Retribution Falls (Tales of the Ketty Jay 1) [Paperback]

Chris Wooding (Author)

Book Description

Series: Tales of the Ketty Jay 1 | Publication Date: June 18, 2009

Frey is the captain of the Ketty Jay, leader of a small and highly dysfunctional band of layabouts. An inveterate womaniser and rogue, he and his gang make a living on the wrong side of the law, avoiding the heavily armed flying frigates of the Coalition Navy. With their trio of ragged fighter craft, they run contraband, rob airships and generally make a nuisance of themselves. So a hot tip on a cargo freighter loaded with valuables seems like a great prospect for an easy heist and a fast buck. Until the heist goes wrong, and the freighter explodes. Suddenly Frey isn't just a nuisance anymore - he's public enemy number one, with the Coalition Navy on his tail and contractors hired to take him down. But Frey knows something they don't. That freighter was rigged to blow, and Frey has been framed to take the fall. If he wants to prove it, he's going to have to catch the real culprit. He must face liars and lovers, dogfights and gunfights, Dukes and daemons. It's going to take all his criminal talents to prove he's not the criminal they think he is ...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If masterful plotting were the book's only attribute, then Retribution Falls would still be a first-rate read. What makes it exceptional is the psychological insight rare in fast-paced, adventure SF. Frey is a fully-rounded character whose selfishness and duplicity undergo a gradual transformation as events cause him to reassess his motivations, as well as to appreciate the qualities of his crew, themselves fascinating individuals. On every level, Retribution Falls is a triumph." -- Eric Brown THE GUARDIAN 'Retribution Falls is the kind of old fashioned adventure I didn't think we were allowed to write any more, of freebooting privateers making their haphazard underhand way in a wondrous retro-future world. But Chris has dusted off the format and given it a sharp modern edge that makes for a fast exhilarating read' -- Peter F. Hamilton 'There's a neat combination of swashbuckling excitement and wisecracking patter with sometimes surprisingly hard-edged violence, moral ambiguity, and a cumulative depth. It pulls the neat trick of sucking you in with pure entertainment value, and delivering substance while you're not looking. Retribution Falls picks you up, and it whisks you swiftly and entertainingly along, and it sets you down with a big smile on your face' -- Joe Abercrombie "Retribution Falls is all the pirate yarns, heist movies and spaghetti westerns you've ever seen. It's how Wooding tells it that makes the difference. The pace is furious, the action is full-screen, the style is sharp and polished, the air is full of whizzing bullets and strangled cries. What's not to like? About as good a telling of the old tale as you're likely to get." -- Tom Holt SFX "This is a cracking, if rather derivative, adventure yarn." -- Jonathan Wright BBC FOCUS "Retribution Falls is a rollicking good action-adventure yarn that absolutely doesn't take itself too seriously. from the first page to the last this is a book chock-full of dockside gunfights, aerial chases, dogfights and fist-fights and the pace is pretty relentless, slowing just enough to let you catch your breath between the action and that's why I loved it - it's FUN!" SCI-FI LONDON "For the buccaneering spirit writ large across a realistic world of aerial technology, and some daemonic entities but little else of a genre form, this can only be highly recommended." THE BOOK BAG "Occasionally a book comes along which takes the concept of fun and turns it up to 11. Retribution Falls is one such book. The story powers along at a relentless, page-turning pace." THE WERTZONE BLOG 'Anyone who likes to sympathise with rogues and shady characters, such as fans of Scott Lynchs Locke Lamora, will surely enjoy the reprobates of Retribution Falls. I am certainly looking forward to their continuing adventures' -- Simon Appleby BOOKGEEKS "By the time the story ends, only the grimmest of readers won't be smiling (and/or punching the air). Sequel soon, please: the Ketty Jay's crew deserve to fly again." TOTAL SCI FI "Retribution Falls is a rip-roaring full blown space-pirate adventure, SF with a touch of Fantasy, driven at a pace that scarcely leaves the reader time to deal with its implausibilities. It is a plot and character driven piece that opposes airships with machine guns, magic with science, betrayal with loyalty. It's also one of the best pieces of fun I've read in a long while." -- Mark Yon SFF WORLD "Retribution Falls is a superb, ripping yarn. Great characters, tight plot, relentless pace, and a fascinating world full of promise for future instalments. Prepare to be entertained." -- James Long SPECULATIVE HORIZONS "What's not to love in this book - fast action, great characters, great setting and superb one-liners? Highly, highly recommended and another notable sff novel of 09 for me." FANTASY BOOK CRITIC "A thoroughly enjoyable read that I'd recommend to anyone who's after a does of rip roaring adventure. There's enough here for me to want to pick up the next book and see what Wooding has in store for us. GRAEME'S FANTASY BOOK REVIEW "This is one of my favourite books ever! I've already recommended this book to my friends as I liked everything about it - the cover, the storyline and the characters." TEEN TITLES

About the Author

Chris Wooding is in his early thirties and has already signed his first Hollywood film deal and won several awards for his writing. He is the author of, amongst others, the Broken Sky series, which has sold over 200,000 copies in the US alone, and The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray, which won the Silver Smarties award. He has travelled extensively, plays bass and guitar and has recorded several albums with various bands and toured in Europe. His books have been published all over the world and translated into 19 languages. He is currently working on two movies with a top Hollywood director.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz (June 18, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575085150
• ISBN-13: 978-0575085152
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,524,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun, September 29, 2009

By 

N. Brett (Wiltshire, England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Retribution Falls (Tales of the Ketty Jay 1) (Paperback)

This is great fun, fast moving and entertaining fantasy.

I would not suggest that this is anything overly fresh or new, but it is put together very well and as the book and the characters grow, the book sucks you in deeper and deeper.

Imagine a blend of the TV SF series "Firefly", a bit of Captain Jack and the Pirates from "Stardust". Here we have a crew of a kind of airship (the Ketty Jay) all of whom have their hidden secrets and background and are using the Kitty Jane as a bolt hole - a kind of marriage of convenience until something better comes along. A bit of smuggling and piracy, the crew step over the line a lot and live on the edge and hand to mouth. This changes when they are framed for the destruction of another ship carrying a VIP. Can the crew pull together to help clear their names before they are hunted down and killed?

This is not deep and thoughtful fantasy, it is pure escapist fun. Having said that, it is a far better written book then you imagine it will be. You come to the end with regret and a satisfied grin on your face and the hope that Wooding will write a follow up.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I have a confession to make about this book., December 19, 2009

By 

J. Lesley "(Judy)" (Midsouth, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Retribution Falls (Tales of the Ketty Jay 1) (Paperback)

My confession about this book is that I really didn't like it for about the first 100 pages. And I really wanted to like it because a friend had gone to a lot of trouble to send the book to me. He liked it, a lot. So what was wrong? I picked it up and put it down three different times. I didn't like the characters, not a single one of the motley crew of dysfunctional malcontents. My favorite characters so far were Bess the golem and Slag the cat. Not a ringing endorsement there. I didn't see much sense in where the story was headed, mainly because I didn't see WHERE the story was headed. It just seemed to ramble and wobble around, getting the crew in and out of one scrape after another. Then something happened. For me it was that the author made me interested in the captain of the aircraft, Darian Frey, and I began to wonder why he had been set up to take the blame for something he had not done. From then on, the action in this book simply flew. The mish-mash of disconnected characters began to come together into a cohesive unit to try to help each other out of the troubles they were constantly landing in. They began to seem like people who deserved to be liked, people who had to clear up this terrible wrong by whatever means was at their disposal.

I ended up absolutely loving this book. The crew went from one disaster after another and yet they were always focused on their final objective, which was to prove their innocence. With their awful luck, success was never a certainty. The author, Chris Wooding, created quite an unusual mixture in his fantasy world. The aircraft in the story, including Frey's Ketty Jay, were the most otherworldly things in the book while the pirates still fought with cutlass, knife, pistol, and shotgun. There didn't seem to be very much high technology present for these fictional characters to use. That was a little surprising, but it still worked for me after I stopped looking for all the fancy fantasy equipment to show up. And the gold tooth, well, the tooth was a real hoot!

There is nothing deep, intellectual, or subtle about this book. What you get is a rollicking, fast moving (for me after about 100 pages!), adventure story. If what you want is to escape into a fantasy world with swashbuckling pirates then this will be a wonderful book for you. Just try to remember, if it starts out a little slowly for you too, the action really begins to ramp up and it just never slows down from then on.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A can't miss adventure with an endearing cast of characters., April 8, 2010

By 

The Mad Hatter "booktionary.blogspot.com" (NY State, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Retribution Falls (Tales of the Ketty Jay 1) (Paperback)

Retribution Falls has been called everything from a Steampunk Firefly to Jack Sparrow in a sky ship, both of which just ooze thoughts of wild adventure. I can now say unequivocally that Retribution Falls deserves every good word said and many more. Retribution Falls starts on a compelling high note and never lets up. It'll have you holding your breath in anticipation dozens of times. Retribution Falls has already been recently named for the Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist of just 6 titles.

Retribution Falls is a hard book to classify. It has classic elements of Fantasy, but with Sci-Fi tech akin to Steampunk yet I hesitate to put it in that camp as it is much more advanced. Retribution Falls is much more than a Firefly riff as it is like an entire season without one lull compressed into less than 375 pages of complete and utter bliss. I do wonder if it would exist without the influence of Joss Whedon, but either way Wooding does an incredible job of creating a group of the most compelling characters I've found in sometime and he makes you care about nearly each and everyone of them right down to the sleep asphyxiating cat.

Darian Frey is the captain of the Ketty Jay, who is quite the sordid ne'er-do-well to the nth degree. Frey's only cares are that he own the Ketty Jay and that no other may posses or even pilot her. His crew has been a revolving door for years, where few of stayed or lived long enough to decide if they want to stay. The ship's doctor is a drunk. The mechanic a virtual mute. The Ketty Jay also has two out-fliers, which are smaller aircraft that provide support, reconnaissance, and much needed gun power on their run, but they are piloted by a very loathsome young man and another who is so war-beaten he can't part with his ship. There is also a mysterious passenger with access to some very unusual science/magic, especially with his dutiful metal monstrosity at his beck and call. And not to forget their brand spanking new female pilot with a puzzling pass and a secret that could mean her ostracization at any moment. Each and every character is larger than life and grow on you more and more. The character's back stories were released a perfect points and really nailed where the character came from and the motivation or lack thereof for their current situation.

From the dialogue with supremely funny re-joiners to the a world that is so well realized, Retribution Falls is a can't miss novel. It is touching in all the right places and a non-stop adventure from start to finish. I feel like I'm gushing a bit on this, but it is without a doubt one of my favorite books this year. I only wish I got to it sooner, but than the wait for book two would be even longer. But not to worry, there is a clear resolution for the story and most of the crew of the Ketty Jay except for one character who will probably need a whole book in and of itself to properly address. The whole plot is intricately and smartly laid out that all quarters are covered.

The fast and furious Retribution Falls is a staggeringly and ridiculously good page turner. The quality of the writing is close to that of Scott Lynch and has left room for so many more immersive stories for the crew of the Ketty Jay. I give Retribution Falls 9.5 out of 10 hats. This is the first time I can remember pre-ordering the second book in a series before even finishing the first. It is that good. The sequel The Black Lung Captain will be released this July in the UK and it can't get here soon enough for me.