Each of them is self-contained, much like a country, with a ruling class and several different levels wherein various portions of the economy and population reside. They are the locations of the major populations of the planet so far. Rising up through the mist stand the Spires. Something has gone wrong across the entire surface of the planet, and it’s completely covered in a thick, heavy mist that is very deep and hides lots of nasties that live on the surface.

It reads like a post-apocalyptic Earth-type world. Worldbuilding was pretty simplistic in this first novel. I’d probably peg it as electro-punk, as the technology of the world runs on electricity, but steampunk is more the well-known buzzword. THE AERONAUT’S WINDLASS ( Amazon) is the first of a planned nine-book series of fantasy novels by renowned author Jim Butcher that has been promoted as steampunk, which is somewhat interesting given the fact that that I don’t remember a single reference to steam in the whole book. I’ve been telling myself for more than a few months now that I needed to pick up this new series, because seriously how could it not be awesome? So,when I found it on audio book laying around at my local library, I checked to be sure we hadn’t already reviewed it and then snatched it up. I’m about halfway to caught up with it right now. Then fairly recently, I knocked out books two and three of the Dresden series because people would just not shut up about them… and I haven’t been able to get enough of that series ever since cramming another book in whenever I can. Perhaps preemptive, yes, but I think I’ve mentioned my tolerance level for good story somewhere. A few years later I read STORM FRONT and thought it was decent, but nothing to crow about. I tried his first book of the Codex Alera series and wasn’t all that impressed. I’m kind of a late-comer to the whole Jim Butcher Bandwagon.

The codex alera series