No, they're not airship pirates, but that hasn't stopped Darian Frey from daydreaming about it from time to time.* The crew of the Ketty Jay are back in The Black Lung Captain, the second installment in Chris Wooding's Tales of the Ketty Jay series. When Captain Grist approaches the crew with a job offer, Darian Frey thinks that this money-making scheme sounds pretty straightforward. Getting Crake, the crew's daemonist, to open a magical door in exchange for a split of the profits sounds easy, even though Crake has been quickly driving down the path of alcoholism. Needless to say, things are not as straightforward as they seem, and things go bad for Frey and his rag-tag crew. This time however, in addition to fighting for himself and his crew, Frey is rushing to make sure thousands don't pay for his mistake.
SFFWorld commented that The Black Lung Captain was better than the first, Retribution Falls. I agree--I got to know the characters better, and this fact made the book feel a lot more lively to me. The conflicts between the crew and with themselves also made for an interesting read, especially paired with the well-written action scenes. I also liked the fact that the stakes were higher than the last book and that the characters were forced to confront their own problems--many of which have been present since the first book--in order to deal with the greater problem. It was a thrilling and funny book, and I look forward to the third (out in October, I believe).
*If you have not listened to Abney Park's "Airship Pirate", I highly recomend it as it goes well with the book.
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