Reviews

Stormdancer By Jay Kristoff, A Japanese Steampunk Fantasy Novel

By June 9, 2020June 11th, 2020No Comments

You may know the Australian writer Jay Kristoff. He is famous for such series as The Illuminae Files, The Nevernight Chronicle, The Nevernight Chronicle.

Today I’d like to say a few good words about his debut book – Stormdancer. I started to reread it on the second day of my own apocalypse (I men, my self-isolation) and it really helped me to save my nerves.

What if this entertaining novel will help somebody else to go through a difficult period?

The Genre Of The Novel

This book is usually described as ‘Japanese steampunk’, but it would be better to characterize in as ‘loosely based on the history of the Samurai Age’.

Stormdancer is an example of fantasy in its true sense.

The definition ‘steampunk’ fully applies to this Kristoff’s novel as well: people who live in the world of the book, use airships, chainsaw katanas, heavy rail, and so on. The powerful technologies are dangerous, they can kill the planet, but humans won’t do without them.

As the author said in the interview for the website My Bookish Ways, ‘there’s no limit to writing fantasy but your imagination’.

What Is The Main Heroine Like?

The female protagonist, young Yukiko, seems to be a very interesting character from the first pages.

She has the ability, called the Kenning – she speaks telepathically to animals. Her ability can cost her life. The Lotus Guild, building the world’s machinery, aren’t animal rights activists at all, and each person with the Kenning risk being burnt.

However, Yukiko’s grown up with a strong independent streak. It isn’t so easy to stop her if she’s going to act…

Stormdancer is a real page-turner – perhaps, you’ll read it over a weekend.

Not surprisingly, it was shortlisted for two David Gemmell Awards in 2013 – for best novel and best debut novel. 

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