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A review by emleemay
Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
1.0
At first I didn't write my review of [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096] because the publisher specifically asked me to hold off on posting it until September. Then I didn't write it because I was in the minority and I had to take a deep breath before I put my negative opinion out there. And now I'm writing it because I don't care any longer, I've accepted that my opinion is valid and not just a one off that deserves to belong on my "its-me-not-you" shelf. I didn't enjoy [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096], I can't give it more than one star because it doesn't belong in the realm of "it was ok" for me.
I understand why people would love this, and if you don't understand then just navigate towards the million glowing reviews on the book's goodreads page. [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096] has a strong heroine, widely developed world-building, an Asian setting, many mythical creatures, and it is very wordy and big on the descriptions. And it is this last that made so many people gush while simultaneously making me want to tear my hair out. The prose is so dense and overly descriptive that it just didn't go in. It was one of those situations where I repeatedly read the same few sentences over and over, desperately trying to absorb what they were telling me but my brain kept getting caught on the painful wordiness.
Also, there's the Asian thing. I love that this isn't just another young adult novel with white American kids, I love that authors are stepping outside their comfort zone and writing about other cultures. Because there is so much mythology to explore from all corners of the globe, there's just no need to stick to the same old. But, seriously, I know the author is not Japanese and he deserves to be allowed room for mistakes... but was any research actually done when writing [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096]? Well, beyond the reading of manga, anyway? This book is like what would happen if someone went into a Japanese tourist shop and decided to write about the culture based on it.
If this novel had been set in Italy, the Italian equivalent would be:
They went strolling down by [insert overly descriptive sentences] the Vatican and the Coliseum before eating [insert more descriptiveness] pizza and pasta. Then they went to Venice and [more description] rode a gondola whilst being chased by angry Roman gods. They escaped to Sicily where they were [description, description] hunted down by a Sicilian mafia boss called Giovanni and his two henchmen - Mario and Luigi - before finally being shot by Antonio. As Antonio pulled the trigger, "Ciao bella mia!", he exclaimed. The end.
You get the idea? This book throws around a Japanese word and/or stereotype at every possible opportunity. It also assumes that the audience - largely western readers - has quite a bit of knowledge about Japan or is at least willing to sit with google at the ready for the entire novel. I am not joking when I say I sometimes had to use google multiple times in one paragraph in order to understand what the hell was going on. This isn't enjoyable, it really isn't. The descriptions plus the language made it feel like I was wading through very thick sludge.
Discounting manga/anime, I can count on two fingers how many Asian-inspired fantasies I know of. [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096] gets the middle one. If you want to explore this genre, I can't tell you to completely disregard [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096] because so many people obviously thought it was amazing, but I would say that Goodman's world in [b:Eon: Dragoneye Reborn|2986865|Eon Dragoneye Reborn (Eon, #1)|Alison Goodman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1299076175s/2986865.jpg|3017319] and [b:Eona|7992995|Eona (Eon, #2)|Alison Goodman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1301809055s/7992995.jpg|14936811] is far better all round. Eon/Eona is just a better heroine than Yukiko, in my opinion, and isn't thinking about "the samurai with the sea-green eyes" when her life is threatened. Read Goodman's novels instead.
I understand why people would love this, and if you don't understand then just navigate towards the million glowing reviews on the book's goodreads page. [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096] has a strong heroine, widely developed world-building, an Asian setting, many mythical creatures, and it is very wordy and big on the descriptions. And it is this last that made so many people gush while simultaneously making me want to tear my hair out. The prose is so dense and overly descriptive that it just didn't go in. It was one of those situations where I repeatedly read the same few sentences over and over, desperately trying to absorb what they were telling me but my brain kept getting caught on the painful wordiness.
Also, there's the Asian thing. I love that this isn't just another young adult novel with white American kids, I love that authors are stepping outside their comfort zone and writing about other cultures. Because there is so much mythology to explore from all corners of the globe, there's just no need to stick to the same old. But, seriously, I know the author is not Japanese and he deserves to be allowed room for mistakes... but was any research actually done when writing [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096]? Well, beyond the reading of manga, anyway? This book is like what would happen if someone went into a Japanese tourist shop and decided to write about the culture based on it.
If this novel had been set in Italy, the Italian equivalent would be:
They went strolling down by [insert overly descriptive sentences] the Vatican and the Coliseum before eating [insert more descriptiveness] pizza and pasta. Then they went to Venice and [more description] rode a gondola whilst being chased by angry Roman gods. They escaped to Sicily where they were [description, description] hunted down by a Sicilian mafia boss called Giovanni and his two henchmen - Mario and Luigi - before finally being shot by Antonio. As Antonio pulled the trigger, "Ciao bella mia!", he exclaimed. The end.
You get the idea? This book throws around a Japanese word and/or stereotype at every possible opportunity. It also assumes that the audience - largely western readers - has quite a bit of knowledge about Japan or is at least willing to sit with google at the ready for the entire novel. I am not joking when I say I sometimes had to use google multiple times in one paragraph in order to understand what the hell was going on. This isn't enjoyable, it really isn't. The descriptions plus the language made it feel like I was wading through very thick sludge.
Discounting manga/anime, I can count on two fingers how many Asian-inspired fantasies I know of. [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096] gets the middle one. If you want to explore this genre, I can't tell you to completely disregard [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096] because so many people obviously thought it was amazing, but I would say that Goodman's world in [b:Eon: Dragoneye Reborn|2986865|Eon Dragoneye Reborn (Eon, #1)|Alison Goodman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1299076175s/2986865.jpg|3017319] and [b:Eona|7992995|Eona (Eon, #2)|Alison Goodman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1301809055s/7992995.jpg|14936811] is far better all round. Eon/Eona is just a better heroine than Yukiko, in my opinion, and isn't thinking about "the samurai with the sea-green eyes" when her life is threatened. Read Goodman's novels instead.