Review: The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher

Blurb:
The fate of the Cinder Spires may be decided by crossed swords in the next exhilarating fantasy adventure in the New York Times bestselling series of noble families, swordplay, and airships.

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.

Review:

I waited years for this novel. The first book in the series was something that hit the spot when I read it shortly after it was released. The sequel, THE OLYMPIAN AFFAIR did not disappoint. It has airships, duels of honor, an incredible world, intriguing political schemes and talking cats. I was extremely thrilled to be back in the lives of characters that I had come to love and see the changes that had occurred in their lives. The political aspect takes a much bigger role in this novel, as the spires are on the brink of war. I was glad to find that it is not overly confusing but still builds the intrigue in a very believable manner. The world that has been built is extremely well done and is definitely a highlight of the entire series. The fear of the surface that the characters show and experience was something that really stood out to me. 

The strength of this novel is definitely the aerial battles. They are brought to life with great details, especially with escalating the fear that the characters can feel through every moment of each clash. They are easy to visualize and definitely are very exciting to read, getting the heart pumping as if the reader is actually there. It definitely was a close call to Raul being the highlight again. The way that the author is able to capture the essence of a cat makes them a complete joy to read. The pacing is a little slower than book one, especially the first half, which might be a drawback for some readers. The ending definitely picks back up and is everything that a reader could hope for.

Overall, this is a solid entry in the Cinder Spires series. It is a step back from the first but is most definitely worth a read, especially if you love spunky cats who know that they can not do anything wrong. I recommend it to readers who are fans of steampunk, airships, and cats. I hope that the next novel is not as long of a wait as it was for this sequel, but look forward to seeing what happens next. It is definitely left open for even more adventures in this incredible world. I look forward to where we get to soar off to next.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review. As always, happy reading and Stay Great!!