*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of NETGALLEY arc Trail of Lightning – Book 1 of The Sixth World series by Rebecca Roanhorse #Brainfluffbookreview #TrailofLightningbookreview

It was Tammy at Books, Bones and Buffy that first enthused about this one and had me scurrying to track it down – to find it was only available as a paperback. So I was thrilled when subsequently, I discovered that not only was it about to become available as a Kindle edition, it was also a Netgalley arc…

BLURB: 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—and best—hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much larger and more terrifying than anything she could imagine.

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