The Aeronaut’s Windlass, the first book in Jim Butcher’s newest series The Cinder Spires, proves yet again that Butcher is an incredible storyteller and a master universe builder.

In the world of The Cinder Spires, humanity has lived, and thrived, in massive towers of stone, the Spires, for longer than anyone can remember. These almost indestructible monoliths, created by an ancient civilization known only as The Builders, have protected mankind from the horrific creatures that now inhabit the mist-shrouded surface of the planet.

The Aeronaut’s Windlass focuses on the events surrounding an attack upon Spire Albion by its rival, Spire Aurora. Caught in the midst of these attacks are Gwendolyn Lancaster, her cousin Benedict Sorellin-Lancaster, and Bridget Tagwynn: new recruits into the Spirearch’s Guard and children of Albion’s nobility. With the help Captain Francis Grimm of the AMS Predator the three fledgling guards thwart Spire Aurora’s first attack and are sent on a secret mission by the Spirearch himself to save Spire Albion from the impending Auroran invasion.

While the book relies on some of the tropes of the steampunk genre at its base, with the inclusion of elements like epic battles through the open skies on airships, sky pirates in tinted goggles, and the clash between period society and anachronistically futuristic technology, Butcher manages to pull away from these conventions with clever twists that set it apart from the standard fare. One of the primary changes that distinguishes the novel from its source genre is the relatively minimal reference to steam-driven technologies, as the denizens of the Spires rely on vat grown crystals to power everything from their airships to their weapons.

The characters themselves, while following relatively common archetypes, are none-the-less engaging and memorable. Gwendolyn is a head-strong young woman whose idea of diplomacy is promising to only blow you up a little if you agree to her terms. Her cousin Benedict is one of the Warriorborn, a subspecies of feline-hybrid humans boasting impressive strength and speed, is as quick-witted as he is just plain quick. Captain Grimm is quintessentially rakish and charming and commands the complete and utter respect of his crew despite his shadowed past with Spire Albion’s marines. Bridget is shy, awkward, and quite adorable as she pulls off incredible feats of courage with her feline companion, Rowl, one of the talking cats that inhabit the ventilation tunnels that honeycomb the spires.

Yes.

Talking cats.

And they’re awesome.

Butcher’s prose boasts a rather exaggerated Victorian cadence with all of its focus on proper politeness and completely avoiding what you’re actually trying to say. The cats are imperious and arrogant, so pretty much exactly as you’d imagine cats would sound like.

The crystals upon which almost all of the technology in the book requires are also the source of what would be called “magic” in a more fantasy-styled book. The etherealists who use the crystals are terrifying in both their incredible power and their tenuous grip on sanity.

If you’re a fan of Butcher’s prior work, or even if you’ve never read any of his other series (which you should because both The Dresden Files and The Codex Alera are engrossing and highly addicting), this first book in The Cinder Spires is well worth your time.

The Aeronaut’s Windlass, the first book in the Cinder Spires series by Jim Butcher, goes on sale September 29th, 2015 in both Hardcover and Audio Book formats, or you can preorder it here!

Seriously… talking cats.

Why haven’t you preordered this book yet…

Go.

Now!