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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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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 Fantasy Science Fiction Steampunk Fiction
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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)
All stars
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I am a fan if jim butcher and Dresden files do was interested to find out what this book would be like. It it's a good enough story, albeit a bit cliched, nevertheless I enjoyed it. I have read other reviews about narration and to tell you the truth I've of the reasons I'm writing this review is to praise the narration I thought it was excellent, I'm british and the accents never out me off, funny hour people can differ. it's a good enough story well read, and I enjoyed it.

Good Narration

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Jim Butcher has once again kicked off a brilliant, action packed series that has you hanging on to the edge of you seat. The world and characters he has created are a fresh new take on steam punk, can't wait for more!!

Absolutely brilliant!

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A very good story to set the scenes in a new series. Plenty still to learn and discover as it continues. Makes a change to the Dresden files, and for that I doff my cap to Mr Butcher.
I read the book when it came out, but not since so had a memory of the story, I have to say this performance was very well done, the narrator did an excellent job in differentiating between the voices of the characters, not just the genders of the characters which was consistent throughout the book. I'm learning to read out loud myself to read to my daughter and doing what the performer has done is a lot harder than it sounds without going to the extremes. Well done.

Very well done

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Plausible steampunk in a post apocalyptic world, with a bit of magic and animal characters on par with the humans for good measure. Euan Morton is an accomplished narrator, with distinctive voices and cadence for each of many characters (and species thereof!).
On a level with Butcher's Dresden Files for the thoughtful action and slow crescendo of the pacing.

Steam punk action thriller

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Fantastic! But the nautical battles were a bit too long for me (I found myself drifting away from the story during the first one at least). It sounds as though I didn't enjoy the story, but I really did. I can't wait until the next one and see what happens next.

Almost a 5 stars!

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