On a world whose mist-shrouded surface is haunted by monstrous creatures, humans live in miles-high Spires built by semi-mythical ancestors. Each Spire is a state unto itself, trading and waging war with its neighbors via airships. These ships, and most other forms of technology, use an omnipresent magical force called ether.
Captain Grimm, a disgraced former member of Spire Albion's military, preys on trading ships from Albion's perennial enemy, Spire Aurora. When his ship, Predator, is grounded after a close call with an infamous Auroran battleship, Grimm is enlisted by Albion's enigmatic leader, the Spirearch, to escort a team investigating ominous tidings in the Spire's lower levels. A crippled Predator transports an etherealist (someone able to harness ether without using technology) and his assistant; rookies from the Spirearch's Guard of various social strata; an intelligent if insufferably arrogant cat; and Grimm's own battle-hardened crew into a mystery that may ultimately involve the ancient Enemy that forced humanity into Spires in the first place.
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut's Windlass marks the beginning of a new fantasy series from Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files and Codex Alera series. Though his steampunk world is sometimes as ill defined as its mysterious foggy surface, Butcher's premise is intriguing enough to sustain this lengthy novel. Intermittent periods of sagging plotlines mired by predictable fantasy tropes are blasted away by mesmerizing airship battles and generally likable characters. The Aeronaut's Windlass will entertain fans of the genre and bodes well for future Cinder Spires novels. --Tobias Mutter, freelance reviewer