Trail of Lightning

By: Rebecca Roanhorse

Narrated by: Tanis Parenteau

The sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse have destroyed most of the planet…yet out of these waters, Dinétah, a former Navajo reservation, has been miraculously reborn. Listen along as Tanis Parenteau's impeccable narration, capturing the rhythms of Navajo speech, fully envelopes you into the Sixth World.

When Dinétah needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie - a monster hunter and supernatural killer - is its last, best hope. Trail of Lightning follows our heroine as she walks the land alongside gods, heroes of legend, and monsters alike. Reluctantly, she enlists the aid of an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel Dinétah, unraveling clues from ancient legends and trading favors with tricksters. As Maggie discovers the truth behind the killings, she will have to confront her past if she wants to survive - for what she uncovers about the monster she is sent to find is much more terrifying than anything she could imagine.

©2018 Rebecca Roanhorse (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Improved with second listening

Having listened to other stories which would have benefited from having a narrator better able to handle native language, I had better appreciation for Parenteau's performance. Sadly I still felt her voice sounded too young for the character and her male characterizations are not believable or appealing.

unique world, strong MC

Not an "easy" read, but a fun, fascinating, fast read.
Cool MC. Interesting side characters. Cool world.
Immediately went out and read everything I could get my hands on by this author.
All good. This one was the best.

#FemaleProtagonist #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Navajo Culture or just Ghost Stories?

I was excited to see a book that brushed on Navajo Culture and written by a woman from a woman’s point of view. What I got was a lot of violent fantasy using a Navajo backdrop. The Navajo are real people living real lives somewhere between Tony Hillerman and Rebecca Roanhorse. The Dine people are so much more than this.

a bit too much YA romance novel

the concept it really cool and interesting but the world building, explanations, and character development are really poor. the narration is good, but it's hard to save such a trooper filled thinly veiled romance novel

It was OK

The story had so much potential but there were so many issues with it. I didn’t feel like the world was well fleshed out, the relationships didn’t seem believable and I just felt like the plot was lacking. I thought that the concept and the Indian culture was interesting but not enough to carry the story through. It was, ok at best.

99% loved the narrator, only took issue with Kai.

liked the story, felt like there was a lot of back story and the epic fight fell a little flat. otherwise, fun listen

good paced

I liked this but it lacked a bit of depth. I like the narrator. I may get the follow up book.

Good Story

I enjoyed this tail of the Dina set after whiteman destroy the continent. Deep characters, good story.

So good!!!

this is a fantastic story all the way around! brilliantly written and the narration is fantastic!

Excellent world building.

I was captivated by the first few chapters I particularly loved the established monster hunting. This story gives a really great insight to native american culture and mythology in a post (or post-post?) apocalypse and plays well with the standard archetypes within this genre. The main character is an interesting form of the Dark Hero type and I like how she's already a wounded warrior missing something in her life, though at times her character can fall flat particularly in the fields related to her romantic history, the supporting characters do a good job and distracting from those traits.

At points it deviate from what drew me in; The interesting world and the cool monster hunting, but never strays too far from it. Definitely would recomend it if you like native american mythology or don't know too much and want to dip your toes.

As far as the narration it is done really well. The range of voices is fairly diverse, but what impressed me the most was the tone of voice in moments of emotion. I could feel the sweetness in a specific moment where she talks about how much she likes her grandfatherly figure.