Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

I picked this up when I saw a twin-pack of two Wooding novels for 99p in TK Maxx. I'm not sure how he found himself in the bargain bin because he's a great author. Storm Thief was nominated for the Carnegie Medal (thanks Wikipedia!) and I can see why.

The book is set in a dystopian future world, where the inhabitants encounter powerful relics from a more advanced past (known as "fade science") and are plagued by unpredictable probability storms. The storms are strange phenomenon where literally anything can be changed forever. They can rearrange cities or make people wink out of existence. The main character, a street urchin called Rail, has to wear a respirator because one storm randomly robbed him of the ability to breathe properly.

The drama of the book comes when Rail and his female companion, Moa, are hired by crimelord Anya-Jacana to steal a powerful piece of "fade science". They go on the run with it and learn how to use its power, but in doing so attract the attention of the secret police. Villains in the novel include the hideous mozgas, who are out of sync with time - randomly moving super-fast or in slow motion - as well as Anya-Jacana's favourite henchman, Finch.

This is a great, really imaginative book. It does have some flaws however. Wooding is a good writer, but sometimes, instead of taking a step back and describing something so you can really picture it, he just bombards you with impressive-sounding similes that don't add up to a coherant picture. There's something quite chaotic about his descriptions, and it's occasionally hard (especially when he's trying to be impressive and dramatic) to resolve them into a vivid mental image.

Also, there's a twist at the end that disappointed me. It didn't seem like something that would actually happen, even within the fiction of the book (more like something an author would invent to convey a message).

But there are some fantastic ideas and characters in this book, and I was touched by the relationship between Rail and Moa (not to mention the poor gooseberry of a golem, Vago). I tore through it in a matter of days and heartily recommend it. I think Chris Wooding is quite a young author and expect him to improve with age.

Suitable for older independent readers (e.g., early teens).

**** out of *****.