# The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding



## Werthead (Oct 23, 2011)

*Tales of the Ketty Jay Book 3: The Iron Jackal*



> The crew of the Ketty Jay, fresh from defeating an incursion of the nefarious Manes, have been hailed as heroes and have become minor celebrities across the lands of Vardia. Avoiding notoriety and seeking their next job, Captain Frey and his crew have relocated to Samarla to undertake a train heist. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a straightforward caper turns into a major crisis, with Frey's life on the line and a supernatural force hunting the crew, known as the Iron Jackal...
> 
> The Iron Jackal is the third book in the Tales of the Ketty Jay series, following on from the excellent Retribution Falls and The Black Lung Captain. As before, the novel follows the crewmembers of the airship Ketty Jay as they get into various scrapes. Once again, Chris Wooding has delivered a tight narrative which mixes in humour, adventure, character development and worldbuilding in a near-perfect mix, but done it with even more flair and panache than the previous volumes.
> 
> ...


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## Vertigo (Dec 11, 2016)

My thoughts are pretty much in agreement!


Basking in the fame achieved in the previous instalment everything seems to be going Captain Darian Frey’s way until his incurable arrogance manages to get him cursed and a horrifying death at the claws of the daemon Iron Jackal seems inevitable. His only chance lies with the slightly unreliable loyalty of his ragged misfit crew and his estranged lover. Frey’s prospects do not look good but when have they ever looked good?  

Wooding’s Tales of the Ketty Jay just seems to get better with each book. Each of the main characters is further developed and each, in their own way, is easy to empathise with. The balance between action (always gripping) and plot and character development is just right and the pacing though fast never becomes frenetic and, though there is plenty of humour, it is not a comedy and never slips into farce (well not too far!). Wooding does run a fine line between stupid decisions made by an all too understandably flawed main character and unforgivably immoral decisions that would rapidly loose the reader’s empathy, between redemption and maudlin self-blame, but, for the most part, he stays the right side of that line. Some of the escapes depicted might get close to crossing the border into the realm of implausibility but at least the heroes have the decency to be every bit as surprised as the reader each time they emerge still breathing (mostly) from yet another tight spot.

These books are without doubt my current favourite guilty pleasure; the writing is good (though not as well proofed as the previous books) but it never has any ideas above its station. This is unabashed heroic adventure and is simply loads of fun to read.

5/5 stars.


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## Inari Writer (Apr 9, 2017)

Love this series. Good pulpy fun with a dose of horror and wry humour.

Definitely recommend it to fans of Firefly!


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## thaddeus6th (Apr 9, 2017)

I reviewed this quite a long time ago (well, six years, so just as I was starting the blog):
Thaddeus the Sixth: Review: The Iron Jackal (Tales of the Ketty Jay) by Chris Wooding

Very much enjoyed Tales of the Ketty Jay.


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