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Reviews tagging 'Rape'
Furies of Calderon: Book One of the Codex Alera by Kate Reading, Jim Butcher
33 reviews
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, War
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Re-reading Furies of Calderon after about a 10 year gap and it doesn't quite stand the test of time. I used to be a much bigger Jim Butcher fan for his Dresden and Alera series, but while they remain fun, they don't have the depth of many other sci-fi/fantasy books I've gravitated towards in the interim.
The Furies of Calderon in particular are a bit rough even within the Alera series (I am in the middle of a complete re-read, as I need some fluff/pulp fantasy at the moment). The characters are just starting to be introduced as is the world-building. In particular, the villains of Furies are almost mustache twirling caricatures in EEEVIIIL, a horrific rapist/slaver (a redundancy) and a murderous, cannibalistic "barbarian". Of course said horrors, while inflicted for some exploitative glee, though not to the extent of a Piers Anthony, still never quite touch our most cared about characters.
Also, a shared common fault with Butcher and similar authors is the focus on the individuality of those evils instead of looking at the systematic nature. To wit, we are literally rooting for the imperium, literal Roman conquerors (the fictional lost Roman legion), with legalized slavery (but hey, some women are against it!), against what seem like displaced native tribes, some of whom are again caricaturized to silly levels of evil so we don't feel bad about the mass slaughters in the, albeit exciting, battles. Oh, some of the tribes (noble savages!) are good, so we can continue to root for the colonizers, I guess.
On the positive side, as mentioned, the action is quite good, and Butcher is good at ramping up the tension. The magic system (basically elemental "bending" from Avatar the Last Airbender) is fun, and if you don't mind the surface level, black & white morality, his "good guy" characters are easy to like and root for. I've already started in on Academ's Fury (the titles of all of the books are major spoilers for the series, btw), and it's much of the same, but building up to a wider world, more political intrigue, and a wider threat that will end up spanning the whole series, so it gets better. Worth a read for some breezy fun, if you don't think about it too much.
The Furies of Calderon in particular are a bit rough even within the Alera series (I am in the middle of a complete re-read, as I need some fluff/pulp fantasy at the moment). The characters are just starting to be introduced as is the world-building. In particular, the villains of Furies are almost mustache twirling caricatures in EEEVIIIL, a horrific rapist/slaver (a redundancy) and a murderous, cannibalistic "barbarian". Of course said horrors, while inflicted for some exploitative glee, though not to the extent of a Piers Anthony, still never quite touch our most cared about characters.
Also, a shared common fault with Butcher and similar authors is the focus on the individuality of those evils instead of looking at the systematic nature. To wit, we are literally rooting for the imperium, literal Roman conquerors (the fictional lost Roman legion), with legalized slavery (but hey, some women are against it!), against what seem like displaced native tribes, some of whom are again caricaturized to silly levels of evil so we don't feel bad about the mass slaughters in the, albeit exciting, battles. Oh, some of the tribes (noble savages!) are good, so we can continue to root for the colonizers, I guess.
On the positive side, as mentioned, the action is quite good, and Butcher is good at ramping up the tension. The magic system (basically elemental "bending" from Avatar the Last Airbender) is fun, and if you don't mind the surface level, black & white morality, his "good guy" characters are easy to like and root for. I've already started in on Academ's Fury (the titles of all of the books are major spoilers for the series, btw), and it's much of the same, but building up to a wider world, more political intrigue, and a wider threat that will end up spanning the whole series, so it gets better. Worth a read for some breezy fun, if you don't think about it too much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Moderate: Rape, Slavery
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Normally I'm not into following teen characters but Tavi was pretty fun, all things considered.
Don't ask me why the moment that got me on board with the Bernard-Amara ship was when he rag-dolled her into the ground. At first I was unsure about the age gap but then googled it and it was ~10 years less than I thought it was. But it's still a gap, for sure.
But I agree with other reviewers that the Kord subplot and violence against women just felt thrown in for shock value rather than truly meaningful to the plot. We already understood he was evil, bruh. Kept my review from being 5 star
Don't ask me why the moment that got me on board with the Bernard-Amara ship was when he rag-dolled her into the ground. At first I was unsure about the age gap but then googled it and it was ~10 years less than I thought it was. But it's still a gap, for sure.
But I agree with other reviewers that the Kord subplot and violence against women just felt thrown in for shock value rather than truly meaningful to the plot. We already understood he was evil, bruh. Kept my review from being 5 star
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Slavery
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Slavery
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The concepts of the furies was really interesting and hooked me right away but I wish we could have gotten more exploration of this magic system and seen more furies abilities in action.
By the last 3 hours, I was barely making it through there were so many issues I had with this story:
By the last 3 hours, I was barely making it through there were so many issues I had with this story:
- There were so many instances of people surviving things that should have killed them
or being resurrected from the dead that by the time the big battle came around it was hard to feel invested in the safety of these characters because how could anyone actually die? - Amara had a lot of potential at the beginning of the book to be a strong and interesting character but she really didn't do much. Also
twice during the big battle she nearly got shot in the head with an arrow and multiple comments were made about how she should wear a helmet, why did no one give her a helmet?! She's a countess why didn't she demand a helmet?? It also felt hard to gauge her age, she seemed young, Isana refers to her as a girl which madethe spontaneous romance with Bernard (sp?) feel a bit icky - The Marat felt inappropriately based on the indigenous peoples. Early on they're referred to as "savages" and "not human", I thought because this was a fantasy book maybe they literally were a different humanoid race but instead it's just using racist tropes of indigenous people
- Overall the women characters had big promise to be strong: Isana was feared by others for her water crafting abilities, Odiana similarly and yet all we saw from these characters was them overcoming extreme acts of violence against them that didn't actually contribute to the story. The Kord storyline was extreme and what did it accomplish? Just a bad feeling in my gut.
- The romance in this book felt like it came out of nowhere. Would have liked to see more time on character interaction and development and less time in battles
I read this after loving the Cinderspire series and wanting to read more Jim Butcher but it's clear his ability to write women characters has GREATLY improved since this came out in 2004 and I don't think I will bother with the rest of this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Slavery
adventurous
tense
medium-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
This was a very enjoyable fantasy adventure, that was tense but not overwhelmingly dark. It read quickly for me, and there was a lot of skill in the writing, treating the reader with intelligence and respect. The characters are complex, which I particularly appreciate on the “bad guy” side of things. Content warnings for several heavy topics however.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An insanely wonderful magic system and some really exciting and descriptive use of how it is used. I think the general plot feels rooted in colonialism. Two of the three main female characters endured SA in order to “grow”, something I think we could’ve done without.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Drug use, Rape, Trafficking