Well, folks, when I left you last, we were about halfway through Butcher’s The Aeronaut’s Windlass. You can read my review of the first half here. Now that I’ve finished the second half, I can say with absolute certainty that I will be keeping up with this series.
The second half of the book was a lot of investigation into the enemies of Albion. Characters are running around, looking for clues and fighting monsters. And it’s all well paced, so that you are wanting to keep reading at the end of the chapter.
The romance sub plot develops and has an excellent ending. We also see Gwen finally mature a bit. And we get a hint at some far greater evil enemy that will no doubt come to bear in the sequels.
But the best part for me, and perhaps the part I was most looking forward to, happens at the climax. We finally get to see an aerial battle. I’ve always enjoyed reading these and would have been very disappointed if Butcher hadn’t delivered on the unspoken promise to feature one. There’s lots of cannon fire and aerial acrobatics to keep you intrigued for the last fifty or so pages. It was exhilarating and I found my own heart speeding up with the ebb and flow of battle, a difficult task with the number of battle scenes I’ve read over the years.
And Butcher ends the novel well, which is a difficult task to accomplish. We are left knowing that evil is coming and that bad things are going to happen. And because we are connected to the characters now, we will have to follow them into their futures. Very excited for the sequel when it comes. I give this novel a solid 4/5.
The next read will be Salvatore’s Sojourn, Book 3 in the Dark Elf Trilogy. Stay tuned for a review.
Kristopher L. Campa 