Basically a steampunk Firefly :)

I LOVED this book. I don't care if it is a massive rip-off of Firefly. Great, compelling story and fantastic characters. I am slightly obsessed with Frey now.

Hey Audible - I WANT THE REST OF THE SERIES!

A good reader makes makes or marrs a book and I've found that I would rather listen to a bad book with a great narrator than a good book with a poor one. Rupert Degas is one of my favourites. He has a lovely smooth voice is great at characterisation. You should check out his readings of Patrick Rothfuss.

31 people found this helpful

Great Ensemble of Characters & Cracking Good Yarn

Where does Retribution Falls rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very Highly - Top 20.

Any additional comments?

This incorporates loads of my fave things in an audiobook.

It has a cast of interesting characters, including the ones who make only fleeting appearances. It has a richly described world with an interesting background. It's a gripping story that whips along, with thrills, spills and plenty of wry humour.

It's got spaceships, explosions and plenty of the weird and wonderful.

And finally, it's performed by one of my favourite readers, Rupert Degas. As one of the previous reviewers says, a good performance makes or breaks an audiobook, no matter how good the book is, and Degas always does a fantastic job.

Great book, which I really recommend! I just wish they'd release the rest of the 'Ketty Jay' series on audiobook (there are 3 more!) all read by Degas. Petition Chris Wooding's publishers now! Please!

17 people found this helpful

Good yarn

WHEN is the next one in the trilogy coming out!

Great listen. As always Rupert Degas makes a superb job of narrating. The story is good and bodes well for the other books. BUT the transitions between occurrences and characters is unfortunately to sketchy sometimes and I found myself thinking that I must have missed something and I had to listen again - not my favourite thing - and I hadn't!

I gave it four stars. The fourth is due to the excellent narration of R Degas. AND I will get the next book - absolutely.

5 people found this helpful

Not quite the steampunk firefly some claim

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I'd recommend this. The world building is a bit sketchy in places but there's enough pace and new ideas to keep you listening. You do start to care about the characters. It's a shame that the motley crew and reluctant captain idea that has drawn Firefly comparisons. I'm a huge fan of Firefly but it could cloud your expectations a little.

Degas's performance takes the route of different accents for characters - the dialogue is performed as much as read. That's often a problem - especially when the narrators range of voices isn't that great. But Degas can hold his own and you really get a sense of the characters through his delivery.

One thing I would say that does bring Firefly to mind, is for the publishers not to leave us in the lurch by only producing an audio version of this one book. There are two more in the series and I'd buy them tomorrow.

4 people found this helpful

Degas delights - again!

What did you like most about Retribution Falls?

The narration - big Degas fan but the story trundled along well

What other book might you compare Retribution Falls to, and why?

It's a bit like the movie series Firefly - quirky with a slight feel of a western - with a little magic and sourcery thrown in

Which character – as performed by Rupert Degas – was your favourite?

Too hard to choose - Degas renders such believable characters you look forward to hearing more from all of them - his female characters are a particular delight I always forget its actually a chap narrating!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes - absolutely gutted I can't find the rest of the series on audio book!

Any additional comments?

Please please please release the rest if the series in audio format - with Rupert Degas narrating of course!

3 people found this helpful

Simply Out Of This World

To be clear I'm not at all a fan of science fiction and have normally limited myself to the brilliance of Scott Lynch and his Gentleman Bastard series.

For some reason I decided to try something different and went with Retribution Falls and it was one of the best audiobook decisions I have ever made! Right from the start it was different enough to grab my attention without going overboard on the fantasy front.

I thought it would be hard to find a narrator I enjoy as much as Tim Piggott-Smith but Rupert Degas was simply faultless! Great use of his voice and accents which made every character unique

If anyone is looking for a gripping read with a story line that holds your interest level high throughout the whole story then this is an absolute must! Please, Please, Please can we have the rest of the series but only if they are read by Mr. Degas!

2 people found this helpful

Fun but not the best

What did you like most about Retribution Falls?

I liked the way it's written, very catching reading.

What did you like best about this story?

The steampunk athmosphere.

What does Rupert Degas bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

What he does in all books- the accents, the tones, just everything. He's my absolute favorite reader.

Any additional comments?

This is a good book about a bunch of pirates who get in trouble and then more trouble due to a setup. The story is not original but very well written, the characters are not very deep but one gets a good insight anyway, and here there are no "good" or "bad" characters... all have very big flaws. Good fantasy parts in it too. I recommend this, don't be put off by the description!

2 people found this helpful

Retribution Wins

I really liked this book. The story kept at a good pace. Was creative and imaginative. Would really like for there to be a sequel. The characters are great, all with their own personality and not too many of them to get lost with who's who. Superb narration from a master of speech.

2 people found this helpful

Great Read

I have been waiting for this series to come out on audio for some time now so I was delighted when the first book appeared. It was well worth the wait. Well written, great narration and of course a wonderful cast of characters making up the Ketty's crew. The plot careens along at a canter with various POVs but this doesn't water down the overall story. A super combination of author and narrator, can't wait for books 2 & 3.

2 people found this helpful

Steampunk adventure with a side order of intrigue

This was a story in which I can pick many holes. Yet the strength of the cast of varied and interesting characters, the relentlessness of the adventure, the satisfying cluster of arcs and resolutions is enough to award this book five stars anyway. Frey is clearly the intended protagonist, but because of the omniscient POV you spend an equal amount of time in Crake and Jez's heads, and some in the other side characters' too. The benefit of this is that the action comes thick and fast and from all angles.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mood and tone of the book - the pacing was excellent and there were no noticeable slowdowns.

The biggest quibble I do have with the story is that there is a lot of introspection on the part of the characters, especially towards the end of the book. Given that you get this from three or four POVs, it gets positively exhausting in the last third of the book. It was an annoyance that was fortunately not great enough to spoil my enjoyment.

Rupert Degas is one of the best narrators on Audible and the variety of voices he gives to the characters is astonishing. I actually chose this book because I enjoyed listening to him read Metro 2033 and wanted to check out something else he'd narrated.

All in all this was one of my favourite reads of the year and I will certainly be diving into the next one as soon as my next Audible credit comes along!

1 person found this helpful