Storm Thief, by Chris Wooding

First off, let me start out by saying that Chris Wooding is extremely cool. He’s one of those reliable authors; all of his books are different and have an independence about them, but they are all equally good. He just doesn’t disappoint. I was reading his bio online, and it’s hysterical. Here’s a snippet:

University had broadened his horizons from the somewhat sheltered existence in the post-industrial doomscape of his home town, and he began to travel. He spent months in the USA to see if it matched up to the world represented in the movies he had grown up with, after which he travelled to the Far East where he got lost in a Malaysian jungle, and later backpacked around Europe where he almost managed to starve on a train between Athens and Budapest. After that he went to Japan where he was only saved from a hobo-esque existence trapped in the impenetrable Tokyo subway system by a kind passer-by, and to South Africa where he witnessed one of his best friends being mauled by a cheetah but was too paralysed with laughter to intervene. His last trip was to Scandinavia, where nothing life-threatening happened to him, which was nice.

Anyway, on to the book.

I was casually browsing our teen collection the other day, when I came across Storm Thief. I wasn’t aware that it was a new book, only that it was something by Wooding that I hadn’t read. I immediately snatched it up, and was happy to find the 2006 publishing date. I dove right in. The story is set in Orokos, a vast city that is also an island (sort of the way Coruscant is a vast city that is also a planet, I guess). Orokos is plagued with many problems: monsters, criminals, a ruthless goverment, and probablity storms that rain down chaos. The tale is primarily that of Rail and Moa, two teenage thieves, and Vago, a strange and unnatural creature. The story begins with Rail and Moa stealing an ancient and valuable artifact. When they are caught, they are forced to flee their home. They meet Vago, who is also on the run, and who possesses something that convinces Moa to invite him on their journey. Together, the three of them must survive the ravages of Orokos long enough to reach the sanctuary of Kilatas and possibly escape from the island once and for all. Except there’s one little problem: there’s no way to escape from Orokos, because Orokos is all there is. And maybe, just maybe, Kilatas isn’t the sanctuary that it’s made out to be. Despite their best plans and efforts, in the end, all Rail, Moa, and Vago have are courage, luck, and the artifact as they face insurmountable odds: murderers, traitors, the secret police, the Chaos Engine, the skimmers, and something unpleasantly Soylent Green-esque (hint: it’s people)!