[Mikkelinski]

So, being the Butcher fanboy that I am, I couldn't help but notice the lack of bubbling excitement for Butcher's new planned series, The Cinder Spires (series name, for now) - The Aeronaut's Windlass (book name, for now). It's his foray into a steampunk setting. And while not much is known yet (such as the release and stuff), I've found it terribly exciting. I think that he wrote somewhere that he had finished writing it before the new year (aka end of 2012), but I've no idea if that's a first draft or like the last revision or whatever.

This is perhaps the longest cohesive text I've found so far about the series:


“At the moment the series is ‘The Cinder Spires,'” Butcher said. “It's set in a kind of quasi-Victorian, steampunky world where civilization all exists in these enormous spires that are spread out considerably over their world, with lots of airship traffic between them. It's kind of a steampunky, Hornblower kind of thing. So we've got ship captains and duels and ship-to-ship battles and the opening of hostilities between two empires, and there's steam-powered technology and we've got this crazy crystal technology and goggles and airships and other tropes that are my favorites from the steampunk genre.

“I love to play with that stuff and try to use them in ways people aren't used to, and it's been a really rewarding book for me to write. I've had a lot of fun writing it.”

And also, from various Q&A videos on YouTube, that there are these mobster cat people (I was immediately drawn to picture Canim only as cats) that are the bosses in these spires and can therefor do as they please quite a bit. And that the ground, the reason for why they are all up high, is that there is a massive war / struggle going on on the ground which makes it an incredibly dangerous place.

It's not much I know, but I have such trust in Butcher that it has left me wanting more already. Right there up with Skin Game (which sounds way to awesome from the spoiled "blurb" or whatnot). Anyone know anything else about the series or just want to chime in with their desire for this new type of literary crack (hopefully!) that's coming?

[QuickTidal]

Me neither. I'm really interested to see him write in a different genre like this. Hmmm, I wonder when this will be dropping? 2013 please!

[Mikkelinski]

That's what I'm hoping too. I'd guess that with the advent of this series he might go to the same type of schedule he followed during Codex Alera? This + Skin Games for 2013 would be incredible hehe, but maybe the Dresden files are growing in complexity / take longer time now so maybe just one or the other.

[worry]

Does steampunk ever involve people actually being boiled to death in steam clouds? Otherwise I'm not sure I'm interested.