Retribution Falls (Tales of the Ketty Jay, #1) in Fantasy-Faction.com

Apr 29, 2015 Michael marked it as to-read

No, I've not yet read this yet, but I'm adding a note because (a) it's on sale for $1.99 so well worth picking up now and (b) someone on /r/fantasy (a site I love) said it was a highly underrated book. So I'm bumping it on my TBR pile. ...more

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Jun 18, 2009 Liviu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: t_notable_books_2009, genre-fantasy, read_2009, 2009_release_read

Pure fun; and do not be fooled by the pulp-like presentation of the novel with chapters with headings a la Jules Verne, since the novel is thoroughly modern in tone and content, partly ironic, partly serious.

I laughed out loud many, many times, but there is a lot of heartbreak and tragedy.

A crew of misfits led by one Darian Frey who seems to attract the attention of beautiful rich girls once too many for his own good is scrapping a living as airship smugglers and occasional pirates. Kind of bott ...more

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Jul 10, 2015 Julia Sarene rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1-fantasy-all-subgenres, 1-fantasy-steampunk

Another book I seem to have forgotten to review...

This was an easy read, fast paced, entertaining and fun Steampunk story!
It has a bit of a "Serenity" vibe to it, though it wasn't just funny, but quite gritty in other parts too.
If you are in for main characters, who are very relatable, but have their own moral code, lots of action and adventure, humor and banter but also explosions, death and a dash of gore here and there - then this is the book for you!

Personally I would have liked the characte ...more

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Mar 16, 2011 Jacob rated it really liked it

(My review from Drying Ink: Drying Ink
Before I even talk about its merit, let me just say that it involves airships. Retro-fantasy airships in a world that's very reminiscent of steampunk. How can you not like the worldbuilding? Aside from that, Retribution Falls is something rare: fantasy that is above all, fun, but still has the depth of Woodings' previous novels. No, it's not fantastically deep, nor tragic: but who cares?

Darien Frey is captain of the Ketty Jay: a ship who, if truth be told, h (My review from Drying Ink: Drying Ink
Before I even talk about its merit, let me just say that it involves airships. Retro-fantasy airships in a world that's very reminiscent of steampunk. How can you not like the worldbuilding? Aside from that, Retribution Falls is something rare: fantasy that is above all, fun, but still has the depth of Woodings' previous novels. No, it's not fantastically deep, nor tragic: but who cares?

Darien Frey is captain of the Ketty Jay: a ship who, if truth be told, he likes far better than his crew - in the first chapter, he happily lets a smuggler hold a gun to his passenger's forehead without even thinking of giving up the ignition codes. That's Frey, and his crew aren't much better. Together, they're a craft of unsuccessful bandits, smugglers and general lowlife who can barely scrape together the money to stay up in the air: but Frey's been offered a job. The biggest job of his life. You, as the reader might suspect something - because Wooding's not going to let Frey get away with his fortune. And you'd be right! The craft he robs was rigged to blow, and Frey's no longer an aerium-poor bottom feeder: he's aerium-low public enemy number one. Blamed for the murder of the Archduke's heir, carrying a fugitive daemonologist, Frey and his crew have to prove their innocence. And it is awesome - how else can one describe a succession of swordfights with a daemon-infused cutlass, piracy, mad dogfights and dark humour galore?

It pulls off the fun fantastically, as you can see! So, what about the depth? Well, Retribution Falls manages quite a bit of character development: Frey and his tiny crew join together in the pursuit, and Frey learns from his mistakes. The development of one character is a little forced - but apart from that, Wooding pulls it off superbly.

The worldbuilding's done well as well: what glimpses we see of the world are filtered through the characters' perceptions, and nowhere does the author give in top the urge to infodump. No big chunks of exposition here! Daemonism's also a fun system of magic - it's pseudoscience, and used rarely enough to make it both interesting, useful, and essentially unpredictable. Its dangers are also shown well, and it does have a visible cost - as we can see from the character of Crake.
All in all, Retribution Falls is amusement with some depth as well: a fast-paced treat of airship battles, rabid piracy and widespread amusement.
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Nov 26, 2011 Steven Poore rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, fantasy, re-read, airships, pirates

I've seen one review on Amazon, of the sequel to this book, that said it was puerile. I don't see that. I'm wary around steampunk in general, just because it is difficult to do it well, but Retribution Falls is actually very, very good. First up, it isn't really steampunk. Not in the same way that, say, Mark Hodder, George Mann, KW Jeter etc are steampunk. Wooding's style is far more along the lines of the old back & white TV serials, with good guys, bad guys, aerial dogfights, and plenty - and ...more

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