Trail of Lightning is a 2018
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
novel, the
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
by
Rebecca Roanhorse
Rebecca Roanhorse (born March 14, 1971) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer from New Mexico. She has written short stories and science fiction novels featuring Navajo characters.Kerry Lengel"Navajo legends come to life in Rebecca Ro ...
. After a supernatural disaster destroys most of North America,
Navajo
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
monster-slayer Maggie Hoskie must navigate a world of monsters and gods. The novel won the 2019
Locus Award for Best First Novel
The Locus Award for Best First Novel is one of the annual Locus Awards presented by the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus''. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year. The award for Best Firs ...
and was nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Locus Awards for Best Novel.
Plot summary
In the 21st century, a
worldwide flood caused by multiple earthquakes along the
New Madrid fault line destroys most of the United States as magic returns to the world.
Dinétah becomes an independent nation. Certain
Navajo
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
people develop
clan powers based on their ancestral tribes.
On Maggie Hoskie's sixteenth birthday, her grandmother is murdered by witches and monsters. This traumatic event activates her clan powers, giving Maggie superhuman speed and a propensity for killing. She attracts the attention of the immortal monster-slayer Neizghání and becomes his apprentice. Neizghání trains her in the art of combat, but abandons her when he perceives that she is becoming too violent. Maggie becomes a
bounty hunter
A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...
and monster-slayer. She seeks information about a new breed of monster from Tah, a local
medicine man
A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and ceremo ...
. Tah tells her that the monster was created by a powerful witch. He asks her to work with his grandson Kai Arviso, who also possesses clan powers, to destroy the witch.
Maggie and Kai retrieve information about a relic known as a "fire drill", which may be related to the monsters. She is visited by Mąʼii, the
Coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
; Mąʼii tells her that the drill belongs to Mósí, a cat goddess. He also requests that she complete a task for him, giving her magical rings. Tah's
hogan
A hogan ( or ; from Navajo ' ) is the primary, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house. A hogan can be round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or sq ...
burns down; Maggie suspects Neizghání. In the carnage, Maggie and Kai kill a corrupt police officer. They seek shelter with Grace Goodacre, a local bar owner. Maggie, Kai, and Grace's children begin working together.
Mósí promises to give the fire drill to the winner of a duel. Maggie agrees and is ordered to fight Neizghání. He brands her and almost kills her, but she is rescued by Kai. Maggie seeks revenge against Neizghání, believing him to be responsible for the death of Tah and the creation of the monsters. They return to
Black Mesa, where Maggie last saw Neizghání.
As Kai and the Goodacres are ambushed by monsters on Black Mesa, Mąʼii appears and reveals to Maggie that he controls the monsters. He was responsible for the murder of her grandmother, leading to the activation of her clan powers; he was also responsible for Maggie's duel with Neizghání. He wants to forge Maggie into a powerful warrior. Furious at this revelation, Maggie kills him and returns to the battlefield, where Neizghání has defeated the monsters and is now threatening Kai, whom he considers to be a rival. Neizghání offers Maggie a choice: fight and die now, or betray Kai and return to him. Maggie kills Kai, believing that his clan powers will resurrect him. She then uses Mąʼii's rings to bind Neizghání, temporarily incapacitating him and removing his powers. At Maggie's trailer, Tah and Maggie wait for Kai to return.
Background
Rebecca Roanhorse
Rebecca Roanhorse (born March 14, 1971) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer from New Mexico. She has written short stories and science fiction novels featuring Navajo characters.Kerry Lengel"Navajo legends come to life in Rebecca Ro ...
began writing fantasy as a hobby while pursuing a career as a lawyer. She stated that when she was unable to find a science fiction or fantasy novel with a Native American protagonist, she decided to write one, saying in
2019 that many Native American fictional characters are portrayed as stuck in the past, and she wanted to use her novel to show Native characters as "alive and thriving". Roanhorse has said that she is of
Ohkay Owingeh
Ohkay Owingeh (Tewa: Ohkwee Ówîngeh ), known by its Spanish name as San Juan de los Caballeros from 1589 to 2005, is a pueblo and census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Ohkay Owingeh is also a federally recognized tribe ...
Pueblo
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
descent through her mother's family, and
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
on her father's side.
When she began publishing and doing speaking engagements, others pointed out that she is not an enrolled member of any tribal community.
[ Leaders of the Ohkay Owingeh community have stated that Roanhorse is not enrolled there and has no connection to their community.]
Reception and awards
''Trail of Lightning'' received mostly positive reviews from non-Native critics. ''The Verge'' called it a "much-needed perspective to the larger canon of fantasy fiction", praising it for its portrayal of Native American characters. Critics also praised ''Trail of Lightning'' for its fast-paced action and complex characters. ''Locus'' called the novel "immensely readable and very enjoyable" and praised it for its worldbuilding; it also criticized the novel for shallow dialogue and a disjointed plot structure.
The Diné Writers' Collective criticized the novel as cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...
, stating that someone who is not a recognized member of the Diné tribal community "does not have the authority or experience to write about our people and culture". They feel that important Navajo spiritual beliefs were portrayed inaccurately and offensively.[ They also criticized the way in which some book reviewers, based on the author's writings, have conflated different tribes of Native Americans into one identity. Dr. Matthew Martinez, former Lieutenant Governor of ]Ohkay Owingeh
Ohkay Owingeh (Tewa: Ohkwee Ówîngeh ), known by its Spanish name as San Juan de los Caballeros from 1589 to 2005, is a pueblo and census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Ohkay Owingeh is also a federally recognized tribe ...
(the tribal community the author claims descent from, but who do not claim her),[ said, "by not engaging in any form of cultural and community acknowledgement, Roanhorse has failed to establish any legitimate claim to call herself Ohkay Owingeh." He eventually concluded, "It is unethical for Roanhorse to be claiming Ohkay Owingeh and using this identity to publish Native stories."][
''Trail of Lightning'' won the 2019 ]Locus Award for Best First Novel
The Locus Award for Best First Novel is one of the annual Locus Awards presented by the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus''. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year. The award for Best Firs ...
, and was a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Novel
The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; a ...
of 2018, the 2019 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
, and the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...
.
References
{{Locus Award Best First Novel
2018 American novels
American fantasy novels
Debut speculative fiction novels
Native American novels
Native American mythology in popular culture
2018 debut novels
Saga Press books