Waiting on Wednesday #1: Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme first initiated by Jill from Breaking the Spine. However, we've added our own twist to it! Not only will we feature books that will be published in the following months, but we will also feature books that are not available yet locally, and are still unavailable to us.

Title: Stormdancer

Author: Jay Kristoff

Format: Hardcover
Publication Date: September 18 2012

Publishing House: Thomas Dunne Books

ISBN: 9781250001404

Summary: Griffins are supposed to be extinct. So when Yukiko and her warrior father Masaru are sent to capture one for the Shogun, they feat that their lives are over. Everyone knows what happens to those who fail him, no matter how hopeless the task.

But the mission proves far less impossible, and far more deadly than anyone expects - and soon Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in her country's last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. But trapped together in the forest, Yukiko and Buruu soon discover friendship that neither of them expected.

Meanwhile, the country around them verges on the brink of collapse. A toxic fuel is slowly choking the land; the omnipotent, machine-powered Lotus Guild is publicly burning those they deem Impure; and the Shogun cares about nothing but is own dominion. Yukiko has always been uneasy in the shadow of power, when she learns the awful truth of what the Shogun has done, both to her country and her own family she's determined to do something about it.

Returning to the city, Yukiko and Buruu plan to make the Shogun pay for his crimes - but what can one girl and a flightless griffin do against the might of an empire?

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads.)

One of the twins went to Japan during the sem break (hence the lack of cheesy, weird Tweets on Twitter), and took some random photos for the blog.

To get a glimpse of some of what Michelle experienced during her trip, do continue reading:

Okay guys, so the first things that come to mind when Japan is mentioned include (but are not limited to)...

Weird costumes (with the questionable English)

Anime galore

Maid outfits

More weird costumes (yes, those are for men)

Maid cafes (do forgive the obstruction the lamp poses)

A mecca for video game aficionados...

But Japan is so much more than that!

By now, you guys are all probably wondering why the heck we're featuring Stormdancer when it's already available since a few months back. The sad thing is, it's not available yet from where we are! How psyched are we for this book? Uh, we only pester our favorite book clerk when we visit our local bookstore. We have an inkling that she ducks behind the counter when she sees one of us barreling through the doors.

So why're we so excited about it? 

The only answer we could think of was shoguns. (No, I do not have any pictures of any shoguns, but I did include images which would remind one of traditional Japan.

Enjoy the photodump and the occasional captions! (To continue browsing more images, don't forget to check out our Flickr album made accessible by clicking this link.)

Barrels of sake covered in straw

One of the huge Chrysanthemums

More Chrysanthemums

See? Can't you just imagine shoguns and stuff? (I know, the gosanke looks different, but come on.) If I had a copy of the book, I would surely have brought it out on our leisurely trip to Shinjuku Gyoen while drinking green tea, and watching the other people on their backs, basking in the warm glow of the sun.

 If you do have a copy, do let us know if it was a good read! We'd love to hear from you guys.

(All photos from Japan taken by Michelle. They must not be posted anywhere without permission. She is by no means a photographer either by hobby or profession, so please don't be a hater and just say, "Ooh, maid costumes!" All photos were taken using an iPhone 4S.)