Very good

Narration was excellent.
Story was excellent.
I can't fault this.
Waiting impatiently for the next one!

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Steam Punk as it should be done

I loved the characterisation, both in the text and by the narrator - it was intuitive and spot on. The cats were just so cat it was perfect.The science was well considered, and didn't jar as being too ridiculous, which is always a bonus in this kind of book. The class system and social structure were nicely written. Euan Morton added to the enjoyment by setting different accents to different spires. I look forward to exploring some of the other spires, and spending more time with those fascinating ships.

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A slight stuttering start

I am a big fan of Jim Butcher and his writing whether it be FPN or TPN forms, he has a cool and interesting set of worlds that are richly developed and full of stories to tell, yet in this starting novel of a series, there's been a slight - albeit fixed by the end - shakiness to it.

The world of the Cinder Spires seems to be a form of post-apocalypse in space style storyline, with a world that was colonised by Humans years ago and built up to grandeur only to have fallen into ruin, that alone is an instant win for me as I love that sort of thing. But initially there's little build up for the characters and setting, part of the grandeur is lost as we're thrust into a war too quickly for my liking.

It gets over that and the development begins to solidify around the half-way point and after this, it gets steadily better as time is given to build things up for the climax at the end.

I support all of Jim's work and will eventually get around to buying the whole Codex Alera series on here as books are great, so I am sticking through with this - I want to get the novella too soon so I can learn more about Warriorborn.

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Typical 🤣

I looked at it while waiting for next Dresden Files book. I must say this has Jim Butcher written all over it. Similar expressions, similar reverence to cats, women and children, similar chivalry in male characters, similar action scene descriptions. It's like Dresden Files, but in a weird setting, without Harry Dresden 🤣 Try it and compare - this is just soooo funny. Takes some 2-3 chapters to get hooked.

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What a fantastic book!

I absolutely fell in love with at least ten of the characters and all for different reasons. This isn't often something that happens in any book in my opinion. The way the whole world was built so perfectly in my mind by the writing and fantastic narrator completely took me away to the spires. Highly recommend.

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My word!

An absolute masterpiece! The story teller was perfectly matched to Jim Butcher's writing, and the world Butcher has built is glorious! I can't wait for more! :-D

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The cinder spires

This was an average audiobook. I probably would have enjoyed it better if I had read it. the storyline was great, lots of fun and adventure.

I didnt like the narration much, the english accent was really overdone. .

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1 person found this helpful

It's steampunk Jim but not as we know it

Really enjoyable read. Great characters, fast paced story and talking cats. what more could you want?

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Sky Pirates! Huzzah!

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

It's hard to rate the variety of audiobooks in a single scale. The Aeronaut's Windlass comes in towards the top of the action/adventure bracket, although no match for the likes of The Martian or World War Z.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Aeronaut's Windlass?

The first Silkweaver attack was particularly gruesome, but alas this will forever be a book defined for me by tooth-grinding. I began to regret after the first quarter that I wasn't keeping a tally every time someone ground their teeth, but I do know that it happened a lot.

What does Euan Morton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I've caught a few fairly so-so audiobook readings, but Euan Morton (you may know him as the male Sith inquisitor in SWtOR) did an excellent job with this one. In particular, he catches the right note of breathless danger in the fight scenes without actually being breathless or garbled.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Butcher creates an effective sense of peril, not least by catching the sweet spot between so many protagonists that we don't care about them and so few that they feel untouchable.

On the more negative side, the book is a bit patchy on the subject of tea. Given the presence of sufficiently advanced airships, I will accept a world where the same pot is used for heating and brewing, but the idea of anyone, especially the pseudo-British, putting cream in tea is just wrong.

Any additional comments?

I've read a few of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. I quite liked them, but I hit them at the last wind of my paranormal mystery period and there just seemed to be so many of them. The Aeronaut's Windlass is the first book in a new series (like, super new; I had no idea how new and now I'll have to wait if I want to read the next one, which I do) so doesn't have the terrifying prospect of trying to catch up with a jillionty titles, which is an advantage. Loosely it's somewhere between actually steampunk and conventionally steampunk, with Spire Albion (Britain) on the brink of war with Spire Aurora (clearly Spain, but also a bit Napoleonic France) in a world of titanic towers and technomagic. Oh, and intelligent, insufferable cats.

There is a lot to like about The Aeronaut's Windlass. Butcher writes good action and has created a neat system of technomagic in the etheric crystals and Etherialists which power the plot. There's a satisfying self-contained plot and plenty of hints at the longer arc story. The aerial combat scenes in particular showed both a deep love of naval extravaganzas and a fair degree of thought as to the implications of taking such a battle to three dimensions. The cats are brilliantly written; insufferable gits the lot of them, but very convincingly cat, especially in their diplomacy.

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very enjoyable and an interesting introduction to a new world

very enjoyable and an interesting introduction to a new world. look forward to reading rest.

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