Waiting on Wednesday (19)

"Waiting on Wednesday"  is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 


This week's WoW is . . .

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff


A DYING LAND 
The Shima Imperium is verging on the brink of environmental collapse; decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshippers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, land choked with toxic pollution, wildlife ravaged by mass extinctions.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of the imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger—a legendary beast, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows thunder tigers have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a hidden gift that would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


So . . . I've wanted this for a long time.  A very, very long time. I blame the delay between the first stirrings of book lust and its feature on the lack of US cover art and my own absence.  Now that the ridiculously fantastic cover has been revealed and I am (sort-of-ish) back, here we are.


Stormdancer.


What is there even to say about this book?  I suspect many of you have heard of it before; I think over half of Goodreads would sell their first-borns (and maybe their second- and third-borns) just to get their hands on an ARC of their very own.


And why?

• Because Jay Kristoff is one of the most hilarious, frank, down-to-earth authors you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting/viewing on your computer screen.
• Because that synopsis is so full of awesome that I don't even know where to begin. Thunder tigers. Epic hunts.  Kick-ass heroines. JAPANESE STEAMPUNK.
• Because that cover is so goddamn sexy that anyone in their right mind wants it on their shelf.  And in a huge frame on their wall.  And as their desktop background. (Which, by the way, is actually a thing you can do.)

If this book wasn't already at the top of your I-WILL-FIND-A-COPY-IF-IT-KILLS-ME shelf, it should be.

That's it for this week! How about you guys? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?