Kinslayer

July 29, 2013
The second Japanese-flavored steampunk adventure in the Lotus War series (after 2012’s Stormdancer) starts with a bang when teen kitsune Yukiko, craving revenge for her father’s murder, destroys three Lotus Guild warships. But the tides turn when Lord Hiro, Yukiko’s former lover and the Guild’s foremost ally, declares himself the Daimyo. Yukiko’s uncontrollable powers also become as dangerous as any enemy. The Guild stands poised to crush Yukiko’s burgeoning rebellion, and the empire’s fate hangs on three unlikely people: Artificer Kin, increasingly conflicted about his decision to follow Yukiko; Burakumin Hana, derided and considered beneath notice; and Kage Michi, a maidservant whose relationship with a magistrate threatens more than her heart. Though Kristoff opens with a character refresher, new readers might have difficulty following the story, and while the action scenes are just as thrilling and the plot even more fast-paced than in the first volume, this sequel is undermined by its increasingly one-note pseudo-Japanese setting, as well as its reliance on predictable tropes. Agent: Matt Bialer, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

January 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-The first title in the steampunk dystopian series, Stormdancer (Thomas Dunne, 2012), introduced the world of the Shima Imperium, which is ruled by the power-hungry Shōgun Yorimoto. Yukiko and her father are sent to find a mythical griffin for the Shōgun, but end up assassinating him and starting a rebellion at the price of Yukiko's father's life. In Kinslayer, 16-year-old Yukiko's grief is causing her ability to communicate with animals to spin out of control, pushing her toward the brink of insanity. Kristoff fleshes out many of the side characters and uses multiple story lines to elaborate on the political mess left behind by the Shōgun's death. All of the characters are put through the wringer, and a twist at the end manages to leave the situation more dire than ever. Fans of the first book will be prepared for the florid, heavy prose and the long, dense passages, but others may be put off by the writing style. Recommended only where Stormdancer was popular.-Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA

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