I tend not to cross post my book reviews, but since I’m a fan of Jim Buthcer and I got the chance to read this ARC (advanced reading copy) I thought I’d put this up here. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to keep Mr. Butcher writing and keep these stories going!
The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have to start by thanking my book blogging friend Krystal for letting me read this ARC. Go check out her book blog here: http://booksaremything.com/
I have lots of thoughts in no particular order – and there will be spoilery stuff in here. I’ll try to keep it away from the spoilers as much as I can.
When I started reading my very first impression was that the author has been reading the work of Gail Carriger. This is not a bad thing! It was a little adjustment, but Mr. Butcher is a hell of a story teller. It worked. I could see where some people would be put off by that – I am not one of those people.
Clocking in at around 630 pages this is a substantial book. It was necessary. There are tons of world building and character development bits that need space to be shown. IF it couldn’t be guessed by the cover, this is a steampunk fantasy book. There are floating cities, airships and mysterious creatures from the surface. I’d need to hear more from the author or see the maps / drawings that will be included in the final version to be sure, but I think this is meant to be some kind of alternate earth. Having things fall to the surface of the world (and that being a ‘bad’ thing) leads me to believe the Predator will be going to the surface in the next book. How could they not?
The author’s characters are as interesting and diverse as ever. I am not personally a fan of Rowl or his clan, but I suspect there will be a lot of discussion about the cats of this world in the future as well. I like the warrior born characters. They were my favorites. I will say the cast of characters is an impressive spread. This made me wonder who the true “hero” of the book is supposed to be. Captain Grimm, Gwen, Bridget & Benedict? Could be any of them. Folly was very interesting as well. Writing the etherialists as crazy as they are could not have been easy, but had to have been fun.
I suspect this book will really take off (yes, you may groan) when it is released. It is a fast moving story in an interesting world. There’s a little something for everyone in here.