The Ships of Air is the second book in Martha Wells trilogy The Fall if Ile-Rien and over all I'd say its the weaker of the first two books (the third is not yet out at the time of writing).
Presumably the title refers to the air-ships which the Gardier use in their attacks on Ile-Rien and its allies. However, its still not clear to me what relevance that title has to what actually happens in this book.
That's really the heart of my criticism. This book is every bit as well written as the previous one. The characters are both complex and compelling but very little that happens in this book really seems to forward the plot. We spend an awful lot of time wandering around a cruise ship discussing things with characters who never appear again.
Perhaps the endless fantasy sagas so common these days have made me cynical, but this book smells of padding. Its artful and entertaining padding, but I'm left with a sneaking suspicion that the story could have been told in two books rather than three.
But lets not give the wrong impression. This is a good book. It's fast paced, well written and Wells continues to excel at characterization. Particularly good is the halting romance between Tremaine and Ilias. It's also nice to have the Gardier fleshed out. They are no longer faceless and implacable villains. Instead they have human emotions and may well be being manipulated themselves.
I'm still definitely looking forward to the conclusion of this trilogy, I'm just not quite as blown away by this one as I hoped to be.
Article comments
1 - DB
I am confused by this review. It says this book is the weaker of the first 2 in the trilogy, but that it is also every bit as well written? It's smells of padding, but is face-paced and well-characterized? The heart of the criticism is the title doesn't relate well to the story?
It sounds like you liked it, but also didn't, but I don't really know why.
2 - Eoghann Irving
Well since you just summarized most of my points, I'm not sure what you didn't understand.
A story can be weak but still well written. Well written speaks to its structure, not its content.
Similarly it can be fast paced and yet padding. As I said, very little in this book needs to happen to progress the plot to book three. Thus it's padding. However the events that do occur are fast paced.
3 - Eric Berlin
Writers of fiction must be both craftsman and storyteller. To fail at either will produce a poor experience for the reader.