Reviews

[book:Furies of Calderon] was a fun read.

This is [author:Jim Butcher]'s first fantasy novel, and it shows. He takes some time to get his rhythm and find each character's home, but once he gets started, the story hums along nicely.

The plot is a pleasantly complicated one. There are enough sharp turns and surprises to keep it interesting, but not so many as to make it seem out of control. Both the heroes and villains range from clearly delineated to morally ambiguous. Butcher puts down enough false leads to create a few surprises, but the reveals are still internally consistent.

The main characters' home, Alera, is clearly heavily influenced by the Roman Empire, from the character names to the military organization. Their northern neighbors, the Marat, read like a cross between the central European tribes that plagued the actual Empire and an idealized concept of the Native American Noble Savage. Both groups diverge from these real life templates enough to make them seem separate while still retaining a comfortable groundwork on which to build.

The magic in Codex Alera is pretty interesting as well. The furies and their relationship with human furycrafters is a nice touch. I hope later books explain more about it.

There are some problems with the text, mostly when the descriptive passages seem to get away from the author.

itsfreelancer's review against another edition

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4.0

I've mixed views on this one. It ain't that I didn't like it, far from it. It's just that I am finding it a little difficult to jump from a Harry Dresden setting into a TolkiEn era.

So what do we have here?
Vast empire, political sabotage, special units, love and loyalty and a magic system that makes the use of Pokemons, or something like that. First things first, politics rule but is overshadowed by sheer action. Hello Tavi, one of the main characters who's furyless. That means, he can't do any special moves with Pokemons.

Almost everyone in the Empire has one or more furies. Furies are elemental. Earth, wind, wood, fire and whatnots. Each fury elemental is different and has different abilites. Fury crafting of earth summons an earth animal/giant/pokemon. Firecrafting plays with emotions, watercrafting lets you control the water and use it mainly for healing purposes. Blah Blah Blah.

And then there's Tavi, without a spark of fury in his blood. And Amarra, who's a Cursor and a windcrafter. Cursor's are the elite special forces of the realm. More like Aurors, only way cooler. You need to read this one. ASAP.

Back to the book then. Furies of Calderon is an apt title for the war in Calderon Valley. Months of planning and scheming, a fearful enemy force and the might of the will clash at this iconic valley. The war scenes are gory, as they ought to be. Jim Butcher doesn't shy away from deaths and barbaric rituals. Furies of Calderon transported me to a world where I wanted to root for the underdog despite knowing that it might not be the best. For my heart and the Realm.

For any fantasy series, foreshadowing is a vital element. Some half truths, some whispers in the dark and a lot of missing information made sure I picked up the second book. There is love in the air and fear in the wind.

I'm loving it.

meaghan_forck's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

3.0

prince_lovi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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