Retribution Review

Hey there,

So I brought three books on my trip back to Nebraska and zipped through two of them. On the way home I got started on the third and last night I finished it.

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding is a sort of fantasy steampunk-ish novel that is a lot of fun to breeze through. I mean, there's this substance called "aerium" that can be converted via electromagnetic process into an "ultralight" gas strong enough to lift metallic airframes, and there are "prothane" (and prothane accessory) engines to jet people around. There's not even a vague nod to plausibility. The book cheerfully states these things as facts and says "let's go on an Adventure!".

And that they do. You've got Darian Frey, the scruffy rogue and captain of the Ketty Jay. He's got a rag-tag crew of misfits and they slum along from one quasi-legal job to the next. Then he gets an offer to good to be true which, surprise, turns out to be too good to be true. Then they're on the run from everyone trying to figure out who framed them and how to get out of it.

At the risk of sounding dismissive, the book doesn't really have anything "new". There's no novel or grand Big Idea. The mystery doesn't really come with any huge surprises. The misfit characters all have a shady past and they learn to pull together in the face of adversity to become a real team, yadda-yadda-yadda. And yet, the book is a great deal of fun to read. There are a number of bits that made me laugh out loud and the pacing ticks along like a Swiss watch. Fully enjoyable light reading.

For people into steampunk or air pirates or who just want some escapist reading this is a great book to pick up.

later
Tom

Retribution Review

Hey there,

So I brought three books on my trip back to Nebraska and zipped through two of them. On the way home I got started on the third and last night I finished it.

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding is a sort of fantasy steampunk-ish novel that is a lot of fun to breeze through. I mean, there's this substance called "aerium" that can be converted via electromagnetic process into an "ultralight" gas strong enough to lift metallic airframes, and there are "prothane" (and prothane accessory) engines to jet people around. There's not even a vague nod to plausibility. The book cheerfully states these things as facts and says "let's go on an Adventure!".

And that they do. You've got Darian Frey, the scruffy rogue and captain of the Ketty Jay. He's got a rag-tag crew of misfits and they slum along from one quasi-legal job to the next. Then he gets an offer to good to be true which, surprise, turns out to be too good to be true. Then they're on the run from everyone trying to figure out who framed them and how to get out of it.

At the risk of sounding dismissive, the book doesn't really have anything "new". There's no novel or grand Big Idea. The mystery doesn't really come with any huge surprises. The misfit characters all have a shady past and they learn to pull together in the face of adversity to become a real team, yadda-yadda-yadda. And yet, the book is a great deal of fun to read. There are a number of bits that made me laugh out loud and the pacing ticks along like a Swiss watch. Fully enjoyable light reading.

For people into steampunk or air pirates or who just want some escapist reading this is a great book to pick up.

later
Tom