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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
As a huge Butcher and Dresden fan, I dont know why I waited so long to start this series. The characters are amazing and the story is well-constructed. Butcher once again creates an amazing world of magic, politics, and well-developed characters.
If you are looking for a Roman-ish fantasy with lots of battles, I guess this is it.
I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. I think my initial hesitation was because I didn't want to get into another 6+ book series. But since my Dad had been begging me to listen to it for months I caved. But I really enjoyed it. Wonderful characters and imaginative world. The main character is powerless in a world where everyone else has power. But that doesn't stop him from being awesome. I love the magic system and the story was fun from beginning to end.
Like Jim's other first book, this book gives you a taste of world and what it could be, but maybe isn't the best portrayal of that world.
That being said, it was fun. It reminded me of a world like that of The Airbender cartoons - people have dominion over elemental powers and do good or evil with them. For much of the book I didn't actually care about the conflict - who are these people and why should I care if they are traitors to the crown or not? I cared about Tavi a bit more, just because he was a stupid kid who got hoodwinked by a girl. And I liked his uncle. But it was slow. Thankfully things picked up and were nicely entertaining, if somewhat ham-handed about foreshadowing.
The Marat sound fascinating - hopefully they will be explored more throughout the books.
I am entertained enough to move with the books. On to #2!
That being said, it was fun. It reminded me of a world like that of The Airbender cartoons - people have dominion over elemental powers and do good or evil with them. For much of the book I didn't actually care about the conflict - who are these people and why should I care if they are traitors to the crown or not? I cared about Tavi a bit more, just because he was a stupid kid who got hoodwinked by a girl. And I liked his uncle. But it was slow. Thankfully things picked up and were nicely entertaining, if somewhat ham-handed about foreshadowing.
The Marat sound fascinating - hopefully they will be explored more throughout the books.
I am entertained enough to move with the books. On to #2!
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Facing a lull in my usual current year read, I decided to go back in time for some good ol' fashioned re-read. It basically boiled down to a choice between Dresden and Codex Alera. Went for this as its a complete series and its also a bit more traditional. Happy to say the re-read holds up pretty well. Also noticed that this one doesnt have a review and I love writing reviews :)
This is a bit of a traditional fare from Butcher playing on the trope of the classic farm boy turning out to be the hero. But where he does veer from the standard trope is by infusing typical Jim Butcherisms throughout. Things on surface are rarely what they appear. He laces it with so much hints which all seem so obvious in the hindsight including character names.
The book in itself is bit of a YA fare but make no mistake, Butcher pads it up with sufficiently dark content throughout to differentiate it from standard YA fare. The magic systems are well explained while shrouded as well. Tavi, the lead character, without any powers of his own learns to live by his wit. The realm is in trouble and needs a savior. Treachery runs afoot, betrayals are par for the course and the characters are unanimously well rounded, even the negative ones have major redeeming qualities or are victims of their circumstances making it easy to relate to. Barring one character who is totally irredeemably bad (deliberately so), the others have enough qualities to humanize them.
Compared to the 1st few Dresden book, Furies of Calderon is remarkably polished. Butcher manages the info dump and character motivations quite succinctly eschewing the traditional trappings of the genre. Fascinating and holds up really well on the re-read as well
2024 Re-Read update: The book holds so fabulously well on the re-read. Also its terrific to see how many hints the author peppers the book with - all so obvious now
This is a bit of a traditional fare from Butcher playing on the trope of the classic farm boy turning out to be the hero. But where he does veer from the standard trope is by infusing typical Jim Butcherisms throughout. Things on surface are rarely what they appear. He laces it with so much hints which all seem so obvious in the hindsight including character names.
The book in itself is bit of a YA fare but make no mistake, Butcher pads it up with sufficiently dark content throughout to differentiate it from standard YA fare. The magic systems are well explained while shrouded as well. Tavi, the lead character, without any powers of his own learns to live by his wit. The realm is in trouble and needs a savior. Treachery runs afoot, betrayals are par for the course and the characters are unanimously well rounded, even the negative ones have major redeeming qualities or are victims of their circumstances making it easy to relate to. Barring one character who is totally irredeemably bad (deliberately so), the others have enough qualities to humanize them.
Compared to the 1st few Dresden book, Furies of Calderon is remarkably polished. Butcher manages the info dump and character motivations quite succinctly eschewing the traditional trappings of the genre. Fascinating and holds up really well on the re-read as well
2024 Re-Read update: The book holds so fabulously well on the re-read. Also its terrific to see how many hints the author peppers the book with - all so obvious now
I really liked this book. I look forward to reading the rest in the series. I'm very intrigued by the Marat and the system of magic based on elemental(?) furies. I wouldn't question whether or not furies were all elemental except there is talk of wood crafting and metal crafting. I hope the next book goes a little more in depth into that and how it works. All the characters are great. I like that they can really stand alone in their sections of the book. I found myself looking forward to each subplot. Tavi's initial storyline of being the "freak" that doesn't have a fury has been done before, but I think Jim Butcher does a great job of still making the character interesting in his own right. Ultimately a very good book.
DNF. There was a gross amount of abuse, and a gross amount of lazy writing. It became a slog and I gave up about 60% of the way