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Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
The Blurb On The Back:
One girl and a griffin against an empire.
Griffins are supposed to be extinct. So when Yukiko and her warrior father are sent to capture one for the Shogun, they fear their lives are over – everyone knows what happens to those who fail the Lord of the Shima Isles. But the mission proves less impossible and more deadly than anyone expects. Son Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in her country’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. Although she can hear his thoughts, and saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. Yet trapped together in the forest, Yukiko and the beast soon discover a bond that neither of them expected.
Meanwhile, the country around them verges on collapse. A toxic fuel is choking the land, the machine-powered Lotus Guild is publicly burning those they deem Impure, and the Shogun cares for nothing but his own dominion. Authority has always made Yukiko uneasy, but her world changes when she meets Kin, a young man with secrets, and the rebel Kagé cabal. She learns the horrifying extent of the Shogun’s crimes, both against her country and her family.
Returning to the city, Yukiko is determined to make the Shogun pay – but what can one girl and a flightless griffin do against the might of an empire?
The Shima Isles are an industrialised, steampunk world loosely based on feudal Japanese society. 16-year-old Yukiko’s father is chief hunter to the Shogun, although there’s anything left to hunt. The chi (a fuel derived from lotus) used to power everything from dirigibles to the mechanical armour worn by the Shogun’s samurai and the sinister Guild whose technology supports the Shogun’s power is also destroying the environment and its wildlife inch by inch.
So when the Shogun orders Yukiko and her father to find and capture a thunder tiger (griffin) that’s supposedly been sighted in the mountains, they think it’s a fool’s errand - everyone knows that thunder tigers are extinct. But the rumours turn out to be true and when Yukiko’s airship crashes and Yukiko finds herself alone on a demon-infested mountain with the injured creature. Yukiko uses her ability to hear the thunder tiger’s thoughts to try and win its trust, knowing that they need each other if they’re to survive but as the two get closer, they discover that the chi isn’t the only thing destroying the Shima Isles …
Jay Kristoff’s debut YA fantasy novel vividly combines steampunk with feudal Japanese society. However while I loved the world building (particularly the armour and sinister machinations of the sinister Guild), the story itself is slow to get going and contains an awful lot of set-up about the political situation whereas the ending is rushed. Yukiko is an interesting enough character but her journey has been done before, the obligatory romance is based on her love interest being hot and while I enjoyed Buruu’s snarky one-liners, the shogun is a ho-hum by-the-numbers psychopathic despot and the Guild lacks the page time to really be developed. All in all, it was an enjoyable enough read and I would continue reading the series given that a lot of the groundwork is now out of the way.
The best parts of the book relate to the world building. I particularly loved the fusion of technology with traditional Japanese elements, such as chainsaw katanas and the environmental themes developed within the story, which helped give it a contemporary feel. Unfortunately, the prose does veer towards purple at times and the pacing really didn’t work for me. That said, there was enough to hold my interest and I’d definitely read the next in the series.
The Verdict:
Jay Kristoff’s debut YA fantasy novel vividly combines steampunk with feudal Japanese society. However while I loved the world building (particularly the armour and sinister machinations of the sinister Guild), the story itself is slow to get going and contains an awful lot of set-up about the political situation whereas the ending is rushed. Yukiko is an interesting enough character but her journey has been done before, the obligatory romance is based on her love interest being hot and while I enjoyed Buruu’s snarky one-liners, the shogun is a ho-hum by-the-numbers psychopathic despot and the Guild lacks the page time to really be developed. All in all, it was an enjoyable enough read and I would continue reading the series given that a lot of the groundwork is now out of the way.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.
Griffins are supposed to be extinct. So when Yukiko and her warrior father are sent to capture one for the Shogun, they fear their lives are over – everyone knows what happens to those who fail the Lord of the Shima Isles. But the mission proves less impossible and more deadly than anyone expects. Son Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in her country’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. Although she can hear his thoughts, and saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. Yet trapped together in the forest, Yukiko and the beast soon discover a bond that neither of them expected.
Meanwhile, the country around them verges on collapse. A toxic fuel is choking the land, the machine-powered Lotus Guild is publicly burning those they deem Impure, and the Shogun cares for nothing but his own dominion. Authority has always made Yukiko uneasy, but her world changes when she meets Kin, a young man with secrets, and the rebel Kagé cabal. She learns the horrifying extent of the Shogun’s crimes, both against her country and her family.
Returning to the city, Yukiko is determined to make the Shogun pay – but what can one girl and a flightless griffin do against the might of an empire?
The Shima Isles are an industrialised, steampunk world loosely based on feudal Japanese society. 16-year-old Yukiko’s father is chief hunter to the Shogun, although there’s anything left to hunt. The chi (a fuel derived from lotus) used to power everything from dirigibles to the mechanical armour worn by the Shogun’s samurai and the sinister Guild whose technology supports the Shogun’s power is also destroying the environment and its wildlife inch by inch.
So when the Shogun orders Yukiko and her father to find and capture a thunder tiger (griffin) that’s supposedly been sighted in the mountains, they think it’s a fool’s errand - everyone knows that thunder tigers are extinct. But the rumours turn out to be true and when Yukiko’s airship crashes and Yukiko finds herself alone on a demon-infested mountain with the injured creature. Yukiko uses her ability to hear the thunder tiger’s thoughts to try and win its trust, knowing that they need each other if they’re to survive but as the two get closer, they discover that the chi isn’t the only thing destroying the Shima Isles …
Jay Kristoff’s debut YA fantasy novel vividly combines steampunk with feudal Japanese society. However while I loved the world building (particularly the armour and sinister machinations of the sinister Guild), the story itself is slow to get going and contains an awful lot of set-up about the political situation whereas the ending is rushed. Yukiko is an interesting enough character but her journey has been done before, the obligatory romance is based on her love interest being hot and while I enjoyed Buruu’s snarky one-liners, the shogun is a ho-hum by-the-numbers psychopathic despot and the Guild lacks the page time to really be developed. All in all, it was an enjoyable enough read and I would continue reading the series given that a lot of the groundwork is now out of the way.
The best parts of the book relate to the world building. I particularly loved the fusion of technology with traditional Japanese elements, such as chainsaw katanas and the environmental themes developed within the story, which helped give it a contemporary feel. Unfortunately, the prose does veer towards purple at times and the pacing really didn’t work for me. That said, there was enough to hold my interest and I’d definitely read the next in the series.
The Verdict:
Jay Kristoff’s debut YA fantasy novel vividly combines steampunk with feudal Japanese society. However while I loved the world building (particularly the armour and sinister machinations of the sinister Guild), the story itself is slow to get going and contains an awful lot of set-up about the political situation whereas the ending is rushed. Yukiko is an interesting enough character but her journey has been done before, the obligatory romance is based on her love interest being hot and while I enjoyed Buruu’s snarky one-liners, the shogun is a ho-hum by-the-numbers psychopathic despot and the Guild lacks the page time to really be developed. All in all, it was an enjoyable enough read and I would continue reading the series given that a lot of the groundwork is now out of the way.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.