June 2019 "Trail of Lightning" <Caution! Spoilers May Be Present!>

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Grouo Read #35

[Allan]

I read this a couple of months ago. It reminded me a lot of God's War, a singularly skilled protagonist searching for a powerful killer. It was better, though, the writing was a little tighter and the story more cohesive. Magic rather than sketchy bug science.

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Yes, I did not like God's War at all, but loved Trail of Lightning. I'm supposed to be reading another book by Kameron in another group and I am not sure I'm happy about it. The Light Brigade I will let you know . . .

[Ryan]

I generally liked the book, but I was confused and disappointed by the ending.

Confused: What exactly did Coyote orchestrate, and why? It's not well-explained.

Disappointed: Maggie killed Kai, obviously expecting some kind of resurrection. But readers are left wondering of what she's thinking/planning. This seems quite disingenuous in a book with a first-person narrator. It's an obvious cliffhanger intended to bait us into reading the sequel, but that's a serious loose end that should have been resolved in this book.

[Antti]

Finally had time to read this one. It does have somewhat similar feel to God's War, but as you said, it is much better. Light reading, very non-complicated.

What got me confused/irritated was why Maggie and Kai didn't immediately suspect/realise after the fight club that Ma'ii was behind all those monsters. I mean, they saw him in the audience waving the "fire drill" that they knew could create monsters. They knew that he travels by lightning. They knew he orchestrated the fight between Neighazi and Maggie. They know he's a trickster god! How hard is putting these things together? How come they trusted him or his information one bit after the fight?

It felt like Maggie and Kai were holding the Idiot Ball in order for the plot to track it's climax, and that is poor plotting.

But other than that, it was good enough, even with the sequel-bait ending Ryan rightly complained about. Better than I expected.

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Antti, I'm glad you wrote about "why did they trust that guy?!" because when I read this back in February, I thought that, too! I'd forgotten all about it.

[Kalin]

Just finished reading it this evening.

Definitely felt some idiot plot happening in this, especially since the first scene with Coyote has Maggie extremely serious about not trusting the trickster. But also in how she can't put together the pieces of Kai's manipulations despite us as readers figuring it out right quick -- it's telegraphed pretty hard.

I enjoyed it, but mostly just as an "okay" read. I wanted to love it, because of the indigenous world-building angle.

I'm setting my sights on Spinning Silver next. Hopefully that's the one.

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Finished reading this over a week or two ago, just never had the time to post any of my thoughts here.

Loved the world building and how various clan abilities were presented, but just as other have already commented, the plot advancement was forced and the characters were playing along to keep the story going.

Trickster god pulling a prank, never saw that one coming, did ya? Cliffhanger never helped, stinks of a cheap marketing trap. I wonder if Kai will be alright (eyeroll).

[Anthony]

I was really rooting for this one when it began, and it began vividly and bracingly, with visceral action and a powerfully drawn world. As the book progressed, I was very happy to be witness to an ancient mythology that’s existed for centuries but is basically new to me, and I enjoyed the ways in which Roanhorse brought the magic and magical beings of that mythology to life. But as the plot drove forward, tropes accumulated and the main character’s first-person voice kept falling short of feeling authentic. I became aware of Roanhorse pulling the strings of her plot; she continued to fail to find that sweet spot of not giving away too much but also not over-explaining things. So I wound up increasingly frustrated as it continued, rather than moved by the momentous scenes, or pulled in by the twists and turns.

Still, I maintain it’s deeply important that stories like this exist, to open our eyes to people and cultures and mythologies that have always existed around us but which have sadly been neglected in our literature or, worse, have been used and abused and turned into cliches.

I’m told that the sequel is better, and I may take the chance to see whether that’s true. But all in all this was, sadly, a disappointment.

[Antti]

I feel like I've read a bit too many books or graphic novels that feature Native American mythology in order to feel like ToL was trailing any new ground in that respect.

But it was good enough. I could definitely imagine reading the sequel: ToL worked well as a light summer reading, even if it had many problems. Sometimes it's nice to read books that are straight-up adventure stories, even though they might be lacking in other respects.

[Anthony]

I felt grateful for the breeziness and forward motion of its first third or so, and then just grew increasingly frustrated by its thin architecture and voice.