The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding

Chris Wooding is turning into what might be me favorite new-to-me author of 2011. This statement comes after I read his second Tales of the Ketty Jay novel The Black Lung Captain. The third one The Iron Jackal can’t get here soon enough.

Chris participated (along with Mark Lawrence and Liane Merciel) in the most recent Fantasy Authors roundtable discussion at SFFWorld.

Here's the usual excerpt of the review of The Black Lung Captain, with the cover linking to the review itself.

In this second novel charting the adventures of the crew of the Ketty Jay, about a year after the events of Retribution Falls … When another potential big score comes to Frey’s attention, he is compelled to lead his crew on the mission for what seems to be their biggest payday yet. The enigmatic Captain Grist comes to Frey in the hopes of convincing Frey to use Crake’s skills of daemonology to open a magicked door on a crashed airship from a distant land which could have a virtual Pandora’s box of riches and power on board. Grist has an archaeologist of sorts, think of a low-rent Indiana Jones, who knows where the ship containing this lodestone of these supposed untold riches may be.


Well, to say this is a thrilling ride is an understatement. As I said earlier, what makes the book so un-put-down-ably enjoyable is knowing these characters. The best scenes are those between Frey and Dracken, the words unsaid and the palpable tension between the two – how their past informs their ‘current’ interactions made for an extremely emotional ride. At times, I was reminded of the relationship between Shanna and Hari Michaelson in Matthew Stover’s superb Heroes Die. The past that informs Crake’s current situation is just as heart-wrenching, as is the inner conflict Jez is dealing with as she comes to accept what she is..