The Sixth World
#3714.02 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Ongoing 2018–present Reading commitment Low Rebecca Roanhorse Last reviewed 2026-08-15
Overview
The Sixth World is Rebecca Roanhorse's post-apocalyptic Dinétah (Navajo Nation) sequence: after climate catastrophe floods most of North America, Maggie Hoskie, a monster-hunter gifted, and cursed, with supernatural killing clan powers, is drawn into a conflict with a witch raising new breeds of monster and the Diné gods reshaping her own destiny. Trail of Lightning (2018) and Storm of Locusts (2019) draw directly on Navajo (Diné) cosmology and postcolonial climate fiction, setting the action within a walled, self-governing Dinétah that has survived the flooding that devastated the wider continent. Trail of Lightning drew wide critical attention on release, earning nominations for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards among others, and helped bring Indigenous-authored fantasy greater visibility in the genre. The Sixth World is distinct from Roanhorse's other admitted universe, Between Earth and Sky, a wholly invented pre-Columbian-inspired secondary world with no shared characters, setting, or timeline.
Urban fantasy, Dark fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
The Sixth World Rebecca Roanhorse
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Trail of Lightning | 2018 | core | 3.95 (27,922 ratings) |
 | Storm of Locusts | 2019 | core | 4.18 (11,514 ratings) |
Maggie Hoskie / Kai Arviso post-apocalyptic Dinétah sequence. 2 further entries appear as untitled, undated placeholders (#3/#4) on the series' own listing page on its rating platform; unannounced/unpublished per Article 2, so the series is still marked ongoing rather than complete.
Library / Expanded (1 work)
River of Bones (2026) ; Title novella of the 2026 collection River of Bones and Other Stories (Saga Press); Kai's POV, returning to Maggie and Kai's Sixth World; the collection's other stories are unconnected standalones, not registered here.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Sixth World? The Sixth World's Core Canon is 2 books, plus 1 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for The Sixth World? Publication order, starting with Trail of Lightning. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Sixth World finished? Ongoing (2018–present).
- How much reading does The Sixth World take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books · ~600 pages).
- How is The Sixth World ranked? #371 in this site's official ranking, based on 39,436 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #371?
Ranked #371 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.02 across 2 core books.
- A smaller readership (39,436 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #370, The Memoirs of Lady Trent (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 2 books · Ongoing · 39k ratings · Ranks #371 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment urban fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- Trail of Lightning (2018)
- Storm of Locusts (2019)
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Best First Novel), 2019: won: Trail of Lightning; Confirmed directly against Locus's own 2019 winners announcement; independently corroborated by the author's own contemporaneous blog post.
- Nebula Award (Best Novel), 2018: finalist: Trail of Lightning; Confirmed directly via nebulas.sfwa.org's own 2018 award-year page. Did not win.
- Hugo Award (Best Novel), 2019: finalist: Trail of Lightning; Confirmed directly via thehugoawards.org's own 2019 history page. Did not win.
- World Fantasy Award (Best Novel), 2019: nominated: Trail of Lightning; Confirmed directly via the World Fantasy Convention's own 2019 awards page. Did not win.
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Suggestions computed from what The Sixth World and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Kane Dark fantasy / Sword & sorcery · Complete · Low commitment · 4.10
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- Moonheart / Spiritwalk Urban fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.07
- Saint Death's Daughter Dark fantasy / Epic fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 4.06
Official resources
- Wikipedia: Trail of Lightning
- Simon & Schuster: The Sixth World series page
- Rebecca Roanhorse: Locus Award Winner!
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.02 across 39,436 ratings on 2 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Sixth World admitted; Core = Trail of Lightning, Storm of Locusts accepted 2026-08-15
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Trail of Lightning Tier 3
- Simon & Schuster: The Sixth World series page Tier 1
- sfadb: Rebecca Roanhorse Tier 2
- Project research brief: Between Earth and Sky Tier 1
Last reviewed: 2026-08-15
Rule: Core = the 2 published Maggie Hoskie novels, Trail of Lightning (2018) and Storm of Locusts (2019). 2 further entries appear as untitled, undated placeholders on the series' own listing page on its rating platform and are not registered per Article 2. Expanded = River of Bones (2026), a new novella from Kai's point of view, published in the collection River of Bones and Other Stories.