Rinn
Written on Aug 7, 2016
Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace.
Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship, Predator. Fiercely loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy's shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is severely damaged in combat, leaving captain and crew grounded, Grimm is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion-to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory.
And even as Grimm undertakes this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity's ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake.
- ISBN10 0356503658
- ISBN13 9780356503653
- Publish Date 29 September 2015
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 5 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Orbit
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 640
- Language English
Reviews
wyvernfriend
Written on May 31, 2016
Beth C.
Written on Dec 27, 2015
I have no problem calling this book one of my top 5 books of the year, and I can't wait for the next book to this truly invigorating story!
Heather
Written on Nov 4, 2015
On paper this isn't a book that I should be interested in. I don't care about steampunk airship captains. But, this is Jim Butcher and I will read anything he writes, so I trusted him and downloaded the audiobook.
Then I realized that the audio was 21 hours long. I really hoped that I wasn't making a wrong decision. Turns out that I wasn't.
Humans live in large towers called spires. Each one is two miles in diameter and thousands of feet high. The surface of the planet is too dangerous to go down to. There are airships that travel in the sky. All energy comes from crystals that harness etheric energy. These crystals are slowly grown in vats and are very valuable.
The Cast
Captain Grimm
He is the captain of the privateer ship Predator. He was an official in naval fleet of Spire Albon but was removed for cowardice under suspicious circumstances.
Gwendolyn Lancaster
She is the heir to House Lancaster, the family that makes the best crystals in the world. She is a spoiled brat who is overly convinced of her own importance because she's an aristocrat. She has joined the Spirearch's guards to do her few years of service. She thinks everyone should pay her due respect without her having to earn it. I pretty much hated her.
Benedict Soralyn
He is a cousin of Gwen's from a minor branch of the Lancaster house. He is an experienced guard. He is Warrior born - natural born athletes with the speed and reflexes of cats and the eyes of cats. Gwen is quite surprised to find out that he is highly thought of by everyone up to the Spirearch himself, since she never thought of him as anything but a poor relation.
Bridget Tarquin
She is the last of a formerly great house that has fallen on hard times. She is also joining the guard even though she isn't really suited for it. Can speak fluent cat.
Rawl
Prince of the Silent Paws clan of cats and friend to Bridget, whom he calls Little Mouse. He is accompanying her to the guard to try to bolster an alliance between humans and his clan. Cats are not pets and most humans see them as a form of vermin. Cats of course feel the same way about humans.
Master Ferus
He is an etherialist, a master at manipulating etheric energy. This drives a person mad after a while and he's been doing it for a long time.
Folly
She is Master Ferus' apprentice. She carries a jar of apparently dead lumen crystals and can only talk directly to her jar and not to people.
When Spire Albion is attacked by a force from Spire Aurora it appears that the Spirearch's guard may be compromised. The Spirearch recruits this diverse bunch of people he trusts to get to the bottom of it - a disgraced captain, some recruits, a trusted guard, two crazy etheralists, and a cat.
There is so much to love here!
Any time either of the etherialists open their mouth it is completely mad. It is like trying to go on a spying mission with The Mad Hatter. They know what they mean and they are utterly brilliant but it takes other people a while to adapt to dealing with them.
Rawl! There are sections of this book told from a cat's point of view. It is so well done. It is exactly what a cat would think of all this human nonsense. He knows that he is the leader of the mission. He gets angry when his person is in danger because who is going to scratch him like he likes if she gets dead? They go aboard the airship and he can't concentrate on anything until he gets to climb the "ship tree" (mast). He has a wonderful theory on telling the importance of humans by the size of their hat. At the end, he had had first aid administered by a human and was pouting about it for days. As a vet, I could totally relate to that attitude.
There is a great discussion at the end about the effects of combat on a person and how hard it is to reintegrate into a society of people who haven't seen combat.
It was totally worth the 21 hours of audio. I can't wait for the next installment. This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
kimbacaffeinate
Written on Sep 19, 2015
Butcher shares the story using third person limited perspectives of multiple characters. While Captain Grimm mentioned in the synopsis above is a focus, he is not the only key character. We also spend significant time with Cadets- Bridget Tagwynn, a butcher’s daughter and Gwen Lancaster, a daughter of privilege who is hilarious without trying to be. Then there is Lieutenant Benedict Sorellin-Lancaster, Gwen’s cousin. Two of my favorite perspectives came from Folly the Etherialist apprentice and from those of Rowl a member of the house of Nine Claws. Rowl is a smug, hilarious, brilliant cat. Yep, you heard me, a cat. He is quite the little hero and travels with Bridget as her protector. He is also heir to his clan. They all find themselves working together as a team and I enjoyed all the different dynamics they brought to the table.
The world Butcher has built is complex, beautiful and home to many unknowns. Cinder Spires is located in the mist above a planet that is uninhabitable by humans and overrun with monsters. *shivers* I will not spoil it for you, but these monsters are sure to make you freak out. Butcher does not subject the reader to large information dumps, instead we learn through the characters. When we find out about the surface of the planet and the monsters, we are out with Bridget, Folly and Rowl. Butcher effortlessly weaved it into the conversation leaving my jaw hanging. While I am unsure of where we are, the world is vaguely familiar to Victorian London particularly with the social classes.
The Aeronaut's Windlass with its steampunk goodness and colorful character was an excellent beginning to this new series. Things are not completely revealed to us, but Butcher drop hints about characters, the past, of darkness to come and the economy. While I still have many questions in particular what prompted the war itself I was satisfied with the world and the knowledge we are given even as I crave more. The tale ended well, but the last few lines hinted at the darkness to come!
Copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer