The Aeronaut's Windlass

The Cinder Spires, Book 1

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: Euan Morton

Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Jim Butcher, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Dresden Files and the Codex Alera novels, conjures up a new series set in a fantastic world of noble families, steam-powered technology, and magic-wielding warriors....

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....

©2015 Jim Butcher (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Obie Award winner and Scottish-born Euan Morton narrates this sprawling opening volume of The Cinder Spires with the spirit of a buccaneer and an ear for a couple of dozen different vocal rhythms and dialects from the British Isles. Morton is especially adept at naturally carrying on the conversations between the growling shipmates and the highborn Gwen. Morton keeps the action moving and speaks 'cat' perfectly." (AudioFile)

“This is Jim Butcher at his best, drawing a fully realized, richly detailed, and downright fun literary world where fearless aeronauts ride the aether, brilliant wizards struggle with doorknobs, and a thirty-pound feline warrior keeps a pet human named Little Mouse. It’s steampunk meets magic with a dose of sci-fi for seasoning. Buy it and read it. You’ll be glad you did.” (New York Times best-selling author David Weber)

"Butcher, the best-selling author of the Dresden Files, now launches the Cinder Spires, a new epic fantasy, steampunk hybrid series that has shades of both Naomi Novik and Cherie Priest.... With shifting points of view, short chapters, fast-paced action, and awesome battle scenes, the large cast of characters, elaborate world building, and intricate plot are revealed quickly and realized fully. It all reminds readers of when they first fell for Harry Dresden.” (Booklist, starred review)

“Butcher opens the imaginative Cinder Spires series with this sweeping fantastical epic.... [It's] a fascinating, adventurous, and intricate story. Butcher brings a fresh and exciting perspective to secondary-world steampunk, giving the reader a thrilling ride.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

The Aeronauts

If this were not such a trusted author, I am not sure I would have continued after the first few chapters. We are begin with a character who is brilliant, but bored and in order to get what she wants, which is to join the Guard, she is willing to blast her way out of her mother's drawing room. Her Mother tells her house guards that her opposition to her daughter's leaving is really manipulative. Because the daughter only does things she thinks other people do not want her to do, the Mother is only pretending to oppose her. HUH? So what military unit would accept a spoiled brat, where is the wind ship Captain?

But this is Jim Butcher and yes, his characters grow and learn. And the reader is delighted to be with them. The characters and their story lines are woven together so skillfully that by the end of the book, which by the way is non stop action, we not only know them well, but are invested in them. When the book ends we miss them. Jim Butcher just gets better.

I am not sure why the narrator read this book as if he were quietly teaching a course in Victorian literature at one of the British Universities. I think the publishers, really should rethink the direction given to this reader. The choice of voice used here would be great for Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, even Bram Stoker. But the people in this book are warriors.

Euan Morton is a skilled narrator. I listened to his early work, in which he did a credible American soldier's accent, and seamlessly went into an SAS operative, along with family members of these two men. So in spite of the skills he brought to this book, the Publishers chose the most low key academic voice, even during a deadly battle of wind ships, hand to hand combat, and Pub brawls.

And still this is a great book. It is well worth the time spent listening to it.

Not what I was expecting.. but well worth a credit

Mr. Butcher is an extraordinarily gifted writer. I was instantly hooked on both the Dresden Files and the Codex Alera series. That didn't happen for me with The Cinder Spires. There were a few times during the first half of the book where I just thought "seriously?"... especially when the talking cats came around. It distracted me from an interesting world and made me think of Meow Mix commercials or Milo and Otis. However, as the story progressed I became more and more interested, and by the end, even the talking cats didn't bother me.

If Mr. Butcher evolves this story with as much talent as he did with Dresden Files, then readers will be in for a real treat. I'll definitely be picking up the next in the series.

I was unfamiliar with Euan Morton as a narrator, but I was thoroughly impressed and commend him for his performance. I have no complaints on the narration at all.

No idea why people think this book is steampunk

Like many of the other reviewers I found the first third of the book very tiring, the target audience is way younger than the Dresden files and it shows. Older readers will be turned off by all the childlike antics of his children characters.....but if you can power through the first 3rd of the book you'll soon find that Butcher seems to forget that he needs to pound into our thick skulls how immature his characters are and how much they have to grow, and starts telling a way more interesting story about a strange new worlds and the 'rules' that govern it.

I know a load of people seem to think that this is a 'steampunk meets something' book but it isn't that's just a marketing line that has long lost appeal/meaning. There are magic crystals that power the tech that's mostly set in 19th century settings. There are no steam powered contraptions capable of ridiculous machines that do ridiculously complex things. Just magic rocks that do magic things, and the people who learned how to take advantage of them, also know as a typical fantasy novel.

Its only been out two days and I can't wait for the second book

Codex Alera has always been a favorite series of mine and this book gives me the same joy to read. I finished it in two days and will likely read it again before the next book is out.
Butcher has such a good way of diversifying his characters and making you care about each. I finished this book satisfied while yearning for more.
The narrator was good as well.
I would recommend this book to anyone, and have in fact already gotten a friend started on it.

Sorry this review was meant to be succinct and well thought out but its 1am and i'm no longer firing on all cylinders

Slow but good

If you don't mind a slow progression of a story then this is the book for you, because this story does take its time but it is well worth the time to listen to.

Excellent beginning to a fantastic world

If you enjoyed the Codex Alera, this is exactly what you've been looking for. Butcher has built a fantastical world of complex and interesting characters. There is Gwen, the high born spunky social bulldozer, Captain Francis Grimm, the tarnished captain who is more than meets the eye, Bridget the socially-anxious Valkyrie and her cat Rowl, Prince of the Soft Paws, Benedict the warrior born cousin of Gwen, The etherealst Folly, an odd girl capable of a fascinating new branch of magic along with the adversaries who are just as detailed and complex.

The reader is very skilled and the story flew fast. The reader has a good understanding of pacing and suspense. I highly recommend this book to sci-fi and fantasy lovers alike.

Nothing like the Dresden Files

Which is perfect. It's great on its own. Another great story my Jim Butcher. Can't wait to read more.

Jim Butcher: Master story teller

I'm a diehard fan of his Dresden Files and Codex Alera series so grab this book via preorder was simple reflex. And in short, I rather enjoyed it.

Jim Butcher returns to a method he employed in the Codex Alera series, where the reader is dropped into the world with no map, no history, no laws of physics that govern the world and must, like a visitor to a foreign shore, discover the social rhythms and "rules" as they make their way through.

Like most firsts in a series(written by Butcher), The Aeronaut's Windlass gives an excellent picture of our main characters, their personalities, biases, while also hinting at their, as yet, untapped potential/strengths that may be revealed in future tales.

As always Jim, well done.

Great but missing some Butcher-ness

I love the Dresden series and was excited to read this new series but I was missing some of Butcher's humor from his other novels. This one had good (but slightly predictable) but they had good development. Some of the battle scenes felt tediously long but those were few and far between. After I finished I kept reaching for my iPhone to listen to more! The narrator was great and the cats and Folly more than made up for the slow spots. Can't wait for the next one!

Grabs you and never lets go.

Mr. Butcher has yet to write a book I didn't enjoy but this one seems to stand out like none I've listened to. It grabs you from the start and NEVER lets go!