Welcome to Book Reports, SnarkSquad.com’s new section for reviewing recently released fiction. Short, sweet and to the point, Book Reports will offer synopses that cover all the basics of Snark-culture. At the end, we’ll offer up a final grade.
We’re pretty excited this, mostly for the part where we give out grades, share unsolicited opinions and read lots of YA.
Yeah.
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Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Source: ARC
Pre-order: Amazon
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.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. — Goodreads
In a nutshell: From the Twitter of Mr. Kristoff himself, we get the description, “telepathic samurai girls & griffins in steampunk feudal Japan.”
Main character: Yukiko, a strong protagonist with a supernatural power to boot. She’s able and brave, even when she’s making the mistakes inherent to every good conflict. You don’t truly get a sense of her personality, per se, but her actions speak volumes and fine- I just like that she kicks a little ass, okay?
Love interest? Groan. Yukiko’s weakness in the story is a boy because us girls can face death demons but our knees buckle in the presence of a penis. There are two main boys in the story- one I liked and one I wanted to impale on his own sword. I’ll leave you to work out the details and only say that the love sub-plot was weak for me. I hate insta-love.
Supporting Character Racism? Nope. All the supporting cast was fairly well developed and helped to propel the story forward.
Negligent Parent? Yes. We open the book with Yukikio’s father smoking and gambling and subsequently getting into a fight. If your daughter has to drag an unconscious you out of the equivalent of a bar? You’re doing parenting wrong.
That said, some of the best character moments come at the hands of Yukiko and her father as they are confronted with said negligent parenting. This relationship tickled my cold, cold heart.
Ho Suspensions? I’m gonna go with yes. Homegirl decides to get her freak on in the middle of a political upheaval! I mean, power to you but 1.) You’re 16. 2.) You’ve got important shit to be worrying about. 3.) No.
A+: Buruu the thunder tiger. The best person in the book isn’t a person. I just want to hug him tentatively, afraid that he might bite my head off, but unable to resist the softness.
ANYWAYS.
Fail: The first 13 chapters of the book. I know, I know- that’s a pretty significant fail. I should clarify that this downside was a matter of style and preference. There are a LOT of descriptions, especially through the beginning when you have the added disadvantage of not knowing WTF is going on. I personally felt it weighed down the story, because I don’t care what sound the scroll made when it was opened. I just want to know what’s going on. Etc.
If you aren’t particularly acquainted with feudal Japan, lots of stuff will go over your head at first. I took a ton of Google breaks, especially when they were mentioning weapons. At some point, it almost started to seem like too much work.
If you can muscle through the first 13 chapters, however, the remaining chapters do a pretty bang up job of making up for the slow initial pace.
Ending: The last 25% is a thrilling and stressful. All the things set in motion come to a head, with a few moving parts, a few things gone wrong, some heartbreak and a great final moment of confrontation. It’s all tied up nicely, which I appreciate, especially since there appear to be sequels.
And so: It’s pretty writing, a well developed fantasy and a nicely crafted world. Yes, the pacing suffers at the beginning and often there are two many words, but fans of fantasy will likely still enjoy.
Final Grade: B