Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Maggie Hoskie is a Native American in an apocalyptic world where monsters are real, and only magical strength can kill them. Most of the world is underwater, but one of the safe places is the Navajo Reservation, otherwise known as Dinétah. And magic has returned. Not just magic though, but also the gods and heroes.

It would seem that Maggie is something of a reluctant hero, and doesn’t take any nonsense form anyone. She likes to be alone, seeking out company when she wants it - not the other way round. I liked her, and I’ll be interested to see how her character develops further in subsequent books.

I liked the world-building, the peripheral characters, but to be honest, I would have loved a bit more background, both in how the world flooded and the gods. But then again, it was a good way of hooking me, because I WILL be reading the next in the series!

Rebecca Roanhorse showcases a unique take on a post-apocalyptic world and the dystopia aspect is well written. The author also incorporates Navajo folklore to produce a richly detailed novel. Highly recommended.

Trail of Lightning seems to think that frequent action scenes are a good way to keep the reader interested, which is never going to work for me. I mean, I'm going to get through the book very quickly, that's true; and that's because nothing encourages me to skim as often.

Most action scenes are boring, and so is this book. So much of it felt like characters moving around from one place to another to either fight someone/something or recover from fighting someone/something, without any other aim. When I consider not finishing while I've only 20% left, there's usually something very wrong with the story, but I don't think that's the case here - I think I'm just not the right kind of reader for this, and that's fine. This book is doing a lot of things, some subtly and some not, like questioning the very heart of the post-apocalyptic genre: isn't the concept of "apocalypse" what happens when a catastrophe befalls the privileged, after all? The Diné have gone through their own apocalypse before, it's just not called that by the rest of the world.

There's also the reversal of several tropes common in paranormal fiction, one of the most interesting examples being the character of Kai - a male love interest whose characteristics and capabilities are usually associated with female characters in fantasy. To avoid spoiler territory, I will say that for example he is kind of there to be very pretty, even if that's far from his only role. Because of these things, he was probably the most interesting character around; I found most of the side ones to be very underdeveloped, with maybe the exception of Coyote.
This very much includes a certain someone who is built up as this legendary figure and then is actually very underwhelming. I read possessiveness as insecurity, and given that it seems a huge part of his character once we meet him, I was never able to take him seriously.

As far as the other side characters, there's a good reason we never really get to know them, or have a feeling on who they really are, and that reason is the main character, Maggie. She holds everyone at a distance, and that reflects on the story. This is a book about a traumatized woman who has known nothing but fighting and death for a long while, and her character arc involves learning that she can be something else as well. I don't have any complaints about the development, but the thing about this book is that it feels very much like a set-up for the sequels, and just when we're getting to a somewhat interesting part with Maggie's arc, it ends. I'm not going to read the sequel because clearly this is not my kind of thing independently from execution, but I do wonder if the side characters get more development as Maggie learns to let people in. I hope that's the case.

2.5 stars

Maggie Hoskie is a monster hunter. With her clan powers and training from the Monsterslayer himself, Maggie has built herself quite the reputation.
One day, a community goes to Maggie as a last resort, hoping that she will find a missing girl taken by a monster.
Maggie ends up finding more than she bargained for, and unwillingly agrees to allow Kai Arviso, a medicine man from outside the Dinétah (what was the Navajo reservation before the Big Water), to tag along with her as she delves deeper into the mystery surrounding the monster.
As Maggie and Kai travel through the Dinétah, they encounter more monsters, gods and dark magic.
Can they stop the monsters?
Can Maggie confront her past?

It was the premise of Trail of Lightning that drew me in - a monster hunter living on a reservation sounded like a pretty interesting read to me!
The setting of the Dinétah (what used to be the Navajo reservation before the sea levels rose) was different as I don't think I've ever read a book set on a reservation before. The idea of a big wall around the Dinétah made it feel quite isolated and enclosed, but we get to see several different places on Maggie's travels so it was hard to imagine the size of the Dinétah.
My favourite things about the book were the Native American aspects of it - the gods, lore, and the clan powers - which made the book feel pretty unique.
I liked Maggie as a protagonist - she was relatable and likeable. It was interesting how much her relationship with her former mentor had defined her, and it was understandable given what had happened to her.
I couldn't help but like Coyote and his trickster nature.
The romance was one that I have no strong feelings about.
The plot was good and held my attention to about halfway through, when I found myself losing interest, and after that I struggled to get back into the storyline. Unfortunately, it got to the point where, in the end, I didn't really care what happened to the characters, which I thought was a shame as I did start off enjoying the book.
The writing style was easy to follow and understand.
For me, the book didn't reach its potential, but I really liked the uniqueness of the setting and the Native American characters and gods.

Overall, this was an ok read.

A novel with a great worlbuilding but a story that didn't catch me significantly. Anyhow this is a enjoyable reading full of adventures and quite tricky to identify in a specific genre, which is something very interesting. Could be urban fantasy, but there are some dystopian thing here and there that added much value to the reading. On the other hand the romantic side of the plot was a bit boring honestly. Good, I might read the second part.to see if it gets differentiate from other usban fantasies that came to my mind while reading this.

Although I'm not wild about the UK cover, I actually liked the novel despite it taking me a few tries to get into it. It is a post-Apocalyptic Urban Fantasy with roots in Native American mythology. I'm not really a fan of post-apocalyptic novels, especially since I think dystopia and post-apocalyptic was overdone a few years ago and I don't think this sub genre should be taken out of retirement just yet. Saying that, I appreciated the relevance of a climate apocalypse.

The novel gave off Western vibes to me. It was dark and gritty and the heroine gave off lone ranger vibes. Maggie, the heroine is a bit darker than the typical heroine in most UF novels I read but she's a good protagonist nonetheless and I enjoyed her journey. I really appreciated the worldbuilding and the Native American setting, it's a breath of fresh air compared to the usual vampires, witches, shifters and fae based UF. I would definitely recommend to fans of Ilona Andrew's Kate Daniels series and Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series.

A bit of an urban-fantasy dystopian cross, mixed with an intriguing dash of Native American mythology. I'd say this is quite similar in tone to my favourite urban fantasy series' by Ilona Andrews and Patricia Briggs, but so far there's less of the romance, so this should also hopefully appeal to readers who also enjoy the likes of Neil Gaiman and Ben Aaronovitch. I really enjoyed this and have purchased book 2 which I'll be reading soon.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

Unfortunately I never got round to finishing this book, after slogging my way through the first half. I loved the concept but just wasnt a fan of the execution; it felt a bit muffled in a way and I wasnt sure what was going on.

Environmental catastrophe has struck, with wars over resources and mass flooding ravaging the Earth. Maggie Hoskie is a monster hunter in Dinétah, and she is struggling to deal with a dark past, when she meets medicine man in training Kai and is set on the trail of what is creating a new breed of monsters.

The novel is exciting from the get go, with a wonderfully imagined, rich and colourful world that draws from Navajo culture and beliefs. We have flesh eating monsters, witches, trickster Gods and tribal powers to contend with. It is also a very interesting and original take on the post-apocalyptic fantasy world. In addition to this, Maggie is a complex character, with a dark past and serious survival skills. Her world is rocked when she discovers a monster that is unlike anything she has faced before, and is set on a quest that will force her to face her past.

This is only the first book of The Sixth World series and it promises a lot. The premise is straightforward enough while being refreshingly original, and as the plot progresses it gains complexity. It is also unique to have a lead Native woman, and Native culture at the centre of a fantasy narrative. Maggie has powers from her two different tribes of origin and she struggles to accept and come to terms with what they mean throughout the novel, leaving lots of room for character development as the series progresses.

The writing style is fun and there are light-hearted moments of relief which make you let your guard down, only to wrench you into some surprising turmoil. It is well paced, keeping you engaged, compelling you to read more, and keeping you guessing. This is a highly enjoyable fantasy read, which is sure to grow into a fantastic series.

TWs: Physical violence, graphic deaths, gore, gun violence, emotional manipulation, on-page death

This was an absolute powerhouse of a novel. It was intense, emotionally wrought, and brilliantly conceived. I don't often go in for post-apocalyptic novels, but I loved the world-building in this one. The native American mythology really comes to live in the half-drowned world, where gods, monsters, and humans with abilities roam the land.

I really liked Maggie's character. She's fiery, honest, and a veritable badass, single-handedly killing monsters and unravelling mysteries. Rebecca Roanhorse's exquisite narration really brings Maggie to live and I loved her complexities. The plot has just the right balance of mystery, drama, action, and emotional moments, and I was gripped from the first chapter. Very much looking forward to picking up the sequel!

A magical monster killer of the Dinétah people, Maggie is also a young woman. A bit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Maggie is trying to understand whether she herself is a monster, a killing machine, or if she can maintain a soul and moral code as a monster killer. Framed as a magical murder investigation, the story is also very violent. Enjoyed some of the characters, the bits of romance, and this definitely makes sense as a new adult novel looking at identity.

It’s easy to see why the book has taken fantasy fandom by storm, being at once both an archetypal (post-apocalyptic) urban fantasy and something more. And there’s even more to come in the sequel, for sure – good thing you don’t have to wait!

See link below for full review.

Maggie Hoskie is a monster hunter on a break after being abandoned by her tutor the god Neizgghani. It’s only when a young girl goes missing that Maggie gets dragged back into the world of slaying and what she finds isn’t like any monster shes seen before. This one looks almost human and Maggie is worried about the magic it would take to create something like this. When she goes to visit Grandpa Tah, the closest thing she has to family, he insists that his Grandson accompanies Maggie on her mission to find the witches responsible. Only Maggie works alone, and Kai, the pretty boy training to be a medicine man, seems like he would be more of a hazard than a help. Everyone has their secrets though, Maggie most of all, and it takes a whole host of characters, Gods and humans alike before they will learn to trust one another and find the person responsible for creating the monsters.

You know me and mythology! I jumped at the chance to review this book so fast as soon as I found out it was focused around Native American folklore. Part dystopian, part urban fantasy this book had me hooked from the first few lines and I found myself flying through the pages. The world has been taken over by ‘Big Water’ and after the floods there are certain areas that managed to survive. Maggies world is safe only by the grace of four large walls that encircle the reservation, each made of a different material and the only thing standing between them and sure death. When big water happened, something changed within the reservation that allowed the creatures of old to walk the earth again, which is where Maggie comes in, because though some of them are God’s and relatively harmless to humans there are those, monsters, who seek to destroy. Maggie isn’t the only special one though, each Dine has powers passed down from their clans, Maggie’s are speed and a lust for the kill, but there are others and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about all the different clans powers. I found the whole premise really intriguing and was swept away learning all about Native American culture and mythology.

Maggie is a really intriguing character. Slow to trust, and who can blame her after the tragedy she lived through. After the horiffic death of her grandmother, her only remaining family, she is taken in by Neizghani, the Monsterslayer himself. He see’s promise in Maggie, especially when her clan powers give her exceptional speed and blood lust, and takes her under his wing. However, a god is not the kind of person who should be raising a child, the only love he shows is through praising her ability to kill. Neizghani, left when he started to believe that Maggie was becoming more monster than human and left her with some major trust and self esteem problems. She has amazing character growth in this book, and I loved seeing her build relationships, tenuous as some of them where. Headstrong, powerful and fully able to look after herself, even if she jumps into fights not realising the consequences.

Maggie’s relationships was a part of the book I found myself really invested in. We see this girl at the beginning, putting on a brave face while inside she feels dead, and her progression through the book is hugely based on the bonds she forms. Not just romantic relationships, but familial and friendships. Kai is a massive part of her journey, and you just knew you were in for a ride when he called her ‘mags’ on their first meeting. I loved seeing their relationship progress from timid partners to friends and then to the potential for something more.

The world-building in the book is minimal, though we do get to see a large part of the reservation through Maggie and Kai’s journey. The writing style and plot had me hooked from the very beginning, and I loved playing the guessing game the author gives us, who should we trust? Who is looking out for Maggie? And who is playing her? There were plenty of twists and turns, and the book ends on a heart breaking and yet promising cliff-hanger that had me eager to get my hands on the sequel. An easy 4/5.

Navajo myth and monster-hunting in a future after environmental destruction. Maggie Hoskie is our monster-slayer who teams up with the mysterious Kai to trace the source of a new threat within Diné, while navigating the interference of trickster gods as they go.

The world was richly written and the cast of characters was fantastic - no doubt all the more meaningful for North American Native readers themselves, I'm sure there's plenty of 'easter egg' type content I missed by virtue of being British that other readers loved to see. Roanhorse didn't pull her punches when it came to issues like police brutality, abuse, trauma and PTSD which just goes to show it's entirely possible to touch on contemporary issues in a fantasy setting. This is a definitely adult sff but I think also approachable by many YA readers - I would have eaten this up when I was younger.

I loved so much of this but the pacing could have been tighter and I didn't personally connect with any of the characters in a way that made me want to sit down and devour this - which in turn, meant I was reading in bits and pieces which further disconnected me from the book. I found myself confused by what was going on, but again I think this is due to reading sporadically as much as the writing itself.

Having said that, I have no doubt that this book (and particularly Maggie Hoskie) will resonate with so many people and I will probably read the second just to get more of the world

"Words matter", he says. "The name you give things, it forms them when you speak. You must always be careful with your words." - Rebecca Roanhorse, Trail of Lightning.

3.7 rounded off to 4 stars.

Do you like kick-ass female protagonists? Do you like action? Do you like mythology and monsters? Sometimes funny and mostly brilliant, I love this world that Rebecca Roanhorse created.

Welcome to the Sixth World:

A Native American post-apocalyptic world of gods and monsters had me obsessed from the first page. Maggie the supernaturally clan-gifted "Monsterslayer" is everything I want and need in a female protagonist. Her pain and the "emotional wall" she has up as the result of her past made her all the more human to me. I wanted to wrap my arms around her from page one and turn her into my best friend.

The world-building was superb. I had no knowledge of Native American folklore or mythology and each and every single new chapter took me to a deeper understanding and a deeper fascination. Not everything was explained about the fractured "Sixth World" , but I assume more will be explained in the next book.

The style and ease of writing was perfect. The pages flew by into the early hours of the morning. The dialogue was funny, easy to follow and the characters were believable and well thought out.

I cannot wait for book two!

So I think I first came to know about this one via booktube? In any case, my weakness for any mythology meant that I had this one in the back of my mind. Then NetGalley had an e-ARC available to request and wonders of wonders I was given the chance to read it! So yay for that.

This is a near-future version of the US( I think) where the water levels are high enough that the world is in chaos. Maggie lives in one of the few places safe enough to live, it used to be a Navajo reservation and now it’s a haven from the Big Water. In this timeline, the gods and monsters are back in this world and Maggie works hard to get rid of them by hunting them. There’s a lot of magic and monsters and the most important thing is that it’s all based on Navajo folklore/legend.

The very beginning of the book sets the tone for the book, a mother asks Maggie if her child can be saved from the monster that’s stolen her and Maggie answers in the only way possible. She says that she can only find the child, there’s no guarantee of the child being saved because that’s the sort of horror they live through. It also says a lot about Maggie, she’s pragmatic but she also has such ideas about the things that are touched by magic or anything even remotely dark.

Maggie isn’t an easy character to like and that’s where Rebecca Roanhorse’s writing shines because she’s not perfect, her flaws are very vividly obvious and there’s a valid reason for her to be the way she is. It’s not excusable but there’s a reason. Her journey through the trauma and towards healing really works brilliantly. I wasn’t too keen on the romance side of things but I almost never am, it’s my flaw rather than the author’s flaw. Also, I could see it coming from miles away which sort of gives away a part of the plot. Oh, well. I still liked the clan powers part of Maggie’s story though! How it makes her a Living Arrow, basically makes her really great at killing. I know, it sounds a bit dodgy but the world these characters live in, that’s a good power to have.

While the plot itself isn’t terribly important to the story, it’s the characters that drew me in and made me stay in the world of chaos. Maggie with her ability to make me want to shake her repeatedly and also at the same time, me being in awe of her abilities and her strength. Kai with his own brand of charm, Tah being kinda awesome and yet a meddling parent figure, even the mother in the earlier part of the book made an impact that lasted till the very last moment of the book.

I have to admit that while everything was absolutely entertaining and fun to read and it was a great book on its own, I must say my interest in the mythology of the Sixth World kept me hooked to the book and maybe the characters themselves because as far as the plot is concerned, it’s kinda taken the easy route. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, it works in this one! I am just greedy and want all the things.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would definitely be picking up anything else that comes written by this author, just to see if it’s just as awesome. Also, a puzzling thing that I noticed, it’s shelved as young adult but after reading it, I really don’t think it should categorized as such. At best, maybe new adult but definitely not young adult. Oh, well.

I liked this book, at first it was hard with all the unfamiliar words and I would of liked a reference. But it soon pulled me in and I really liked it. I felt it could do with more explanations about characters and clans etc. But a good start

I'm grateful to the author for an advance e-copy of this book via NetGalley.

I love a book with a big, bold premise. Trail of Lightning certainly delivers this - Maggie Hoskie is a Native American monster hunter in a post-apocalyptic world where climate change ('the Big Water') has inundated much of the US and left the Diné (Navajo) people clinging to a precarious existence on part of their ancestral land, albeit (and ironically) subject to endless drought.

Maggie herself is an orphan, rescued and raised by the god Neizgháni - who trained her as an apprentice hunter before disappearing. Put baldly that sounds a lot of backstory in a short book (and there is more) but Roanhorse very skilfully parcels it out, only revealing details and facts as they are needed and allowing the reader to piece things together. The setup gives Maggie a degree of vulnerability - she is alone and mortal, facing supernatural threats that don't pull their punches, and her past has left her unpopular among the cops ('Law Dogs'), gangs, mercenaries and trade bosses who vie for power in Dinétah. There's sexism, too, highlighted when she's negotiating with a family over the price for monster-hunting job when their daughter has been snatched away by a 'tsé-naayéé'. ('Maybe they don't want to pay because I'm a woman').

I was impressed by the gritty reality of the world that Roanhorse describes, the impoverishment and general air of scrabbling for existence in a hard world. Of course it's not too much of a stretch to suggest that for Native Americans that is less an awful dystopian future than a version of their present lives and that they are already living in a post-apocalyptic world. Indeed, as described here the Big Water and its aftereffects have brought benefits such as independence ('Dinetáh risen') and - for some - even wealth. That's not a point overtly made - the story is really too fast paced to allow much time for such comparisons (though nor does the book gloss over injustices and marginalisation, past or present). Indeed it is pretty much contentious action from introducing Maggie on that first monster hunt to a final, awful confrontation with gods, monsters and vigilantes.

In between she's basically on the run, collecting a ragged assortment of allies who (of course) have their own agendas and trying to work out what's going on. Something really bad is at large, slaughtering people in the towns and leaving that trail of lightning. Even the best organised places aren't immune.

To solve the mystery, Maggie has to dig deep into her people's traditions, telling us in the course of that of a fantastical collection of gods and heroes from the old stories who are now, it seems, all to real in Dinetáh (I loved that Roanhorse makes no concessions to the English speaker, or indeed, review writer or typesetter, using spellings that I literally can't find the symbols for - for example, a word like 'wóshdee' where the two final "e"s ought to have both an acute accent é and a little mark underneath ę. My keyboard will allow one or the other but not both at once.) I loved this sense of thinness between two worlds, of the inhabitants of story walking this world, and it's done very plausibly (one god, Ma'ii/ Coyote, is a particularly natty dresser).

Maggie herself is a wonderful character - resourceful, slightly bitter in a way that's almost noir ('I lean back and start at the ceiling of the truck, asking the heavens for help dealing with men with their heads up their assess. I'm pretty sure no help will be forthcoming, but I feel the need to ask anyway') and always, always, slightly disappointed by those around her but carrying on anyway. She doesn't know everything, she's not always right (for example, she misjudges one young man she meets - he's handy with a gun, and she's surprised when her turns out to be gay) but is always ready to admit that and do better. Is she perhaps a bit overfamiliar with present day cultural references and technology? perhaps - but who knows what's current in 2030+ Dinetáh and that's intrinsically more plausible than gods and monsters anyway.

Overall then: I loved this book. I galloped through it, enjoying the buildup to the finalé, caring about the characters, refreshed by its not being another Western European strongmen in furs type of fantasy, and thoroughly liking the plot, characters and setting.

Best of all there is a sequel coming (the e-ARC had an extract in it, hopefully the publishers books does too) and I am keen to read that.

There’s a snag to a highly anticipated read – it might not live up to my excited expectations. So I was very relieved when I quickly discovered that for all her edges, I really cared about poor, damaged Maggie and wanted her to succeed. This is important, because she spends a great deal of time pushing away those she cares about, convinced that she is also a monster.

In this post-apocalyptic world, everyone has edges. As catastrophic flooding swept away civilisation and families, those that survived had to become tough and resourceful. Roanhorse’s descriptions of this aftermath is well done. I loved the setting of a parched land that has been reshaped once more for the rise of the Native American nations and their gods – the Sixth World.

I was quickly completely immersed in this world and spend a happy afternoon relaxing while the pages turned by themselves as I was caught up in Maggie’s adventures. Alongside the monster-hunting and killing, she is also trying to cope with her own emotional problems. Actually, that’s not quite true – all she wants to do is get on and kill the monsters, but those emotional issues won’t leave her alone, as she has to confront those messing with her head.

If you enjoy richly drawn fantasy landscapes with plenty of action featuring a sympathetic, nicely complex heroine, who battles all sorts of odds without becoming whiny or pathetic, then this one comes very highly recommended. Thank you, Tammy!
10/10