When I heard Jim Butcher had a new series coming out, I was a little apprehensive. Of course I wanted to see what he would do with a new book, but I only knew him from his Dresden Files series. When I heard that it was steampunk, in particular, I had mixed reactions.
I love steampunk (I’ve even been accused of writing it) but would Butcher’s version be different enough? Would The Aeronaut’s Windlass have something new to say?
Turns out my fears were unfounded. Butcher doesn’t simply regurgitate an off-the-shelf version of steam-powered contraptions and goggle-clad heroes. There is some steam, and plenty of goggles, but the worldbuilding here is solid and shows us a world that takes equal inspiration from Patrick O’Brian and Star Trek. In Butcher’s world, the people live in Spires, away from the dangerous ground. The Spires are protected by armadas of airships, though not the traditional gas-filled balloons you might be used to. In this world, they grow crystals which provide power, the largest and most powerful of these going into airships. These crystals provide lift and help to steer the ships and enable them to move through the sky. Also aiding these efforts is something called ethersilk, a substance that can catches currents of, well, ether and helps to move the ships as well. Ships also have protective coverings called shrouds, which act something like shields. The end result is that it feels a little like Star Trek in points, down to the (grumpy and unconventional) “engineer” who has to work on the ship’s crystals and drive system. This is not a complaint—I found the echoes of Star Trek only added to my enjoyment and made the ship combat more exciting.
While large crystals power airships, smaller crystals provide light or power gauntlets, personal weapons that seem a bit like Iron Man’s repulsors and tend to replace firearms in this world (though there are also those). Also fitting into the picture are etherealists, a cross between madmen and wizards who use the power of crystals and the ether to manipulate energy and to, potentially, see the future.
One such Etherealist is Efferus Effrenus Ferus, a kind of Obi-Wan like figure. When the Albion Spire is attacked suddenly, Efferus realizes that something larger is afoot and he is sent to investigate. Escorting him are a group of novice guardsmen (all young) and a disgraced airship captain named Grimm. It’s an ensemble cast, but Grimm stands out as perhaps the most heroic of the group as captain of the Predator, a former naval ship, now a privateer.
Other characters include Benedict, a warriorborn who seems to have cat-DNA and is faster and stronger because of it; Gwendolyn, a rich and haughty (but also tough) aristocrat; Bridget, a rather large and strong woman who tends to get herself in trouble; and Rowl, a cat, who helps to get her out. Yes, that’s right—a cat is a main character in this book. Cats play a big part in this world that Butcher has created and this cat person felt he did a good job of capturing their particular behaviors. Rounding out our group is Folly, Efferus’s pupil, also an etherealist, and a member of Grimm’s crew.
The world building in the novel was my favorite part, but also the most frustrating. There’s enough that’s new here and even mysterious that I was drawn in. Butcher doesn’t explain why the ground is so dangerous or why copper is necessary to stop other metals from corroding or how the Spires were built. He doesn’t explain about the warriorborn or where we are in this world’s history. He hints but doesn’t lay everything out. There are clearly many more stories to be told in this world. But that’s not even the frustrating part.
Where he started to lose me is that the setting feels so…white. Yes, he’s drawing from European inspiration, but part of that part of our history is that it opened up the world to lots of different cultures. The closest we get here is a group of people who follow The Way who seem like generic monks who know kung-fu. This is a secondary world fantasy and the focus of the setting feels extremely limited. Why not take the opportunity to add more diversity? It ends up feeling bland and lazy.
Additionally, Butcher goes out of his way to mention that Spire Albion is a democracy and yet there is a Spirearch who is treated like a monarch and there are wealthy Houses who seem to have all the power. It’s like he is trying to cover up the fact that he’s channeling Imperial Britain.
Still, there’s plenty of action here—from hard-fought hand to hand battles against nightmarish creatures to ship combat complete with barrages of broadside cannons. Even the cats get in on the action, proving themselves true predators.
Overall, The Aeronaut’s Windlass is a fun, action-packed and imaginative take on the steampunk genre. Butcher has a promising start to a new series here. I only wish that in future books he adds some diversity to the cast and world as the white, European cast seems bland and unrealistic.
The Aeronaut’s Windlass is available now from Penguin Books.
Rajan Khanna is an author, blogger, and narrator who also writes about airships in a world where the ground is dangerous. Rising Tide, the second novel in a post-apocalyptic airship trilogy, is available now. He tweets @rajanyk.
The “(grumpy and unconventional) engineer” is here.
I will say having just read this that I believe the lack of Diversity you mention is just Spire Abilon, On the Docks many other such ethnicites are mentioned from different spires. If you think on this as a first novel in a new world, setting up many stories, and look at the characters and where they are in their arcs, the focus on a single spire that is their home, at the start of their training is appropriate. This also whets our appetites for more from the glimpses he gave us. So saying that its diversity is an issue at this point seems premature, if it lasts into book two…… id agree with you!
Following Shecky’s lead… the “cat-DNA”-ed warriorborn is viewable here.
Jim Butcher isn’t really known for his diversity or sensitivity. He’s a standard SFF writer in that regard, much like the audience. That’s not a knock to that audience or to Jim, just stating the practical reality.
In terms of characters that of difference, He’s in that Neal Stephenson/Todd McFarlane school of diversity. They’ll write main characters or supporting characters that happen to not be white – but their non-whiteness means little in terms of their characterization and story. Hiro Protagonist’s background does nothing for Snow Crash. (Haven’t read Seveneses as Neal Infodump Stephenson lost me a few years back)
And McFarlane’s take on the matter was to have Spawn be awesome, but he just happened to be black. Hearing Todd talk about it shows that he has some grasp of what it must be like to never see yourself in popular media…but that’s kinda as far as his understanding goes.
For example, Jim created a character called Sanya, who’s black but grew up in Russia. So whenever Sanya shows up, his lines are Russian accented English. (so thankful he didn’t make it “black accented English” whatever that would mean)
I don’t really want Jim or any other non-disposed writer to really meditate on what it must have been like to grow up black and in Russia. But why even make a character like that in the first place if you’re not going to do anything with it? Same can be said for Harry Dresden’s “hot latina” love interest from early in the series. Her being a Latina definitely plays into the fantasy and stereotype but that’s it.
It’s not doing much for Jim’s current minority readership (great, I feel something for this character because we have the same skin tone?), and it’s not going to gain him new “nerds of color” fans because of token inclusion. “Did you hear that Jim put an Laotian guy in his new book?”
A lot of these writers mean well, but as can be said for the female characters as well, if you’re going to include them – flesh them out – make them “real” – it will make for a better story. If that means research, well that’s part of the gig when it comes to writing.
And if it means taking criticism, well they’re plenty of white fans and critics who don’t like the fact that your character should have done x, y, or z in your book.
I stopped reading the article — it seemed to spoiler heavy… I feel cheated of learning how the airships work … its a reveal to the reader… I may come back and read this after reading the book.
Surely you can critique a book without going into specific details of its systems. Speak on the quality of the story, the application of literary technique, great forshadowing for a stunning conclusion, or good world building. You can just state it as true, because if it is we don’t want the surprise of the details told to us in an article. We should want to buy the book.