This book is so completely not what I expected. It’s better. To what extent can you ever predict where a book will take you?! Sadly, the case with many books today is that a lot of them are predictable. They’re tiring and dull, because they’re the same old pathetic attempts at conveying a “popular” piece of crap not worthy of ever having been put into the field of writing.Not so for this book! GOD. I fell in LOVE with this book! From the intriguing, unique name, to the alluring cover art… to the interesting summary printed on its inside flap… this book completely shocked me and blew me away. It’s taking the life of a thief to a whole new level, because it’s a world of chaos. FAN-TAS-TIC chaos!! I swear! It’s like nothing I’ve ever read before! The way that Chris Wooding describes this city he set the story in is amazing! You almost never hear descriptions like that! The entire design is unique and original! You can tell this man has a clear picture in his mind of what these buildings look like, of the webbing streets that connect one craved district to another brimming with corruption. GOD, it’s refreshing! Everything about it is new and pulls you in!Even the characters! Oh God, the CHARACTERS! We have a boy named Rail and a girl named Moa, and NEITHER of them are love-struck dumbasses! THANK… GOD! It’s about TIME. Not only that! They’re SMART. My GOD are they smart! I wanted to KISS them every time the sickly and shy Moa had an intelligent thought the moment I believed she was going to pull a coward’s trick on me. She never did! God what a beautiful feeling! To be proven WRONG whenever your suspicions even begin to tingle! MWAH! *Blows them a full out kiss!* Beautiful! And Rail! Oh my God, RAIL. That boy is TOUGH as NAILS! I adore him! He’s got such an attitude, such swift and wonderful survival instincts. He’s to the point, and he’s not a believer, and that makes him a beaaauuuuuutiful piece of reality in this crazy city called Orokos. But what really wins me over is that no matter how much of a strong kid he is, he’s still got the plain-as-fact sense to say what Moa means to him. And Moa. Moa! She puts herself fully in his trust, because she can trust him! And she does it without being pathetic and whiny, or thinking that because she has HIM to look out for her that it means she doesn’t need to think for herself. God I love this book!And then we have Vago. Sweet, darling, adorable, caring, sensitive Vago! How I love that man! He’s absolutely a precious addition to their group, and man. Did I love the relationship he struck out with Moa and Rail! I cheered at the fact that Rail never quite fully liked him, even though he had enough common sense and decency in order to trust him when necessary. I also love that Vago never simpered up to Rail and tried to get him to like him. And on top of that… I love the reasons for why they both didn’t like each other (not saying they disliked each other, mind). The fact that Moa was loosely tied in (mind you, a lot more loosely than MOST “triangles” of ANY sort) didn’t bother me either. In fact, I think it was completely believable and logical. Which made it even better!Seriously. I was impressed on a lot of levels with this book. Not only was it not just about the obvious—thieves—but there were enough other elements of unpredictability and wonder in this book that I began questioning whether or not the author had a few loves for Science Fiction and Dystopian! It was so cool. In fact, everything about the book was cool! It was written with a levelness and controlled, masterful corruption and power that was wonderful to experience! You weren’t sure whether you could break free of this story steadily curving in to collapse on itself (in a very good way) or whether you’d be swept up in a new burst of knowledge and chance. It’s not exactly unexpected—in fact, it’s hard to describe. But the feelings that it evokes and the place it pulls you into are a trip! I know you’d love the read!!I have to make at least one more comment. I love the way Chris Wooding surprises you with these beautiful patches of wording! They catch you off guard in that when you read them, you realize with what creation and skill this man has with his use of the English language. Some parts of his writing are simply and feasibly works of art. It’s a really nice surprise to come across in the midst of your reading! I was impressed quite a few times!I must say that there is one downside to the entire book though. And that’s gotta be… the fact that the book ended… SO… SOON! *Cries!* I felt like we just got there! We just got to the point where the final part would unfold and we would have some real closure and elaboration on what would happen next… and then it all ends! DX Mind you, it didn’t cut you off completely. But I was definitely left feeling like I got the short end of the stick there. Like after all that the author decided to chop the ending short, wrap it up, and throw it out there. ;~; It was a little disappointing. I was hoping for more! A chunk more at least!! The last two chapters, I would have to say, seemed almost rushed. It was just upsetting. After reading something so exciting and intriguing and wonderful, then we have this abrupt shortcut to the finish line and we don’t get to see the extra parts that we were expecting all along! At least that’s how it left me feeling.Other than that, the book was GREAT. I truly enjoyed it and I would love to re-read it sometime to see the connection between everything! I feel that there was a lot left unexplained or unfinished. And perhaps that was the purpose, but I’m not one to accept that when I’ve seen what greatness an author could achieve throughout the rest of his story. In my opinion, it’s something that Chris Wooding still needs to work on a bit. Even with that though, I’m giving this book the highest rating possible on here~ It was definitely worth the read, and to me it’s a story that’s original and worth my remembering. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is one of those books that influenced me for years to come. Check it out! I think a lot of people will find this book, its characters and its story really refreshing in the midst of the usual things that are out there now. So why not give Storm Thief a chance? :3 Go on and try it!
This is the second book by Chris Wooding that I have had the pleasure to read; the first was Poison. I liked Poison a lot more than this book; but, like Poison, what really stand out in Storm Thief is the ending. This book could best be described as a kind of gothic Sci-Fi young adult novel.In this book we spend most of our time with Rail and Moa who eke out a living serving as thieves in a ghetto in the city of Orokos. During one of their thieving raids they stumble along a mysterious artifact of enormous value. They decided to take it and run with it; hoping to make their fortune off of the proceedings. Beside this story is the parallel story of Vago; a golem made of muscle and metal whose path intertwines with that of Rail and Moa. Vago is a golem who doesn't know his purpose or maker; yet he finds he is extremely adept as fending off the Revenants in the city of Orokos. Orokos itself is the most interesting part of the book. Orokos is a city plagued by probability storms that can change reality at the drop of a hat; it is also plagued by Revenants, beings made of energy who are deadly to the human habitants of Orokos. The citizens of Orokos believe that it is the only place in the entire world, but Moa dreams that there must be some place else.I did not like the characters or the storyline of this book as much as I liked Poison. The story itself is pretty dry, devoid of humor, and I thought the characters were bland and in general not all that likable . The plot of the book itself was also fairly typical; it was very much one of those humans trying to escape from isolation types of stories. Think City of Ember. The thing that really made this book interesting was the setting. Orokos is an interesting setting, the Revenants are an interesting enemy, and the probability storms are an amazing idea.The book didn't go above an okay (3 star) rating for me until the end. Towards the end (when you find out the story behind Orokos) is when the story really starts to make you think; what happens to a society that has too much order versus one that is steeped in chaos? The ideas presented in the end of the book made this book an above average read for me. I really wish that the characters and plot had been as engaging as they were in Poison. I still have the Haunting Of Alaizabel Cray to read; and I have heard that this is an excellent book.Although I didn't think this book was wonderful, it didn't diminish Chris Wooding as a creative author in my eyes.
What do You think about Storm Thief (2006)?
This was a great book~!I haven't found a book to keep me this interested since "Another Note" (But that's caus' Death Note is special XP) Rail was immediatley my favorite, I liked his sinicle(I spelled that wrong =P) attitude. He was cautious at points, and at times, reckless too, but he kept his confidence, despite having to face Revenants and more. So to say, I felt that the probability storms reflected life, anything can change at any moment, not quite so drastically as the chaos in the probability storms, but even so, chance and luck are two distinguished things. Aha, this is getting confusing, wellz, lets leave it at this: Storm Theif was a great book~! It's worth the read, defiantly worth your time~!
—12peppermint
Talked myself down from 2 stars into 1.5 stars in the course of writing this review...Storm Thief is a book that was mainly action-driven and not so much character drive, although the characters themselves were all right--while they weren't shallow or quite archetypes, there was very much a sense of "Rail the thief who is only out for himself but looks after Moa like she's he's little sister" and "Moa the bright innocent young flower who dreams of something better" and that's all they are. Vago the golem started off interesting but he was very much "the golem who wonders about the mystery of his origins" and when that mystery is solved, it's not all that interesting or unusual.I feel like most of this book was like that: interesting but ultimately not unusual. The probability storms as a premise is amazing and awesome, but the story actually doesn't really feature them at all--I think there was maybe one storm during the actual book during which nothing important changed. The storms are regular things, mind you, but the book takes place in such an apparently short span of time taht we don't really see much of them, though we do see and hear frequently about the effects. Since I was expecting much more of the probability storms, I was a little disappointed and underwhelmed.Similarly, although the story does eventually climax and culminate in an explanation of why there are storms, it was kind of a lackluster explanation that ended up feeling preachy. Since I didn't develop a close connection to any of the characters and was mainly driven to finish the book to find out just what the hell is up with the probability storms and this Fulcrum place that has no entrances and is made of indestructable material and nobody has ever entered, well--color me disappointed again.Nor is there really an explanation for much of the so-called Fade-Science. It's basically magic and I would have been less judgmental if they had just called it magic instead of pretending it's science and then not having even an iota of logical, reasonable explanation for how these things worked other than "we were super technologically advanced and made these technological things".Oh, and there are Revenants that are glowing green manta-ray ghost things that appear and take over people and kill with a touch. They seemed kind of random, as if the story needed some extra kind of menace or threat, and we do get an explanation for them in the end--a very, very unsatisfying one that basically amounts to what I just said right here, i.e. there needed to be a threat. WTF?Ultimately, I didn't really care all that much about the characters, who themselves were kind of flat, the world was interesting but never explored to its full depth, the explanation for everything was dull, frustrating, preachy and implausible. In fact, you know what? I'm talking myself out of giving it 2 stars here and lowering it to 1 star. Maybe 1.5. The more I think about it, the less well it sits with me. I just waded throug this entire book full of ungratified anticipation and failed hope.1.5 stars, Storm Thief. You had a hell of a lot of potential but it all got squandered on action-packed scenes with hardly any emotional development or intellectual tension.
—Alz
In a city where unpredictable changes may occur at any time, two young thieves fight for their lives and the future of the city against the oppressive Protectorate.Wooding's writing style is so-so -- no particularly irksome errors or stylistic quirks, but not especially gripping, either. A bit flat, like his characters. The world-building was interesting enough to keep me reading, but so many elements were borrowed from earlier works of science fiction that I can't feel particularly impressed by these aspects.
—Miriam
