Trail of Lightning (1) (The Sixth World)

I'm rounding this up to a 4 but I lean more towards 3.5 stars. I enjoyed the story, the crazy twists and turns that it had throughout every chapter. Kai and Maggie had such a fun chemistry that I was rooting for the whole time, even after the twist towards the end. I won't lie and say there were points that I had no idea where the book was going, but that was part of the fun. I really had no idea what was going to happen next, which is a huge plus as it wasn't predictable. Was I a fan of the ending? No. Will I stick around to see how everything is wrapped up in the second book? Most likely.

Мне очень сильно хотелось полюбить эту книгу – там действительно много вещей, по которым я обычно убиваюсь. Герои живут в бывшей резервации навахо в постапокалиптическом ближайшем будущем: глобальное потепление всё-таки изменило климат настолько, что цунами и торнадо смели половину Земли и два миллиарда человек. Даже в тех регионах, которые не затопило, жизнь изменилась – нет школ, электричества, нормальной еды. Зато есть боги и монстры – катаклизм впустил в мир магию, а раз есть монстры, то есть и те, кто их истребляет (*входит наша героиня Мэгги*).

Родители Мэгги погибли, бабушку убил колдун у нее на глазах, и в этот момент в Мэгги пробудились «клановые силы». В бою Мэгги становится нечеловечески быстрой, а также нечеловечески кровожадной, такой natural born killer. После смерти бабушки её подобрал легендарный бессмертный герой Нейзгани, который стал её учителем, а потом внезапно однажды бросил, и так она и живет с тех пор между стыдом, виной, страхом, ненавистью к себе и влюбленностью.

Удивительное дело: именно на этой книжке я поняла, как непростительно мало в героическом фэнтэзи используют мотив «героиня страдает по мудаку бывшему». А это ж страшное дело, любой, кто страдал по мудаку бывшему подтвердит! Там же бездна возможностей для внутренних конфликтов разных мастей – даже побольше, чем в классической истории «любимый трагически погиб и теперь я мщу». В общем, дорогие писатели, обратите, так сказать, внимание.

Энивей, несмотря на кучу элементов, которые я люблю, магию, богов, индейцев и вот это вот всё, в книге не хватает главного – логики повествования. Я прямо фантазирую, как прихожу я к Ребекке Роанхорс и говорю: А есть у тебя сториборд? А давай посмотрим его – вот этот эпизод к чему? Куда он нас ведет? Почему ты вот эту линию бросила и больше к ней не возвращаешься? А вот этот персонаж зачем здесь, какая у него роль в истории?

Короче, обидно как-то вышло – такая многообещающая тема, а история рассыпается в руках, хоть тресни. Не знаю, буду ли читать вторую – ну может если только в какой-то момент душевного подъема (который не сейчас).

If you’re “hoping to find the CliffsNotes to ‘How to Kill an Immortal Warrior who Just Kicked Your Ass and Defeat an Army of Flesh-Eating Monsters,’ it’s not here,” so Rebecca Roanhorse wrote her own: Trail of Lightning. “I am called Magdalena Hoskie. I am of the Living Arrow clan. I was born for the Walks-Around clan. In this way am I Dine…left alone to hunt the monsters by myself, both the visible kind that steal away little girls to eat their flesh, and the invisible kind that live under the skin, eating at the girl from inside.” When “lightning strikes in Tse Bonito and there we stand–a monsterslayer, a Dine prince, and a trickster…Lightning strikes the field. Blinding bright, and by the time I blink away the afterglow and can see again, he’s there…He’s magnificent, black hair flowing down his back in a curtain of shadow. Armor bright. He carries his lightning sword in his hand. And everywhere he points it, destruction.” “Naayee’ Neizghani…The Monsterslayer…Truly something made of scorching sun and rare beauty…his lightning sword still holstered across his back, his armor unblemished.” He “thrusts his lightning blade up and under my ribs…acting more like a brand as it slipped from my side, cauterizing the flesh. A raised scar the shape of a lightning bolt that will never go away…Neizghani has branded me as his property.” But as Maggie discovers, “Everything you’ve done, your past, it’s all just a story you tell yourself. Some of it is true, but some of it is lies.” “You were so convinced that all you were was some kind of killing machine, and it was breaking you apart inside. And I could see you were so much more. A leader. A hero.” “Being a hero’s not about being perfect. It’s about doing the right thing, doing your best to get the people you care about home safely.”

Really enjoyed this--felt a little like Richelle Mead's Dark Swan series.

There’s a lot to love about this dystopian tale of the future that reads like a really good paranormal fantasy read. The characters are well-written and each have their own motivations. The pacing moves along quickly, balancing episodic scenes with the overarching story. I do have a bit of trouble with some things I need clarifying. All spoiler-y. Spoilers: I don’t think it was wise to have a scene with a mercy killing of a child so close to the beginning. We weren’t shown how monsters typically are at first, so the contrast with these atypical monsters and the tragedy that enfolds isn’t as emotionally devasting in a satisfying way. It just feels really brutal. It’s like the opposite of the Save the Cat theory. I don’t think it was smart to have the main character decapitating a child right off the bat. It also wasn’t super clear if the child would have been infected with some evil or if it was Maggie’s own issues with her killing clan powers that motivated it. The bites the monster left in the little girl seemed terminal, but it wasn’t framed like Maggie had to kill her to put her out of her misery. Putting this further into the novel would have been more effective at raising the stakes and providing a big loss. Also it could just be my short term memory problems related to my chronic illnesses, but I’m confused on why Neizghání needed to be put down. He wasn’t involved in the monster making or evil plots. He was a dick, and he did horrible things to Maggie. But Maggie doesn’t seem like the kind of character that would do violence for more selfish kind of reasons, meaning personal-wise, no negative connotation meant. His magical capture didn’t seem to protect Diné so I’m a little confused on that.