Trail of Lightning is the first book in the Sixth World series by Rebecca Roanhorse. First published in 2018, it is a young adult dystopian novel notable for its focus on Indigenous American characters. It was awarded the 2019 Locus Award for Best First Novel; the novel was also a finalist for the 2018 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2019 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Plot Summary

In the near future, after the world as we know it—the Fifth World—was destroyed by a flood, ushering in the Sixth World, Maggie Hoskie, a 20-year-old Dinétah (Navajo) woman, is haunted after being abandoned by her heroic and divine mentor Neizghání, whom she still loves. She visits the Dinétah town of Lukachukai, where a family hopes that Maggie, with her supernatural clan powers, can find their lost daughter. When Maggie travels to the mountains tracking the girl, she finds the girl, barely alive but doomed to die because she has been “tainted” by her cannibalistic monster kidnapper. After killing the girl (out of mercy) and the monster, Maggie brings the monster’s head to her honorary Grandpa Tah, a well-liked monster expert. Although Tah is unfamiliar with this monster, he introduces Maggie to his actual grandson Kai, a fancily dressed medicine man in training who does recognize the monster. Kai calls it a tsé naayéé’.

Newly partnered despite Maggie’s reluctance, Maggie and Kai head out to research the tsé naayéé’ but are stopped by a local lawman nicknamed Longarm who hates Maggie. After evading Longarm, they visit a library, only to discover that the surrounding town is swarming with ch’į́įdii, the ghostly residues of tainted dead. Although they penetrate the library and find some research on the tsé naayéé’, Kai and Maggie are forced to return to Maggie’s trailer.

At her trailer, Maggie finds Ma’ii, also known as Coyote, a dangerous Dinétah trickster god that is fond of her. Coyote teases Maggie about her loss of Neizghání but then gives her a new quest to fetch the breath of Níłch’i, the sacred wind that first gave life to humans. Kai and Coyote become acquainted while Coyote narrates the inception of the Sixth World, when the Dinétah Holy People walk among humans. While they talk, Maggie flashes back to her 16th birthday, when her grandmother was murdered by a yee naaldlǫǫshii (witch) and she was rescued by Neizghání. Before Coyote leaves, he tells Maggie that Neizghání was never good for her and that Kai would be a better partner and lover. During the night, Maggie is terrorized by a dream in which Kai calls her a “monster,” and she takes her anger out on Kai in the morning. Still, the two head off together on their new quest, although they are stopped in the road by a gang of mercenaries calledDibáá’ Ashiiké, the Thirsty Boys.

Hastiin, the leader of the Thirsty Boys, delays Kai and Maggie, but eventually they break away and discover that Grandpa Tah’s place is on fire. Thinking Tah is dead, Maggie and Kai try to investigate, but Maggie is forced to kill the lawman Longarm after he discovers Kai. Maggie escapes with Kai and brings him to Grace Goodacre, a woman who runs a bar far from town and who hates the lawmen as much as Maggie does. Grace promises shelter for a day only, so Maggie, regretting putting Kai in danger, tries to head off on her own. Maggie is prevented from leaving when Kai and later Grace’s children interrupt her.

Grace’s two older children, Rissa and Clive, announce that zombies were reported in another town. After Maggie realizes that these zombies must be tsé naayéé’, all four (the Goodacres, Kai, and Maggie) head off to battle them. While fighting, Rissa is injured, and Kai reveals supernatural abilities when he fights off the remaining tsé naayéé’ with fire. After they all escape back to Grace’s and Grace thanks Kai and Maggie profusely for helping her children, Coyote visits Maggie to bring her and Kai back on their quest, pointing them toward someone named Mósí at a place called the Shalimar. Clive helps prepare Maggie and Kai for the Shalimar, which turns out to be a supernatural night club.

At the Shalimar, Kai and Maggie find Mósí, who turns out to be the divine, cat-like bookkeeper for the club’s fighting ring. Mósí tricks Maggie into agreeing to a fight to the death, the danger of which frustrates Kai. Once Maggie is in the ring, her opponent reveals himself to be Neizghání. The two fight, and Neizghání is playful at first. Maggie, however, takes out all her complicated feelings about her former mentor and love on the man himself. Even though Maggie uses her clan powers, Neizghání is too strong, and the fight ends when he tries to rip her heart out. Maggie falls unconscious as she considers giving up.

When Maggie wakes up, she is back at Grace’s and has been healed by Kai. Having faced Neizghání, Maggie is now ready to trust Kai, and the two kiss. Maggie, who has since figured out that she will find Neizghání at the place where he abandoned her, leads Kai, Rissa, and Clive towards the edge of Dinétah territory. The Thirsty Boys, who have teamed up with the Goodacres, join, too. When they reach the mine where Neizghání abandoned Maggie, Maggie finds Coyote. He reveals that he was behind all of Maggie’s monster attacks, going back as far as the death of her grandmother, all in an attempt to have her trained by Neizghání, the greatest Dinétah warrior.

Maggie is distraught at this realization and runs back to the others. There, Neizghání appears and reveals that Kai has betrayed Maggie the whole time. Although Maggie is initially traumatized by this further betrayal, Kai eventually convinces her that his feelings for her became real. Maggie concocts a plan to trap Neizghání, although it involves appearing to kill Kai. Their companions—Rissa, Clive, and the Thirsty Boys—are fooled by this deception and now consider Maggie herself to be a traitor. Maggie returns to her trailer alone, but there she finds Grandpa Tah, luckily still alive. As the novel closes, she and Tah await Kai’s return together.