This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S WARRIORBORN?
A little time has passed since we met our heroes—training was completed, people have new jobs, promotions were given, the threat of war looms larger, and so on. The status quo, in short, is in flux and everyone's trying to settle in before things get really messed up.

The mysterious and deadly Warriorborn, Benedict Sorellin-Lancaster, has been promoted to lieutenant—as one example. And, as you can guess from this novella's title, we will be focused on him. The Spirearch is sending him on a mission to retrieve certain documents that the Spirearch seems to have misplaced at a colony that's gone radio silent. As backup, Benedict is assigned three other Warriorborn for this mission—deadly criminals put away by Benedict, who will earn freedom in return for their help here. Not exactly a merry band, but they should be enough to tackle most threats they encounter.

But what they find when they arrive at Dependence isn't what anyone figured, and "most" quite definitely doesn't mean "all."

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SERIES
There are a couple of notable things about this novella—first of all, we get a great look into the Warriorborn as a whole, not just what we learned about Benedict in The Aeronaut's Windlass. The Warriorborn was one of the most intriguing concepts from that book, so getting to learn more about them was a treat. That right there is enough to justify the purchase price.

But even better is the little updates we get about many of the primary characters, setting the stage for where they'll be in The Olympian Affair. I was already eager to dive in—seeing these flashes of their future, and the way that the war is progressing just makes me want to tear into The Olympian Affair.

WO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT WARRIORBORN?
This was a fast-moving thrill ride. Yeah, there's some character development and exploration of some of what makes the various characters (particularly the new ones) tick. Butcher knows how to write action—if you've read anything by him, you know this. Throw in some clever dialogue, and that's enough to satisfy me.

The threat that they discover once they get to Dependence is as creepy as you want. The world of The Cinder Spires isn't a kind world, and it's hard for humanity (and felinity) in more than one way, as we're learning now. But as long as there are people like Benedict and the crew of Predator, maybe there's hope.

Despite this being a bridge between Books 1 and 2 of the series, this wouldn't make a bad jumping on point—if you like this quick taste of this world, you'll want to go see how Benedict and the rest got to this point just as much as you're going to want to see what happens to them next.

In a podcast interview, Butcher described this as "an apology novella," due to how long it took to get the second book of the series completed. In the eyes of this fan, apology accepted. ( )

A novella, action-packed, Benedict is sent out by the spirearch on a mission to a 'colony' spire that has stopped communicating -- he is to pick up a parcel and find out what is going on. He is given three warriorborns, all criminals who will be pardoned if they make it back having completed their task (to keep Benedict alive). There are some surprises along the way, of course, and I think just a little nudge in the larger plot made. I have the next book but it must wait in the xmas 'for everybody' pile (we all love fantasy). **** ( )

Warriorborn - Butcher
3 stars

The book is labeled as #1.5 in Butcher’s Cinder Spires series. At 146 pages it might be a short story, or possibly a novella. But, I don’t agree that it is a ‘stand alone’ story. It's actually the first chapters of the second book in the series. This annoying bit of marketing doesn’t prevent Butcher from telling a good story featuring Benedict Sorellin-Lancaster, one of my favorite characters from the first book of the series.

Benedict is sent on a dangerous mission to a colony spire. Disaster follows upon disaster as Benedict and his ill begotten team are forced to the dreaded surface. This is an action adventure with paranormal powers, monsters and talking cats. There’s also a very unfriendly dragon. It’s a good introduction for the long awaited 2nd book in this series. ( )

Warriorborn Lieutenant Sir Benedict is sent on a mission which pits him and his team of 3 warriorborn criminals against completely unexpected antagonists as well as more expected ones. Fortunately he is able to be of service to some unexpected allies as well. ( )