The Aeronaut's Windlass

The Cinder Spires, Book One

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: Euan Morton

Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

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 10,000 years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake.

©2015 Jim Butcher (P)2015 Penguin

Critic Reviews

"Butcher writes mayhem wonderfully; the action remains taut and exciting." ( Huffington Post on Cold Days)
"The characters are well developed, Harry's trademark motormouth is still intact and the pop culture references keep flying. It's at times funny, thrilling, disturbing and sad - but you can never say it's dull." ( The Bookbag on Ghost Story)
"Butcher's storytelling is satisfying on a level that's bone deep; from his knack for crafting suspense, to the multiple reversals of the final confrontation, to the surprisingly heart-rending dénouement." (io9.com on Ghost Story)

Steampunk Butcher - another voice

Loved the narrator, had just the right tone for this style of story. Clear articulation, perfect accent and dulcet on the ear. I have had to listen twice to get the world, the characters and the story straight in my minds eye. Fresh from Harry Dresden this is different all round. The world building is great and yes, the cats are spot on.

Careful if you are a dresden fan...

What would have made The Aeronaut's Windlass better?

Characters I could care about.

What could Jim Butcher have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Not my job to worry about.

Did Euan Morton do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

He did a reasonable job.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Aeronaut's Windlass?

The whole book...?

Fun

Yay - a bit of swashbuckling fun. (I seem to have listened to a few heavy tales of late, and this was a bit of light relief).

Well crafted, with top narration. Great new world. Looking forward to the next instalment.

Couldn't fault it. Jim Butcher at his best.

(and the Cat completely stole the show for me).

Brilliant Epic Fantasy with a dollop of Sci-Fi.

Where does The Aeronaut's Windlass rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I can't in good conscience claim that it is the best book I've ever read but it's refreshingly different to most 'epic fantasy' novels. A fantastical yet somehow believable world combined with some likeable characters makes for an extremely satisfying read.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I don't want to give away anything about the story or the characters although since reading it I have found a new appreciation for cats.

Any additional comments?

I particularly enjoyed the little nods to the Wheel of Time series. One could almost believe that this book is set several millennia after Robert Jordan's series finishes.

Disappoimting

First of all I normally like Jim Butcher's books: in fact there is only one of his I have not managed to get through (Proven Guilty).

So why did I not like this book, it lacked a certain amount of originality a lot of the story has been done before in different books. For example the cowardly arrogant Commander plus the war (honor Harrington), the weavers ( the film tremors ). Even the attraction between two of the characters was similar to the Codex Alera books.

It was also very long winded and it took a great deal of effort to listen to it all the way through.

I would say I liked certain of the characters, especially Folly.

But I would only recommend die hard fans of Jim Butcher read/listen to it.

If you have not tried his books before start with the Dresden files and the far Superior Codex Alera Books

Major Fail!! Terrible Narrator!

I love the Jim Butcher's books, especially the Dresden Files, I've read all of them. (James Marsters is always faultless and a superb narrator). However, I was soo disappointed as I couldn't get into this because of the horrendous narration. If you're American you probably won't mind (i.e. won't notice because of the British accent) but being a native UK Londoner the narration is really, really annoying and grates unbearably.

The narrator sounds like a eleven year old boy reading out aloud for an elocution lesson. He speaks in an "over" pronounced weird way, (and still trips over his own mouth), and because of this he has a very strange, unnatural rhythm to his words, putting a very peculiar emphasis in the weird places.

Due to this I could not persevere long enough to find out if I actually liked the story :( The naval ship battle transferred to the sky sounded like a dry description of very boring mundane manoeuvres. I'm pretty sure it was just the narration at fault. I hope another narrator will be found, until then I'll give this a miss or try reading the book instead.

That said, if you're American or non-native speaker you are less likely to be so bothered. (I'm a Jim Butcher fan, so surely it must be good? lol).

Stick with it past the confusion of the first hour

This is complex new world building and absolutely no time is spent explaining the world's 'rules' or background, the reader is just thrown in the deep end. For the first hour I was just listening to random elements that I struggled to fit into a bigger picture. But once the story gets rolling it's a surprisingly simple one, dramatically told and easy to follow. It's just that the author doesn't want to spend time explaining the world to the reader, he wants you to get to know it through the events that take place. It's an enjoyable 'pirate romp', and I'll happily read the second one when it comes out. But there is a surprisingly unquestioning quality to the loyalty to the leader, and rigidity to the 'born into power, or born into service' philosophy that is increasingly uncomfortable to go along with from American writers in a Trumpian world. It's a militaristic society where the young from the well off families join the 'guard' and are trained to kill, and we're supposed to see them as heroic. We need to believe that our protagonists are the 'good guys' and although the story is clear in its black and white morality we surprisingly begin to doubt whether we are following the right people, and I really don't think that the author wanted that doubt. Looking for a bit more grey between the black and white next time. Listened at 1:20 speed which sounded right.

Not quite steampunk (aetherpunk maybe?) but great!

Absolutely enjoyed it. Fun action scenes, great female characters and cats. Never knew I needed talking card in my life, but there you go. Can't wait for the 2nd book in the series.

Excellent performance, but poorly written.

What disappointed you about The Aeronaut's Windlass?

The writing was very average compared to Butcher's other series, and I was not completely absorbed by the story. Suitable for a background distraction, but nothing more.

More Stars Please!

Utterly fantastic! I feel completely refreshed by the original, yet comfortingly old fashioned style of this book! Everything about it I have loved! I didn't want it to end. I put off listening to the last hour and a half until I knew no one would disturb me and because i didn't want it to be over! next book needed... not wanted.... No, NEEDED! Fantastic! I'm so excited for what will happen next ! if I start to talk about Rowell I might never stop! spectacular.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Absolutely brilliant!

Jim Butcher has once again kicked off a brilliant, action packed series that has you hanging on to the edge of you seat. The world and characters he has created are a fresh new take on steam punk, can't wait for more!!

One of my top audible books.

Bit to much details at times. But it was worth it. What a great book.
When my cat looks at me now I am thinking "What is he thinking"