The Aeronaut's Windlass

I really liked this book.  I read it all in a day and I will re-read it a couple of times, I am quite sure.

The plot flew, the characters were interesting, the world building fantastic.  I read it all in a day, mostly on the treadmill.

My only quibble, and I wish I didn't notice it, is that although there are a several female POV characters, the book is missing women in the background, and older women.  The Master Mage is an elderly male with a younger female apprentice, the older guard is male with two young women trainees.  Our ship has a male captain and apparently and entirely male crew, but his ex-wife commands another ship.  Although we see no women in the crew on her ship.

The military of the enemy spire exhibits casual sexism, but "our guys" are only a little better.  The ex-wife makes a comment about the engineer allowing women in the engine room.  I wasn't sure from that if we were supposed to see women in public life as a new thing in Albion.

One of the trainee's mother gets a short POV.  A major villain is female but she is the puppet to an unknown master (whose gender may not yet be specified).  And the exterminators are mentioned as being male and female, although the two named ones (the guild master and the dead guy) are male.

I really doubt that this was intentional on the author's part.  It didn't keep me from enjoying the book, but as a middle-aged woman in the background, I'd like to see more of my own.  There were a number of minor characters that could have easily been made female, Esterbrook, either ship's surgeon, the inn keeper, the guild master, the Spirearch, Barnabus....

I really like this author and I would love to have a skillful way to bring it to his attention without risking offending him.  Ah well.

P.S. The only people specifically mentioned as black or brown are foreigners at the docks.  Albion could be a multi racial society, but it seems unlikely as the black and brown folks are presented as "other". Is the guy on the cover the ship's captain, who is explicitly middle aged in the text?  Also, when did I start noticing this shit?  I really wish I didn't, but I also think unless people notice it won't change.