Rebecca Roanhorse

Rebecca Roanhorse ( Parish; born 23 September 1971) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer from New Mexico.

She has written short stories and science fiction novels featuring Navajo and other indigenous American characters. A Hugo and Nebula award winner, she has been lauded for expansion and modernization of Indigenous myth. Her enrollment status with tribal nations has been the subject of media scrutiny. Her best known works include Trail of Lightning and Black Sun.

Early life and education

Roanhorse was born in Conway, Arkansas, in 1971. She has said that she is of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo descent through her mother's family, and African American on her father's side. She was adopted as a child by white parents and raised in northern Texas. Roanhorse has described "being a black and Native kid in Fort Worth in the '70s and '80s" as "pretty limiting." She turned to reading and writing, especially science fiction, as a form of escape. Her father was an economics professor, and her mother was a high school English teacher who encouraged Rebecca's early attempts at writing stories.

In a 2020 profile by Vulture, Roanhorse stated at seven years old she learned of her ancestry from looking at her birth certificate. She worked briefly as a computer programmer on Wall Street. Later, after meeting her birth mother, she earned her JD degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law, specializing in Federal Indian Law and lived for several years on the Navajo Nation. She clerked at the Navajo Supreme Court before working as an attorney. welcomed Roanhorse on her first and only visit to the community, in 2018, and spent time with her. He said, "I recognize that adoption is an emotional experience for families and communities and especially those who have been adopted out with no real connection to home....At Ohkay Owingeh, our current enrollment process privileges family lineage and not blood quantum." Agoyo explained that "anyone who descends from an Ohkay family—as Roanhorse has publicly claimed—can become a citizen. But Martinez said the author has chosen a different path."

In August 2017, Roanhorse's short story "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™" was published in Apex Magazine. Her first novel Trail of Lightning was published on June 26, 2018, with a sequel, titled Storm of Locusts, published the year after. The series is an urban fantasy story set in Dinétah, formerly the Navajo reservation in the Southwestern United States, starring a Navajo character fighting in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by Native American gods and monsters. Roanhorse also wrote the Between Earth and Sky series, beginning with Black Sun released in October 2020, and followed by Fevered Star (2022) and Mirrored Heavens (2024). The series is set in an secondary fantasy world inspired by various pre-Columbian American cultures.

Roanhorse also wrote the Star Wars novel Resistance Reborn, published in November 2019, which is bridging the gap between the films Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi and Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. Her second Star Wars novel Reign of the Empire: Edge of Abyss is set to be published in fall 2026. The second installment in the Reign of the Empire trilogy, it serves as a prequel of the television series Andor.

Roanhorse was also a writer on the first season of the 2023 television miniseries A Murder at the End of the World and the 2024 Marvel Cinematic Universe miniseries Echo.

Themes and reception In 2018 Roanhorse received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her short story "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™" won two major awards: the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Short Story and the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Short Story. The story also earned her nominations for the 2018 Locus Award for Best Short Story, the 2018 Theodore Sturgeon Award, and the 2018 World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction.

Trail of Lightning and Indigenous representation Her first novel, Trail of Lightning, received significant critical acclaim. Kirkus Reviews described the book as a "sharp, wonderfully dreamy, action-driven novel," while The Verge praised the book's representation of Native cultures, saying it "takes readers along for a fun ride." It went on to win the 2019 Locus Award for Best First Novel, A group of Navajo writers and cultural workers condemned Trail of Lightning as an inaccurate cultural appropriation that uses an at-times mocking and derisive tone. For example, the Saad Bee Hózhǫ́ writers' collective criticized the hero's use of bullets filled with corn pollen to slay the monster, which they viewed as a violent, disrespectful misuse of sacred ceremonial traditions. "I think a lot of Native characters that we see are stuck in the past. So it was important for me to...show Native American readers and non-Native American readers that we're alive and we're thriving in our cultures", she said in 2018.

At some point in 2018, when the complaints of cultural appropriation surfaced, references to the Ohkay Owingeh were removed from her official website; Kirkus Reviews praised the characterization and political intrigue, calling it "the next big thing". Grimdark Magazine said Black Sun was "nearly impossible to put down", and praised the skilled combination of action and character-driven plot.

Fevered Star received a positive review from Kirkus Reviews, which called it "an excellent second installment". It received a starred review from Library Journal, which called the novel "amazingly complex". Writing for Tor.com, Angela Maria Spring gave the second book a moderately positive review. She praised the complex plot and felt that Naranpa's character arc was the strongest of all of the characters, but felt that the pacing was slow and that the novel suffered from Serapio's separation from Xiala.

Alex Brown's Locus review of Mirrored Heavens pointed out the high expectations the first two books created for the final installment of the trilogy, and reassured that they were "not disappointed" by the "high drama and shocking moments" delivered. Brown writes, "Roanhorse has built a vast, intricate world unlike anything else out there. The trappings are familiar—young people resisting fate, gods enacting ancient feuds with human avatars, power-hungry madmen—but the execution is decidedly unique." Publishers Weekly called Roanhorse "in top form" and the conclusion to the series "satisfying".

Personal life

Roanhorse currently lives in New Mexico with her husband Michael Roanhorse, who is Navajo, and their daughter. Michael is a jewelry artist. "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™" in Apex Magazine (August 8, 2017) "Postcards from the Apocalypse" in Uncanny Magazine (January/February 2018) "Thoughts on Resistance" in How I Resist: Activism and Hope for a New Generation, edited by Maureen Johnson (2018) "Harvest" originally published in New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color, edited by Nisi Shawl (March 12, 2019) and reprinted in Uncanny Magazine (2019) "The Missing Ingredient" in Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love, edited by Caroline Tung Richmond and Elsie Chapman (July 7, 2019) "A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy" originally published in The Mythic Dream (September 3, 2019) and reprinted in Apex Magazine (October 2, 2021) and The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020, edited by Diana Gabaldon and John Joseph Adams (October 6, 2020) "Dark Vengeance" in Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark (August 25, 2020) "The Boys from Blood River" in Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite, edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker (September 22, 2020) "Takeback Tango" in A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology, edited by Dhonielle Clayton (December 8, 2020) "Rez Dog Rules" in Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids, edited by Cynthia L. Smith (February 9, 2021) "Wherein Abigail Fields Recalls Her First Death and, Subsequently Her Best Life" in A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope, edited by Patrice Caldwell (March 10, 2021) "The Demon Drum" in The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities: New Stories About Mythic Heroes, edited by Rick Riordan (September 28, 2021) "White Hills" in Never Whistle At Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology (September, 19th, 2023) "Eye & Tooth" in Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, edited by Jordan Peele (October 3, 2023)

Comics

Native Realities

Deer Woman: An Anthology (December 1, 2017)

Marvel Comics Marvel's Voices "Echo: Hitting Back" in Marvel's Voices: Indigenous Voices (November 18, 2020) "River: A Friend in Need" in Marvel's Voices: Heritage (January 12, 2022) Phoenix Song: Echo #1–5 (October 20, 2021 – February 23, 2022) "Werewolf By Moon Knight" in Crypt of Shadows vol. 3 #1 (October 19, 2022) "What A Girl Wants" in Women of Marvel vol. 4 #1 (March 22, 2023) Chee'ilth #1 (October 13, 2023) Predator: Black, White & Blood #1 (August 27, 2025)

Anthology appearances

Anthology as editor

Awards and nominations