Furies Of Calderon (Codex Alera, Book 1) by Jim Butcher Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Furies Of Calderon (Codex Alera, Book 1)
Book Review: Can we stop comparing every fantasy novel to Tolkien?
Summary: 5 Stars
First things first: please ignore the reviews that compare this to Tolkien? Except for the fact that both these book and the Lord of the Rings are fantasy novels, they have NOTHING to do with each other, are nothing at all alike. Both excellent reads, but not at all alike.
I'm a big fan of Butcher's Dresden books,. but I avoided this one for a while, just because I've read too much bad fantasy in the last few years, and I've gotten picky about it. Finally picked it up on a whim and was very pleasantly surprised.
Honestly, this is an excellent book, with sympathetic characters, excellent villains, believable politics and a fascinating magic system. It's an interesting twist on the genre, too: the hero is a boy with no magical talent whatsoever, in a world where EVERYBODY is a mage, to a greater or lesser degree.
Definitely worth a read, and I expect to enjoy the rest of the series just as much.
Book Review: Just OK....Way too neat. Happily ever after. Pokemon??
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a huge fantasy fan as well as a Pokemon fan. This book reminded me of Pokemon...Let me explain. The people of this world bond(How does it really happen? It is never explained!) with furies/Pokemon when they get to their mid teens. Like Ash and his buddies in Pokemon. The Furies help them throughout their lives with various tasks that they are bound to depending on what type of Fury they have. Water are healers, Metal are swordsman, Earth are farmers/foresters, etc. The people have little animal/elemental type creatures running around with them helping them in their lives just like Pokemon. I think this idea is really cool, kinda like Pokemon of steroids. Real cool idea and this aspect is really well written throughout the book.
Then comes the happily ever after/Disney part. In the beginning a character DIES, but don't worry here comes the miracle, and a healer does the impossible and saves him. I can buy into this because it was close to the first of the book and it established how powerful some of these people can be, BUT IT KEEPS HAPPENING. Even to the bad guys. By the end of the book almost every character has been ALMOST killed and healed, or so tired they can't use their power then they use it more. One guy gets burried by tons of rock and he is OK. Another gets hung and HE is ok. One gets gutted and he is up and about within a few pages. You get the idea.
Another part of the book I didn't like were the battles. In one part two characters call up their furies and they lay waste to eachother and everything around them(this WAS a cool fight!), then towards the end of the book when things are going bad and the furies would really help, the guy forgets he even has his fury and doesn't even call him up!??? Instead he uses a pole and an axe. It would have been really cool to see his Pokemon/Fury kick some butt. And what about everyone else in the fortress? They ALL have furies!!! Even the halfwit has "some metal craft".
OK.....Enough complaining. I COULD go on. I actually did enjoy this book. If you go into it ready for a childrens book written with some adult events(there is a rape), you will like it more. I think if it got rid of all the adult elements, it would be an AWESOME read for a 10-12 year old. But I wouldn't want my kids to read some of the more graphic scenes in this book. I will get the next one, but at least now I know what I am getting into.
Book Review: Excellent start to a new series
Summary: 5 Stars
I keep underestimating Mr. Butcher - I started off with the Dresden files and figured that I'd give his Codex Alera series a chance as well. It was kind of a "oh, what the heck - it won't be as good (as the Dresden books), but it'll probably be alright". I was wrong - it was terrific!
Jim has a knack for creating characters that you really come to care for. Tavi, a young boy with none of the special abilities to control 'furies' (beings of air, water, earth, fire, metal, and wood) that come natively to the other people of his kind, is essentially 'handicapped' - or so it seems. However, intelligence and courage prove that Tavi can make his own way, learning from his mistakes and showing that determination, bravery, and a quick mind are all that are needed to make one's own mark on the world.
A crackling pace, empathetic characters, and a clever story have made this one of the most enjoyable books I've read lately. Don't be put off by the cover - as I mentioned in a previous review, you really can't judge Jim's books by their covers. 5 stars, and highly recommended for all lovers of fantasy and magic.
Book Review: A very different fantasy world...
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading seven books in the "Dresden" series by Jim Butcher, I started reading the "Codex Alera" series that begins with "Furies Of Calderon", set in a fantasy world where magic is wielded by people who can influence a personal elemental fury that are everywhere in nature. The young Cursor Amara and the older Cursor Fidelias are assigned by the First Lord to investigate rumors of a rebel military force that's threatening to overthrow the Realm. Their loyalties to each other and the Realm are tested when it becomes obvious that Fidelias has thrown his lot in with the rebels and expected her to the do same. She refused to do so and flees to the Calderon Valley at the First Lord's direction to take command of the garrison as he expects the flash point with the rebels to be there. Meanwhile, young Travis, who possesses no fury and is considered an oddball outside his family, and his uncle Bernard are looking for the sheep that Travis was supposed to bring in the previous night before the storm furies overwhelm the Calderon Valley with lethal weather when they come across a Marat scout (a barbarian people who live in the cold, northern reaches beyond the valley) and they barely survive the confrontation. Amara and Travis's fates are intertwined as they unravel the rebel's conspiracy to bring a hoard of Marat warriors into the Valley as an attempt to destabilized the Realm and force out the First Lord in the Senate to set up a new government. Amara takes charge of the garrison to withstand the assault of the first attack with the help of Bernard, and Travis convinces a Marat leader through a personal challenge of honor by saving his daughter that the conflict was a mistake. The fantasy world is consistent and a lot different than I expected it to be, the characters are as interesting as the conflicts that they find themselves thrown into, and the humor is where it's supposed to be. My only complaint with the book is that the series might get too Harry Potter-ish as the First Lord has granted Travis's request to enter the Academy to become a Cursor. Or maybe I'm being too cynical about the future direction of the series without waiting for the next book.Book Review: Very strong heroic fantasy. I recommend this one
Summary: 5 Stars
The emperor is old and his heir is long dead. The Emperor's family has ruled Alera for a thousand years, but that time is now drawing to an end. Once, it was obviously good for the Empire to support the Emperor, but if the emperor is to fail, doesn't it make more sense to prepare for a worthy successor? Isn't it essential to head off the very real possibility of civil war? When a Cursor (sort of a trouble-shooter/spy/mail carrier for the emperor) turns against the emperor himself, the entire empire trembles. Only his young, female, student, Amara, has a chance to right matters--and she hardly knows where to start.
On the Empire's borders, barbarian Marat have been peaceful for more than a decade--after their great defeat by the 'fury'-wielding Alerans. But they are restless again, urged on by schemes of those seeking succession. When a young sheep herder, spots a Marat warrior on Aleran soil, he accelerates the countdown to open warfare. Tavi, the young shepard is one of the few Alerans completely devoid of the power of a fury--the elemental forces that Alerans command--but he has powerful relatives and has seen more than the rebels can afford to have seen.
Author Jim Butcher combines intriguing world-building, sympathetic characters, multiple inter-related subplots, and plenty of action in a the first book in a wonderful fantasy series. Butcher's strong writing brings the reader into the story. Although there's never any doubt who the good-guys are in this story, Butcher recognizes that everyone is the hero of their own story and makes the antagonists sympathetic and even likable.
Underlying Tavi's story is a deep secret--one not fully developed in this novel, but that will gradually come out as the series unfolds. Although this is a part of a series, FURIES OF CALDERON is a complete novel and can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone.
I am happy to recommend FURIES to anyone who enjoys heroic fantasy.