Smorgasbord Fantasia

Let's get this out of the way first. Yes - it's a  Jay Kristoff  book. And that guy is right now everywhere! [  Dark Dawn  just released and it's a bestseller for all the good reasons - I am on that book right now, more on this later!] But  Illuminae  was probably an experiment. That went wildly successful. What else can you say about this beautiful beautiful book ! ( I mean literally! The physical copy of this book is a visual candy layered with all sorts of gooey goodness shots! It's an amazing piece of art!] A talented writer duo belting out a concept that bordered on insane: A space warship guiding a research ship adrift in the outer reaches of space somewhere, homeless and also hotly chased by another dreadnought hell bent on blasting them both out of existence. And well, when the future of everybody on-board depends on just these two teenagers, driven by heartbreak and longing for each other, that makes for a very thin premise indeed. Add ...

By now, I have become a convert at the cult of Jay Kristoff , the masterweaver of fantasy and sci-fi tales full of lyrical beauty, wickedly cool action adventures and heart-wrenching plot-twists that will keep you yearning for more, as he continues to churn out novels by the dozen [ I mean, does this guy even sleep? 'Hell no, Sleep is for the weak!'] This is my fifth book by Jay Kristoff and yes I see the repetitive patterns - young girl protagonist with a secret history behind her birth, growing up pangs like either a finishing school or the loyal friendships or hesitant first loves along with tons of ubercool world-building elements, that ever-present humor that can either have you rolling your eyes in the head or rolling on the floor in splits, cinematic action sequences unfolding in slo-mo and an unbelievable ending as tension levels mount beyond Mount Everest to erupt in a gut-wrenching reveal that will have you gasping, in disbelief and terror. LIFEL1K3 features...

A richly woven tapestry of intoxicating Japanese Mythological elements (Iron Samurai with Chain-saw Katana? Golly yes! Thunder-Tigers? Never heard of those, but give me some more please!!) and elaborate Steampunk fantasy; featuring a precocious 16-year old coming into her own – Jay Kristoff's explosive much-talked about debut Stormdancer was well on its way to be a runaway success even before the book launched. The hype and explosive premise surrounding the book was higher than the lethal volcanic fumes from Mount Doom of Mordor. So imagine war and politics, love and magic colliding against a bewitchingly exotic backdrop of Japanese steam-punk where loyalties shift with the direction of the ever-howling winds and the reddish bloody skies are forever wreathed in clouds of betrayal. Stormdancer goes a step further than all of this. Love it or hate it, this book is in-your-face – World-building at a scale hitherto un-imagined. It’s perhaps YA – in its treatment of the heroine ...