#47 Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
All citizens of Alera have are blessed with a fury, an elemental spirit that gives them specific powers. Tavi is different. Although he is already
fifteen, he remains without a fury. Fortunately, due to his intelligence, Tavi has managed to overcome this disability in his day to day life. But when Calderon Valley is invaded by the Marat, a race of barbarians from the north, Tavi finds himself caught up in the middle of a storm of violence and intrigue that will change his life forever.
Furies of Calderon is the first in a six book epic fantasy series by Jim Butcher. About a week ago my fiance finished up First Lord's Fury, the final book, and plopped all six books on my desk. From his expectant look, it was obvious that I had quite a bit of reading ahead of me. While reading Furies of Calderon, the first thing that struck me was how different it was from Jim Butcher's more popular series, The Dresden Files. The most obvious difference is that The Codex Alera is a traditional, epic fantasy series, instead of an urban fantasy series. It's written in a third person omniscient narrative instead of a first person point of view. The language is much more formal and lacks most of the humor present in The Dresden Files. It's also not as faced paced, although I wouldn't necessarily call it slow. The protagonist, Tavi, is a far cry from Harry Dresden. Tavi is much younger, more naive and less jaded than Harry. His lack of a fury also makes him the weakest character, power-wise, in the entire book. This is quite a change from the very powerful Harry Dresden.
Once I got used to how dramatically different this book was from The Dresden Files, I found that I enjoyed it. Yes, Furies of Calderon doesn't shine quite as bright as the latter Dresden Files novels, but then again some of the earlier Dresden Files novels are equally less impressive than the latter Dresden Files novels. Jim Butcher mines the fantasy cliches a little too deep at times (Furies of Calderon is basically a new twist on the farm boy saves the universe trope), but there are plenty of positive aspects of the books that save it from becoming too derivative. Jim Butcher has a talent for writing gripping action sequences, and there are plenty to be found here. Characterization is, for the most part, done quite well, although to be honest I found many of the secondary characters to be more interesting than Tavi himself. I had a real soft spot for Amara a Cursor (spy) recently graduated from the academy. Her mentor Fidelias, one of the more complex characters of the book, and really grabbed my attention. Some of the secondary characters, are also quite interesting, but I found myself a little frustrated with the two-dimensional characterization of Kord, a minor villain.
Furies of Calderon may be a little rough around the edges, but it shows all of the signs of being a solid start to a promising series. It's difficult not to be drawn into the world of Alera. You can tell by the way that Butcher writes that to him, writing and publishing The Codex Alera is not a way to squeeze more money out of his fans. He obviously deeply cares about the story he created here, and that passion carries through very well. This is always something satisfying to see when it comes to reading fiction.
Rating: four out of five stars
Length: 504 pages
Source: borrowed from Tanner
Challenges: This book is not part of any challenges
Similar Books: The set up is similar to Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Trilogy, although the execution is much more satisfying.
Other books I've read by this author: Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight ( my review), Death Masks ( my review), Blood Rites ( my review), Dead Beat (my review),Proven Guilty (my review), White Night ( my review), Small Favor ( my review), Turn Coat ( my review), and Changes ( my review). I've also read the short story "Something Borrowed" from My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (my review), and "Day Off" from Blood Lite ( my review).
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads
fifteen, he remains without a fury. Fortunately, due to his intelligence, Tavi has managed to overcome this disability in his day to day life. But when Calderon Valley is invaded by the Marat, a race of barbarians from the north, Tavi finds himself caught up in the middle of a storm of violence and intrigue that will change his life forever.
Furies of Calderon is the first in a six book epic fantasy series by Jim Butcher. About a week ago my fiance finished up First Lord's Fury, the final book, and plopped all six books on my desk. From his expectant look, it was obvious that I had quite a bit of reading ahead of me. While reading Furies of Calderon, the first thing that struck me was how different it was from Jim Butcher's more popular series, The Dresden Files. The most obvious difference is that The Codex Alera is a traditional, epic fantasy series, instead of an urban fantasy series. It's written in a third person omniscient narrative instead of a first person point of view. The language is much more formal and lacks most of the humor present in The Dresden Files. It's also not as faced paced, although I wouldn't necessarily call it slow. The protagonist, Tavi, is a far cry from Harry Dresden. Tavi is much younger, more naive and less jaded than Harry. His lack of a fury also makes him the weakest character, power-wise, in the entire book. This is quite a change from the very powerful Harry Dresden.
Once I got used to how dramatically different this book was from The Dresden Files, I found that I enjoyed it. Yes, Furies of Calderon doesn't shine quite as bright as the latter Dresden Files novels, but then again some of the earlier Dresden Files novels are equally less impressive than the latter Dresden Files novels. Jim Butcher mines the fantasy cliches a little too deep at times (Furies of Calderon is basically a new twist on the farm boy saves the universe trope), but there are plenty of positive aspects of the books that save it from becoming too derivative. Jim Butcher has a talent for writing gripping action sequences, and there are plenty to be found here. Characterization is, for the most part, done quite well, although to be honest I found many of the secondary characters to be more interesting than Tavi himself. I had a real soft spot for Amara a Cursor (spy) recently graduated from the academy. Her mentor Fidelias, one of the more complex characters of the book, and really grabbed my attention. Some of the secondary characters, are also quite interesting, but I found myself a little frustrated with the two-dimensional characterization of Kord, a minor villain.
Furies of Calderon may be a little rough around the edges, but it shows all of the signs of being a solid start to a promising series. It's difficult not to be drawn into the world of Alera. You can tell by the way that Butcher writes that to him, writing and publishing The Codex Alera is not a way to squeeze more money out of his fans. He obviously deeply cares about the story he created here, and that passion carries through very well. This is always something satisfying to see when it comes to reading fiction.
Rating: four out of five stars
Length: 504 pages
Source: borrowed from Tanner
Challenges: This book is not part of any challenges
Similar Books: The set up is similar to Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Trilogy, although the execution is much more satisfying.
Other books I've read by this author: Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight ( my review), Death Masks ( my review), Blood Rites ( my review), Dead Beat (my review),Proven Guilty (my review), White Night ( my review), Small Favor ( my review), Turn Coat ( my review), and Changes ( my review). I've also read the short story "Something Borrowed" from My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (my review), and "Day Off" from Blood Lite ( my review).
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads