Stormdancer
Jay Kristoff’s Stormdancer is the first book in the Lotus War Trilogy.
Shima was once a beautiful island rich in tradition and mythology. Its land was rich in clean beautiful forests, plentiful wildlife and ancient gods, before it was destroyed by the Blood Lotus. A versatile and useful plant, Blood Lotus is used to create sleeping drafts, ropes, and, most importantly, fuel the powerful machines of their modern age. Some worship this flower and the machines they fuel. Others inhale the chemicals they belch and eventually die from the pollutants in the air. All of this is overseen by a shogun whose rules become law and commands are indomitable. Desiring more power and wealth, the shogun demands that his hunter bring him a legendary beast, one that has been extinct for centuries. In this feudal version of Japan, there are four main clans. Each clan identifies a different god as its patron and, in turn, each god imbues a unique trait among the clans. The ruling tigers are fierce, the once seafaring dragons are brave, the artisan phoenixes are visionary, and, most importantly to the story, the Foxes are uncannily lucky. As the daughter of the great hunter Masaru Kitsune the Black Fox, Yukiko bares an ornate fox tattoo on her arm. She a mix of brave, intelligent, kind and pragmatic that contrasts her father’s drunken habits. Her broken relationship with her father is a constant source of tension that plagues her for most of the book. Yukiko also has the unique ability to read the minds of animals, marking her as impure to certain people, but making and interesting new friend. As the story progresses, Yukiko grows in conviction and her antiestablishment ideas turn to anarchistic rage. Stormdancer is an amazing read. If you read by review of Nevernight, you should know that Stormdancer has a lot of the same attributes. In both books, Jay Kristoff is extremely poetic in his prose and heavy on descriptions. A lot of research went into creating a world inspired by feudal Japan and it shows (for better or for worse). Everything from the clothing to the food to the scenery is described in extensive detail, so western readers can more easily visualize the story. This slows down the pacing especially in the first hundred pages. The book’s speed eventually picks up, but remains relatively constant until the last hundred pages. Another cause of strife for many readers is the implementation of Japanese. Jay Kristoff’s Japanese is riddled with errors, form the misuse of -sama to the inconsistent language. The less you know about Japanese, the easier it is to ignore, but for some people, the language makes the book impossible to enjoy. I personally was able to suspend my disbelief and limited knowledge of Japanese to enjoy the story. Unfortunately, some people go into the book expecting a detailed depiction of historical Japan. Instead, they are greeted by a fantastical steampunk world. The stories development can also cause some controversy. It begins as a pro-environment story before falling into the “let’s destroy and evil government” trope. This is disappointing as Jay Kristoff could have taken his unique world down an equally unique story. Alas, that was not the case. The one thing that many find Stormdancer’s sole redeeming quality is its characters. One character in particular stands out for his sarcastic and aggressive speech that slowly changes as the story develops. Some other side characters have surprisingly developed personilities that some main characters lack. I give this 313 page book 5 stars. 0 Comments
|
The Lotus WarIn a steampunk fantasy of feudal Japan, machines belch chemicals and gas into the air. These machines are fulled by the Blood Lotus plant, a flower that can be used to make many useful things, but poisons the ground, leaving it infertile.
More books in the SeriesComing Soon
More by this Author |