ARC Review: The Cinder Spires #2

action, Adult Fiction, Adventure, ARC, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Friendship, Review, science fiction, Steampunk 6 comments

The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher

Publication Date: November 7, 2023

Summary from NetGalley:

For centuries the Cinder Spires have safeguarded humanity, rising far above the deadly surface world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses rule, developing scientific marvels and building fleets of airships for defense and trade.

Now, the Spires hover on the brink of open war.

Everyone knows it’s coming. The guns of the great airship fleets that control the skies between the last bastions of humanity will soon speak in anger, and Spire Albion stands alone against the overwhelming might of Spire Aurora’s Armada and its new secret weapon–one capable of destroying the populations of entire Spires.

A trading summit at Spire Olympia provides an opportunity for the Spirearch, Lord Albion, to secure alliances that will shape the outcomes of the war, and to that end he dispatches privateer Captain Francis Madison Grimm and the crew of the AMS Predator to bolster the Spirearch’s diplomatic agents.

It will take daring, skill, and no small amount of showmanship to convince the world to stand with Spire Albion–assuming that it is not already too late.

ARC provided by Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley for an honest review.

Confession:

This second book in the Cinder Spires series was a thrilling fantasy full of swashbuckling action, lovable characters, evil villains you can despise, and just a hint of steampunk. I so enjoyed spending more time with the characters I loved from the first book, plus a few new ones.

I think there were a few less points of view this time around, but all of the characters from the first book are still here, even if only in the background. The story is mostly shared between Captain Grimm, Bridget, and Abigail Hinton, who are all voices for Spire Albion, and are the heroes of this tale. We are also given insight into what is going on from the villain’s side through Colonel Espira. I loved all of these characters, including Espira, as they fight for what they think is right and to defend their homes. I really enjoyed learning more about Grimm’s background, the romance between Bridget and Benedict, and all of the moral dilemmas that Espira goes through as he tries to reconcile his conscience with the actions of his Spire. Abigail is a new character, that we only met briefly in book one, but I enjoyed her point of view. Through her we get a better understanding of the society and the politics that rule this world.

The story’s plot is intricate and despite a few spots that were slow, was well paced with action sequences mixed with political intrigue and the moral dilemmas caused by war. There is also some interesting backstory about how the spires came about towards the end of the book that I really hope gets expanded upon in the next one. The duels and other action sequences are well done and will keep you rooting for you favorite characters. There is a lot of politics in this one, which is complex and hard to follow, but thrilling nonetheless. I loved that we also got to see a glimpse of what it is like on the surface of the world and some of the terrifying creatures that live there.

The only thing I missed in this book was the point of view of the cats. We still have Rawl giving commentary on human behavior and helping Bridget survive, but no chapters from his point of view. We also get a new cat joining the group, Fenli, who I just adored and hope to see more of in the next book.

If you enjoy high fantasy full of great characters, a little bit of romance, duels, great world building and action scenes that will leave you breathless, this is a series you might consider reading. I look forward to reading the next installment of this thrilling fantasy.

6 comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.