I love Olivia Atwater's novels and when I saw that she had a new series with her husband, I was immediately drawn to request the book - even though space opera steampunk is not my thing. (Comparable: I LOVE Jim Butcher's Dresden Files but have never been able to read Cinder Spires even though I adore the way he tells a story.) Still, I was intrigued and thought it worth a try.

I should not be surprised that I didn't enjoy the concept. I should also not be surprised that a joint venture would not be written in the voice of a single one of the authors participating in it but would rather be a joint voice. I was surprised by both of these things - particularly by how aggressive and dark the opening scenes of this one turned out to be. This is not the Olivia Atwater of Regency or Victorian Faerie Tales, that's for sure! I can't really speak to it as an exemplar of its genre, as I neither know the genre nor finished this one - it was too much not-for-me for me to continue, despite my best attempts.

If you're going into this looking to have a gap-filler until the next Olivia Atwater comes out, you may find yourself disappointed. If you do into it for itself, you will likely have much better luck, at least according to what I'm seeing from other reviewers!

I really enjoyed this book!

I found this to be a wonderfully fun read, deeply atmospheric steampunk vibes that enhanced my enjoyment. I loved the characters and the found family trope was done really well here.

I admit I was more invested in the characters than the plot at times, but that by no means the plot was bad, just that the character's are what I felt drove the story forward.

Overall, I thought this was well written, enjoyable and just a very fun read. I am looking forward to more from these authors.

4.5/5 rounded off to 5 stars.

Thank you to Victory Editing and Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own and I am posting voluntarily.

steampunk fantasy, flying ships, action packed and character driven.

Echoes of the Imperium was a very fun romp with non stop action and adventure, but with a cosy, found family dynamic to it.

I really enjoyed this one and I hope there will be more to come!

3.5/5, rounded up

I requested this book on a complete whim. I hadn't read either of the authors before, but was interested by the steampunk and airship descriptors. There is a sort of humorous and cozy-adjacent tone to the story. It isn't low stakes, but there's a motley crew led by a spirited goblin captain who is more endearing than menacing, knitwear, and broken teacups that give it a lighter atmosphere. Despite this, Echoes of the Imperium is packed with a surprising amount of meaningful and heavy topics. Consequences of war. Reckoning with a problematic past. Seeking redemption. Working through grief.

Personally I found the pacing a bit uneven. There were parts that lulled where I struggled to stay engaged - I ended up skimming a few small sections. I also wanted more clear worldbuilding. The characters were the focus. It's a fun, diverse, and distinct bunch. They all have their own quirks and pasts that I imagine over the course of the series will be further expanded on. I really enjoyed the found family. There's all kinds of different family dynamics explored.

Thank you NetGalley and Starwatch Press for the copy!

It took me longer than usual to read this one, but it is by no means, the book’s fault. It’s just that I started it and then remembered that I had two buddy reads planned. So I had to put this one on hold for a bit before going back to it. And I loved every moment I spent with this!
(also, be warned that some of the points in this review are the same I made in the review for one of the shorter stories, because they really are the strength of this series!!)

1)A Goblin Captain. William is an amazing character, goblin or not goblin. But still, the fact that we have a goblin captain is just soooo cool!

2)Flying Ships. Because as cool things went, flying ships are pretty high on the list, too.

3)Amazing characters. You need to meet the crew. They are all unique and they feel so real! And I can’t choose a favorite, I simply cannot. I love them all. For example, the head gunner is an older lady, a former teacher. And she is not the only “old” lady on board. We have also older men, asidethe younger ones. And I love to see some age diversity in my books!!

4)Adventures! Fights! Heist! Shawbuckling! Daring Escapades! Even more daring Plans! Oh my! There is so much happening between these pages! And you will find yourself on the edge of your sit, because you need to know how they would come out of a certain situation, or how they would do a certain things because the odds are all against them. Time and again. And William and his crew are there, with a new, mad plan. It is so fun! And so unbelievable, but in the best possible way! And the gal of them all! It reminded me a bit of Locke Lamora. And I loved it!

5)The Humor. This book made me laugh (and cry, a bit. Do not trust the authors they are bad and they will make you suffer!!!). It is full of action, it has a lot going on, and there are some really deep themes in there, but it has a levity to it, too, a sense of humor that is so pervasive and so good!

6)The Deeper Themes. As if all the things above weren’t enough. This book starts pretty small, but slowly you will find yourself knee-deep in some really heavy themes, because this book is not only about the best found family ever, or mad adventures, but it is also about personal growth, it is about taking responsibility for the choices we made in the past, it is about carrying the weight of something that it is way bigger than us, and it is about making the right choices. It is so deep, too, and the authors did an amazing job with all of these, they treat all these heavy topics with deep care and tact.

7)Found Family. It is one of my favorite tropes and here we have one of the best.

It is really hard to write a review for this book and to make it justice, because really, it is just good. So… yeah, I’ve tried, and I am really happy that this is the first review I share with you all, because this book was a great way to end the year, and talking about it is a great way to start the new one!

I've been trying to figure out to review this book. I liked the characters and the writing style. The worldbuilding is fun and well laid out. But I seriously struggled to care about the plot of this book. At every turn, I was uninvested.

Tho technically this is marketed as a book 1, it did feel like it was relying on the "prequel" first book too much for it to be a good entry point to the series. I would recommend going back to read "book 0" first. The biggest thing I felt like I was missing here was reasons to care about the character relationships and pasts.

Thanks to Netgalley and Starwatch Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Echoes of the Imperium by Nicholas Atwater & Olivia Atwater 100% has Firefly / Serenity vibes, if Firefly had Fae and goblins and River got her powers from Faery magic. For the record, I'm here for that! There's a lot of parallels, so I pictured Nathan Fillion in my mind the entire time as the MC, but it worked. Echoes is action packed, which will be appreciated by anyone who loves a plot driven book. There's a lot less on the character development front, but that didn't deter from my enjoyment or connection with certain characters and their found family, but I can see how those who love character driven books will be let down here. Fellow steampunk airship pirate fantasy space opera (well minus the 'space') fans, pick this one up!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a really refreshing and cool setting with some very intricate political inner workings (which I'm still not exactly sure if I fully understand it).

I really enjoyed getting to know all the characters aboard the Iron Rose however I feel like we were working with a really big cast and some of them were just quite superficial. Still I think the authors did a really good job fleshing out the main character and his closest companions, specially with the flashbacks. I really enjoyed those.

My main problem with this book is how action packed it was. There was soooo much action and the scenes on itself were incredibly long, which made them feel very drawn out and I would catch myself logging off sometimes. I wish there was more quiet and introspective moments.

The ending was quite satisfying so I will have to ponder if I want to continue the series.

Thanks to the Altwaters & Netgalley for opening up my eyes to another great subgenre of fantasy tye steampunk-fantasy world. Imaginative, refreshing & unique
Echoes of the Imperium" is for readers who appreciate character-driven stories, found family dynamics, and inventive takes on the steampunk and fantasy. Its blend of humor, action, and depth makes it a standout addition to contemporary fantasy literature.

World-building is intricate, blending elements of steampunk technology with fantasy creatures like goblins and faeries, set against the backdrop of a world recovering from imperial collapse.

I recommend you give this fun romp a try

Echoes of the Imperium is the perfect blend of pirates, adventure, unique characters, and found family. It feels like a high fantasy version of the movie Treasure Planet. I loved the diversity of the characters, and the thought put into each of them. Usually when there are more than a few characters mentioned I start to get everyone confused, but I did not have that issue with this book despite the character list being lengthy, and I very quickly found myself invested in the fate of this little band of misfits. This was such a fun, swashbuckling read, thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC!

Echoes of the Imperium is the first novel in the steampunk series Tales of the Iron Rose, written by Nicholas and Olivia Atwater. An imaginative story that deliciously twists many of the classic fantasy archetypes to create a swashbuckling adventure, full of heart and action, in a romp of a book.

William Blair is the beloved captain of the Iron Rose, a goblin that manages to make his 5 feet height work; most of the crew has a past behind, but boarding into the Iron Rose means leaving all of those grievances behind. To keep sailing with the Rose, captain Blair and the crew are forced to take, let's say, some questionable jobs; and the last one includes smuggling blasphemous materials, and somehow, because life is not hard enough, an agreement with a fae, because the word of a goblin values a ton.

With this premise, the Atwaters take us into a extremely fun story, but which also excels at creating a found family cast; because everybody in the Iron Rose is memorable in their own way: from the engineer, to the fae navigator, to the own captain. Mixing together more action focused sequences with flashbacks about the past, we have a really balanced storytelling that makes reading it an absolute pleasure.

The worldbuilding is another highlight of this novel; from the past that marks how the current world looks, with the Imperium that was shattered in different small countries, and the own conflict against the Seelie. All is presented in a really smooth way, combined with a great pacing.

Echoes of the Imperium is an excellent way to kickstart this steampunk series, perfect if you are looking for a fantasy proposal non afraid of twist the tropes of the genre to create an swashbuckling adventure. Can't wait to read more about the captain Blair.

This steampunk fantasy is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this year! Meet the crew of the Iron Rose - one of the most endearing crews of swashbuckling pirates to ever sail the skies. The crew comprises goblins, hobgoblins, and humans and of all ages and backgrounds. There’s even a terrifying faerie navigator who guides the aether-powered ship. Despite the fact that many of them fought on opposite sides of a brutal civil war, the ship has become a safe home for all its crew.

To keep this spoiler-free, I’ll just say that the adventure kicks off when the captain decides to deliver shady cargo to a city where they may not be welcome. From that point, the story explodes in unexpected directions. I loved every twist and turn.

But in the midst all this excitement, the authors explore the consequences of violence and war on both victims and perpetrators. What happens to soldiers who realize they were on the wrong side of a war? Can they find redemption? Can the living forgive war crimes? This book addresses heavy topics with care and nuance, yet somehow remains a delightful and immensely entertaining adventure. It’s quite a feat!

There’s some great diversity rep: the MC is aro/ace and two prominent side characters are a happily married gay couple. I expect to learn more about other crew members in future books.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC.

This was a great pirate fantasy! The world building was great and it kept me interested the whole time! I would highly recommend if you love pirate fantasy books!

A goblin pirate and his ragtag crew-turned-family take a shady smuggling job and instead find themselves trying to prevent the resurrection of an empire (and confronting their past choices to fight for or against it) in this steampunk epic fantasy adventure.

My favorite aspect of this book was the meditation on empire. Instead of chronicling the chosen one's epic quest to take down THE MAN, the Atwaters begin 20 years after the rebellion is won (with several flashbacks to the direct aftermath). Each member of the Iron Rose crew has a complicated relationship with the former empire and the war that ended it: some were child soldiers, others high-ranking imperials, rebels, or the families left behind. And each continues to strive toward inner peace and communal healing in a variety of ways.

What results is a nuanced exploration of [1] the range of everyday evils to grand atrocities perpetrated by empire; [2] why people get caught up as victims, bystanders, and/or perpetrators; and [3] the choices they can make (epic heroism often not required, thankfully) to resist this status quo. But it's also an ultimately heartwarming story of redemption and found family.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the snarky social commentary of the Murderbot Diaries or the shades-of-grey perspective on empire / rebellion in The Burning Kingdoms.

Thanks to NetGalley and Starwatch Press for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I knew after reading the prequel novella A Matter of Execution that this was a series that had my preferences written all over it and it's nice to be absolutely correct. I had never seen a swashbuckling steampunk that so effectively combined airships and a bit of magic with traditional fae elements. Echoes of the Imperium takes the delightful goblin captain, William Blair, who is introduced in the novella and sets him and his ragtag crew into the path of some very dangerous people who are doing their best to bring back the oppressive empire that Blair and his crew are sworn against.

First off, I'll say that this is the kind of high action swashbuckling adventure that I grew up absolutely loving and I think folks who love a lot of action with loveable characters will get along best with it. The authors certainly don't give the crew a lot of downtime to breathe as they get dragged from one scrape into the next, which made it very difficult to put this book down once I started it.

It also strongly wears its influences on its sleeve and I loved that about it. Echoes gave me the anti-imperial notes I love about the Stars Wars' New Republic era where the oppressive empire has been defeated but certainly hasn't disappeared as various factions fight for control of areas, leaving room for smugglers, pirates and those just trying to get by. Several of the crew (including Blair) are in fact former Imperials trying to make up for their past and seeing them really struggle with that guilt and the strong thematic tones about grief and governance was so deeply compelling to me. You also get a bit of a Firefly vibe, particularly with the humor and Wil being a flawed but heroic captain who is frequently underestimated outside of his crew but never within it.

And the fae element was so well done! It's very much the older style of capricious, heartless fae that don't care about individual mortal lives but only about their own conflicts and interests. And the magic is deeply connected to them and the weapons that they have granted to various mortals. I haven't seen other steampunk weave in this type of worldbuilding and it was so fascinating to see it unveiled.

This may lean a little tropey for some folks but it's so strong on the characters, themes and the social commentary that I found myself alternating between nodding along and laughing out loud at the loving bickering between crew members. The authors mention in the afterword that they wanted to turn some fantasy stereotypes on their heads and they did a spectacular job of it. If you want a high action adventure with loveable characters reckoning with their actions and some great social commentary, I really cannot recommend this highly enough. It's absolutely a new favorite for me!

Definitely swashbuckling piratey adventure. I didn’t quite gel with the writing style. It definitely clicks for others. Thank you to the authors. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I want to thank NetGalley for an arc of this book.

I also want to apologize, because I was not able to get through this book fully like I wanted to. It sound amazing at the time when I read the blurb and was excited to get it. However as I began to read through it, I could not get my mind to settle with the book and just struggled with each page. I'm sure it is an amazing book for others to enjoy and I hope in the future I get another chance at reading this again!

I would recommend that before you read this book, you read the prequel novella, A Matter of Execution. It’s not necessary to understand Echoes of the Imperium, but it does set you up mentally for it.

The authors did such a great job developing these characters and giving them so much depth, I really enjoyed how unique each of their personalities is. This eclectic cast is a crew on a pirate ship and their adventures give off major Firefly/Treasure Planet/Atlantis: The Lose Empire vibes. This is very much found family in action.

This book was quite fast paced (until around 75% where is slows down, but it picks back up again at the end) we have a smuggling agreement gone terribly awry, airship battles, hidden identities, unholy aether, betrayal, goblin overlords (underlords?), not-quite-necromancy, otherworldly Fae... this book had so much going on (in a good way)!

I recommend this to those who enjoy steampunk fantasy, pirates, fae, and serious socio-political topics like Imperialism and the consequences caused by it. Found family trope is prevalent.

The plot on this book was really good! I felt like the story was non-stop, and I never really wanted to put the book down. There were parts that felt a bit sluggish whilst I was reading than others, but in retrospect I can’t really remember exactly what these parts were!
There were some parts that were quite confusing- like the Iron Rose (is it in the sky? The water?) the connection of gods to the Fae, as well as why the war began in the first place. More explanation on the coalition vs the imperial armies would have been really good, as well as a map of the world.
In a steampunk / fantasy setting this was really good, I really enjoyed the use of aether in this book and how it was different to what I’d read before! I also really loved the characters and the complexity of relationships between everyone, especially Mary’s growth! I really love the found family trope, so this was really great to read in this book, as well as everyone learning sign language for Little.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did not buy this book, I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for a review. But I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading this book even if I had some tiny nitpicks, so I'm probably going to go buy my own copy as soon as it comes out in paperback. Nicholas Atwater is an author I'm happy to support, and will probably end up on my auto-buy list (which is incredibly short, and incidentally includes his partner Olivia whose books I 10/10 recommend).

So you know those really annoying blurbs on the back of your book, the ones that say “Delightful! Entertaining! Passionate!” about a book that is clearly anything but, making it painfully obvious that the reviewer hasn’t even looked at the book, much less read it? Well that isn’t the case with Echoes of the Imperium. Everything complimentary I’ve read so far has proven true, over and over again. Detailed, intriguing worldbuilding? Check. Optimistic steampunk setting? Check. High octane adventures full of space pirates and magic? Check check check.

If you told me that this book was born from the authors experience in tabletop RPGs, I’d believe it - reading it felt like watching an old episode of Critical Role in the best way. You can almost feel the author/DM cackling in delight as his characters make a bad roll and end up on another side quest adventure. The book is very well thought out, with different story threads and call backs coming together throughout, adding deeper layers of emotional depth to what would otherwise be a simple adventure tale. The only nitpick I would make here is that this adventuring style makes the book feel almost episodic. Each chapter is a gripping, exciting look into Wil’s latest shenanigans on behalf of his crew, but at the end of the chapter, it feels almost like “well that side quest wrapped up nicely. Let me take a break and tune in next week to see what else that rascal has been up to.” Personally, I do most of my reading at night so this worked in my favor, as it meant I actually got some sleep in between chapters. But if you are looking for a book that you absolutely can’t put down, that pacing just isn’t there. Since it personally didn’t bother me, I’m not even gonna knock off a quarter of a star.

Things I loved: The knitting gunnery ladies, bloodthirsty Mary, how very very different the fae in this book are, how nothing is quite black and white - even the bad guys have understandable motives and aren’t just caricature villains, and the goblin underground (which I won’t say much more about because spoilers). I also really loved the relationship between Miss Hawkins and Aesir.

Things I didn’t: I love Dougal, I loved Aesir and his mecha-arm, I didnae love reading his highland accent though, laddie. I get what the author was going for, but I hate reading accents, it gives me a headache. I bet it sounds amazing on the audiobook though.

Also, while I appreciated that the author took great care to make sure there were no alpha-holes in this book, at some point he took it too far. A very important plot point hinges on the fact that in a moment of great emotional distress and incredible tension, a main character snapped something unkind at another character who is basically a brother to him. It was not a statement calculated to hurt, but it landed poorly. This main character then spends a solid chapter worrying how to make amends, and getting the cold shoulder from several other characters for the thing he said. It just read as disingenuous to me, because while this character was bending over backwards to make amends to his friend, and everyone offended on his friend’s behalf, it didn’t seem like anyone was hold grace for him, and I didn’t love it. Again, my only criticisms of this book are incredibly nitpicky, and I won’t knock off stars for something that is my personal preference but not actually a flaw in the storytelling.

Recommended for: Fans of Becky Chambers, Critical Role, and Firefly, people as allergic to grimdark nonsense as I am, people who don’t mind reading accents, people who want to envision their magic fighter pilots in kilts, people who want magic fairy swords, gunpowder grenades, and heists all in the same book.