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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Gorgeous cover
Fantasy (I’ve only recently made a foray into steampunk and I like!)
Japanese spin
Female MC
What I did do though was to avoid reading too many reviews and get too hyped up about it. I think I did it quite successfully. From whatever I have not managed to avoid reading (that’s including the author’s most fascinating most hilarious blog), Stormdancer wasn’t quite what I expected; it was more than what I expected. What an amazing read it was!
Firstly, the description of this world reminded me a little of China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station – it was stark, hopeless, and just, overall, dark. What I’ve learnt to appreciate most in Stormdancer is Kristoff’s use of descriptive language in drawing up this world in my head. I can’t even begin to describe how lyrical it was – this was something I did not expect! And he carried that through to the end, bravo!
It was a little hard to get into due to the jargons especially if you don’t know much of the Japanese culture. I’ve read and watched my share of manga and anime when I was a teen but I think I didn’t read the right sort of manga but 2 of my favourite animes were Rurouni Kenshin and Inuyasha. From Kenshin, I understand a little bit about weapons (limited as it is) and from Inuyasha, on Japanese superstitions / mythology (monsters / yokai and such). And yet, it still took me sometime to get into the rhythm of the story. I didn’t check the back but there was a glossary (I found it after I finished reading) so if you need it, it’s there ;)
One scene in the book reminded me of that famous scene on the Titanic (movie). The context is similar, ie. joys of life & living, but there was no romantic overtones at all in the book. It’s a famous scene and I won’t mention which but whilst I laugh at myself (saying that this movie is not a favourite of mine is an understatement), I’m caught wondering if there was some sort of hidden intent here?
Even though the main character is a teenage girl, this is a book I will not hesitate to recommend to a guy friend. Unfortunately, I won’t be recommending it to Twilight lovers but if you love Eon / Eona (Alison Goodman), then you’d love this book. To all mature readers of fantasy, this one’s definitely a Keeper!
This is a favourite passage of mine – the tension and the silence screams out of the page and placed me in that no man’s land where nothing living could touch me…
But now, as dusk fell, she reached out and felt no sparks, no clusters of warm, furry bodies or sleek feathered heartbeats. Silence had descended: a sweaty hush that fell heavy as a mouldy blanket.
Something’s wrong.
Creeping through the undergrowth, she crouched low, her footfalls barely a whisper. Eyes darting about the gloom, pulse quickening at every snapping twig or shifting shadow. Steam rose up from the rain-soaked earth, cloaking the forest in mist. She could sense the faint glow of the setting sun through the canopy above, the chill of night creeping with slow, measured tread through the wild wood. No bird calls. No wind. Just the heavy patter of fat raindrops and the faint scrape of her heels on dead leaves.
Predator?
Touching the fox tattoo on her arm for luck, she reached out again, searching for the arashitora, or perhaps some hungry carnivore stalking her through the green curtain.
Nothing. A vast emptiness, creaking with the echo of old wood, the breath of the slumbering earth. Even when the wolf came, even after the snake strike, she had never felt more frightened or alone in all her life.
Thanks NetGalley & St Martin's Press for the opportunity & privilege to read & review galley
Este mundo que crea Jay realmente es increíble, tiene una gran mezcla. Entre mitología, y cultura asiática, tecnología... Digno de una mente brillante como ya sabemos que tiene el autor.
La historia me pareció entretenida, elaborada pero nada del otro mundo. Los personajes bien definidos, podemos decir que los terminamos de conocer al finalizar el libro aunque hay alguna que otra sorpresita. Un romance bastante meh que no sumo a la historia en absoluto, momentos épicos (oh si, con música en mi cabeza y todo), momentos emotivos, badass... En fin, lo que uno siempre busca leer.
Me encantó toda la influencia asiática que tiene el libro, (incluso me voy a poner a buscar si algunas de las creaturas que el menciona son reales - de la cultura asiática - o inventadas por el) aaaaaunque admito que me sentía un poco mareada porque no sabia el significado de varias de ellas y me terminaba perdiendo. ¿De qué hablan? ¿Será un tipo de espada? ¿Una mochila? Y recién cuando termine el libro me di cuenta que había un glosario. Viva, Magui.
¿Voy a leer el segundo? Claro que sí.
Plot: 7/10
Character: 6.7/10
Writing: 6.9/10
Font: 6.5/10
Buy it? Still considering...
This book is Japanese Steampunk but the japanese elements is still stands strong. I love how its beautifully writing. Our female character is kick-ass but severely flawed. I will continue on this series
*Big thumbs-up!*
When I picked up this book from Barnes and Noble I had been craving a good Japanese tale of adventure that involved a little magic and romance. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff gave me these things plus the addition of a kick ass heroine and a remarkable steampunk setting as a backdrop for all of the action and drama that is packed into this debut novel. I was expecting action from the beginning and was not disappointed when the first chapter involved iron war clubs, murderous Oni, and knife wielding heroines. From there however the book took a rapid turn and the next few pages involved a much more mundane setting (well as mundane as one can get in steampunk feudal Japan). Yukiko is introduced as well as a rather motley gang of Hunters that she calls family, among them her addict father Masaru. Then comes the first problem with this novel.
Though I am a fan of novels having a certain sense of realism involved in world building I do not condone the use of Wikipedia-esque information dumps. They just make the author seem lazy and unconcerned with the flow of the story as it is now broken up into pieces amid the huge paragraphs of information. Most of the second and third chapters irritated me with just this characteristic. I took almost three chapters for the characters to walk down the street. Everything was described excessively and in more than one way. In short the over zealous descriptions made the reader tired before even getting thirty pages into the story. Once or twice during these drug out chapters the thought of putting the book down surfaced in my mind, but I continued hoping that it would get better. I was not disappointed
The rest of the novel was punctuated by odd Japanese words that made my tongue twist in agony and my mind struggle to adjust to the language that is about as familiar to me as the surface of Mars. Despite these problems the story soon picked up with the capture of the Arashitora otherwise known as a Thunder Tiger. They are supposedly extinct but obviously that theory is disproved about a quickly as it is proposed. The beast is wild and soon the arashitora causes problems with the hunters sky ship. Along with the dangerous storm that cropped up. The crew along with Yukiko and her friends are about to be sent overboard. In a desperate attempt to calm the beast Yukiko reveals a power that is forbidden in the island country of Shima;it's called Kenning, and it allows the person to communicate with animals and other beasts through a type of telepathy. She makes contact but the ship is to badly damaged and they go down. Her father and friends escape on a lifeboat while Yukiko frees the arashitora and rides off astride its back. For a while at least until the beast decides that it doesn't want her riding in and bucks her off. Yukiko and the arashitora which she names Buruu become friends and embark on a journey to kill the Shogun and free the country from his tyranny.
This fast paced novel was over to quickly in my opinion and I was eager for the next installment. Sadly the second book is not out and without a release date I have no clue when I will be able to return to Shima and its oppressed society. I give it a solid 4 stars and hope to be able to read the sequel as soon as it comes out.
Absorbing, original, fast-paced, dense and emotional.
A female protagonist with forbidden powers and a Class A, hunting ability, bonded with a mythical jealous creature that purrs with just a hand touching its mane? Really, who can resist this story?
This book was recommended to me a long time ago nearing the time of it's release. I read the synopsis and thought, "Great! This book sounds like it's right up my alley!" I was so excited to read it. I bought it and never got around to reading it until now. So my excitement has dissipated along with my high expectations for this book. The book was really slow in the beginning. Mostly because there were pages and pages and pages of descriptions of silly things that I didn't need to know about. Usually, I don't notice things like that, but I did this time because the book was THAT descriptive. At times they felt like filler pages.
Things don't start to get interesting until Yukiko, our main character, finds the Griffin. His name is Buruu. He had some comical moments. The way his relationship with Yukiko developed so quickly was a bit puzzling yet interesting.
There is a bit of a romance...well...I shouldn't even call it a romance. It's more of a fling. There's a fling between Yukiko and a Samurai that made me roll my eyes every now and again. I found it hard to deem the relationship genuine.
Also, the attempt at including Japanese terms in the book was...eh... I liked it, but at the same I didn't because I didn't understand what the Japanese terms meant. There's a glossary in the back of the book with definitions, but I felt like it interrupted my reading too much with going back and forth between chapter and glossary since I'd quickly forget what the Japanese term meant.
The ending was really good and I quite enjoyed it. I don't think this book/series is for me though, but maybe people who like their books to be very descriptive might like this read. I was gifted the second book by the same person who recommended this one, so we'll see if I like the second one better.
I just feel like this book didn't do a very good job of pulling me into the world and the story.
So lemme tell U this.. People who are Japanese, students of East Asian studies or Japanese Literature, huge fans of Japanese Mangas/Anime/Music/Drama/Film or like me who happened to grow up and still until today with Japanese entertainment medias (Mangas/Anime/Music/Drama/Film) so have enough/decent knowledge of everything Japanese.. Probably will criticize this book coz that was the first thing that I did when I read half way through the book..
Am not saying that I am an expert of Japanese culture because I am not.... But I think the author needs to do more in depth research on the general Japanese custom or culture during the feudal times where I think this book based on and twisted it with the steampunk touch and supernatural.. People who watch Anime and read Manga of Samurai X, Inuyasha, and Sakura Wars will understand what I am really saying here.. The fist wrapping thing, I never seen that custom on any Japanese customary in feudal times or any time.. I believe it is more the custom in Chinese martial arts.. Then I kinda have problem with the name calling, you guys who learn or have learned Japanese calling hierarchy must know how complex this thing.. Yeah, so in the first half, I found the name calling in the book was not what I expected esp when I already used to read or watch Japanese mangas or animes or tv series or movies.. So it was really hard not to compare it..
I also have problem with the writing style, it was too over descriptive so it felt meaningless at some point.. This book had a really slow and dragging development.. And almost ALMOST cheesy in the romance department..
And you guys, this book had REALLY DIFFICULT Japanese terminologies! I was saved because I used to these terms coz I was kinda grew up with it (watched animes since I was a baby maybe) and I did learn Japanese language for two years.. But for people who don't have the knowledge, It will confuse you, but there was Glossary at the back of the book which I just realized after like 150ish pages into it.. Hmm.. Just a mild reminder for U who want to read the book.. There is Glossary at the back.
So why a quite high rating.. When I could overlook all those flaws, this book was pretty engaging.. I probably started enjoying it after halfway through it.. The story did get better and had faster pace than the first half of the book.. Tho the writing style was still kinda too over descriptive that kinda gave me a headache.. The romance, when you think it was going to fall to cheesy category with "the beautiful boy with green eyes", you are wrong.. And Kin, I like this character way more than the female protagonist who was also the main character in the book.. I personally like Kin so very much, I think his story was really interesting and I wish for more of him.. And I also like the world building so far.. The ending was kinda satisfying and cliffhanger-ish at the same time that make you were wondering "and what happen next"..
So that was my review.. At the end I enjoyed it and liked it too.. Can't wait to read the sequel!!! (Hope there will be more of Kin.....) :)
