33. "The Court of the Air" by Stephen Hunt

Stephen Hunt's The Court of the Air is a highly original (and thus sometimes challenging for me to comprehend/ follow) work of steampunk. This is also a difficult book for me to evaluate, because I struggled with the first half (300 pages) and nearly put it down multiple times. But I became engrossed at some point after that and ended up enjoying it very much.

The book revolves around two orphans, Molly Templar and Oliver Brooks, who are destined to play the roles of "sword" and "shield" in a coming battle for the future of their country, the Kingdom of Jackals, and ultimately their world. The scope, and especially the battle scene, reminds me somewhat of Tolkien, but there are also references to mythology from our world, such as the ancient Aztecs and the lost civilization of Atlantis.