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The five spires (World spires Book 1)

Monday, November 19, 2018Monday, November 19, 2018 admin

This book certainly made an impression on me with its dazzling world building and fantastic characters though, and I am most definitely on board for the sequel. View all 5 comments. Nov 14, Algernon rated it really liked it Shelves: Jim Butcher boldly goes where other have have gone before. For his new epic fantasy series he borrows some fashionable trends and commercially succesful themes and turns them into something not exactly new, but defintely entertaining and fun to delve into.

His secondary world is developed vertically instead of horizontally: The opening novel pits Spire Albion against Spire Aurora, a conflict that begins with isolated 'incidents' between privateers and military double-deckers. Disgraced Captain Grimm of the Albion's Predator as in Ketty Jay, Firefly and Millenium Falcon sweeps down on an unsuspecting rival sailship only to be himself trapped by a much stronger Auroran frigate.

Grimm and his crew barely limp back to Spire Albion, their 'Predator' so badly damaged that a wit from the docks exclaims that she's only good for going up and down the height of the Spire like a windlass. That's just the prologue, and the action really picks up later on! Something Old The style is familiar from my reads of several Harry Dresden mysteries and of the whole Codex Alera series. Jim Butcher still has the magic touch of the natural born storyteller, pushing me to read just one more page, just one more chapter before I turn off the light and go to sleep.

His major is in writing action scenes, with a close second in snappy and funny dialogue. A talking tomcat is responsible for a hefty part of the humorous banter in the book. Also old is the world of the Spires, with hints at ancient, more technologically advanced civilizations and unspeakable dangers lurking in the ground floor jungles, possibly also a past holocaust that left only the huge stone columns as a haven for survivors of the human race.

This ancient past may come back to bite the current inhabitants: I'm sure I told you. I distinctly remember doing so. His system is maybe skewed towards the battle mechanics an his practitioners tend to be overpowered, judging by his previous series, but the resulting combinations of different sorts of energy and crystal containers and inborn talents serve the needs of the plot extremely well for now. Lumin crystals were designed to accept a charge of etheric energy and output a steady trickle of light.

But light was really just one of any number of possible expressions of energy. Weapons crystals did the same thing, only with heat and force. Lift crystals expressed that energy in a form of inverted gravity. And the most complex crystals of all, power core crystals, expressed their energy in another form - electricity.

My favorite magic casters are actually the wildcards in the system - Old Jedi Master Ferus and his Padawan apprentice Folly. For the ship to ship engagements the go to original sources appear to be Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey. The carefully organized battle magics reminded me of Brandon Sanderson, with an isolated nod at the Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky, where a key tenet was that the magicians where unable to use even the simplest mechanical devices. One of the inhabited levels in the Spire Albion called Hables as in habitable floors is modeled from Istanbul, with Hable Landing commercial district a spitting image of the Grand Bazaar: There was a street of tinkers and smiths, the air hot and filled with the sound of metal on metal Impetuous teenager Gwendolyn Margaret Elizabeth Lancaster join the Royal Guards of Spire Albion and teams up with her debonair cousin Benedict Sorellin-Lancaster born with enhanced musculature and reflexes and with fellow new recruit Bridget Tagwyn, shy but strong as an ox, for a secret mission to save the Spire from a perfidious Auroran attack.

The inspiration for the Spire Albion's social structure and its conflict with the rival Spire Aurora is easily attributed to England at the time of the Napoleonic wars. Even the Rowl the tomcat is a blueblood in his own tribe, scion and heir to the leader of the pack. And a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe Actually in Jim's pocket, since I decided to continue with the series, hoping it will not become a drawn out money grabbing machine, and that my past disenchantments both with the Dresden Files and with Codex Alera, both after strong debut novels, will be proven wrong.

Four fun-filled, action packed, but thin gilded stars. Captain Grimm is one of the owners of such a vessel - a privateer vessel named the Predator who has a bit of a run-in with a legendary enemy vessel that he cannot hope to defeat, but luckily he avoids complete destruction and is confined to Spire Albion while his ship awaits repairs. Whilst Predator is waiting in the docks, Spire Albion is attacked by Spire Aurora and as part of his response the leader of the spire, the Spirearch, convinces Captain Grimm to join a team he has assembled to complete a mission of the utmost importance in the war against their enemies.

Unbeknownst to them though, an old evil is maneuvering and pulling the strings on its puppets. WAY cooler than you can imagine - Amazing battles. I know they sound harmless, but NO. Imagine the smuggest, smoothest, most arrogant bad-ass you can and then imagine that it is a ginger cat. The book does lack in terms of worldbuilding a bit, and I found myself very confused at the start and struggling with the pace which felt slow. Luckily this improves as the story progresses, not enough in my opinion, but sufficient to get a feel for everything.

I really came to love the characters as the plot unfolded and the pace picked up significantly and never seized towards the end. I could not get enough of the grim captain, Captain Grimm yep and also thought Rowl was marvelous. Rowl is a cat btw. Jim Butcher is clearly owned by a cat. Another excellent story by this author even though I would not have known it was him just by reading the book. It felt fresh and exciting and I am most definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the Cinder Spires series. Image from Priscilla Spencer's Map Store View all 16 comments.

Mar 04, Bradley rated it really liked it Shelves: I've honestly not read that much steampunk, but those that I have read all seem to blur together with common airship themes, nobility and rank curs, Victorian style duels, and plain adventure. As an entire genre, it suffers in my mind as becoming old hat. Perhaps if this novel had come out a decade ago, I'd have been so damn impressed and enthused with the whole idea that I'd have enthusiastically endorsed it regardless of a decent story, especially if the characters were bright and delicious.

I I've honestly not read that much steampunk, but those that I have read all seem to blur together with common airship themes, nobility and rank curs, Victorian style duels, and plain adventure. I'm a big fan of Dresden Files. But then, I loved his Codex Alera, so having seen him treat epic fantasy as well as UF, I started with a bit more forgiving outlook. So how well did Butcher pull this off?

I think it ended extremely strong. The taste of things to come is Very exciting, but of course, without strong characters, that would be meaningless. My initial reactions to the novel was a bit more turbulent, with more than a few fractures in my Aetherial Crystals. None of the characters started very strong. They seemed very workmanlike, like a standard template, and it took a while before Gwen or Grimm or Bridget or anyone else started to grow on me. Of course, that's probably because Butcher decided, for good or ill, to develop everyone primarily by their experience on stage.

Captain Grimm is a notable exception, and he happened to be the one I liked best, first. Gwen just seemed like a major disaster in the making. All of this improved as the story advanced, hitting quite a few standard steampunk tropes along the way, and by the time the swashbuckling and the monster killing was fully under way, I was fully invested. But the best part of the novel was the ship, the Predator, and the aerial battles, from the chases to the larger naval battles. I've never been that fond of military actions, but perhaps it's merely a function about how well they are written.

These were done very entertainingly. I may be alone in disliking one aspect of the novel: Intelligent spies, war-like nature, and upset at how inconstant those damn humans are. Okay, that last part was funny. The rest just never struck me as that great. That being said, the novel became quite good by the end. I'll definitely continue the series later. Unfortunately, this is not my top pick. I really enjoy the author in general and I can enjoy the fact that he's writing in a new field, and this novel does have a lot of epic action scenes and darring-do and excellent world-building ideas, but it didn't capture my heart and my imagination quite as much as I might have wished.

Maybe it's the steampunk. Maybe I just want to like steampunk more than I actually do. Regardless, this is also a solid Book One of a series. A lot is left for later exploration with an ever-greater war in store for us. This is a problem for me when it comes to the Hugos. There were a lot of great SF novels that came out in that weren't part of series that I think got short shrift. Hugo awards ARE a popularity contest, it's very true, but it gets rather odd when we have to rely on tons of additional books to get across all the stories we want to say when some novels do it concisely and truly do fit the category of Novel not Novels.

Radiance and The Library at Mount Char are good examples. That being said, I'm not saying this was a particularly bad choice, especially since it has lots of story, lots of plot, and interesting characters and settings. It could wind up being one of those truly glorious series we always squee about, such as Butcher's Dresden Files.

I'm just saying that there's way more than enough examples of two great categories that could be split at long last. I mean, think about it. This year alone, 3 of the 5 nominations are part of a series. Two are first books. Is this getting out of control? View all 23 comments. I picked this up as soon as it was released, and it sat on my "currently reading shelf" for a while as I finished some library books. I am a huge fan of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series. That series is not only my favorite Urban Fantasy series but also simply among my favorite books. Here I can't be quite as enthusiastic as about his Dresden series.

I would however so far at least say I like it maybe a bit better than his Codex Alera series. Did i need to rate the various s Ooookkkaaayyy Did i need to rate the various series like that? We start out in a world where humans live in huge spires that extend into the air. They travel in air ships powered and controlled by crystals. Yeah I know, that's a quick and dirty intro that may leave you more confused than not but the book explains it better On the plus side the book builds it's plot and draws it's characters well.

The story does have a rather large cast of characters to keep track of but they will fall into place pretty quickly. Butcher has the grace not to use consonant heavy names that resemble each other so you end up thinking of them as "Q guy 1 and Q guy 2". You will i think get into the book's action and story very quickly. On the down side the book does have several very slow sections where the story gets close to bogging down. However that doesn't last and the book always pulls itself back onto the main track.

The book for those of you who like me are Dresden fans is told in third person rather than first this of course allows JB to move from character to character with an omnipotent voice. This is on the whole done smoothly and our main characters seem to me to remain so far anyway in a good balance. By the way one of our main characters is a cat and he's handled very well. For those of us who love cats there are some chuckles here. All in all I say that a lot don't I?

View all 9 comments. Apr 26, Jason rated it it was ok. So I got around to reading the thing. I found it slow, with the world hazily imagined, the characters generic in different ways with some POVs more tedious than others, and the overall premise promising in an unfulfilled and unoriginal way.

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I amused myself by imagining certain characters as other fictional creations - like the Big Bad as that spider-woman Digimon and the etherealists as the Lovegoods from Harry Potter. Given how the last 2 Dresden Files took 15 months to be released vs. But now this new thing is apparently scheduled first. Cold Days is good but very unsatisfying given the dip in quality compared to past books. I don't see why it took so long Perhaps that's what the Codex Alera was good for. View all 33 comments. Jul 06, Serack rated it it was amazing.

As the first in the series, it starts out by introducing a group of characters that the ruler of "Spire Albion" assembles into kind of a troubleshooting team. The world of The Cinder Spires is comprised of huge inhabited spires that reach up from an inhospitable and mist shrouded surface. All commerce between spires is through air ships. There are air ship battles with goggles and "ethric" crystal powered "cannon" and drive systems.

Also, every single one of the "ethrealists" who can manipulate the energies in the crystals and such are a bit off. Some have obvious abnormalities like the inability to use doorknobs, or only speaking to their pet crystals, but the ones that seem to be perfectly normal enjoying tea with you are the ones that you truly have to look out for. Oh, and there are talking cats with opposable thumbs, and they are tyrants. Perhaps if you would like to continue to enjoy this there will be a bowl of cream outside every morning.

Ok, now I'm officially in love with this book. Bridget had no notion whatsoever how the prim little noblewoman managed to load so much arrogance and confidence into her seemingly fatuous tone. Such hats often signified humans who considered themselves important, which was adorable for the first few moments and trying ever after. Rowl had begun to approve of the human Grimm, who had thus far acted with less than utter incompetence in every aspect of his life.

If Grimm was able to command such respect even from humans with very large hats, he might make suitable help, and even humans were wise enough to realize that good help was the most elusive of quarries. Rowl found that disappointing. It seemed a great deal of trouble for him to spend half a lifetime bored up a ship-tree to gain very little in the way of an interesting change of environment. But such things were to be expected when dealing with humans. He would remain patient until they fumbled past such foolishness.

Was he not, after all, a cat? Not even his father would assert that it was practical to manage five humans. It was a well-known fact that humans became more addled than usual when running in herds. Until the screaming starts. If ever you meet an etherealist who does not seem odd, you will have ample reason for caution. An etherealist who speaks to things that are not there and cannot track the day of the week is par for the course.

One who is perfectly well dressed, calmly spoken, and inviting you to tea? That is someone to be feared. Each creature had something it excelled at, he supposed. Humans could manage knots easily, and cats could do everything else. Littlemouse made a squeaking sound and scooped him up in her clumsy human arms and gave him a smothering hug.

Rowl leaned his cheek against hers and purred. After all, he could hardly be called unseemly if a human, even so exceptional a human as Littlemouse, got carried away in a fit of affection. And besides, her sleeves were cleaning his fur. Jul 30, Althea Ann rated it liked it. First off, I have to admit that I'm not extremely familiar with Jim Butcher's writing. However, I have to honestly say that it felt dashed-off and not always well-thought-out. The biggest problem m First off, I have to admit that I'm not extremely familiar with Jim Butcher's writing.

The Aeronaut's Windlass

The biggest problem might be that we are given a rather cool setting for the book, conceptually - but absolutely ZERO description of the setting is given until more than a third of the way through the book. Until then, we have no concept of where we are, or what the scenario is. Possible spoiler, if you don't want to know until a third of the way through the book: People live in giant, enclosed cylinders, divided into levels, and most people never see the outside during their lifetime. The surface is inhabited by giant, monstrous animals, and the atmosphere is corrosive.

A bit of an issue there, as the airship crews don't seem to have protective gear keeping them away from the air We've got two female main characters whom I ended up differentiating by thinking "the big one" and "the small one," which doesn't really say a lot for their depth of character , and male counterparts for them. There's a roguish airship captain.

We've also got a couple of eccentric magicians I mean, "etherealists" , an elderly one and his young apprentice. I was juuust on the line between loving the cat's perspective on things, and thinking it tipped over into too-cutesy-ness. Those characters are all of Spire Albion, which is under attack by Spire Aurora. In this book, we do not find out anything substantial about the reasons behind this assault, so do not hold your breath waiting. The Bad Guys are just Bad Guys; the closest we get to their point of view is a glimpse of a few doubts on the part of the minions about the atrocities ordered by the Head Bad Guys.

Of course, Albion must mobilize to defend itself. The society is all vaguely 19th-century-ish, with duels and waistcoats and such. The feel is light-hearted, with plenty of humor, and non-stop action. I'm going with three stars, because at no point was the book ever boring or wholly un-enjoyable - but it's not driving me to seek out more of the author's work, either. My main takeaway is that I feel like I wish the author had put more effort and passion into it. Many thanks to NetGalley and Roc for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.

Sep 22, Gavin rated it liked it Shelves: I've come to the conclusion that I just do not gel with something in Butcher's writing. This was set in a world where humanity shelters in towering Spires from the ravages of the mysterious mist-shrouded surface world. The Spires stay connected with each other by virtue of the engineering and magical marvels that are the airships. They both keep the peace and enable trad I enjoyed this new steampunk fantasy series by Jim Butcher more than I enjoyed The Dresden Files, but I still did not love it.

They both keep the peace and enable trade. The Aeronaut's Windlass picks up just as the hostility between Spire Albion and Spire Aurora bursts into a full blown war. The world was a fairly intriguing one. The Spires and steampuk technology was pretty cool as was the original crystal based ethereal magic system. If I had a criticism it was that Butcher was a bit flimsy with the world building and description and it was sometimes hard to form any more than a vague picture of his world. I'd also have preferred a bit more history. We never did learn what the surface world was like or why it was so hostile to life.

Though perhaps those revelations are being saved for a later instalment in the series. The story was interesting without being overly exciting. We had a bunch of POV characters, most from Spire Albion where the majority of the story took place, and they were all engaged in missions aimed at preventing invasions and infiltrations by Spire Aurora agents and airships. The characters were a likeable enough bunch. Though most were a bit dull.

The most memorable of the bunch was the talking cat Rowl! His observations on humanity often proved quite hilarious. All in all I enjoyed this story without ever being fully engaged by it. It was fast paced enough with plenty of action, but for some reason that I cannot quite pinpoint none of the happenings resonated all that much with me on an emotional level. I might read the second in the series or I might not. I thought Euan Morton did a decent job with the audio. View all 4 comments. Sep 08, Vinaya rated it it was amazing Shelves: Reading a Jim Butcher book is always a labor of love.

Sometimes there is a fair amount of laboring that accompanies the love Dresden Files, books , and sometimes the love just comes rushing right in Codex Alera ftw. The Aeronaut's Windlass, for me, falls more into the Dresden Files category. It has a fair amount of dense worldbuilding, but since it's integrated organically into the story i.

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I'm sure a million other people have probably said it before me, but the absolute best thing about this book? Rowl the talking cat, for those who have not yet had the pleasure. I think I could have happily read an entire book with Rowl as the sole protagonist. Jim does a brilliant job making Rowl adorable in his smug, superior, entirely feline way. The rest of the cast of characters are also, in typical Butcher style, colorful and vivid and likable. Of these, Bridget is probably my favorite.

She's no-nonsense, a little prejudiced, yet kindhearted and valiant and oh-so-normal. The Aeronaut's Windlass has everything one needs for a good fantasy romp. And on a side note, can I just congratulate Jim for not falling into the clockwork trap? Unlike the vast majority of "steampunk" novels being churned out today, there is no appearance of modern technology masquerading as Victoriana through the use of the ubiquitous clockwork technology.

In fact, I cannot think of a single instance of clockworks appearing in this excellent example of steampunk. Thank you god Jim! Would I recommend this book to a Jim Butcher fan? Would I recommend it to a first-time Butch reader? Yes, but perhaps a bit more cautiously, and with multiple warnings to get all the way through before judging. But for my part, I have to admit I loved it uncritically and wholeheartedly. After all, I am the woman who admitted publicly that I would read a grocery list if Jim wrote it! And it was a lot of fun. I loved the idea of the steam airships cleverly using energy drawn from the ether and fed into crystals.

I also liked the etherealists, Ferus and Folly who could utilize those currents for magic and healing. The Spirearch Manor —which is located in the center of Habble Morning —serves as the residence of the Spirearch, the seat of government for the Council, and the base for the Guard. The entire government operates out of the Spirearch Manor. The Council that rules the Spire was founded by Gregor the Strong two hundred years ago, after uniting all the habbles.

The Aeronaut’s Windlass (#1)

Habbles are different subsections of the Spire, similar to cities. There are many of these, and while there is a great deal of trade between the different parts of the Spire Albion, many people have not left their home habble.

They were accompanied by a screen of lighter vessels, around fifty cruisers and destroyers of various tonnages. With her ether-sight Folly is able to see the Etheric energy coursing through the Spirestone of Spire Albion placed there by the Builders —from the sky through to the earth—in various channels and currents.

Both are fantastic, especially Rawl. All of the cats are excellent, but especially Rawl. He seems to nail cats exactly. And apparently the internet is crazy for cats, so instant bestseller, right? Finally we meet Master Etherialist Ferris, and his apprentice Folly. Folly is absolutely my favorite! She reminds me a bit of Luna Lovegood. All of her scenes are highly entertaining. She's probably considered more of a secondary character to the first three, but I hope she continues to play a large role in the future books.

And if that's not enough there are several other secondary and tertiary characters that are all quite good, such as Gwen's cousin Benedict, members of the Predator: Creedy, Kettle and Journeyman and the Spire Ark himself: The antagonists are a bit cartoonish at times, especially Cavendish, but the two main Auroan soldiers felt more nuanced though.

This story is very character-driven, but Mr. Butcher has created a pretty interesting world for them to inhabit. There is very little steam powered anything though. Instead the main resource of note are Ethereal crystals. They power everything from Airships to hand weapons referred to as gauntlets. Explanations for the world and magic systems are slowly metered out as the book goes on, but there were thankfully few info dumps. Or if there were, I was too busy enjoying myself to notice. The book is fairly well self contained. Things end in a pretty good spot, especially considering this is the first book in a series.

There are plenty of questions left to be answered, but most of the main conflicts of this book are either resolved, or put on hold nicely. Overall if you enjoy Mr. Butcher other work, or enjoy character-driven faced paced action packed stories, pick this one up. You won't regret it. Now I will once again eagerly have to await the next book in two series by Mr. Butcher, much like when I first discovered him. How lucky for us all! View all 26 comments.

For me the set of mind i have before starting a new book is very important, it kinda sets the pace of reading and my reaction with the words and the author's style , so for this book: This book started with an unusual confrontation between a mother and For me the set of mind i have before starting a new book is very important, it kinda sets the pace of reading and my reaction with the words and the author's style , so for this book: This book started with an unusual confrontation between a mother and her daughter Marine teams dropping from the skies A quick very impressive counter-attack I started reading and listening simultaneously to the audio book but not even 6 chapters in i ditched the audio cause it was holding me down , and i started reading maximum speed.

All in all a very exciting read. Thank you Jim, waiting for peace talks nail-bitingly. As the first in the series, it starts out by introducing a group of characters that the ruler of "Spire Albion" assembles into kind of a troubleshooting team. The world of The Cinder Spires is comprised of huge inhabited spires that reach up from an inhospitable and mist shrouded surface.

All commerce between spires is through air ships. There are air ship battles with goggles and "ethric" crystal powered "cannon" and drive systems.

((RING)) ((RING)) The Whistle is BLOWING!: WorldCom Again? (Outlandish Things Book 1).
Mes pontons (Aventure - Jeunesse) (French Edition).
Sugars and Fats (Whats on MyPlate?)?
Why Do You Weep: Weep Not For Yourselves.
Aeronaut's Windlass;

Perhaps if you would like to continue to enjoy this there will be a bowl of cream outside every morning. Ok, now I'm officially in love with this book. Bridget had no notion whatsoever how the prim little noblewoman managed to load so much arrogance and confidence into her seemingly fatuous tone. Such hats often signified humans who considered themselves important, which was adorable for the first few moments and trying ever after.

Rowl had begun to approve of the human Grimm, who had thus far acted with less than utter incompetence in every aspect of his life. If Grimm was able to command such respect even from humans with very large hats, he might make suitable help, and even humans were wise enough to realize that good help was the most elusive of quarries.

Rowl found that disappointing. It seemed a great deal of trouble for him to spend half a lifetime bored up a ship-tree to gain very little in the way of an interesting change of environment. But such things were to be expected when dealing with humans. He would remain patient until they fumbled past such foolishness. Was he not, after all, a cat? Not even his father would assert that it was practical to manage five humans. It was a well-known fact that humans became more addled than usual when running in herds.

Until the screaming starts. If ever you meet an etherealist who does not seem odd, you will have ample reason for caution. An etherealist who speaks to things that are not there and cannot track the day of the week is par for the course. One who is perfectly well dressed, calmly spoken, and inviting you to tea? That is someone to be feared. Each creature had something it excelled at, he supposed. Humans could manage knots easily, and cats could do everything else. Littlemouse made a squeaking sound and scooped him up in her clumsy human arms and gave him a smothering hug.

Rowl leaned his cheek against hers and purred. After all, he could hardly be called unseemly if a human, even so exceptional a human as Littlemouse, got carried away in a fit of affection. And besides, her sleeves were cleaning his fur. Reading a Jim Butcher book is always a labor of love. Sometimes there is a fair amount of laboring that accompanies the love Dresden Files, books , and sometimes the love just comes rushing right in Codex Alera ftw. The Aeronaut's Windlass, for me, falls more into the Dresden Files category. It has a fair amount of dense worldbuilding, but since it's integrated organically into the story i.

The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires, #1) by Jim Butcher (5 star ratings)

Spires of Arak Zone Tour (Surprisingly Good!) - Warlords of Draenor Beta 1

This is by the author of that great series, the Dresden Files, of which I have read every single book. So of course I had to try this new series too and I am very glad I did. Firstly it is nothing like the Dresden Files whatsoever. Most of the time I had to keep reminding myself that I was NOT reading a book by Brandon Sanderson , and that's a big compliment because he is one of my top five authors. I thought the world building was absolutely first class and what a marvelous, magical world it was This is by the author of that great series, the Dresden Files, of which I have read every single book.

I thought the world building was absolutely first class and what a marvelous, magical world it was. I became so attached to the characters I was seriously scared that any of them might die and boy did they come close at times. A thoroughly enjoyable roller coaster of a read and I can't wait to get hold of the next one. Jul 30, J. Very different to the epic fantasy, grimdark and scifi I normally read, but oh what a refreshing change. Crystal powered air ships and sword wielding, incredibly polite, officers; gunnery crews and tribal, characterful cats!

They all come together in a complex web of intrigue and humour and action, set amongst mist filled skies and sky scraping spires both. The best narration I've heard of a story so far, after months on Audible. Highly recommended to fantasy, scifi or steampunk fans.

View all 3 comments. I just have to say, I was really excited when I learned that this was nominated for a Hugo shortly after I finished reading it. I would have voted for it. Finding out that this was on both slates of the Sabid Puppies was kind of a downer for me- how much of the nomination came from its support by the Sabid Puppies and how much came from admirers like myself?

Upon further investigation I learned that Skin Game, written by the same author and also listed on the same slates, was nominated last year and more people voted for no award to be given than to give it to a book supported by the Sabid Puppies. I haven't read Skin Games and therefore can't say whether it was good enough to deserve a nomination on its own merit, but that just seems kind of sad for Jim Butcher, right?! I expected a repeat this year, but voted for this book anyway because it was my favorite of the nominees with The Fifth Season being a close second.

I was glad for Jim Butcher to learn that this more or less squeaked past No Award to finish in fifth place. Which may not seem like much a victory but it felt good that what I deemed a worthy book was dignified enough to be voted above No Award. I don't really care about the Sabid Puppies movement enough to pay much attention to it, let alone enough to vote based on supporting or destroying it but I'm glad that I could support a book I enjoyed and that my vote was acknowledged to some degree.

This was my first Jim Butcher novel so I didn't pick it up due to any admiration for the Dresden Files or Codex Alera I've since read one from each of those series. I honestly just started reading it because I noticed it on the list of Goodreads Choice Awards and the premise seemed intriguing. I read the available preview and my first thoughts were mixed. The premise did indeed turn out to be intriguing, if not a little too light and fun and fantastical. It didn't seem quite as deep as I was hoping it would be. I decided to go through with it partly because it was the first book from my library holds list to become available and I'm glad I did.

The story definitely "deepened" as I went on. But not thankfully to the point of some other fantasy books that feel burdensomely heavy to the point of headache I'm looking at you Brandon Sanderson. Though not short at pages, this turned out to be a quick and easy read while still providing a little bit of mental exercise. It's definitely more adult than my initial impression of it was, but without resorting to lewdness or vulgarity.

I especially love the worldbuilding. The setting of the spires is really cool. I've read a few complaints about a lack of exposition and detail, but I disagree. I was able to form some pretty fleshed-out pictures of the various settings and sequences of events and I appreciate that there was no attempt to cram every trifling facet of the world down my throat. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the battle sequences and the functions of the airships. The only main criticism I have is of the characterizations. Each of the main characters teeters on the brink of being generic.

They're all just so honorable and clever and likable that they end up not being very likable. I'd rather read about someone relatable than someone respectable. None of the characters had enough flaws to make them sufficiently interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her.

Hopefully this changes as the series progresses. I'll be patiently waiting for the next installment. On a side note, I just loved the cats! The book opens in what, at first glance, appears to be a regency novel — cue derision and disbelief — until one of the main characters Gwen Lancaster threatens a warrior born with an etheric gauntlet.

Ether is something that is mentioned often in this book and during the various trips of the main characters, it is shown in various forms. Our main characters revolve around the following: Gwen Lancaster — heir to the Lancaster fortune and crystal factory. Bridget Tagwynn — cat girl and only child of the head of the Tagwynn family. Rowl — kit to Maul of the Silent Paws. Our intrepid heroes work together to save a fellow trainee and end up on the wrong end of a potentially deadly situation and the war starts.

Brilliantly done and I look forward to the sequel The Olympian Affair. It's steampunk with cats - need I say more? Giving this one a full 5 stars, because when I wasn't laughing uncontrollably the feline humor is spot-on , I was anxiously biting my lip. And also because I stayed up till 2am this morning to finish it. I'd especially recommend this to people who have owned or love cats - because yes, you will laugh. The book has its weak points. Other people might point out that some of the characters are cliche but Butcher does a great job of bringing them to It's steampunk with cats - need I say more?

Other people might point out that some of the characters are cliche but Butcher does a great job of bringing them to life - they're not flat by any means. Or that the world-building is almost too complex and vague but for a first book in a series, I think that's forgivable. I absolutely loved it. Can't wait to read the next one!

Advance copy provided by NetGalley He's done high fantasy. He's done urban fantasy. Now, Jim Butcher tries his hand at steampunk and pulls it off beautifully. It has elements of the old swashbuckling adventures of C. Forester and Patrick O'Brien. Captain Grimm is neither Hornblower nor Aubrey, but the interplay with the crew of his airship and the battles they fight are reminiscent of the stories of both literary captains. It's a coming of age story with the hint of romance Advance copy provided by NetGalley He's done high fantasy.

It's a coming of age story with the hint of romance for the younger characters, and it has some spiffy magic do they call it "magic" in steampunk? While there's plenty of darkness from the big bads in the mix, there's a good deal of whimsy too. We have people who can talk to cats and cats that can talk back, for example.

A cat is one of the main characters and we even get his point of view sometimes. And even with the ether, the Victorian manners, the airships and goggles I didn't catch any visible corsets , this was different than other steampunk I've read, which has felt to me more like a hybrid of historical fantasy and alternate history. This story hinted at being set far beyond an apocalyptic future of some kind, and I'm eager for more of that backstory to unfold. There had already been an exciting battle in the air with Captain Grimm, which I had enjoyed. But I wasn't so sure about young Gwen, Benedict or Bridget.

I read some cranky reviews on Goodreads and wondered if I would stick with the book. But I'm glad I did, because I quickly came to root for these characters and the ones that came later. The "grim captain" and his crew, the airships and spires, the young soldiers, the Warriorborn and the scary monsters,the "etherealist" and his apprentice, and the talking cat-I loved it all and can't wait for more.

View all 4 comments. Aeronaut's Windlass gave me a book hangover. I think I'm in love! Now, that is a very reasonable question. I am a total stranger to Jim Butcher and because I was not exposed to his prose before his literary talent worked on raw material. No preconditions whatsoever; truth to be told I started the book quite reluctantly because of the cover art shady side of the s.

And yet, I was impressed right from the start, incessantly through the duration of the ride flight? More than a day that is. If not a zealot of Mr Butcher's fandom, then perhaps a fanatic of steampunk, you wonder.

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My closest encounter with steampunk was the Infernal Devices series and that did not end well. When one thinks what makes them special, usually the ordinary list of things comes up to one's mind: And yet, each time, the quite ordinary things become extraordinary in the hands of a skilled writer. Aeronaut's Windlass has it all: The inhabitable world where humanity is confined to live spires constructed millennia ago by mythical Builders. Each spire is an independent political community with its own spirearch, noble houses, economy, military, and ambitions.

Communication and travel between them is possible thanks to crystals and etheric technologies that make ships fly.