Retribution Falls

Title: Retribution Falls

Author: Chris Wooding

Publisher: Spectra (April 2011)

Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Adventure

Length: 480 pages

Synopsis: Led by a feckless captain, the crew of the airship Ketty Jay has led an aimless existence; smuggling and petty crime are their daily fare, drowned in liberal amounts of alcohol to lessen the weight of past troubles.  They are a diverse lot with only one thing in common— they have nowhere else to go.  When powers beyond their imagining step in to frame the crew for an appalling crime, captain and crew realize they have a choice.  They can run and hide as they have been doing all their lives, hoping their pasts never catch up, or they can turn and make a stand together, though all odds are against them.

My Rating: 4 Stars

My Opinion:

Chris Wooding’s steampunk adventure is a fun little book.  For fans of steampunk, it’s got something for everyone: clockwork, airships, magic, monsters.  Wooding has a flair for description and unexpected twists of plot that read almost cinematically.  He brings his readers along for the crew’s elation when a harebrained plan turns out unexpectedly well and tosses a bucket of ice water over them as fortunes take a sudden turn for the worse.  The forward momentum never lags even when his characters are lost and confused and uncertain where to turn.  That being said, the book is not perfect.  Occasional lapses in tone are distracting; for characters that deal in innuendo and subterfuge, there are a few graphic details that seem out of place in their description, though not in their nature.  The cast of characters, though it functions well as an ensemble, leaves a bit to be desired in the way of individuals.  A few are compelling and well rounded, dealing out backstories that make readers ache with compassion.  The rest fall flat, contributing occasional one liners or professional expertise as needed.  In his attempts to differentiate these supporting characters from one another, Wooding ends up repeating their distinguishing features over and over until one-dimensionality is inevitable.  For the most part, though, this doesn’t detract from the novel’s plot-driven dash from start to finish.  Wooding’s created a vibrantly imagined reality with room for exploration.  Though it borrows heavily from fantasy and steampunk conventions (the parallels with Joss Whedon’s television series Firefly are occasionally a little close for comfort), I am curious to see what other stories it may hold.