Bennis’s sequel to 2017’s The Guns Above finds the crew of the Mistral in a darker place. The war is not going well, the captain’s homeland is now behind enemy lines, and the people in charge don’t make a lot of sense. But the snark and sass persist (think Cath-22 or M. A. S. H.). Jump on for another strong military adventure with airships and way too much politics for the likes of our hero, Captain Josette Dupre.

A slow start but a cracking finish as the author catches up with Josette and Bernat. I won’t lie I find Josette cold and lacking in emotion at times but as a woman making huge strides in what has been traditionally a male environment I do understand just why she might be cautious. This book sees her struggling to ‘save’ her mother and captured home town but there are political hoops to jump through first.
Betnat is a character that is still evolving and in this story his somewhat foppish, dandy like ways take quite a bashing. I won’t say too much but he’s possibly my favourite character but then again I do have a soft spot for brave Kember who makes such an impact in this book. Plus we see Roland , Bernats brother trying to court Josette but is he really man enough for her ?
Yes admittedly there are a lot of long descriptive passages as the author tries to bring the technology in this story to life but I found myself less bothered by that as I continued to read. I picked this because I enjoy steampunk but to my mind it’s really less steampunk and more just an alternative history. Don’t expect magic or miraculous inventions because that’s not what this world is about. It’s about war, greed, those with power who abuse it and then ultimately those mere plebs, the little people who can rise up and make such a difference. The initial third or so didn’t really capture my interest if I’m brutal but as it hurtled towards the end I was completely riveted to the page. It’s not a romance but I can’t help but want Josette to see Bernat in a different light and no I don’t care who he or she has previously slept with.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

She leaned over and said, “We might die in a minute, Bernie. Anything left to say?”
He spent a few moments staring contemplatively into the lightning-lit clouds. Finally, he said, “I’m not the slightest bit sorry I slept with your mother.”
- from the uncorrected proof of By Fire Above

So Robyn Bennis’s debut The Guns Above was one of the most fun books I’d read in a while - nothing but nonstop steampunk airship battles punctuated by witty banter from lovable characters. I got lazy and didn’t read my ARC of The Guns Above until well after its publication because of, well, laziness and graduate school. Anyway, when Netgalley posted an ARC of the sequel, By Fire Above, I leapt at the chance to read it so fast I nearly got whiplash.

If you haven’t read The Guns Above, but you’re a fan of Steampunk Military Sci-Fi/Fantasy featuring mid-19th century tech and badass female heroes, then you should read it. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Ok, so let’s recap.The stars of the Signal Airship series consist of Josette Dupre, badass airship captain extraordinaire. And her onetime enemy turned friend, Lord Bernat Manatio Jebrit Aoue Hinkal, aka Bernie - Garnia’s #1 upperclass twit of the year for at least a decade, with zero military experience yet hangs around the airship anyway, and also has a penchant for gambling, booze and older women, including Elsie, Josette’s mom. Which isn’t awkward at all.

Yup. Bernie in a nutshell. He’s the lovable twit to Josette’s level-headed awesomeness.

By Fire Above picks up exactly where The Guns Above left off - Durum, Josette’s hometown, has been taken by the enemy nation of Vinzhalia. Elsie is stuck as a POW in Durum, much to Bernat’s distress, less so for Josette, who has some pretty mixed feelings about her mom. Anyway, the airship, the Mistral, has been left severely damaged, and after barely making it back to the city of Arle, Josette and her crew await their next set of orders. Will they be sent north, into the Meatgrinder (Which is not a rock formation, as Bernat would like to think)? Nope, their orders are to go to the city of Kuchin to take part in a goddamn publicity tour.

Yay?

Not yay. Josette is way better at navigating a damaged airship than she is at interacting with the upper echelons of society. Among Garnia’s Lords and Ladies, Josette is pretty much hopeless. Enter Bernat’s surprisingly charming and handsome older brother, Roland. Roland seems, much to Bernie’s horror, pretty taken with Josette, and it’s not as if Josette is eager to get back at Bernie for, you know, sleeping with her mom… Basically, Roland and Josette get along swimmingly and Bernie hates it.
It’s hard not to read this series, and all of Josette and Bernie’s banter and spend the whole time being like: KISS, GODDAMN IT!

I ship Bernie and Josette so hard. Even though Bernie has that thing with Josette’s mom and Josette maybe/maybe not has a thing for Roland. I just want them to get together so bad and banter at each other day-in day-out, all the time always. Like an airship with a malfunctioning steamjack, I will go down with this ship.

The best thing about By Fire Above is that it improves on one of the aspects that was lacking in The Guns Below - moments for the characters to breathe. The Guns Above was a ton of fun, but it was also nonstop action, action, action, technical specs, action, more tech, action, action…In By Fire Above we get to see our characters off the battlefield, doing something other than trying desperately to not die all the time. As much as I love tons and tons of action, a little downtime for the characters can be great as well.
There’s still tons of action, steampunk tech and the main characters doing their best to not die, though.
Also, I would love a whole book that is just Bernie trying to teach Josette the proper way to address the king. I’d read it and then ship Bernie/Josette even harder. So what if he slept with her mom?
One thing I also wish we had: a map of the world of Garnia and Vinzhalia and where everything is located in relation to everything else. The ARCs I read didn’t have any maps in them, and I like maps. Maps are fun.
Anyway! I must now resign myself to the long wait between now and whenever book 3 comes out. I will have even longer to wait now that I actually got the point of an “advanced review” and reviewed the ARC before publication. Ugghhh but that means I’ll probably have to wait until next year…waiting is the worst.

Definitely keeping up with this series. Thanks for letting me read it before my students!