Rebecca Roanhorse: Trail of Lightning

In the first of a new series, Rebecca Roanhorse show that the world will always need a monster hunter:

Most of the world has drowned, but a few places have survived and one is the Dinetah (formerly the Navajo reservation) when the gods helped the clan build giant walls to protect them. But this sudden apocalyptic event has given rise not only to Gods and heroes but monsters as well. Maggie Hoskie is a Dinetah monster hunter who has clan powers that make her a supernaturally gifted killer. Maggie answers the call when no one else will when there are monsters and Maggie is about to discover an entirely new Monster, one that she has never seen before. One that is going to make her confront what has happened to her in the past if she wants to survive and protect those still living in the Dinetah. But there are those who do not want her to succeed and will stop at nothing in order to prevent her from finding out the truth.

This was a random grab of a book for me, I am not sure why I picked this book up, but I am so happy I did. This is the first book that I have read by Roanhorse and what a read it was. It starts off really fast and quiet dark (almost to the horror sides of things) and the darkness is something that is a common occurrence throughout the book. Because the book starts off really fast is does slow down a bit around the 25% mark with the introduction of Coyote to things and well let just say he likes to talk a lot, but once Coyote leaves and Maggie has a new mission things really get rolling again.

 Maggie is a very interesting character, and well she has to be as a Monster hunter. When you hear her origin story presented in the book you cannot help but like her more, and care for her more as a character. Her Clan powers are a bit hard to describe, but they are a heightened ability to fight and over all awareness of her surroundings when she needs them to be. She can also sense the monsters that are threatening the people, especially it seems children. As much as Maggie does not want to think herself as a hero, she is one, even though sometimes heroes have to bring the bodies back in a body bag. She is selfless and willing puts herself in danger to help those she perceives as weaker or needing help. Even when payment for her services is offered she does not take advantage of people. 

I'm not sure what to think of Kia, as the book is told from Maggie's POV it is hard to fully judge Kia as a character as he is how Maggie perceives him and well he is a flashy guy who is supposed to be a medicine man, but also much more than that too and possible an alcoholic, but that may be a front as well. I hope in the next book that there may be some chapters from Kia's POV to flesh him out more as a character. And as for the love interest part of it I could have done without it but I understand why Roanhorse has it in there.

This is probably the first book that I have read that was based upon Native American myths and culture and I am all for it. We heard about it growing up but nothing really substantial just bits and pieces here and there, hence why i recognized the character Coyote in the book, but I liked that Roanhorse brought so much more that just Coyote into the book. I appreciated that she used the Navajos terminology throughout the book (though I am sure i butchered the pronunciation). This is a culture that I know little about and I enjoyed that Roanhorse had it so intertwined with the world. Though I did find some of the world building lacking at times, I have yet to figure out what caused the big flood, but that is really a side point to everything. You basically know that most of the world is under water and that includes most of the USA as well.

I really enjoyed this book by Roanhorse and I would recommend it to people who are fans or the dystopia/Urban fantasy/Supernatural genre, or looking for something a bit different. I look forward to reading the next book in the series and checking out other books by Roanhorse

Enjoy!!!

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