lindaunconventionalbookworms's review against another edition
5.0
This and other reviews can be found on my blog: (un)Conventional Bookviews.
ARC from Netgalley received on July 16th 2012. YAY! Thank you Netgalley + publisher :D
WOW! This book had me amazed from beginning to end, and I want more and I want it now!!
ARC from Netgalley received on July 16th 2012. YAY! Thank you Netgalley + publisher :D
WOW! This book had me amazed from beginning to end, and I want more and I want it now!!
lynseyisreading's review against another edition
5.0
As amazing as I'd hoped. I cannot wait for the next one!
I admit to being slightly scared of starting this book. I don't think I've ever seen such a positive buzz about a book that hadn't (at the time) even been released yet. Book Bloggers and Advanced Copy readers were going wild about it; doing these amazing, gushing, hyperbolic reviews. This worried me, because it wouldn't be the first time that that's happened and then I've picked up the book myself and realised it's very prettily written, and highly descriptive, but is otherwise only an average story. And I can't get excited about the talent of a wordsmith alone. You have to tell me a good story as well. That's kind of my mantra when I'm reading: Tell the story, tell the story, tell the story. So when writers get too wordy or try and simile me into submission, I get turned off. Where did my story go?
And for the most part, I would be lying if I didn't say that Kristoff's writing is highly descriptive in places. More so, even, than some of the ones I ended up not liking previously. But holy freaking cow does he back that up with a great story, incredible world-building, phenomenal fantasy, sci-fi and steampunk elements, and to top it all off, a cast of fantastically diverse and complex characters!
A-maz-ing.
Of course, anything worth having is worth working hard for, and for around the first 50-60 or so pages of the book, I was working pretty damned hard! The Japanese language; mostly used for names of weapons, clothing, races, species, gods, myths and of course, character names, made reading difficult initially. I don't really like having to struggle so much, but after all the reviews I'd seen, I felt confident the pay-off would be worth it if I persevered. It was, and then some.
So, what is the book about? Well, it's a very complex world and plot and overall story arc, so I wouldn't even like to try summarising it. But I will tell you your main character is a young girl named Yukiko. She is an excellent strong and positive heroine who needs no hot boy brooding at her to make her appear so. It's not a coming-of-age story, exactly, but definitely an eye-opening journey. It set in a futuristic, or maybe alternate history? (not sure) Japan, where a plant called the Blood Lotus has been discovered and put to great and terrifying use. It powers the great machinery; the sky-ships, the war machines, even the brass and iron body armour of the samurai warriors. But the cost to the world and its citizens is immense. The choking fumes are killing everyone and everything, slowly but surely. Breathing masks and goggles need to be worn at all times. Man is playing a very dangerous and greedy game; thinking only of the benefits now, and not the consequences later. It's quite thought-provoking in that it's not that much of a stretch to imagine our species doing exactly this--especially such an industrious nation as Japan--and its message is clear, and the most ingenious use of entertainment to deliver it since WALL.E.
So, it looks like someone needs to shake things up a bit, right? But our Yukiko is just one girl, and only 16 at that. She has no power. But perhaps she has the strength after all (spot the Princess Bride quote), if only she has the help of oh, say for example, a badass THUNDER TIGER!
Buruu's character—and he definitely is a character—was a fantastic part of the story. His dialogue—which is telepathic and all done in shouty capitals—was excellent and often highly amusing. I loved him!
There were several other characters I grew to appreciate and as the epic final chapters came to a close, I found myself deeply concerned over their whereabouts and well-being. That's not to say it ends on a cliffhanger—it doesn't—but there are many unanswered questions and threads left unresolved and I NEED THE NEXT BOOK RIGHT NOW!
In summation, do I recommend this book? Hells yeah. Who to? I don't know... everyone? I'm not sure who to recommend it to specifically, because it's so unlike anything else with it's blend of genres. Even if you've read Steampunk before that will in no way prepare you for this book. My advice is to just go and buy it, if it's not for you, hand it to your friend and they'll probably read it, love it, and tell you you're a crazy person not to have loved every single syllable. And they'll probably give you a cookie or something. So everyone's a winner.
5 phenomenal Stars ★★★★★
ARC provided for an honest review.
I admit to being slightly scared of starting this book. I don't think I've ever seen such a positive buzz about a book that hadn't (at the time) even been released yet. Book Bloggers and Advanced Copy readers were going wild about it; doing these amazing, gushing, hyperbolic reviews. This worried me, because it wouldn't be the first time that that's happened and then I've picked up the book myself and realised it's very prettily written, and highly descriptive, but is otherwise only an average story. And I can't get excited about the talent of a wordsmith alone. You have to tell me a good story as well. That's kind of my mantra when I'm reading: Tell the story, tell the story, tell the story. So when writers get too wordy or try and simile me into submission, I get turned off. Where did my story go?
And for the most part, I would be lying if I didn't say that Kristoff's writing is highly descriptive in places. More so, even, than some of the ones I ended up not liking previously. But holy freaking cow does he back that up with a great story, incredible world-building, phenomenal fantasy, sci-fi and steampunk elements, and to top it all off, a cast of fantastically diverse and complex characters!
A-maz-ing.
Of course, anything worth having is worth working hard for, and for around the first 50-60 or so pages of the book, I was working pretty damned hard! The Japanese language; mostly used for names of weapons, clothing, races, species, gods, myths and of course, character names, made reading difficult initially. I don't really like having to struggle so much, but after all the reviews I'd seen, I felt confident the pay-off would be worth it if I persevered. It was, and then some.
So, what is the book about? Well, it's a very complex world and plot and overall story arc, so I wouldn't even like to try summarising it. But I will tell you your main character is a young girl named Yukiko. She is an excellent strong and positive heroine who needs no hot boy brooding at her to make her appear so. It's not a coming-of-age story, exactly, but definitely an eye-opening journey. It set in a futuristic, or maybe alternate history? (not sure) Japan, where a plant called the Blood Lotus has been discovered and put to great and terrifying use. It powers the great machinery; the sky-ships, the war machines, even the brass and iron body armour of the samurai warriors. But the cost to the world and its citizens is immense. The choking fumes are killing everyone and everything, slowly but surely. Breathing masks and goggles need to be worn at all times. Man is playing a very dangerous and greedy game; thinking only of the benefits now, and not the consequences later. It's quite thought-provoking in that it's not that much of a stretch to imagine our species doing exactly this--especially such an industrious nation as Japan--and its message is clear, and the most ingenious use of entertainment to deliver it since WALL.E.
So, it looks like someone needs to shake things up a bit, right? But our Yukiko is just one girl, and only 16 at that. She has no power. But perhaps she has the strength after all (spot the Princess Bride quote), if only she has the help of oh, say for example, a badass THUNDER TIGER!
Buruu's character—and he definitely is a character—was a fantastic part of the story. His dialogue—which is telepathic and all done in shouty capitals—was excellent and often highly amusing. I loved him!
There were several other characters I grew to appreciate and as the epic final chapters came to a close, I found myself deeply concerned over their whereabouts and well-being. That's not to say it ends on a cliffhanger—it doesn't—but there are many unanswered questions and threads left unresolved and I NEED THE NEXT BOOK RIGHT NOW!
In summation, do I recommend this book? Hells yeah. Who to? I don't know... everyone? I'm not sure who to recommend it to specifically, because it's so unlike anything else with it's blend of genres. Even if you've read Steampunk before that will in no way prepare you for this book. My advice is to just go and buy it, if it's not for you, hand it to your friend and they'll probably read it, love it, and tell you you're a crazy person not to have loved every single syllable. And they'll probably give you a cookie or something. So everyone's a winner.
5 phenomenal Stars ★★★★★
ARC provided for an honest review.
shaniethings's review against another edition
3.0
Es simplemente genial. Al principio me costó un poco ubicarme y eso pero una vez lo haces... Es cómo DIOOOS COMO NO ME LO HABÍA LEÍDO ANTES. Lo recomiendo 100% en serio.
decafplease's review against another edition
5.0
I could mention Stormdancer, Wild Mage and The Alchemy of Stone in the same breath and it wouldn't seem out of place because it can definitely hold its ground even against two of my favourite novels. I want to use the word "epic" to describe it but only in the most essentialist way. It was epic because it was heroic, romantic, tragic, and dramatic--and everything was done with style.
Style. (Sigh.) What so many writers lack. I maintain that a well-written book is readable as much as enjoyable. And this one I relished to the uttermost. The steampunk rendition had artistry, but it was not in the same vein as The Alchemy of Stone's aesthetics. There was a kind of heaviness to Sedia's novel. Thick. Unmoving. Suffocating. In this novel, however, it was Kristoff's use of colour that I found striking. Silver wings. Red flowers. Ink black tattoos. Dust-red skies. Blue blades. Night-dark stones. Ashen smoke.
There were a few cringe-worthy, anachronistic words that I believe shouldn't appear, but mostly the plot, the writing, the world-building, the pacing, and the characters all complimented one another and produced stunning effects. I read this on my ipad so I couldn't quite tell how many paperback pages it amounted to, but all the time I was wishing that it wouldn't end so soon.
I actually have a checklist of the things I wanted to briefly discuss: Kristoff's representation of the Oriental, anthropomorphism and animal rights, ecocritical messages, the relationship between Yukiko, Kin, and Hiro, similarities and differences between Yukiko and Daine, the Guild, the Samurai code of Honor, and naturally, Buruu, but I must dash, so maybe I'll come back to this review later because I'll definitely re-read this when I have time.
Style. (Sigh.) What so many writers lack. I maintain that a well-written book is readable as much as enjoyable. And this one I relished to the uttermost. The steampunk rendition had artistry, but it was not in the same vein as The Alchemy of Stone's aesthetics. There was a kind of heaviness to Sedia's novel. Thick. Unmoving. Suffocating. In this novel, however, it was Kristoff's use of colour that I found striking. Silver wings. Red flowers. Ink black tattoos. Dust-red skies. Blue blades. Night-dark stones. Ashen smoke.
There were a few cringe-worthy, anachronistic words that I believe shouldn't appear, but mostly the plot, the writing, the world-building, the pacing, and the characters all complimented one another and produced stunning effects. I read this on my ipad so I couldn't quite tell how many paperback pages it amounted to, but all the time I was wishing that it wouldn't end so soon.
I actually have a checklist of the things I wanted to briefly discuss: Kristoff's representation of the Oriental, anthropomorphism and animal rights, ecocritical messages, the relationship between Yukiko, Kin, and Hiro, similarities and differences between Yukiko and Daine, the Guild, the Samurai code of Honor, and naturally, Buruu, but I must dash, so maybe I'll come back to this review later because I'll definitely re-read this when I have time.
abigcoffeedragon's review against another edition
1.0
No - just - No
I am sorry, but the motto of any family in Japan is NOT the same as the Army
"Be all you can Be" - Seriously - this is ridiculous
Also, one would not yell For Bushido - For Honor, as the word BUSHIDO is an acronym for seven words of the Samurai code, one of which is Honor -
Also - A griffin being called a thunder tiger is ridiculous as well, as there is no GRIFFIN in Japanese mythology -
This is BAD Japanese fan fiction, and nothing more - read a couple of anime books and watch a full series and a manga will NOT make you an expert on Dialog, mythology, or anything Japanese - also, every other page had LOTUS - lotus flies, lotus smoke, lotus flames -
Why do people enjoy this thing? Should we always praise an adult that writes like a child would?
I am sorry, but the motto of any family in Japan is NOT the same as the Army
"Be all you can Be" - Seriously - this is ridiculous
Also, one would not yell For Bushido - For Honor, as the word BUSHIDO is an acronym for seven words of the Samurai code, one of which is Honor -
Also - A griffin being called a thunder tiger is ridiculous as well, as there is no GRIFFIN in Japanese mythology -
This is BAD Japanese fan fiction, and nothing more - read a couple of anime books and watch a full series and a manga will NOT make you an expert on Dialog, mythology, or anything Japanese - also, every other page had LOTUS - lotus flies, lotus smoke, lotus flames -
Why do people enjoy this thing? Should we always praise an adult that writes like a child would?
carola84's review against another edition
Over the years I’ve tried to read this book a couple of times and I finally decided to read it.
I don’t know what caused the struggle, if it’s because it’s a debut, too much of native words, or the poetic license combined with a huge info dump for a big part of this book. But I had difficulty to keep on reading this book.
And it annoys me because it’s written by a favorite author of mine. I want to like it but I just couldn’t get into this story.
I don’t know what caused the struggle, if it’s because it’s a debut, too much of native words, or the poetic license combined with a huge info dump for a big part of this book. But I had difficulty to keep on reading this book.
And it annoys me because it’s written by a favorite author of mine. I want to like it but I just couldn’t get into this story.
scrollsofdragons's review against another edition
3.0
2.5
Started off difficult to get into went into a very strong middle and then once out of the wildness it went just to decent. I really dont like fantasy palace courts where the men walk around with the world at thier feet while the women just wear heavy dresses and drink tea, memoaning thier lack of power when girls you really arent helping yourselfs and its just ran by this boring nasty tyrant, and the commenors cant see the truth that is staring them right in the face.
I liked the relationship between the animal and the girl while they are learning to trust one another while trekking thier way through the wild. I loved that part and it was over too soon. Its not the author, I love Nevernight by him but this is the type of ya book I am really sick of seeing.
Started off difficult to get into went into a very strong middle and then once out of the wildness it went just to decent. I really dont like fantasy palace courts where the men walk around with the world at thier feet while the women just wear heavy dresses and drink tea, memoaning thier lack of power when girls you really arent helping yourselfs and its just ran by this boring nasty tyrant, and the commenors cant see the truth that is staring them right in the face.
I liked the relationship between the animal and the girl while they are learning to trust one another while trekking thier way through the wild. I loved that part and it was over too soon. Its not the author, I love Nevernight by him but this is the type of ya book I am really sick of seeing.
majaki_94's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0