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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I always enjoy my fantasy with a little bit of Asian flavor, and this book has those in spades. The Empire of Shima is basically a fictional steampunk version of Japan. The Shogun rules Shima with an iron fist, throwing his people against the barbarian gaijin in war. The technology of the steampunk Shima is fueled with something called chi gained from blood lotus which is choking all other plantlife and leaving behind scorched earth. The blood lotus growth and technology are supervised by the mysterious Guild with its members living in atmo-suits, sacrificing any of the population they deem impure.
Our protagonist, Yukiko, is a 16-year old girl who would be deemed impure because she has inherited the Kenning of her fox clan. She can understand animals and communicate with them. When her father, the hunter of the Shogun, is commanded to bring back a griffon, a thundertiger, to serve the Shogun, they travel to find one, which changes Yukiko's whole life.
If I have to pick this book apart, I would have to say that the insane amounts of exposition and word bloat are what keeps this from 5-stars for me. The first few chapters are just description central. My other concern is that I wish Yukiko was not 16 but maybe 18 or 20. It would make the whole thing a bit more believable for me because she never acts like a 16-year old ever. But I guess I should be used to super-effective teenage girls in fiction by now.
For future books, I am hoping to find out way more about Kin than we got in Stormdancer.
All in all, I was superbly entertained, cared about the characters, and felt that the setting really brought to life a polluted, diseased country corroding under the rule of the Empire. It sure brought out the steam in steampunk.
Our protagonist, Yukiko, is a 16-year old girl who would be deemed impure because she has inherited the Kenning of her fox clan. She can understand animals and communicate with them. When her father, the hunter of the Shogun, is commanded to bring back a griffon, a thundertiger, to serve the Shogun, they travel to find one, which changes Yukiko's whole life.
If I have to pick this book apart, I would have to say that the insane amounts of exposition and word bloat are what keeps this from 5-stars for me. The first few chapters are just description central. My other concern is that I wish Yukiko was not 16 but maybe 18 or 20. It would make the whole thing a bit more believable for me because she never acts like a 16-year old ever. But I guess I should be used to super-effective teenage girls in fiction by now.
For future books, I am hoping to find out way more about Kin than we got in Stormdancer.
All in all, I was superbly entertained, cared about the characters, and felt that the setting really brought to life a polluted, diseased country corroding under the rule of the Empire. It sure brought out the steam in steampunk.
I should take 1 star off just because of the lack of smut in this one.
story 5/5
characters 5/5 Buruuuuuu <3
writing 5/5
reread? Yes!
I'll just say right now, this is a book I've been waiting almost nine months to read. It had a lot to live up to and I can say not only did it not disappoint me but if far exceeded my expectations. I expected good writing, I've been following Jay Kristoff's blog for awhile and knew he was capable of it. I got exceptionally descriptive prose so artistic that it painted a picture of the world he was describing. Yes, it was intricate and detailed to a fault, but once described, I knew what an Irezumi from each of the Zaibatsu clans looked like. I knew that Docktown was crawling with all types of people peasant to beggar to merchant. And the color of the sky, the color of a person's skin, and the color of Shima under the Shogun's rule. I was never in doubt. And this was what I always thought steampunk looked like, streets and air clogged with pollution and smoke from too many machines, people choking on the air, wearing goggles because they had to, not as a fashion statement. Too many people in too small a space. Not revolutionary ideas, but excess of machines. So yes, there is a lot of description, but like any painter, he must lay down the foundations, the base colors before the finer colors, the plot, the characters can be painted.
And the characters oh, so unforgettable. Yukiko, the 16 yr old main character is has hard as any substance on this planet. She is not without feeling, her heart is big and she loves, but she does what must be done. I thought I had seen tough characters in the past in the books I've read. All of them put together do not equal Yukiko. It's not just her skill at killing or her friendship with Buruu the "thundertiger" or the proper name arashitora. It's her ability to make decisions, the hard ones. To separate feeling from her mission. She is ruthless in her quest to restore Shima to it's former glory, when the sky was blue, when there were animals, and green plants. When the sun didn't burn everything up. When the water was clean and the air was safe to breathe. How she'll do this, she's not sure, but in this novel, she takes the first steps.
The other characters whether minor or major, were never ignored or forgotten. From Hiro, the samurai with the sea green eyes, to Masaru, Yukiko's father and the Master Hunter of the Shogun called "The Black Fox", no one was forgotten, each given rich detail and motivation. I was afraid I'd get hung up on foreign names and nicknames with "san" and "chan" added after the names and everything being so different. But it's as if Jay Kristoff leads you by the hand until you're comfortable with the world and then let's go. So I was never lost, I knew what every Yukiko-san meant and what Bushido was (of course the glossary in the back was very helpful and I read it a few times before I started reading). But the depth of what honor is and sacrifice for something bigger than herself-Yukiko taught me that lesson better than anything I've ever read, classics, adult comtemporaries, anything else in YA.
To say Stormdancer left an impression on me would be a huge understatement. To say that it is a good novel is an understatement. And to say that Yukiko and Buruu are just two characters in a book is an understatement. Nothing in Stormdancer is an understatement. I was there. I lived it. I felt it. That's what a great novel is. Stormdancer.
Heather
And the characters oh, so unforgettable. Yukiko, the 16 yr old main character is has hard as any substance on this planet. She is not without feeling, her heart is big and she loves, but she does what must be done. I thought I had seen tough characters in the past in the books I've read. All of them put together do not equal Yukiko. It's not just her skill at killing or her friendship with Buruu the "thundertiger" or the proper name arashitora. It's her ability to make decisions, the hard ones. To separate feeling from her mission. She is ruthless in her quest to restore Shima to it's former glory, when the sky was blue, when there were animals, and green plants. When the sun didn't burn everything up. When the water was clean and the air was safe to breathe. How she'll do this, she's not sure, but in this novel, she takes the first steps.
The other characters whether minor or major, were never ignored or forgotten. From Hiro, the samurai with the sea green eyes, to Masaru, Yukiko's father and the Master Hunter of the Shogun called "The Black Fox", no one was forgotten, each given rich detail and motivation. I was afraid I'd get hung up on foreign names and nicknames with "san" and "chan" added after the names and everything being so different. But it's as if Jay Kristoff leads you by the hand until you're comfortable with the world and then let's go. So I was never lost, I knew what every Yukiko-san meant and what Bushido was (of course the glossary in the back was very helpful and I read it a few times before I started reading). But the depth of what honor is and sacrifice for something bigger than herself-Yukiko taught me that lesson better than anything I've ever read, classics, adult comtemporaries, anything else in YA.
To say Stormdancer left an impression on me would be a huge understatement. To say that it is a good novel is an understatement. And to say that Yukiko and Buruu are just two characters in a book is an understatement. Nothing in Stormdancer is an understatement. I was there. I lived it. I felt it. That's what a great novel is. Stormdancer.
Heather
This book could have been better but the misuse of Japanese and the lack of research from the author ruined it for me.
I think what it was missing was urgency. Things just seemed to happen.
This book reads like a generic steampunk fantasy that was sent back by its editor with a note that read, "I like this, but it needs a little kick. Find a way to make it more original and we'll publish it."
So the author decided to go and re-skin the whole thing with Japanese motifs and terms he barely understands. Beyond that, it's fairly by-the-numbers for a 'steampunk' adventure.
I disagree somewhat with those that take issue with fantasy stories not representing an Asian culture accurately (i.e. the inclusion of Chinese, Korean or say, Indian elements). Authors mix and match and play fast and loose with European and Mediterranean cultures all the time and no one cares. I don't see that Asian cultures should be any different when used as inspiration for fantasy settings.
That said, when you start using real-terms aside from what's absolutely necessary to build your world (using the term katana is fine in this sense but throwing in random Japanese words for other things is less fine, like Arashi-no-ko when Stormgirl works fine; Arashitora is fine but constantly mis-using suffixes like -sama or -chan is not), there are certain expectations of understanding on the part of the author, and these expectations are reasonable.
Additionally, if an author is going to present a world heavily based on a culture, he or she does owe it to that culture to accurately represent certain aspects of that culture, the things that really set it apart, things that will grant it a certain verisimilitude it will otherwise lack, as is the case in Stormdancer.
Samurai are not just knights with two swords and funny hairdos, Bushido is not chivalry, a shogun is not a generic autocrat, and the caste system - if present - should actually mean something. The main character should not be sullen and petulant in the western mold, entitled and rebellious like a 21st century teenager, and should express at least some sense of the sublimation of the individual to society, even if only to transcend it to effect change.
In the end, the misunderstood and misused cultural referents only served to aggravate me where had they been handled better*, they could have enhanced the story. Instead we get nonsensical weapons, a human/riding-animal (horse, unicorn, dragon, gryphon...) relationship that goes from believably confrontational to BFFs in the space of a few pages, a jarringly out-of-place protagonist and a story that could have been told better using a more 'traditional' steampunk setting.
* note this does not correlate to meaning historically accurate, rather: believable within its own context.
So the author decided to go and re-skin the whole thing with Japanese motifs and terms he barely understands. Beyond that, it's fairly by-the-numbers for a 'steampunk' adventure.
I disagree somewhat with those that take issue with fantasy stories not representing an Asian culture accurately (i.e. the inclusion of Chinese, Korean or say, Indian elements). Authors mix and match and play fast and loose with European and Mediterranean cultures all the time and no one cares. I don't see that Asian cultures should be any different when used as inspiration for fantasy settings.
That said, when you start using real-terms aside from what's absolutely necessary to build your world (using the term katana is fine in this sense but throwing in random Japanese words for other things is less fine, like Arashi-no-ko when Stormgirl works fine; Arashitora is fine but constantly mis-using suffixes like -sama or -chan is not), there are certain expectations of understanding on the part of the author, and these expectations are reasonable.
Additionally, if an author is going to present a world heavily based on a culture, he or she does owe it to that culture to accurately represent certain aspects of that culture, the things that really set it apart, things that will grant it a certain verisimilitude it will otherwise lack, as is the case in Stormdancer.
Samurai are not just knights with two swords and funny hairdos, Bushido is not chivalry, a shogun is not a generic autocrat, and the caste system - if present - should actually mean something. The main character should not be sullen and petulant in the western mold, entitled and rebellious like a 21st century teenager, and should express at least some sense of the sublimation of the individual to society, even if only to transcend it to effect change.
In the end, the misunderstood and misused cultural referents only served to aggravate me where had they been handled better*, they could have enhanced the story. Instead we get nonsensical weapons, a human/riding-animal (horse, unicorn, dragon, gryphon...) relationship that goes from believably confrontational to BFFs in the space of a few pages, a jarringly out-of-place protagonist and a story that could have been told better using a more 'traditional' steampunk setting.
* note this does not correlate to meaning historically accurate, rather: believable within its own context.
Won an ARC on Facebook. Read the book last week while camping. I have to say I was really impressed with Mr. Kristoff's world building and storytelling. It was refreshing and unique to read steampunk that was not set in England. I cared about the main character, Yukkiko, and her struggle to redefine her expected role in a very stratified and corrupt world. I am looking forward to reading the next installment and finding out what comes next.
I’m giving this book a 4 (4.25?) It’s no secret I love Jay Kristoff and I’m so happy my friends and I decided to read this as part of our January TBR.
I know this is his earlier work and his writing has only become better since this book, but it was a little hard to grasp the world in the very beginning. I had to re-listen to a few parts to understand what he was describing, but I never lost interest in the book. If anything, my interest only grew the more the story went on.
By the end, I fell in love with this book. It was like a steampunk Japan with a healthy dose of the country’s lore. Also, reminded me a bit of anime, but I’m also an avid anime fan (and have seen so many) so that may just be me.
I know this is his earlier work and his writing has only become better since this book, but it was a little hard to grasp the world in the very beginning. I had to re-listen to a few parts to understand what he was describing, but I never lost interest in the book. If anything, my interest only grew the more the story went on.
By the end, I fell in love with this book. It was like a steampunk Japan with a healthy dose of the country’s lore. Also, reminded me a bit of anime, but I’m also an avid anime fan (and have seen so many) so that may just be me.
No sé si 4 o 4,5.
He disfrutado muchísimo de esta lectura, aunque es cierto que al principio iba perdida con la mitología japonesa y la terminología. No he leído casi nada sobre Japón, menos todavía uno steampunk y me fascinó. Los personajes han sido entrañables, Buruu se ganó mi corazón y Yukiko ha sido una gran protagonista. Lo que tengo claro de esta lectura es que este autor sabe cómo entretenerme e incluso emocionarme y todas sus novelas las he disfrutado mucho. El final me ha dejado con el ansia viva de seguir leyendo y menos mal que me compré la trilogía entera en Navidad, porque no sé si habría sido capaz de esperar.
He disfrutado muchísimo de esta lectura, aunque es cierto que al principio iba perdida con la mitología japonesa y la terminología. No he leído casi nada sobre Japón, menos todavía uno steampunk y me fascinó. Los personajes han sido entrañables, Buruu se ganó mi corazón y Yukiko ha sido una gran protagonista. Lo que tengo claro de esta lectura es que este autor sabe cómo entretenerme e incluso emocionarme y todas sus novelas las he disfrutado mucho. El final me ha dejado con el ansia viva de seguir leyendo y menos mal que me compré la trilogía entera en Navidad, porque no sé si habría sido capaz de esperar.