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By Fire Above

By Fire Above is the sequel to The Guns Above, a novel that rekindled my romance with steampunk. The steampunk element is mostly limited to the existence of airships. Josette is the first female airship captain in the war between Garnia and Vinzhalia. The aristocratic Lord Bernat was assigned to her ship as a spy, and is now Josette’s staunchest and crankiest supporter. I recommend reading The Guns Above prior to By Fire Above.

In By Fire Above, Josette spends the first part of the book hobnobbing with the aristocracy. She loathes this, of course, and Bernat, who follows her around endlessly coaching her on etiquette, is appalled that she knows so little about the political field of war. Eventually, she is sent to her hometown of Durum to retake it from the Vinzhalian army. This involves a very awkward mother/daughter reunion, resistance work, spycraft, and a war of will between the crew of Josette’s ship and a ridiculously stupid new second-in-command.

Fans of feminism, romance, banter, and military fiction will love this series. It’s similar in tone to the Honor Harrington series, or the Aubrey-Maturin series. Be prepared for a lot of graphic violence. Having said that, I’m generally not a huge fan of military fiction but I love this series. It has a great mix of funny moments, awesome moments, and moments of horror. It’s strongly character-based, with supporting characters (all hail Ensign Kember!) that are as interesting as the extremely interesting and entertaining Josette and Bernat. However, a liason between Josette and Bernat’s brother seemed arbitrarily stuck in to create some comic moments and to remind the reader that Bernat and Josette are friends, not lovers. Despite that one flaw, I eagerly await the next book.

– Carrie S

“All’s fair in love and war,” according to airship captain Josette Dupre, until her hometown of Durum becomes occupied by the enemy and her mother a prisoner of war. Then it becomes, “Nothing’s fair except bombing those Vins to high hell.”

Before she can rescue her town, however, Josette must maneuver her way through the nest of overstuffed vipers that make up Garnia’s military and royal leaders in order to drum up support. The foppish and mostly tolerated Mistral crew member Lord Bernat steps in to advise her, along with his very attractive older brother.

Between noble scheming, under-trained recruits, and supply shortages, Josette and the crew of the Mistral figure out a way to return to Durum—only to discover that when the homefront turns into the frontlines, things are more dangerous than they seem.