Rebecca Roanhorse Archives

The Best #SciFi and #Fantasy Books I read in 2021

These books weren’t published in 2021, but I read them this year, and I enjoyed every word. I read others but if I don’t like a book, I don’t review it.

The Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone. What an imaginative, creative, marvelous read. If you’re looking for original space opera, this novel certainly fits. Full Review

2. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. I read this Hugo and Nebula winner cover to cover in one sitting. It deserves the awards. Full Review

3. The Salvage Crew by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne. What started as a simple mission to recover ship parts became more and more immersed in problems and complexity. Full Review

4. The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley. From a realistic start, the story evolves into the more mystical and magical. The town of Bedlam is quite fantastic: glass cliffs; pollen that is bioluminescent; trees that can float on air; and stone statues that move. Full Review

5. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. The galaxy it’s set in is awe-inspiring and full of novelty, yet it is also very familiar, which makes it an easy read. Full Review

6. Flex by Ferrett Steinmetz. Most of us love to get lost in the beauty of our daydreams, which is very much like how the magic works in this book. It’s a great adventure with a great dose of self-discovery. Full Review

7. Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse. The plot twists were fun and the action exciting. The character journey was as pivotal as the mystery of finding the witch creating the monsters. Full Review

8. Tentacles and Teeth by Ariele Sieling. Starts off at a gripping, intense pace and doesn’t let up. Full Review

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#Fantasy Worth Reading: Trail of Lightning #BookReview

This post-apocalyptic story written by Rebecca Roanhorse is set in the American desert. The Big Water destroyed the world as we know it, and the Navajo have walled off a large portion of western territory in which the story takes place.

Maggie Hoskie is recovering from a broken heart and using her clan powers to fight monsters bothering her neighbors. Her clan powers give her speed and a thirst for blood. She doesn’t mind killing, and so thinks herself a monster. Her new partner challenges her to think of herself differently.

The Native American lore and main characters were well thought out and intertwined with the plot in a magical way-literally and figuratively. Every character has its secrets, mirroring Maggie’s nature to keep everything to herself.

The plot unfolds in layers and tangles everything together into a wonderful novel. Everyone has a past, and Maggie is forced to confront hers during the chaos of fighting an army of monsters. The plot twists were fun and the action exciting. The character journey was as pivotal as the mystery of finding the witch creating the monsters. There are also some interfering immortals.

Fun and fast-paced, I eagerly kept reading until the last page. More, please! Highly recommended.

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.