- Stormdancer
In an industrial steampunk Japan where the feudal system is still intact, Yukiko joins her father on a mission assigned by a power-mad shogun: to find an arashitora, a mythical flying creature believed to be extinct. When the impossible happens and they succeed, a lightning storm crashes their sky-ship, stranding Yukiko, the arashitora, and a young member of the Lotus Guild (a cult that controls production [End Page 92] of the lotus-derived energy source that poisons the land and its people) on a mysterious island, where they fall in with a band of resistance fighters. The world here is crafted in loving and impressive detail, from its political complexities to its intriguing chronological juxtapositions (samurai and seppuku and a rigid caste system coexist with radios and atmos-suits and deadly smog). The friendship that develops between Yukiko and her arashitora (who has a fierce, elemental intelligence) is a compelling emotional anchor that will have strong appeal to fans of animal companion fantasies such as Paolini's Eragon (BCCB 12/03), and the book is also an obvious sell for fans of Uehashi's Moribito (BCCB 6/08) for its vivid setting and tough-as-nails heroine. Kristoff excels at balancing multiple plotlines, and Yukiko's tale transitions from quest to survival story to assassination plot with ease, ending with a stirring call to revolution that promises future volumes filled with even more excitement. Trumpeting the hopeful message that compassion begets strength, this epic, imaginative series opener introduces a cast of flawed, striving characters, a perilous and fascinating landscape, and a world in dire need of saving that readers will be eager to return to. A glossary translates and contextualizes the Japanese terms used, with thematic subsections for clothing, weapons, and religion.