The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher is about a world where crystals power the realm. These
crystals give the airships their flight, as well as grow their food. The cities, or Spires as they are called, are built levels above the surface level, which is dangerous and inhabited by deadly beasts. This makes natural resources fairly scarce Because of this, everyone wants what everyone else has. Including other Spires.
Which leads us to the Privateer Captain Grim, a dishonorably discharged Fleet Captain. When his airship, the Predator, is badly damaged by an encounter with another Spire's battle ship after he tried to over take a plump Merchant ship, Captain Grim fears that it may take him years to come up with the funds, if ever, to repair her. It is at this time that his Spire's leader offers him a deal almost too good to pass up - make one delivery with no expectations of more, in exchange to have his ship outfitted with all the materials needed to repair her. It's a deal far too tempting for Captain Grim to pass up, and from there on, many interesting events transpire.
The Aeronaut's Windlass is labelled as Steampunk, and I wasn't sure what I was going to think when I picked it up. Steampunk is not a genre that I'm typically fond of, but since this one was by Jim Butcher, I thought I would give it a try. And I'm glad that I did! The Steampunk elements are not so overpowering as to distract from the story. Which I appreciated. However, this book takes a little bit to get into as one has to wade through a bit of technical jargon explaining how everything works. But once past that, the story truly begins to pick up pace.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and would highly recommend it to any Jim Butcher fans, and also encourage those not familiar with his work to give it a try as well.
Check it out in our catalog here.
-Amber
