Stormdancer

I somewhat regret listening to the audiobook version of this. I found the narration to be not great, leaning heavily on some cultural stereotype for the accents used - a little bit offensive to listen to. The story itself is set in a clever take on a steampunk world, with vast machinery powered by blood lotus, a plant that has ‘particular' needs to grow and produces a vast amount of pollution when used. The military industrial complex that it powers forms the backbone of the society - a scarily believable allegory for modern capitalism and hydrocarbons. The world building here is well done.

The story mostly follows the daughter of the chief tracker of the emperor, being sent to capture a thunder tiger - a griffon like beast. Some characters are a bit one dimensional - I found the childlike petulance of the emperor somewhat grating. The motivations are a bit confused as well. However, they are all distinctive and interesting. The plot is somewhat generic, with its main distinction being the world and the female lead. Kristoff writes with a very accessible and conversational style which is fun and easy to follow and this book is no exception to that.

Overall a fun fantasy romp. Avoid the audiobook though.