Stormdancer, by Jay Kristoff, is the first book in The Lotus War. It is a steampunk novel set in Japanese-based culture. The blood-lotus weed blights the county, pushed by the Lotus Guild as the only fuel for the grand machines. The weed is a balm for the masses, allowing for civilian complacency under the tyrannical Shogun. Add in a strict honor code, and you have the reason behind why Yukiko, the teenage protagonist, is stuck with her father pursuing a madman’s fantasy: the capture of an arashitora. Only, thunder tigers are extinct.
Or so common knowledge says.
Instead, arashitoras are very much alive. The crew’s good fortune is short lived. The airship is damaged when lightning strikes, sending it tumbling to earth. Crashed in a strange forest full of oni and outlaws, Yukiko and the arashitora must either work together or perish.
There is a lot to unpack with this one. Part of me absolutely loves this book. Yukiko is one of the few teenage protagonists I’ve ever felt any sort of kinship toward. She particularly won me over when she admits to just being a kid. That she’s angry with her father for the lack of direction in their lives. For the fact he’ll smoke lotus, gamble, and fight. He forces her to be the responsible one, and she resents him for it (even as she’s thankful for the skills he’s taught her). She behaves as a believable teenager, yet without the copious amount of excessive angst. Yukiko’s relationship with the arashitora is adorable, one that any cat lover will immediately take to. It’s this relationship that truly carries the book.
I love my villains, but I’m utterly neutral towards the Shogun. In this regard, Stormdancer leans very young adult. The Shogun is evil because he’s rich and powerful. That’s the extent of the explanation to the reader. I’m disappointed by the fact the Shogun is given a seemingly prophetic dream at the beginning of the book, yet I never had a satisfying answer as to whether or not he had some sort of magic or was just lucky. The other main antagonists are the Lotus Guild, whose development isn’t much deeper. None of these points are necessarily bad, as I still found the book quite enjoyable. Jay Kristoff’s writing style flows. It’s a quick, easy read that’s a wonderful ride.
The lack of depth is my biggest complaint. I want so much more of the world, and I feel a little as if the ‘Japan’-ness is a window dressing. I’m going to explore that more on Nov. 9th in a comparison post between Stormdancer and The Poppy War.