Kadomi reviewed Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff (The Lotus Wars, #1)
Review of 'Stormdancer (The Lotus Wars, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
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 …
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.
