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.

Welcome to the Sixth World.

This is a great example of ye’ ol’ Twitter machine working its magic on me! Trail of Lightning just kept showing up on one list after another for most anticipated books! The premise sounded cool as hell, the cover is super badass, (even more so in person…that lightning, though!!) I just couldn’t resist, and I’m so glad I didn’t!! Rebecca Roanhorse is a great writer, & Trail of Lightning is a wicked debut!! 

Outside of Chuck Wendig’s Miriam Black series, I’m a bit of a newbie when it comes to urban fantasy, but The Sixth World is going to be one I stay with until the end. The setting is Dinétah, the Navajo reservation in a post-apocalyptic America. Walled in, and cut off from the rest of the world, which has been largely flooded in a cataclysmic event known as the Big Water.

Our hero is Maggie Hoskie, and when we meet her, she’s going through a very difficult part of her life (well…this is a post-apocalyptic novel, so everything is rather difficult). She’s a monster hunter, and she’s recently been abandoned by her teacher, Neizgháni. It’s clear early on that this was an extremely toxic relationship, and its impact on Maggie really informs much of the plot, and shapes her relationships with everyone she encounters. I saw a little bit of Buffy Summers in Maggie…someone who carries herself with a great deal of power & responsibility, but also with a big dose of self-loathing & insecurity. 

There are elements of horror in Trail of Lightning, there’s some incredibly badass action scenes, and a good bit of world-building & character development. And on top of all that, I really loved getting some exposure to Navajo culture, which permeates through so much of the story. I just loved this book & cannot wait to carry on with The Sixth World!!