The Aeronaut's Windless - Book Review

The Aeronaut's Windless, by Jim Butcher, was a wonderful surprise to me. I don't always like the steampunk style, but since I knew the author from the Dresden files, I decided to try the sample.

After finishing, I immediately bought it, and proceeded to sleep much, much, later than usual - I just couldn't put it down.

The story setting is certainly off the beaten path - people live on huge spires because the ground and mist are full of very dangerous predators. The tech level is mostly steampunk, and the Builders are constantly referred to, which clearly implies that the spires were created by much more advanced tech. Weapons are mostly based on crystals that can deliver huge blasts of energy, edged weapons or rarely, gunpowder based guns, because rust is pretty common and dangerous here.

There are huge airships, which are of course a large part of the focus on the story. They stay aloof using lift crystals and power crystals, which take their energy from the "aether" using huge sails.

The main characters - a couple of highborn guard trainees, guards, a fallen fleet airship captain and his crew, and an aetherelist (which substitute for the traditional wizard) and his apprentice have to stop an enemy attack on their home spire.

Of course of exciting battles follow, both on airships and on foot.

I really liked this one, strongly recommended for fantasy fans.

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