Tormenta es un libro que nos introduce en un mundo que, desde un principio, se caracteriza por la desbordante originalidad. La acción que inunda las páginas está protagonizada por unos personajes de los que no podremos evitar encariñarnos y las páginas se convertirán en una adicción: no podrás separarte de la historia y estarás deseando conocer el futuro de Yukiko y de un acompañante muy especial.

Jay Kristoff soll nicht was für jeden sein, wurde mir gesagt. Man müsse sich auf seine Bücher einlassen und entweder man liebt sie oder man hasst sie, prophezeite man mir. Mein erstes Buch von ihm lässt nun den Schluss zu, dass ich zur Gruppe der Kristoff-Liebhaber gehört, denn Stormdancer hat sich nachhaltig in mein Gedächtnis gebrannt und ich kann die Fortsetzung der Reihe kaum erwarten!

Was ich vorweg allerdings zugeben kann, ist, dass ich unnormal lange für das Buch gebraucht habe. Die Geschichte musste ich in kleinen Dosen genießen, sonst machte mein Kopf dicht und ich konnte eine Seite zehnmal lesen, ohne am Ende zu wissen, was da gerade stand. Die Welt und die dystopischen Zusammenhänge des Ganzen waren unheimlich komplex, dazu kamen viele japanische Begriffe und die Erfindungen des Steampunks, sodass man stets große Happen zu verdauen hat.

Die Protagonistin Yukiko war mir leider nicht so nah, wie ich es mir erhofft hatte, aber dennoch hat der Autor es geschafft, dass ich stets mit ihr mitgefiebert habe. Sie ist entschlossen, mutig und verfolgt ihren ganz eigenen Weg, was in Anbetracht der Umstände, unter denen man in diesem Japan leben musste, bemerkenswert ist.
Der Donnertiger, dem sie im Laufe der Zeit begegnet, ist eine ganz eigene Marke. Ich habe das Zusammenspiel zwischen ihm und Yukiko abgöttisch geliebt, einfach ganz große Klasse! Den beiden hätte ich Ewigkeiten bei ihren Dialogen zuhören können, unglaublich gut.

Ab und zu empfand ich die ausführlichen Beschreibungen als recht anstrengend. Es gab spannende und rasante Szenen, bedeutsame und emotionale Momente, aber oft zog sich das Geschrieben zwischen den konkreten Dialogen und Handlungen wie Kaugummi. Das fand ich etwas schade, weil das auch häufig die Stellen waren, an denen ich eine Pause einlegen musste. Dennoch war ich stets neugierig, wie es mit der Story weitergeht und dann umso erfreuter, wenn es wieder aufregender wurde.

Das Worldbuilding ist Jay Kristoff extrem gut gelungen. Das Steampunk-Japan unter der Herrschaft des Shogun wurde detailliert aufgebaut und erklärt, ich konnte mir die Technik perfekt vorstellen, das Leben und Leiden der Menschen, die Zustände in diesem Land. Bewundernswert, wie der Autor sich diese Welt ausgemalt und erschaffen hat! Das hat viele Längen in der Geschichte wieder wettgemacht.

Mein Fazit:
Trotz leichter Distanz zur Hauptfigur und einigen zähen Stellen hat mich das Buch sehr beeindruckt. Ich finde die Idee hinter der Geschichte enorm faszinierend und die Umsetzung klasse, das wird sicherlich nicht mein letztes Buch von Jay Kristoff gewesen sein.
Von mir gibt es 4,5 von 5 Sternen.

To be honest, I was skeptical of this book’s self-proclaimed status as “Japanese steampunk.”* Still, I decided to give it chance because I love griffins and the book blurb promised me griffins. Sadly, my skepticism and doubts were not unfounded — Stormdancer’s use of Japanese culture as a convenient exotic setting was off-putting, to say the least.

The book takes place in Shima Isles (“Island” isles? Hm.) where Yukiko befriends a griffin (“thunder tiger”) and goes up against the dark conspiracies afoot in the empire. I did end up loving Buruu the griffin, who is pretty much the best part of the entire book. The prose was extremely detailed and occasionally beautiful, but this was also the book’s failing. The prose was so jampacked with detail that it felt like a wikipedia article full of feudal Japan factoids had somehow fused with the book, which brings me to–

Sadly, the book’s casual treatment of Japan as an exotic fantasy backdrop prevented me from enjoying the story. This ranges from the generic Asian-y atmosphere of the book to the offensively cavalier use of Japanese culture. In addition, Japanese words are misused and mistranslated in both the text and the glossary. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. Well, I believe this saying also applies to books. When it came to creating a book that respects the culture it uses as its setting, this village fell down on the job.

Recommendation: Just skip it.

*Steampunk set in shogunate Japan is sort of like setting steampunk in medieval England instead of Victorian England. Um, what?

For more in-depth reviews of Stormdancer:
http://thebooksmugglers.com/2012/09/smugglers-ponderings-on-stormdancer-by-jay-kristoff.html
http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/d-plain-reviews/review-stormdancer-by-jay-kristoff/

Further reading on the importance of proper research: http://elloecho.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-importance-of-proper-research.html

Muy entretenido. Toques de steampunk y fantasía bien llevados. Personajes creíbles, narración ágil. No obstante, recuerda un poco a Eragon. Es bastante autoconclusivo teniendo en cuenta que deja más que claro que es una serie de libros. No siento ganas de continuarlo.

I need an arashitora. Immediately.

This book was so not my type of book. It started with a huge info dump which was boring as hell. The same info could have been told through the story instead of chapter upon chapter at the beginning of the book. A lot of the info about the world of the book was repeated so often I wanted to scream. It bogged down the story before it even got started!

The characters were cardboard. They didn't have much development and it harmed the progress of the story. It also didn't help that a lot of the Japanese stuff was thrown in to the extreme...and a lot of it was applied in wrong ways. If you are going to borrow from a culture...it is best to get it right. "Hai" does not just mean "yes" so don't overuse it as such for example.

The story doesn't really take off until almost halfway through the book. Yes, info dump until halfway through the book! It made me almost stop reading and I found the whole book, even after the action takes off a slog to read. I even found myself skimming large chunks of the book because it was just more, repeated, info dump about the lotus fuel/drug/stuff that actually didn't explain it just told what it was used for again and again. And how toxic it was.

The environmental theme of the book was heavy handed. Yes, I understand the world of the book was polluted, quit repeating it via description, character talking, ect over and over again. It makes the book dull as hell and readers like me skim read.

I think I am done with reading "steampunk" books. They are all info dump style story-telling and dull as dirt. I guess I have found a genre that is so "small in appeal" that I don't like it. I won't be looking for any more books of this genre because very few are well written.

Interesting and fast paced story set in a steampunk world obviously loosely modelled on Japan. If you're looking for cultural accuracy, as some other reviewers have pointed out, you might have a few issues. If you can overlook those and read it strictly as fantasy, it's actually a good story.

I'm definitely planning to continue the series.

the lorax but make it violent

3.5 stars

My blog Hi Books! It's me Jethplain

"Dying is easy. Anyone can throw themselves onto the pyre and rest a happy martyr. Enduring the suffering that comes with sacrifice is the real test."



The book starts as Yukiko our protagonists, battles two Oni in the Iishi mountains. We then get the back story of how she came to be in that situation. Basically, it's a coming of age story of a girl with secret power called "kenning" (she can telepathically communicate with animals, hear their thoughts, and feel their feelings) which is a secret because "yokai-kin" or people like her are hunted down and executed by burning (like the witch trials) It's a journey of fighting for freedom and right amidst an abusive and polluted society burdened by the concept that honor is serving the emperor regardless of right or wrong. After her experience in the Iishi mountains where she meets rebels and discovers the truth behind her mother's disappearance, Yukiko returns to the capital with the mission to kill the Shogun. Along the way she experiences, love, betrayal, and self-discovery.

"To be a servant can be a noble thing, but only as noble as the master served."

The story's setting is in Shima an island based in Japan, where mystical creatures used to roam until they left or died due to extreme pollution. Shima's skies and sea are red and rain comes down as acid black as dirt. Most people are addicted to the Blood Lotus, a toxic flowering plant cultivated by the people. It's utilized as tea, medicine, narcotics, fabrics, and fuel at the expense of the land as it poisons the soil making it incapable of sustaining life. So the people keep on burning forests to give space for growing it. The government also manufactures inochi fertilizers made from a secret ingredient (liquefied gaijin/foreigners!)


I would've given this 5 stars but some things were bothering me. There was a misuse of honorifics like "sama", "chan" and "san". Also "hai" was misused it became a substitute for the word "yes" in this case. But overall I love the concept of the story. I understand that Shima is not supposed to be Japan but a place similar to it. I like the concept and I love Buruu and Yukiko's relationship and 1 star for the execution and the author could've made better research