Stormdancer
Author: Jay Kristoff
Publisher: Tor UK
Publication date: September 13th 2012.
My rating: 4.5 stars
A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever.
AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of Shima’s imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger—a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.
A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.
But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.
I
think this is one of the most toughest reviews I’ve recently had to write, so
please excuse me if this review seems a little incoherent as since I’ve finished
Stormdancer all I’ve wanted to do is run around flailing my arms in the air. I honestly
had no idea that Stormdancer would be this
good. Yes I saw several 5 star reviews filtering in before I picked it up, but
recently I’ve been disappointed by so many reads when my expectations were too
high, so I decided to go into this not expecting too much just in case.
But
honestly Stormdancer just blew me away! Yukiko and her father Masaru have been
ordered by the Shogun Yoritomo-no-miya on what Yukiko thinks it’s a wild goose
chase to locate the mythical creature Arashitora. These creatures are
supposedly extinct and so Yukiko knows they are going on a pointless mission.
But Masaru is obliged to do as the Shogun says as he has the power to take
everything he loves away from him, even his own life. So going into something
she didn’t want to in the first place, Yukiko ends up in an even precarious
situation, with their ship capsizing with everyone on board she ends up stuck
on an island somewhere alone with the thunder tiger.
This
book was highly addictive from the first few pages, the pacing was just incredible,
there was always something that kept you on your toes, you’d think everything
would die down as one situation had cleared up but then you’d find yourself smack
bang in the middle of another one. The world building was crazy, from arashitora’s
(part eagle, part tiger creatures) to oni’s (demon of yomi underworld) and then
there were super tense moments which left me totally slack jawed. Kristoff’s
writing is simply flawless, I could go on and on about how his descriptions
were so detailed (some may be put off by this and find it too detailed) but I
was totally mesmerised. They provided such vivid detail and breathtakingly
beautiful imagery, I felt as if I was right there with Yukiko experiencing
everything first hand.
The central
character Yukiko certainly made reading Stormdancer a worthwhile experience for
me. She was brave, fearless, intelligent and so many things that I could never
be if I found myself in similar situations. Several other characters also left great
impressions on me; Buruu and Kin, I hope we get to delve much deeper into these
characters in the next book especially with Kin.
I know
if I keep prattling about the plot and characters this review will probably
turn into a full blown novella and I will give the entire plot away. I know my
review will fall way short of being able to describe just how much of an epic
masterpiece this book is. All I can suggest is that you pick up this book as
soon as possible (please so that I can gush about it some more). Also these
awesome reviews will hopefully also give you the extra encouragement to do so!
