The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher

The Aeronaut’s Windlass is a long-winded, sometimes intriguing, sometimes dull steampunk novel written in a fantasy setting with cats who have intelligence, steam-powered airships, and people with magical powers. It’s not a traditional steampunk novel and probably would have been more interesting if it had been edited a little better. There are too many long passages, especially in the first half of the novel, that don’t add much to the story and are a bit tedious to get through. The novel really picks up its pace in the second half of the novel and is a much better read as it goes along.



Captain Grimm is the captain of one of the fastest airships around, the Predator. He gets in the middle of the beginning of a war between Spire Albion and Spire Aurora. The spires rule the world set well above the surface world. Grimm, who was previously disgraced in his service to Spire Albion, has remained loyal to them. He gets embroiled in a mission serving Albion and takes on civilians to complete this mission. Even though the novel is overly long, I felt much of the aspects of this world were not well explained. The way the spires work in context to the rest of the world was barely dealt with. The relationships between the cats and the people is also glossed over. The strongest aspects of the novel were the characters, who were well-developed, and the action once it heats up. In the end, this novel was a mixed bag for me, and I’m not sure that I will continue reading novels in this series.