The Iron Jackal (Tales of the Ketty Jay, #3)
The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
The Iron Jackal greatly built upon the foundations that have been well-established in the first half of the series.
Despite having enjoyed the first half of the quartet, I was getting a bit scared that the fun and enjoyment of the series would start to dwindle in the third and penultimate installment of the series. I’m so glad to be proven wrong, The Iron Jackal ended up being the most fun book in the series so far. Unlike the storytelling structure in the previous two books, The Iron Jackal progressed a bit differently and it’s something I immensely appreciate. Where the first two books were about getting a mission to gain wealth, this book was more of a race against time to save Frey’s own life. It was more intense, more action-packed without neglecting the crucial and great characterizations, and I highly enjoyed reading the book. Don’t get me wrong, as far as predictability, the story was still highly predictable despite the higher stake; no argument from me there. However, everything was just so well-written and well-executed that I just want to continue reading regardless of knowing the outcome.
I can’t emphasize this highly enough, the characters of the Ketty Jay crew are a riot that never stops wreaking havoc. This team of ragtag were hilarious, dysfunctional, and destructive to everything in their path. However, more importantly, their characteristics never stop developing and somehow, gets more empathizing with each book progression. By this point of the series, I feel like the crew of Ketty Jay has truly become my real life friends and reading their adventures put a smile upon my face. Wooding didn’t spare any of the crew in Ketty Jay from getting the justifiable treatment for character development. Their history and their personalities were once again more developed than before and I absolutely love seeing the dynamic relationships between the crewmate of the Ketty Jay. Not only their characterizations were so good, but their dialogues were also witty, hilarious, and damn fun to read; even more than before. I genuinely laughed and smiled during several ridiculous occasions portrayed in the book.
There were also more information and history revelations implemented into the world-building here. The actions/prose were addictive to read and in this installment, I get the feeling that Wooding’s prose is getting closer to the quality that he showed in his newest book, The Ember Blade. Reading this series to me felt like watching a fun action blockbuster movies like let’s say, Mission Impossible. You’ll probably know the outcome of each movie but you just can’t help but be immersed into seeing how it all unfolds. The minor cons of the book to me were that some of the actions—excluding the intense death race—did get a bit repetitive and I didn’t really enjoy reading Frey and Trinica’s push and pull romance. Remember, romance almost never works for me so this situation most likely won’t be a problem for any of you who don’t mind a bit of romance in their read.
I only have one more book in the series to read now. I’m equally happy and sad that I’m going to leave these awesome characters really soon. Looking at how good the series so far, seems like the last book of the series will end up being the best installment of them all and I simply can’t wait to continue.
You can order the book HERE!