Big Water swept over the continent, isolated as they may be. Many of their legends have come to life, their gods and mythological figures made real. Unfortunately, these also included the monsters from their ancient lore, who are now loosed upon the land, preying on humans.
Enter our protagonist, Maggie Hoskie. Whenever there was a monster that needed killing, she and her former mentor Neizgháni, a monster slaying god of Native American legend, would take care of it together. But that was before Neizgháni abandoned her. Now on her own and feeling hurt and betrayed, Maggie ekes out a living by taking on contracts as a monster bounty hunter. The book begins as she is called upon to track down a creature that has snatched a little girl from a Dinétah village. Maggie follows the trail into the mountains, only to find that the creature is in fact a magical construct similar to a golem—the kind only a powerful witch can create. To find out more, she decides to seek out the help of her wise friend Grandpa Tah, but as it turns out, the old man has other ideas. After introducing Maggie to his grandson Kai Arviso, a Medicine Man in training, Tah persuades Maggie to take the young man along with her on her monster hunt, convinced that their skills will complement each other. Reluctantly, Maggie agrees, and together with her new partner, the two of them set out for the old tribal archives hoping to glean some clues as to who orchestrated the golem attack.
Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of books containing elements which have a basis in Native American myths and culture, especially in the urban fantasy genre. But rare it is to find a book like Trail of Lightning where indigenous characters and their lives are at the forefront of absolutely everything, including the story and setting. This book is set entirely within Dinétah—a relatively small area on a map, to be sure, but Rebecca Roanhorse makes it feel as though there are endless possibilities to explore. The world-building is fantastic, drawing upon the Navajo perspective to flesh out the history and atmosphere of the setting. I also loved the supernatural aspects, which we got to see a lot more of as the plot unfolds. It’s like every time you turn the page, the world opens up a bit more. Fascinating people, incredible stories, and all kinds of extraordinary beings and creatures can be found in Dinétah, and I had a lot of fun discovering them all.
Maggie is also a wonderful protagonist. She’s a bit of an enigma when we first meet her, everything about her shrouded in mystery. She’s cagey about her past—and for good reason, since her history is full of pain and violence—but in time, she does start to reveal more about herself. I love her voice and take-no-nonsense attitude as she moves through life, ignoring the ugly rumors from the people who fear her for what she does. She also has great chemistry with Kai, even though he is her opposite in many ways. Truth is, the plot of this novel is actually quite basic and uncomplicated, but it’s the characters and their relationships that drive the narrative forward, keeping the momentum going and the reader interested.
Like most debut novels though, Trail of Lightning is not without its flaws. As I alluded to before, the story is rather simplistic, and paced somewhat unevenly. There were also predictable sections mixed in with plot developments that felt completely random. And while overall the world-building was fantastic, I still felt there were some gaps that needed to be filled, because I was left with a lot of questions. In terms of characters, the supporting cast could have been given more attention, though Maggie and Kai themselves were very well written. However, I also felt that their romantic relationship came on a little too fast and out of nowhere. The story’s antagonist was a bit of a disappointment as well, and I still have very mixed feelings on how the resolution to the conflicts played out.
But at the end of the day, I can’t deny I had a great time with Trail of Lightning. The book runs into a few hitches, but overall it’s a fast-moving and exciting plot with compelling characters and rich world-building that will keep you turning the pages quickly. I hope this novel will be the start of many more to come in the series, because clearly we’re only scratching the surface of the potential here. I look forward to returning to The Sixth World.
The BiblioSanctum 
Glad to hear you enjoyed this! I’m eager to read it as soon as I get through some of the other books on my TBR!
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Ah yes, good luck with that ever growing TBR! Hope you can get to this one soon 🙂
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I’m so glad you enjoyed this book! 😀 I really adored it, and am so glad to see this #ownvoices narrative enter the foray of the UF genre!
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Yes, it was awesome getting another perspective!
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This is the second wonderful review I’ve read of this book in the past 10 minutes – did you and Tammy plan on reviewing it the same day? After reading them both, I’m definitely bumping this one up on the TBR.
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Haha nope, didn’t plan on it! I’d actually scheduled this review before I left on my vacation, guess our reviews just happened to go up on the same day 😀
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I also put my review up today:-) I really loved this, and I had a similar reaction to the plot, I wasn’t crazy about how unorganized it seemed, for some reason. But I loved the characters and the world building. I’m really looking forward to reading the next book!
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Yeah, I loved it! The plot didn’t start going a little wonky until the second half, so I didn’t mind so much. It was very enjoyable overall 🙂
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The setting looks different there and I think I could enjoy that! I’m curious to see how the sequel is
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Me too! I think this series has tons of potential.
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Ohhh it sounds great!
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I had a great time!
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I just read Tammy’s review so it’s funny that you both mentionned a few problems with the plot. I’m really interested by this book but it’s nice to be warned beforehand! 🙂
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Yeah, I was still on vacation when this review went up, so I’m going to have to jump on over to Tammy’s blog and read her review now that I’m back – it kind of makes me glad I’m not the only one who found some issues with the plot, but the book was still very enjoyable overall!
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Great review. I agree with you and Tammy about the issues with the plot, but you know…it didn’t bother me much because everything else was so strong. The characters in this were just so well-written. Can’t wait for the next book in the series!
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Yeah it didn’t bother me too much either, especially since the issues I found didn’t come until late in the book. By then I was already sold 😀
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Mm, I can already sense the world-building is going to be rich and cultural here! I also haven’t read many (if any at all) books with Navajo culture at the forefront, so I think I’ll add this to my TBR. The characters sound quite smart even if the antagonist isn’t the best. Great review! 🙂
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Yes, I loved how the Navajo culture was everywhere! I hope you get to check it out – it really is a special book 🙂
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I will! 😁
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I should have this waiting for me when I get back to the UK! I’m excited.
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Yay! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!
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What an unusual (at least for me) setting! Even though you pointed out a few… hiccups in the storytelling, this sounds like the beginning of a good series, and experience taught me that with U.F. one needs to be patient to find the right track, so… why not give this one a chance? 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
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Yes, exactly! I adopt that attitude for all new UF series especially for debuts. I think this one has so much potential. And I can’t wait to see where things go next!
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I’m sad that I had such will power and didn’t grab an ARC of this. I knew I would be. I love the sound of the world building.
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Oh yes, I’ve had the same thing happen to me before! Sometimes that pesky willpower can lead to us missing some great books, lol. But now that it’s out, definitely give it a look if you have the chance! 😉
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I would definitely like to read this one – everyone seems to be loving it – with a few minor hiccups maybe.
Lynn 😀
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You should pick it up! You’ll love it!
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I’m so glad you liked this one too, Mogsy! It’s definitely one of my favourite books of the year. The less than stellar aspects (strange pacing, primarily) didn’t bother me at all because I was so engrossed in the world and invested in Maggie’s character arc. I think it’s going to be a long journey towards healing for her!
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I agree, there were only minor flaws – and the strong points more than make up for them!
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Oooo, this sounds so good – and I’m not a huge UF fan. On the TBR list it goes! 😀
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It’s worth a try, because this is definitely something that feels different! 🙂
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It sounded like it had some potential and I liked the sound of it until the bit about the kind of dumb romance chucked in! Ugh, why are UF writers obsessed with throwing a random romance into everything!
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Yeah, unfortunately, when it comes to romance, UF authors seem to treat it like a requirement for the genre.
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I feel like Trail of Lightning is the book I never knew I was waiting for. One of my favorite research subjects when I was younger was Native Americans, so to see them front and center in a fantasy novel – and to see a book written by an Native American author – makes me very, very excited. So I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this despite the few flaws you ran into, and I’m definitely going to look into this book when I have a chance. 🙂
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Yes, read it, read it, read it! I think you’ll really like it 🙂
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