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| The original cover, before the oh so critical removal of the fellow in the foreground |
I must admit, I had been looking forward to reading this book for quite a while. It spend two years bogged down in the inexplicable wait while the UK based publisher decided how they wanted to release it in the United States. For a great piece of adventure steam-punk-ish fun to be restricted to overpriced overseas shippers in an era of ebooks and print-on-demand is simply stupid. In the end, the only difference I know of between the two versions is that they edited out a person in the foreground of the cover art. This process apparently takes years and a team of experts to complete.
But enough whinging, how was the book?
If the idea of a band of misfits journeying about in an airship and always staying just one step ahead of a variety of pirates, cutthroats and navies is appealing then this may just be the book for you. With a varied and memorable cast, this is a good bet for anyone who enjoys the style of the pulp adventure serials. The most I can say without spoiling much of the plot would be to say that when the crew of the Ketty Jay take on a job that promises to make them all rich, things go about as wrong as they possibly could. With one sequel soon to be released in the US and another on its way, this should be a great series to follow.
