#The Olympian Affair

[knightofthenewrepublic]

Bridget and Rowl

[bartleby-the-scribbler]

well, looks like I better learn how to draw cats, cuz BY GOD I’m going to give the Cinder Spires the fandom it DESERVES!! Here’s Bridget Tagwynn and Rowl!!

[red-alynore]

“Oh, that wasn’t a fight. It was more an alternate means of communication Journeyman and I have developed over the years. You never set out to fight someone. What you want to do is confront them and resolve whatever issues are at hand. It doesn’t always have to be physical. But if it is, it doesn’t matter if you win or you lose,” Grimm said. “If you’re willing to fight, you make your point and win respect. But.” He paused for a moment for emphasis. “Never. Ever. In front of the crew. It would gut his pride and their morale if you won and do worse than that if you lost. Always discipline. Never humiliation. Hear?”

-The Cinder Spires: The Olympian Affair

[ownsfare]

[lynmars79]

“He is . . . rather statuesque,” Gwen noted. She sighed and looked back at Abigail. “Would you like me to shoot him? I brought a gun.”

Abigail blinked several times and lowered her purse out of easy line of sight before saying, “Miss Lancaster, what a shocking suggestion.”

“I could shoot him in the leg, I suppose. Just a little.”

“You’re carrying a gunpowder weapon and you want to shoot him a little,” Abigail said. “Am I understanding you correctly?”

“It was a gift from my dear coz, and I’ve never yet used it,” Gwen said, reaching a hand into her purse. “Honestly, it wouldn’t be any trouble.”

Abigail choked briefly and then said, “We can’t do anything so overt. We’re merely here to watch.”

“I dislike watching when I can act,” Gwen said, removing her hand from her purse. “But I suppose reconnaissance is nearly always wise.”

-Gwen Lancaster is back in her usual form for The Cinder Spires: The Olympian Affair.

[xserpx]

Dunno if you've seen it yet, or if you were a fan of Jim Butcher's first "Cinder Spires" book or not ("The Aeronaut's Windlass") but it appears he finally got around to writing and publish the next one in that series: "The Olympian Affair."

I have seen it. I liked the Aeronaut's Windlass, but atm I'm not planning to pick up the Olympian Affair. If you've read it let me know your thoughts!

[primmlife]

Review: The Olympian Affair

Review: The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher from Ace Books #Fantasy #Airships #Politics #Cats

When I read the opening to The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher, I was intrigued. I kept reading, and I found it to be a perfectly serviceable swashbuckling adventure story. Then I met Rowl, and I was hooked. So, of course, I was going to read The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher, which is the second book in the Cinder Spires series. This book continues with the wonderful world and story from the…

[cleomcdonald]

Just got my copy of Jim Butchers The Olympian Affair, book 2 of The Cinder Spires, and it includes this map which made me go completely feral!

I can't wait to finish work and start reading!

[jurakan]

Quick preview for the long-awaited second installment in Jim Butcher's Cinder Spires series!

[sandythereadingcafe]

REVIEW:

THE OLYMPIAN AFFAIR (Cinder Spires 2) by Jimbutcherauthor at The Reading Cafe:

'another very good fantasy steampunk adventure'

[bartleby-the-scribbler]

uh oh, guess who just finished a book with underutilized romantic potential…

[frogdisco2021]

Percy "immediately starts beef with every god he meets by having no filter" Jackson versus Nico "every god thinks he's neat even though he's been nothing but weird and off-putting" di Angelo

[lynmars79]

No Spoilers Review - The Olympian Affair

Just finished Book 2 of The Cinder Spires, The Olympian Affair. It picks up during/right after the recent novella Warriorborn, though that's not necessary to understand the novel's plot. Does show how and why Benedict gets a Cat name, though.

Picking up 2 years after The Aeronaut's Windlass, Spire Aurora seems to have come up with a terrifying new weapon as Spire Albion prepares for war. Spire Olympia hosts a diplomatic summit, also including some of the other Spires, such as Atlantea--which seems poised to ally with Aurora. Albion's representatives must navigate treacherous schemes politically, socially, martially, and magically in a race against time to secure the information and alliances needed to win the day, let alone the oncoming war.

More of Grimm's POV, more of Espira's, more of Bridget's. Duchess Abigail Hinton joins the POV cast; she's lover of Commodore Alex Bayard, Grimm's best friend since their Fleet Academy days--and one of the few people who was present and knows the truth about how and why Grimm was drummed out, which gets explained in this novel. Abigail and Alex are both duelists which forms a cornerstone of the plot and some of the stresses inherent between them and other characters.

Gwen is now XO of Predator, learning from Grimm. We learn how and why he initially received the ship from Bayard. Benedict and Bridget are courting, Ferus and Folly still aid Predator. Espira, his warriorborn sergeant Ciriaco, and (Grimm's estranged wife) Captain Calliope Ransom, find themselves wrestling with the dangers of Madame Cavendish and her warriorborn attendant Sark, versus their own consciences. I like Espira a lot; he's a man of loyalty, faith, honor, and principle, and it's all tested here. He was an antagonist in the first book, and while still part of the Auroran military, his role is different in this novel.

We don't get Gwen's POV (except for at the end), nor do we get into Folly's head this time. A number of new characters--many of them women--appear, including a much less treacherous love interest for Grimm (Piker Admiral and warriorborn Captain Ravenna), another dangerous etherialist who has rank in another Spire, the sister of Olympia's leader--and Abigail and her assistants. I liked Abigail right off; she's extremely socially and politically aware and rather badass in many ways. She makes difficult choices for the right reasons, even when it might cost her everything she cares about.

The Olympian captain from the first novel makes a cameo appearance to talk up Gwen in front of her father (one of the diplomats) but then vanishes again. You'd think we would see more of him given his home Spire is the central location of most of the action.

We also get a trip to the surface and some of the inherent dangers present in this mutated world. It's mostly follow up to the novella and tying up loose ends, creates some random complications for a character, and in the end...is really there to give certain characters something to do and an excuse to be at the climactic scenes while not actually contributing much narratively beyond a ground view of horror and a relationship shift that could have come in other ways.

And more hints that this is a far future alternate Earth, where some sort of disaster hit--and there may have been outside influence to that. Some story elements of Dresden bleeding through? We'll see I guess. There's a map of the various Spires and some colonies that looks awfully suspiciously North America-like, if heavily altered.

We're left on a cliffhanger and several other unresolved situations that make me think the next story is picking up right off the end of this story; characters in a precarious situation might get rescued in another novella, or at the start of the next full novel. And I really need to know what happens with one of the romantic pairings, as they're going through some roughness due to certain choices. Some characters are going to deal with some permanent physical changes, and one familiar character does die (can't say it was entirely unexpected, though I still cried).

But there's some happiness too, and bonds of friendship and various kinds of love. A lot of hope. Some wins, even amid losses and setbacks.

And the Cats, of course. Still infuriatingly delightful, as they should be.

EDIT: Oh, there's a bit more racial diversity at least mentioned as a thing in the novels; Atlanteans are also noted to be typically dark-skinned, and a few other characters in their descriptions. It's vague but there, or at least left to imagination. More than I can say for anyone who isn't straight, as the characters reactions and assumptions are all pretty stereotypically straight, as is usual for Butcher, I've so far found.

[manygeese]

snippet of small town affair chapter 5, probably my fave chapter so far

~*~

Jason brought his hand out of his coat and checked his watch, which made his eyes widen. He must have just realized how early it was. “What are you doing out here?” Jason shoved his hands back into his pockets.

“Mhm. Yup,” Leo agreed, running on autopilot.

“What?”

“What?”

“Are you… okay?”

“Yeah, probably. Wait, what was the question?”

“What are you doing out here, Leo?”