Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding

I watched the movie Serenity a couple weekends ago, and can see why some people think inspiration for this series came from that movie/ the show Firefly. Not that I think its necessarily true (is it?) but I could see where some parallels could be made.

And Chris, you need to have a few more threads and a few more years between books before you get your own subforum. You've already got your own sub-genre. Don't get greedy. :p
 
But it's BECAUSE I have my own sub-genre that I WANT my own sub-forum *stamps feet*

Nah, I'm kidding. Mark (Hobbit) has already kindly offered to set one up, but I don't deserve my own forum until people have shed blood over me like they do for Bakker and Erikson ;)

Serenity/Firefly etc - There are similarities, most of which I didn't notice until after I'd written the book, but it's because they share the same genre tropes, and it's a very small field (how many books or stories can you think of about roguish sky pirates? I bet they're all pretty similar to Firefly). Trouble is, once somebody's picked up on that they're liable to liken everything to Firefly, such as thinking that the Manes are similar to the Reavers, when they're actually sourced in the dead-crewed ships of pirate legend (more recently seen in the Pirates Of The Caribbean).

For example, if you have a crew on a space/aircraft you need an engineer, a pilot, probably a doctor, and of course a mysterious passenger wouldn't hurt. I needed an aristocrat for probably the same reason as Firefly had one - because it's a crew-only POV and I needed a believable way to get the crew into high society, and hence show it to the reader. Of course some of these roles cross over with the Firefly crew, but I couldn't tell the story without them.

So, yeah. I can see why people might think that, but it's just that both stories are mining at the same seam, and some crossover is inevitable I guess.
 
Makes sense to me. I enjoyed the movie, and I'll probably watch the TV series at some point as well. Wouldn't have bothered with either if the comparison hadn't been made.

I've finally received the Fade in the mail. It got lost once, so they sent another, then it took a couple weeks before the new one showed up. Then the first one arrived the day after. I'll probably get around to it this weekend.

Oh, isn't the reissue of the Braided Path out soon?
 
Just found out it's been delayed by two months for scheduling reasons. July 21st is the new date. Hopefully its new hardback prettiness will make it worth the wait. ;)
 
July? There's no other highly anticipated books coming out in July, is there? Hmmm....

I don't mind waiting. I've so much to read between now and then anyways.
 
:D

My birthday is in July, so I'm sure I can con one person into getting me ADWD, and someone else to get me The Braided Path..... not likely. But I'm sure if I start saving now, I'll be able to afford them both. :p

I've also got to hunt down a hardcover copy of Ret Falls to match my hardcover of BLC. I assume there are some out there somewhere.
 
Rob B said:
Review to come soon-ish.
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Here's an excerpt of the review, which I just posted:

Rob's Review said:
Wooding starts the novel out very strongly, with Frey and Crake in a sticky situation that immediately establishes what I mentioned before – Frey’s #1 concern is the Ketty Jay, even more than the life of a crew member. In some ways, this reminded me of the beginning of Scott Lynch’s Red Seas under Red Skies, except that here in Retribution Falls, we don’t know the characters quite as well. Nevertheless, the scene itself establishes the overall feel for the book and the beginnings of solid character development.
...
Wooding is mixing a lot of elements in this delicious stew of a book from the larger Speculative Fiction pantry, so to speak. We’ve got pirates, an ill defined future; sorcery (or rather daemonology); beings somewhere between living, dead, and undead; an often steampunkish feel, especially with Crake’s golem; depth of an imagined world and history; and sense-of-wonder adventure. In that sense, the book will very much appeal to readers who tend to science fiction over fantasy, and vice versa. I think Chris may have even dubbed what he’s doing in The Tales of the Ketty Jay as bucklepunk. The term certainly works for this satisfied reader.
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" I think Chris may have even dubbed what he’s doing in The Tales of the Ketty Jay as bucklepunk. The term certainly works for this satisfied reader."

Love it! :D

Great review as always, Rob.
 
Chris Wooding said:
But it's BECAUSE I have my own sub-genre that I WANT my own sub-forum *stamps feet*

Nah, I'm kidding. Mark (Hobbit) has already kindly offered to set one up, but I don't deserve my own forum until people have shed blood over me like they do for Bakker and Erikson ;)

Serenity/Firefly etc - There are similarities, most of which I didn't notice until after I'd written the book, but it's because they share the same genre tropes, and it's a very small field (how many books or stories can you think of about roguish sky pirates? I bet they're all pretty similar to Firefly). Trouble is, once somebody's picked up on that they're liable to liken everything to Firefly, such as thinking that the Manes are similar to the Reavers, when they're actually sourced in the dead-crewed ships of pirate legend (more recently seen in the Pirates Of The Caribbean).

For example, if you have a crew on a space/aircraft you need an engineer, a pilot, probably a doctor, and of course a mysterious passenger wouldn't hurt. I needed an aristocrat for probably the same reason as Firefly had one - because it's a crew-only POV and I needed a believable way to get the crew into high society, and hence show it to the reader. Of course some of these roles cross over with the Firefly crew, but I couldn't tell the story without them.

So, yeah. I can see why people might think that, but it's just that both stories are mining at the same seam, and some crossover is inevitable I guess.
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And here I thought that you were "inspired" by Outlaw Star. Completely disappointed in this new development with Firefly/Serenity.

Anyways, I don't know if it was mentioned here already, but Iron Jackal has been delivered to the editor:

Signed, sealed, delivered…
Apr 22nd, 2011 by Chris Wooding.

Actually, those first two words were a lie. It was neither signed, nor sealed, unless you mean by the cosy electronic non-security of cyberspace. But The Iron Jackal is now in the paws of my editor, and I’m about to head off to Eastercon, and it’s April and somehow the sun is shining. I feel like I’m about to burst into song, Heidi-style. Tra-la!

Gotta go. Somebody, somewhere, owes me a beer…
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http://www.chriswooding.com/signed-sealed-delivered/
 
And here I thought that you were "inspired" by Outlaw Star. Completely disappointed in this new development with Firefly/Serenity.
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Wasn't really inspired by either, I'm afraid, although Monkey Island was probably a big subconscious influence :D
 
I finally got my review for Retribution Falls written. It's good, but I did have a few issues. An excerpt is below.

The story itself is a fun adventure that introduces us a world of steampunk-ish technology, mixed races and species and a good bit of the supernatural with demons and a sort of vampire. One of Wooding’s most interesting imaginings is the ace-in-the-hole of the Ketty Jay, its golem – a possessed metal creation (robot analog) that truly kicks ass and eventually is the source of the most touching (and skillfully written) parts of the book.

Wooding’s writing style is honestly a bit coarse and not as polished as I’d have expected from someone who’s published 16 books. Or perhaps Wooding feels that when writing about a crew such as the crew of the Ketty Jay, polished writing just doesn’t fit. For me, the humor was a bit off and feels forced – it seemed to get better as the book progressed, which indicates that I either got used to it, began to enjoy it more, or simply ignored it. My guess is it’s a mix of all three. I think the biggest issue I had was that far too much of the book passed before I felt any sort of sympathy for the characters, which can make for tough reading.

Retribution Falls is in the end a fun and creative adventure of a motley crew that’s in way over its head. I enjoyed it, but with a few reservations as I was often left cold and uninterested in the rather unlikeable Captain Frey. The obvious comparison is to Firefly, but don’t get hung up on that – Retribution Falls belongs with the many adventure tales of various genres involving pirates, freebooters, privateers and other crews of people struggling to survive in the dangerous fringes of society. Oh, don’t read the back cover blurb of the book – it contains a reveal that is best left for the text. The adventures of the Ketty Jay, Captain Frey and crew continue with The Black Lung Captain and at least two more forthcoming books.
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I recently read Retribution Falls and loved it. I enjoyed the characters, who were far from perfect, far from heroic, and fun to read. Each character had some sort of deep regret, or dark past, and I found that much easier to relate to than the characteristics of many other fantasy leading ladies and men.

I also liked that it was hard to pin down form a genre standpoint....however, having read this thread, I guess I can officially categorize it as "Bucklepunk".

This was my first crack at anything by Wooding and I totally enjoyed it. I'll definitely be reading Black Lung Captain one of these days.
 
Corporal Blues said:
I recently read Retribution Falls and loved it. I enjoyed the characters, who were far from perfect, far from heroic, and fun to read. Each character had some sort of deep regret, or dark past, and I found that much easier to relate to than the characteristics of many other fantasy leading ladies and men.

I also liked that it was hard to pin down form a genre standpoint....however, having read this thread, I guess I can officially categorize it as "Bucklepunk".

This was my first crack at anything by Wooding and I totally enjoyed it. I'll definitely be reading Black Lung Captain one of these days.
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How ya been? Kinda funny because I logged on to ask about this book. In a bit of a book rut at the moment. Read everything I have wanted to read and looking for something new. Everything I have read about Wooding tells me Retribution Falls is a must read.
 
Doing well Sir, how about yourself?

I definitely think you'd enjoy Retribution Falls, its got plenty of action, and mayhem, with some distinctive characters thrown in there. It also felt like a very fresh/new direction for fantasy. I know a lot of people have compared it to Firefly, but I've never seen that show, so i can't speak to that, all I can say is that I personally loved it.
 
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