Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
The Sixth World #1
Urban Fantasy
Saga Press | June 26, 2018

What a treat Trail of Lightning was!

I knew I wanted to read this book, and I was right. It was everything I love in Urban Fantasy, but with new life breathed into it. There’s a fresh, untold story, in The Sixth World series, and I’m loving it.

First of all, at least so far, there haven’t been any type of ‘shifter’ characters. I’m not saying there won’t be, because they exist in Native American legend, but at least for right now all the creatures introduced are unique. It’s refreshing. I’m not even sick of weres, I just feel like their omission already sets this story apart as unusual.

In Sixth World we have a Monsterslayer instead!
And she is BADASS!

Maggie Hoskie is reclusive, prickly, and almost stern. She doesn’t have friends, and even if maybe she’s secretly lonely, she acts like she’s too tough for connections. She’s powerful and strong. She was honed into a killer. There’s not much that’s ‘feminine’ about her, and yet she’s not really masculine either. She’s strength, even if she doesn’t see it, and she’s beautiful.

As I was scouring Goodreads to see if there was a romance in Trail of Lightning I found nobody talking about it. I get it. This series isn’t about love. It’s about power; both Native power and female power. However, I don’t feel like finding or feeling love detracts from that, so I’m going to talk about Maggie’s love life in this review. I feel like it’s also important, and sets this series apart from others.

Where Maggie bucks traditional female characters, her love interest bucks traditional masculinity.

First of all, this is a very slow burn. It doesn’t have an immediate relationship. Maggie has a very low self image, and she can’t bring herself to trust people. However, Kai is the opposite. He’s light and goodness. He’s sweet. He calms Maggie’s fire. He’s able to talk her out of her bloodlust and make her feel peace. They have their issues, but he’s so good for her, and I love reading a relationship where the man is all about peace and mercy, and who refuses violence. I love Kai.

And this world! There isn’t a lot of worldbuilding, but there doesn’t need to be. This is our world. Global Warming has caused ‘The Big Water’, and out of the ashes the Dinétah have risen again. It’s perfect just the way it is. I don’t need more history to know what created The Sixth World. Frankly, you only need to look around.

Honestly, I’m a little bit sad by how long it took me to read Trail of Lightning. I noticed it shortly after it came out, but I put off reading it for silly reasons. I wasn’t as much into the UF mindset anymore, and I was still deep into Kate Daniels. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to double up by adding another series.

On the other hand, I’m glad I didn’t read it right away, because now I’m able to dive right into the sequel!

Storm of Locusts, here I come!