And the great enemy, rather than being Napoleon’s France, is Spire Aurora - a stand-in for Imperial Spain. The era seems to be parallel to those books’ Napoleonic Wars, but instead of ships trading cannon fire over the waves, these wars are fought in the skies.

The action of The Aeronaut’s Windlass centers around Albion Spire - a clear stand-in for the England defended by Captain Hornblower or O’Brien’s Jack Aubrey. Is this taking place on Earth in an unknown future? Is this a fantasy world? Butcher’s not telling - at least not yet. The Aeronaut’s Windlass, the fun first novel in Butcher’s new Cinder Spires series, is yet another mashup: a rollicking nautical(ish) tale in the tradition of C.S Forester’s Horatio Hornblower set in a Steampunk world where steel rots and electricity doesn’t seem to exist but the ability to use a quasi-magical substance/force called aether allows for interesting takes on familiar technology, and in which the planet’s surface is barely habitable, leaving humanity confined to spires - enormous, nation-sized towers built in the distant past. His Codex Alera novels were inspired when he was challenged to write a mind-bending combination of prompts: the Roman Empire and Pokemon. His Dresden Files combines a classic gumshoe-detective tone with elements and tropes from every type of fantasy fiction and mythology you can think of. And death will follow in its wake.Anyone who’s read Jim Butcher’s books knows he loves his mashups.

Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. But when the Predator is damaged in combat, Grimm joins a team of Albion agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring his ship.Īnd as Grimm undertakes this task, he learns that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. 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. Within their halls, the ruling aristocratic houses develop scientific marvels, foster trade alliances, and maintain fleets of airships to keep the peace.Ĭaptain Grimm commands the merchant ship Predator. Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity. Jim Butcher, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dresden Files and the Codex Alera novels, conjures up a new series set in a fantastic world of noble families, steam-powered technology, and magic-wielding warriors.

Jim butcher aeronauts windlass