In Robyn Bennis’s novel, The Guns Above, we follow the adventures of Josette Dupre and her crew onboard the Aerial Signal Corp’s airship The Mistral. From the first few pages you are pulled into an ongoing war set in an European-esque landscape. Two major military powers, the Vinzhalians and Garnians, are once again at war.

The weapons of war are muskets, cannon, infantry, calvary, and airships. The book takes place primarily aboard the airship Mistral. Josette Dupre is the first female captain of a Garnian airship. Robyn Bennis builds a world similar to our own in many ways. Women are allowed into the military but their role is an auxiliary capacity. While Josette is a brilliant tactician the sexism in the military bureaucracy is blatant and she is constantly one step from losing her command.

The book opens with Josette having to take command of her previous airship assignment after the captain is killed in combat. While officially prohibited from doing so Josette takes command and in a daring maneuver sacrifices her disabled airship to turn the tide in a battle the Garnian army was sure to lose. In the process she is able to saver her crew and many soldiers on the ground.

Following this battle the newspapers celebrate her ingenuity and leadership so much that the Garnian royalty promote Josette to Senior Lieutenant and give her the command of a new airship, Mistral. Senior military officers don’t look favorably on this, especially the supreme commander of the Garnian forces General Lord Fieren, seeing it as interfering with the “proper” way to run the military. After begrudgingly promoting Josette and informing her of her new command Fieren seeks out a way to discredit Josette. He incorrectly assumes Josette is seeking fame and favor with the royal family. Neither is true but Fieren is too close mined, and concerned about his own reputation, to consider any other reason for Josette’s success.

Playing a part in Fieren’s plan is Lord Bernat Manatio. He is a spoiled aristocrat that is down on his luck. After running out of money gambling and socializing he messages his mother for additional funds. In response she instructs him to visit his uncle, General Lord Fieren. Bernat finds out that he isn’t being offered money but a commission in the army. As chance would have it Bernat meets with his uncle at the same time Josette arrives to receive her promotion and command. Bernat picks up on his uncle’s dislike of Josette and seizes on the opportunity to be assigned to the Mistral as his uncle’s spy. Specifically he is tasked with noting every mistake Josette makes and report on her every flaw as an officer. The goal being to discredit Josette without directly confronting the royal family.

This obviously doesn’t go over well with Josette who instinctively  understands why Bernat has been assigned to her crew. But she has a duty to fulfill and has no choice in the matter. After recruiting a crew the Mistral takes off for a series of performance evaluations. It is a new class of airship so a number of trials are to be conducted to see how well the new airframe and engines perform.

One of the prominent members of the crew is Sergeant Jutes. He is an experienced airman and served with Josette on a previous ship, the Osprey, where she had to take command. He unquestionably follows Josette’s orders which helps keep some of the unruly crew in line. To the crew he is a stone faced authority on the ship. With Josette he offers his honest opinions but respects whatever decision Josette makes.

What starts out as a routine operation becomes a mission to thwart a major enemy incursion. Josette’s knack for reading situations saves her life and that of her crew several times. But even when she succeeds the powers that be, especially General Lord Fieren, see her as a grandstanding glory seeker.

Regardless of the push back she receives over the course of the book Josette wins the trust of the crew. This includes Bernat who begins to see Josette’s dedication as well as that of the crew of the Mistral. He begins to be accepted by both which causes him to become conflicted in his role of a spy for his uncle.

Josette is tested at every turn and needs to rely on her skill and crew to succeed. Her confidence grows over the course of the book as she adapts to changing battlefields, both in the air and on the ground.

Bennis writes battles that had me anticipating what was going to happen next. Airships in The Guns Above are little more than blimps armed with cannon. It is basically a wood frame with buoyant luftgas (what Bennis cleverly calls helium in her novel) filled chambers to get airborne. Quarters are cramped and most of the usable space onboard is taken up by the steamjack engines and the weapons. As airships exchange fire there is nowhere to hide. Airship captains make use of every advantage to give themselves an edge. In addition to the two main cannon on the Mistral many of her crew take up the role of rifleman. Combat between airships quickly gets personal. The onboard weapons are by necessity light which limits their range.

Without making it a lesson on aeronautics Bennis is able to explain how these ships fly and what their role in battles is. The Mistral becomes a setting that the reader quickly gets to know. It’s much like the Millenium Falcon in Star Wars or the Enterprise in Star Trek. Even though it is just a ship it takes on a life of its own and you get to know it and become attached to it just like the characters of the story. This could be my sentiment for Star Wars and Star Trek coming through but I believe that when an author creates an exciting vessel as part of a story it becomes a character in its own right.

Josette Dupre is a well written captain. Internally she second guesses herself but in the face of the crew she shows noting but calm and leaves no doubt as to who is in command. Her unusual friendship with Bernat adds some levity to the novel. The battles are gritty and not sugar coated. The horrors of warfare are evident. While this is a fictional novel it is very realistic. Death isn’t something to be faced lightly and each character deals with the stress in their own way.

The Guns Above is relevant today and I found myself considering recent news stories as I read it. Sexism is a central theme throughout the book. Josette has to work twice as hard to move up in the ranks. The concept of an integrated military with men and women fighting side by side is opposed by a leadership that wants to keep a male dominated military. Bennis tackles this topic in a realistic and convincing way.

The book is a fast paced read. The battles are well written and suspenseful. The dialogue has just the right blend of humor and seriousness. Each character is well developed and you find yourself caring for the supporting characters in the crew as well as Josette and Bernat.

The Guns Above is Robyn Bennis’s debut novel and I do hope to learn more about these characters in future novels.

I welcome your feed back on The Guns Above. Please feel free to comment below!

Greytome