The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Steampunk
Content: Strong language and implied sex.


Deep in the heart of the Kurg rainforest lies a long-forgotten wreck. On board, behind a magically protected door, an elusive treasure awaits. Good thing Darian Frey, captain of the airship Ketty Jay, has the daemonist Crake on board. Crake is their best chance of getting that door open—if they can sober him up.

In this installment of Tales of the Ketty Jay, Darian Frey is back to his old tricks. He's robbing an orphanage in the beginning of this book, and that didn't endear him to me much. By the end of the last book Frey had learned a few things, and for a little while I thought he had forgotten every one of them, but he ended up proving me wrong. Yet again Chris Wooding surprises me with the character growth of not only the main character, but all of them. Even the cat, Slag gets a tiny part of a chapter in his point of view. I still dislike Pinn to a great extent, but even he ended up better by the end of this book. Crake and Jez, in particular have great story arcs where they face their demons and come to grips with themselves. Crake's efforts to restore Bess is an especially emotional one. Speaking of Bess, whenever I read about her I can't help but think of Fullmetal Alchemist.



That's how I picture Bess.

Not only is the whole crew of the Ketty Jay present here, but Frey's former love and nemesis, Trinica Dracken is back, as well as the Century Knights. I liked the story arc with Trinica and also would love to read more of the Century Knights in the next books. We also learn a lot of interesting things about the Mane and The Awakeners. In general there is a much deeper level of emotion involved with the characters this time around, which is something that was missing in the first book. I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.