Storm of Locusts

it was fun being back with Maggie Hoskie & crew, but i have to admit that i felt the absence of a particular somebody's presence probably as badly as Maggie did. ok maybe not as bad as she did haha. i also didn't really feel like the big bad was developed quite enough for us to hate him as much as i wanted to, but he was still appropriately repulsive and horrifying whenever he was “on screen.”

#1: Trail of Lightning ★★★★★
#2: Storm of Locusts ★★★★
#3 Untitled ???

This really hit the ground running, but I love that about Roanhorse's work. It was so nice to be back in the Sixth World following Maggie and her friends. I found this so easy to get through and really loved the new characters, or characters we got to see more of. Maggie is such a bad bitch and I love her so much. Ben was such a good addition and really fun to get to know. I really loved the development of Maggie's friendship with Rissa, who is also a bad bitch.

I can't wait to see where this series goes and I can't believe we don't have a release date or title for #3 yet!

Sloppy. (I'm sorry.) Parts of it just didn't cohere, other parts felt too hard to relate to. A few too many conveniences for advancing the story, never you mind the characters or their motivations. I had the sense that there were missed deadlines, rushed editing, and don't even get me started on the lack of proofreading! Grrrr!

Roanhorse really can write, but it takes a team to make a book: we need editors to catch weaknesses, reviewers to note subject gaffes (such as: airplanes don't work that way), and, dammit, proofreaders, not just spellcheck (there are no misspelled words in “airplane hanger” or “knife sheathe”, yet no way to program a computer to cringe when it sees words used that way). I may have cringed often, but I eagerly kept going and consider it time well spent: I really do love how Roanhorse writes, her dialog, how she builds tension, the way her characters demonstrate decency and integrity without going preachy or saccharines. (Sometimes just by a hair). I love the relationships between her characters. And I will unabashedly look forward to her next, but please, Ms. Roanhorse, take your time, don't rush; and please, Simon & Schuster, don't skimp on editing.

3.5 I like dystopian fiction but less a showdown of good versus evil even if the lines are blurred. Rebecca's style is breezy though.

Very good story. I liked it. There is more to come though. Sounds like there is some kind of prophesy.

I thought this was a great, action-packed read with strong world-building and a satisfying ending.

I thought the ending of the first book in this series was OK, but didn't really match the pace of the rest of the book.

The ending of the second book was...epic. I like that!

I look forward to finding out more about the unique world created by Ms Roanhorse.

This is one of the best follow up books I have read. As much as I wanted to keep reading as soon as I started, I made myself take it slow and it was needed. Storm of Locusts takes off running and doesn't stop until the end.

Just because Maggie had her showdown at Black Mesa doesn't mean things are over for her. A lot is going to change and not all for the better. I found myself at the first act just wanting Maggie to catch a break because she's going to deal with some terrible events. However, I was cheering for her and for Kai and the others as they finally get some resolution. There is also some real growth from Maggie here as she's brought further out of her past isolation.

There is one thread that seems to be unresolved at the end, and that's what the Cletus Goodacre had been doing in his life. There's a major hint he was into some not so great activities, but I suspect the known truth will come in a future book.

I have found myself wanting to learn more about the Diné gods and their stories because there's a character introduced that I think I would have clued in about his full nature before Maggie and Kai did. However, the journey to get to that realization was still worth taking.

Of course, Ma'ii is back and he's the same as ever. I know he knows more about the long game than he's letting on, but he'll reveal it when he feels like it.

Anyway, this is definitely worth a read especially because unlike some sequel to the first book in other series that I have read, this one did not feel like a slog.