The Guns Above: A Signal Airship Novel

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

This is a familiar tale with a heavy feminist hand at times so not for every reader, but it is told wonderfully with courage, humor, and raw truth. At the heart, this is an account of the transition between treating women as precious objects and as real people capable of serving in war. I liked how the history of this alternate world is blended in, making it clear women in the military is both new, and older than any imagined, through the mention of an amnesty event where crossdressing women could become soldiers in truth rather than only by masquerade.

But don’t let me lead you to thinking this is a political diatribe, because it’s not. The argument is shown rather than told through a show more wonderful war romp that’s boots on the ground…or rather in the air…realistic. The story follows an airship captain, Josette Dupre, who was promoted for political reasons after making a dangerous, but necessary, choice that changed the course of a major encounter with the enemy. The general is determined to prove her a figurehead and idiot when he’s more aware of the glossed over accounts than the actual war, to the point that he ignores wise advice and claims victory when a rout is a better description.

Enter his nephew, Lord Bernat Manatio Jebrit Aoue Hinkal, or Bernie for short, who has run through his allowance yet again and is sent to join the army to make something of himself. He’s a fop and a wastrel, wholly bought into the propaganda, but he’s smart enough to recognize a low-level officer’s life will require more effort than he’s willing to expend. Agreeing with his uncle’s perception on the war and women wholeheartedly, he offers to spy on Josette instead.

Bernie is a complete idiot, persistently ignorant when any fool would have recognized the reality, a character type that will drive some readers nuts, but he’s not dumb…he’s just brainwashed. Annoying much of the time for sure, but that he would get his comeuppance, and that I looked forward to seeing it, couldn’t be denied. He’s in for a real education, and to his credit, once he opens his eyes, he’s willing, if not eager, to learn.

Josette is smart, fully aware of her situation both as a liability and a political toy. She marks Bernie’s purpose from the start, but also knows there’s nothing she can do about it. The best demonstration of the type of person she is comes in two parts: First, her reaction to all the publicity is both that any loyal soldier would have done the same and the hero worship is likely to cost her everything. Second, the way her crew signs on to a mission sure to ruin their reputations on a ship that is an experimental nightmare because they want to have her as their captain. That kind of loyalty is earned and immediately proves Josette to be the real thing. Then how she’s able to calculate the modifications to the ship and put together the military situation from a few clues cements the impression.

The description of the ship and how it worked (along with munitions and supplies) was lovingly provided, and I’ll admit my eyes glazed over right around the counting of the ship’s ribs, but that was the only time. I enjoyed the details almost as much as how I enjoyed the way Josette and her crew flew their airship. They sensed air currents, learned from breezes, identified risks from sounds, and knew where the flaws were in the design based on sound shifts and contradictions between what the ship did and what it could do. This made the airship come to life.

So…you might get the impression I really enjoyed this book, and if so, you’d be correct. It is, as I said at the start, a familiar story. What makes it worth the read is the lively character interactions, the description bringing not just the world but the whole military situation into focus, and the immersive qualities. If you like steampunk, you’ll be doing yourself a disservice by not checking this one out.

P.S. I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley. show less

I know that gunpowder fantasy is a thing but if we don't have gunpowder punk yet this might be the the first book of its type. Yes, there are steam-powered dirigibles in this work, and the author's efforts at making her technology have verisimilitude is what makes this novel sci-fi, but this work owes as much to Bernard Cornwell or George MacDonald Fraser as it does to Naomi Novik or David Weber; not to mention any genre work where one has the trope of the 'competent man' trying to not be dragged down by their corrupt and decadent superiors while saving the day. So, an interminable series of wars to grab the constituent parts of a fallen empire, which has been so bloody that there are few scruples about tossing women into the meat show more grinder and the aristocracy is just about out of idiot sons to throw away, is the background for the story of Josette Dupre (first female airship commander of her service) and Lord Bernat (the wastrel assigned as a shadow to undermine said command); let's just say that things blow up real good. It'll be interesting to see whether Bennis can maintain the momentum of this apparent series. show less

I’ve been binge reading the Dresden Files for the last month, and whenever I read a long series that I get really into, I almost invariably dislike the next book I read because it can’t compare to the bond I’ve built with the characters I’ve spent so much time with recently. The Guns Above is one of those few books that put the “almost” in the previous sentence, because despite the odds, I really liked it.

Josette Dupre has just become the first female airship captain in the history of the Garnian military, promoted for her distinction in battle by direct order of the king. This doesn’t sit too well with the the general in charge of the ongoing war and her new command ends up being an untested and probably dangerous show more airship. To make matters worse, she is ordered to take the general’s nephew, Lord Bernat, along as an observer on her mission to and she knows that his job is to report her behavior unfavorably no matter what she does.

This book reminded me a lot of the Shadow Campaigns series by Django Wexler – they have a similar technology level (minus the airships), and both are about women who are soldiers above everything else. The airships and how they work are described in loving detail, and it helps make the world feel lived-in. The plot is fairly basic, but it feels exciting because there’s a lot of action that’s very well done and uses the airships in ways unique to their design.

I am often skeptical of steampunk books because I’ve read a few of them that are great about describing the technology and world, but don’t do a great job with the characters. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that characterization was one of this book’s biggest strengths. All the characters seem like normal people, admirable in some ways, deeply annoying in others, and very relatable overall. Bernat is an insufferable jerk and never really ceases being one, but the author somehow manages to make him lovable somehow. Josette is witty, courageous, and determined to a fault, but the flip side of that is that her single-mindedness makes her pretty scary and/or mean on occasion. And even though she is relentless in the air, she’s still vulnerable when facing people with the power to take away what she loves. Both Josette and Bernat are both viewpoint characters, which is fun because for most of the book, they’re never more than a few feet from each other and so we’re getting wildly different perspectives on the same events in real time.

The Guns Above is the first of a series, but you wouldn’t know that from the ending, it tells a complete story without any cliffhangers. And it’s a debut novel, which I wouldn’t have guessed from how polished it is. I’ll definitely be reading further books in the series. show less

Josette Dupre is tough and smart and I look forward to reading more about her adventures. Steampunk detail became monotonous for me but the amusing tone and entertaining characters were more than enough to carry this story. Surprisingly incorporates a reflective look at the realities of war that transcend time, place, and technology. The structure of the narrative is standard for this genre but the plot takes a few unseen turns. The relationship between the two main characters is refreshing and Josie is a tiny but fierce force of knowledge, determination, and grit.

This science fiction thriller was a true delight! It was fun, fast paced, and I adored the heroine.

Padma Mehta’s a crotchety union rep dreaming of retirement and her plans to buy a distillery. But for her dreams to come true, she needs to get thirty-three more people for her head count. Which means she needs to wait for thirty-three more people to fall from the sky.

Most of known space is controlled by three mega-corporations, who rely on the labor of indentured servants. But corporate life isn’t all its cracked up to be, and some indentures Breach – fleeing down the space elevator to the Union on Padma’s backwater, sugar cane producing planet.

When a small time con artist tells Padma that forty people are about to Breach, of show more course Padma checks it out. But in her desperate bid to make her headcount, Padma stumbles onto a plot that could endanger her entire planet.

Padma was far and away my favorite thing about Windswept. She’s just so self confident and audacious! I knew I utterly loved her when near the beginning of the book she’s pulling Breaches out of the ocean when some corporate ships start to go after their boat. Padma jumps overboard, uses her SF mind link thingie to take a photo of the corporate boats speeding away from her, and posts the photo on the net with a caption something like, “WalWa sees me drowning and does nothing! Hire lawyers and avenge me!” How can you not love a heroine like that? Plus, it’s rare to find an older heroine in science fiction. Padma was great on so many levels.

I also enjoyed the world Rakunas has created. I always like when speculative fiction novels actually consider how economics impact their setting, and Windswept was great for this. Padma’s planet is entirely reliant on the production of sugar cane, since industrial grade molasses is used as fuel for space ships. If the sugar cane crop fails, the economy fails with it, and the Union and all its workers would be at the mercy of the corporate overlords.

Windswept was just so much fun. The pacing’s good, and the action snaps along. I wouldn’t say it belongs to the subgenre of science fiction humor, but what humor it has is excellently used. Basically, it’s such a great debut. I can’t wait to read the sequel!

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page. show less

While a tad slow to start, once the engines get revving in this military-steampunk adventure, they really get going. The airship details and battlefield tactics have a fascinatingly realistic feel that reminded me of fantastic flintlock fantasy novels like those by Brian McClellan and Django Wexler. I'm very happy to see steampunk going in this direction!

Military fantasy is not normally something I pick up. I am so glad that I did decide to give this one a try. Josette and Bernie are such great characters. I loved the way they played off of each other. Military fans will love the descriptions of the Mistral and how airships work. We also get some of the most intense battle scenes where I wanted to start blowing on the pages to try and clear the smoke to see what would happen next. By the time we get to the end I was as drained as the characters. What an outstanding debut novel. I hope we will be getting more of the crew of the Mistral. There must be more adventures awaiting them!