Reviews with content warning for Rape - Furies of Calderon: Book One of the Codex Alera

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Furies of Calderon: Book One of the Codex Alera by Kate Reading, Jim Butcher

22 reviews

soofsaphony's review against another edition

I DNF'ed this book a little over 300 pages. Initially, I was interested in what type of story Jim Butcher would bring to the table in high fantasy. The book has the same hallmarks of his strengths as the Dresden Files - fast-paced action scenes, characters that are pushed to the limits of their abilities time and time again, etc.

Other reviewers have already pointed out some of the flaws in this book such has the repetitiveness of the prose and dialogue, the shallow characters and the fact that this book is WAY thicker than it needs to be. So, I'll just rant about my main pet peeve for this book: the way Jim Butcher writes women here.

If I have to read one more description of Odiana's "shapeliness" and how she behaves like an extremely horny murderous cat-child in the body of a gorgeous woman I will hurl. Isana, Amara and Odiana don't feel like actual humans, much less female ones. It was painful to constantly be reminded of Isana's barrenness, as if she wouldn't have anything else going on in her life as the chief's sister who is also an extremely powerful waterbend- ahem - I mean watercrafter. I found the romance between Amara and Bernard off-putting, all she needs is a touch from a man and she's completely smitten (why is this even happening when they're constantly running/fighting/recovering from running and/or fighting? Isn't she a lot younger than him? Why do they even like each other when their personalities are paper thin?)

The rape/subjugation/torture chapter was the final straw for me. I skimmed through it as much as possible, I don't think it's worth including rape scenes in your book when the only point is to highlight how evil/depraved your villain is by traumatizing your raped characters. It reads a bit too much like a rape fantasy, as opposed to a thoughtful reflection on/deconstruction of rape and everything that accompanies it. Thanks but no thanks.

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emberise's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes

3.5

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dm_pat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

It's clearly early Butcher, which means it's rough and more than a little sexist. When it gets out of its own way with that bullshit, it's entertaining and a fun adventure.

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nepenthesbaphomet's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated

1.0

To many references to sexual assault and to much of a focus on slavery in the world for me. It's wild how the author can come up with a whole fantasy setting but have to rely on sexual assault and slavery to drive the story. Not creative in my opinion.

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ladysanctuary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A pretty solid fantasy romp, with some relatively interesting magic mechanics.
I was initially impressed by the introduction of two women without being given a description of their breasts, though this was quickly rectified. Despite this, and some very uncomfortable sexual violence the book generally and ultimately depicted most of its characters pretty well in service of the story and inter-character relationships.

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jklinck2's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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midnightsharkist's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Jim Butcher storytelling is excellent. However the way he writes romance and sexual tensions does feel cliché and overdone at times. Still a very enjoyable read.

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