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Series · steampunk fantasy

The Cinder Spires

by Jim Butcher

The Cinder Spires series by Jim Butcher has 3 known books (3 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Aeronaut's Windlass (2015). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Olympian Affair.

Books
3 known books (2 novels + 1 novella)
Published
3
First published
2015
Status
ongoing
Shelved under
Fantasy, Science Fiction
Last checked

Start here: The Aeronaut's Windlass (2015) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of The Aeronaut's Windlass

The Aeronaut's Windlass (2015)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. The Aeronaut's Windlass

    Novel

    The Aeronaut's Windlass (2015) opens Jim Butcher's Cinder Spires at 630 pages, introducing the vertical steampunk world of stone spires, airship warfare, and a scene-stealing cat narrator -- full swashbuckling adventure next to the noir wisecracks of his Dresden Files.

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  2. Warriorborn

    Novella

    Warriorborn, a 144-page novella published September 19, 2023, slots between the first two novels, following a supporting character through the gap years before The Olympian Affair.

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  3. The Olympian Affair

    Novel

    The Olympian Affair arrived less than two months after Warriorborn, on November 7, 2023, continuing the series as its second full novel at 624 pages, with a third book planned to complete the trilogy.

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About The Cinder Spires

Humanity never lives on the ground in Jim Butcher's Cinder Spires — the surface is ruled by monsters, so what's left of civilization survives in enormous stone spires reaching miles into the sky, city-states linked and divided by airships that ride crystal-powered lattices of aetheric currents. When the ambitious Spire Albion is invaded by rival Spire Aurora, a mismatched crew, a young noblewoman's daughter turned reluctant Guard officer, a self-taught etherealist's apprentice, a disgraced privateer captain, and a house cat with very definite opinions about all of it, get pulled into the middle of a war that reaches back into buried spire history.

Where Butcher's Dresden Files runs on noir wisecracks and Codex Alera on Roman-inflected epic fantasy, Cinder Spires is full steampunk adventure: airship broadsides, sword duels backed by crystal-powered gauntlets, and a wildly inventive vertical world where 'up' and 'down' carry as much social weight as any medieval kingdom's borders. Butcher leans hard into pulpy, swashbuckling fun here, complete with a scene-stealing cat narrator whose sections read as sly commentary on how little the humans actually understand their own story.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in The Cinder Spires series?

Two novels published so far — The Aeronaut's Windlass (2015) and The Olympian Affair (2023) — plus the novella Warriorborn (2023). A third novel is planned to complete the trilogy but has no announced title or date as of August 2026.

What order should I read The Cinder Spires in?

Publication order: The Aeronaut's Windlass, then the novella Warriorborn, then The Olympian Affair.

Is The Cinder Spires connected to The Dresden Files or Codex Alera?

No. It shares an author with Jim Butcher's other series but is an entirely separate steampunk-fantasy world, with airship-dwelling spire civilizations rather than modern Chicago or the Roman-inspired realm of Alera.

Is The Cinder Spires finished?

No. It's planned as a trilogy of novels; a third book is in progress but has no confirmed title or release date as of August 2026.

Do I need to read Warriorborn?

It's optional but recommended — the novella follows a supporting character between the first two novels and adds texture to the world, though the main plot is carried by the two full novels.

Reading order last verified .