You’ve probably never heard of the Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding. It might even stand out on this site, as I primarily focus on fantasy. Ketty Jay is at best steampunk fantasy, and perhaps even tilts toward the sci-fi side of things. It’s not as natural a fit as most of the books I write about. But, I’m writing about it anyway.
The ‘official’ title of the series is “Tales of the Ketty Jay” so you can see why I simply refer to it as Ketty Jay. It’s a simple yet deceivingly complex story of an airship (called, you will be surprised to learn, the Ketty Jay) in an alternate universe, and the crew of misfits who are on board. Now, you hear airship and you think blimp, but it’s definitely not that. This is a hardened ship with weapons and engines, a fighter type of aircraft. It uses an element called aerium (terrible name) to rise and drop, and generally wins every fight because the pilot/captain, Darian Frey, is the best there is (of course).
And don’t be put off by the covers of the books. The first two were good, but the second two (seen below) were terrible. Your own imagination will tell you what the crew looks like, and I never in my life thought Frey would look like that. I don’t know why they did those covers, but ignore them completely. It’s like they were trying for a movie/tv look, and I hate them.
What’s it all about?
What I just said. An airship in a fantasy world.
Oh, there are continents and wars and history and lots of dangerous situations for the heroes to get involved in. We’ve discovered bits and pieces of their backgrounds. We’ve run into plenty of interesting characters in interesting locations. There have been tricks and scams galore, lots of capers, and all sorts of malarkey is afoot. It’s fun to read.
There’s really not much more to it than that. There’s clearly a large world out there, with a lot of worldbuilding, but I doubt we will get to see it all. The author wrote four books in the series then stopped, and has moved on to other things. There is plenty of scope for more, both about the characters and the world, but we might never get to see them.
On the other hand, if this is all we have, then a) it’s kind of complete, which is more than many authors can say, and b) at least we got these books, which are really enjoyable.
What are the themes?
Sometimes I feel like I’m retreading the same ground in this section. Let’s face it, most fantasy books deal with just a few themes, and they’re usually the same. Good defeats evil, that sort of thing. Our heroes grow in themselves, despite facing the complexity of a morally gray world.
Yes, there’s more of that here.
Complex Characters
Everyone has a unique personality, and a unique perspective on things. If we all agreed on everything, it’d be a boring world. It’s the ability to recognize the position of others which sets people apart. Are you a monster, or a monster with feelings? Characters in these books are really good at finding out what they think.
The Redemption Arc
There’s a lot of this going on, for one character in particular. I’m not going to spoil anything, but there is a horrific situation one character is trapped in, and the need to fix it is a major theme of the series.
Ethical Dilemmas
Hoo boy, this series is full of them. There’s almost a clash between every single character pair in these books. It makes for a lot of tension, but it also shows you different sides of the same coin. Two people can argue over a problem and realize their sides are really much closer than they think.
A Character of Great Interest
You thought I was going to choose Frey for this? Because he’s the only name I’ve mentioned? Ahh, then you fell for the old bait and switch routine.
I’m actually talking today about Jez, the newest member of the crew. She joined for her own reasons, just like everyone else, which turn out to be running from something, just like everyone else.
I’m not going to spoil anything here, which is why I’m being intentionally vague. Jez has a normal side and a dark side to her. The bleeding through of the dark side is what makes her so good at her job as navigator, but it’s also what causes her problems throughout the series. She wants to be something she cannot be, and it almost kills her.
Oddly enough I like to compare her to Yallara, Yomu’s wife who is a minor character in the Kingsmoot. We don’t see much of her, and don’t know much of her history (yet). If we did, it might be quite similar to Jez. I don’t mean in the sense you might think of once you’ve read the books.
Yallara is one of the most powerful witches in the land, but because of that she is largely sidelined by her history. It’s one thing to be a powerful witch, it’s quite another to have a powerful witch as your neighbor. Kind of like living next door to Dr Frankenstein, nobody wants to do it so he lives in the middle of nowhere. She hasn’t been driven away by people, but she has chosen to live a little separately from the rest of her people. Jez hasn’t been driven away either, but she definitely feels like she has.
In both characters there’s a desire to keep their two sides separate, but an acknowledgement of it being impossible. Jez can’t be a great navigator without her second side, and Yallara can’t teach young people without her strong witch side. We go back to the themes of complexity and trying to balance abilities.
What to read next:
Like I said, Ketty Jay is different to other books I’ve looked at here. Still, it’s possible to find something to keep you interested.
The Locke Lamora series by Scott Lynch: I keep recommending this. Setting is different, of course, but these are ultimately very similar stories. If you want to follow a group of misfits on a mission, you won’t do much better.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman: I think I suggest this because of the steampunk aspect rather than anything else. My review ended up a little hit and miss, so perhaps I shouldn’t be recommending it?
The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker: Heading out on a limb here. I haven’t read this at all, so maybe shouldn’t recommend it, but it’s high on my to-read list, and lots of people like it. I just get the feeling this is something you should be reading, and somehow there’s a similarity to these books.
In Conclusion
Ketty Jay is a complete series, so it has that going for it. It’s also an adventure reading it, and definitely a world worth immersing yourself into. Will there be more, ever? I have no idea, but there’s space for it to happen. Ketty Jay is a little offbeat compared to what I usually read, but if you like it, it could open up a whole new area of reading for you.