The Aeronaut's Windlass

Jim Butcher has done it again. An immersive sci-fi fantasy that gives you a whole new world to explore! Strong female characters throughout and an inventive new use of magic theory. I can't wait to explore more! Starting the next book now.

Jim Butcher is one of those authors I've alway meant to read, but never quite got around to it. So when this book came up as the book of the month in one of my reading clubs, I was happy to start it. Now, I'm wishing I had made time to read Jim Butcher's work much earlier. This book and I got off to a rough start, as I encountered one of the things I had heard about Butcher's style; he stops the action to shoehorn in paragraphs of explanation about things the reader may not necessarily care about. The book opens on aeronautical battle, and knowing how the cannons worked and what the cannon charges were made of didn't really add anything to me, especially before I had been given a reason to care. All I really needed to know was that the cannons went boom. But I stuck with it, and I was glad I did. As I continued through the book, I was introduced to one of the better cast of characters I've ever encountered. I usually dislike or am ambivalent towards one or two characters in multi-POV books. Not so here. I liked every character. Every one. Even the cat. And on top of that, I never felt like I was wading through a chapter or POV to get back to a preferred one. All of them held my interest. Each character had a distinct personality, one's own motivations, and they all react like people to the situations and stimuli they encounter. These characters were exceptionally life-like. Even the cat. On top of the lifelike, wholly empathetic characters, the plot propelled me along as well. It was filled with intrigue and mystery, as well as lots of action and danger. The stakes were high, but never outlandish. And losses were had. Butcher's writing isn't fancy, but it is competent and effective. His characters are compelling and reason enough to read the book. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book in this series, and until it comes out, I suppose I will look into these Harry Dresden books I've heard so much about.

Jim Butcher writes another thoroughly enjoyable fantasy/action romp. As usual, skilled execution and fast pacing help plaster over weaknesses in setting and character development. Less typically, Butcher has managed in this book to both be derivative and to make it look like not such a bad thing. Large portions of his previous work feel a bit like drinking bud lite-- true to form and enjoyable in their own way, but ultimately neither rewarding nor particularly good. Aeronaut's Windlass manages to escape that by being a higher grade without being another drink altogether-- to stretch the metaphor, it winds up being a craft brewery pilsner rather than the cabernet of Rothfuss et al. Taken together, this means that fans of Butcher's work will find much to love and his critics should find less to hate. Though the book is not without flaws (a baffling fondness for cats occasionally makes the plot seem like the product of a bad mad libs game) it is overall one of Butcher's strongest works to date.