The Aeronaut's Windlass cover art

The Aeronaut's Windlass

The Cinder Spires, Book 1

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The Aeronaut's Windlass

By: Jim Butcher
Narrated by: Euan Morton
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About this listen

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 Audio Science Fiction Steampunk Fiction

Critic Reviews

Great action scenes, a fascinating world, and characters of a sort I've never seen before. This is everything I've come to expect from Jim Butcher, but in a delightful new flavour (Patrick Rothfuss, author of THE NAME OF THE WIND)
Wow. Just wow. Beware fellow readers, herein lies adventure that will keep you from food or rest . . . Butcher proves yet again that he is an amazing storyteller (#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs)
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 steam-punk meets magic with a dose of sci-fi for seasoning. Buy it and read it. You'll be glad you did! (New York Times bestselling author David Weber)
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I really liked this new fantasy offering from Jim Butcher, author of the fabulous Dresden series. I didn't find his previous fantasy series (Codex Alera) easy to get into, but this book really captured my imagination. I was disappointed when I got to the end as I want to know what happens next. A fast paced fantasy with airships!

Well worth a look, a new series to look forward to

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Thanks Jim. Looking forward to the second book and many more to come. Awesome love everything you write.

Excellent

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The perforator this book was fantastic and the storyline was great, although I struggled with the repetition of "the ships broadside came to bear" over and over again.

Very enjoyable

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Typical excellence that we've come to expect from Butcher. Buy this. Listen to this. Enjoy this.

Perfect Jim

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Wwnderfully written story. Love the cat's prospective. The cats behavior and menarism. The interaction between different characters, their strengths, weaknesses one can relate to.

The story, character development was amazing

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A very creative magic system with fantastically original characters. The action is top notch. But it is the characters that make this story so amazing.
It is.very well read. A lot of different voices as well as perfect changing of tone and volume make the story come alive.
I highly recommend giving this gem a try.

A Grand New World

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I loved this book it is absolutely fantastic can not wait for the next one

awsome

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A completely different book to the Dresden series. More steam punk in style. Fast moving plot with lots of action

Steam punk

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Honour and treachery. What's not to like about this fantasy of spire city states towering above a dangerous surface world?

Airships and cats

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I love Jim Butcher's other work, and hoped this would be as good. The world is finely detailed, the characters well rounded and engaging. The only thing i had am issue with was that the story tales a very long time to get going - this is clearly the start of a series. I'll definitely be checking out the next one though, as there's a lot of depth here that promises to get really interesting.

Promising start

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