Furies of Calderon

Given up. While the Audible narration is brilliant (Kate Redding, of course) the audio editing is terrible and the story is tedious. I'm adding this only because I spent so much time giving it ‘one more chance' - usually I don't add my DNFs.

Gave up at 30%.

It was just too slow and, even though I got through the slow beginning of The Dresden Files, I don't feel like repeating that so soon after. I might continue sometime in the future though.

Extremely cliché, but it was intended to be.

Probably between 3.5 and 4 - very fun and had some cool characters. I lost focus during all the fighting by the end but that's more my fault than the books fault I think. Liked it more than I had expected. Fun entry point into Jim Butcher. Looking forward to picking up the next book in the series at some point.

DNF. This just isn't a book for me.

This was far better than I expected it to be. I couldn't help but wonder if this influenced Sanderson at all. Just saying there's some similarities between spren and furies, both use Knights...

I never finished this series when I read it years ago. Possibly for spider related reasons. Decided to give it another go. Exciting and entertaining.

8/10

I really like this book... but I wanted to love it. But, to explain further, that would give away some spoilers... so here is the obligatory...

:::SPOILER ALERT:::


I started the Codex Alera series because I was curious about its origins. The legendary bet posed to Butcher by another writer... can you write a story based on two cheesy concepts, that being Pokemon and the Lost Roman Legion. And in my estimation, I think Butcher failed the bet. Now don't get me wrong. The story is great. Butcher manages to create a magic system that rivals the best in any epic fantasy. The magic is based on these creatures, called Furies... the supposed Pokemon part of the bet. But they do not resemble Pokemon in anyway, they are much cooler... they are the magic of the Codex Alera.
Now, the Lost Roman Legion aspect is pretty interesting, but I will reserve my nit-picky issues with this aspect until I've read the whole series.
My biggest disappoint with this series is the World Building. Butcher writes a great story, and builds a really cool world. But he misses a lot of potential in his world building. One of the biggest things that I feel he dropped the ball with is the technological advancement. Here we have a society based on ancient Rome. The Aleran Society has existed for several thousand years, has learned how to harness the magic of this world, yet they are still pretty much stuck back at the level of ancient Rome. I can imagine some really great advancements these lost Romans from Earth could have come up with, especially now that they have magic. But, as a friend of mine and I discussed, this seems to be a fault of many great epic fantasy books.
Overall, the story is good. It starts off a little slow, but it certainly picks up. However, Butcher does something I've not seen in other books. He tells a part of the story from one POV and then resolves it from that characters POV, and then goes back and tells the same story from a different POV. The reason why this style of storytelling really sticks out to me is because these POV scenes go on for many chapters and you almost forget about the other characters. To me it feels a bit jarring.

I ended up writing a thorough review for this book over on my blog, The Crafty Nerd. You can find it here: https://www.thecraftynerd.com/2018/02/14/book-review-furies-of-calderon-by-jim-butcher/

I almost could have finished this book and gave it a 2 star rating. But it is just so filled with boring scenes. There is a whole chapter describing a resurrect spell. Not the spell itself mind you, but how the character casting it is feeling.

The writing style is pleasant, easy to read. The overall plot kind of interesting, but it takes a backseat in the drama of the small and uninteresting subplots.

Every person in the fictional world of Alera commands a type of magic, related to some element. There is air, earth, water, fire, metal, wood. The use of magic represented through the Furies, a kind of “familiar” that each person must master in order to give it commands and gain access to its power. So you ask for Cyrus, the name of your air Fury, to lift you from the ground to scape from the earth powers of Brutus, another alerean's name for his Fury.

It is considered an anomaly to not command any Fury, which usually happens when the alerean reach puberty. The alereans are at war with the Marat, a race of barbarians that rely on a totemic kind of power, and affinity with beasts. These salvages believe it is cowardice to wear armor for protection, and that eating their enemies will grant them their power.

The world is ruled by the High Lords, exceptionally powerful wielders of magic, which in turn are ruled by the the First Lord, who is even stronger and capable of extraordinary feats. This is only hinted though, as they are barely mentioned in the book.

The book starts with a scene between Amara and her mentor, Fidelias. They are both Cursers for the First Lord, a position of high importance, that is never fully explained what it means. They are trying to gather information of a rebel group that intends to overthrow the First Lord, but Amara soon finds out that Fidelias is a traitor, and is working together with one or more of the High Lords to take power.

She barely escapes the betrayal of her teacher, and reports her findings to the First Lord. She is then commanded to further investigates the matter in the borders of the alerean empire, the place called Calderon.

So, this is more or less the first chapter. Everything that follows are the subplots the characters must endure in order to find out more about the threat to the First Lord.

The first subplot (1) deals with Chord, a vicious local lord that is called into a trial for the accusation of one of his sons of committing rape. Is found guilty, Kord will lose everything he has. Things get out of hand when he decides he does not need to to abide by meddling of other people into his affairs.

When Amara finds out more about the threat she came to investigate, she finds herself unable to report the problem and ask for help, because of this conflict with Kord. There is again a whole chapter describing how cruel the man really is. Since I already bored with the story, the detailing of his treatment to women felt really unnecessary and out of place. It stole the focus of the book from fantasy to a drama.

After Amara finally finds her way to seeking help, she is dismissed, because she does not have and appointment, and when she forces the matter, she is arrested (sublot 2). If I was enjoying the story that might have not mattered, but i was looking for fun and excitement, and that felt really like a bucket of cold water thrown at me.

What really killed the book for me though, was the other subplot (3), when Tavi is captured by the Marat, and instead of killing and eating him, as it is the costume of their people, they decide to give him a trial, for no apparent reason. That was a real WTF moment, that probably would have been explained until the end of the book, or maybe the next one, but that is no way to captivate me into a story.

The book has 4 main characters. Amara, Fidelias, Tavi and Ivana. Tavi is a 15 years old boy that lives in a steadhold in Calderon. He has no Fury yet, and although his family treats him well, he feels like an outcast and a freak. It is hinted that he is somehow more important than he appears.

Ivana is his aunt. She is very found of Tavi, and treats him as his son, since his parents are dead. She is a powerful water crafter. She is more present in the Cord subplot (4) when she and another woman are captured by him.

Read 64% 12:44/19:57

The start was a bit slow, but it definitely picked up in the latter half toward the end. I'm excited to continue on with the series!

Executive Summary: A fun but trope-heavy fantasy story that combines a Lost Roman Legion with Pokemon. Yeah, you read that right.Audio book: I've long heard both good and bad things about Kate Reading. I actually got to meet her last year for the [b:A Memory of Light 7743175 A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time, #14) Robert Jordan https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1336055749s/7743175.jpg 10558806] book tour as she and her husband both live near me, but had never listened to a book by her before now.Personally I think she's a really good reader. However, she may not be well suited for this book as it has many male characters (then again what fantasy series doesn't?) and her male voices aren't as good. They aren't bad though, and eventually I got used to her so I wasn't thinking about the fact that it was a woman attempting a man's voice even though it was always apparent.I think her theater background is apparent with the variety of inflections and voices she uses as well as the emotion and inflection of her reading.Full ReviewUntil maybe 2 years ago I didn't really read that much anymore. I wasn't well-read in fantasy. In late 2006 I discovered [a:Jim Butcher 10746 Jim Butcher https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1205261964p2/10746.jpg] and the Dresden Files. I devoured all the books that were out until I was stuck waiting like everyone else. Then I noticed in the back of the books that Mr. Butcher had 3 books in another series though, called Codex Alera. Unlike the Dresden Files, it wasn't Urban Fantasy, but closer to “traditional” or epic fantasy. I picked it up and devoured those books as well.For awhile I liked this series better than Dresden Files, but it was a close thing. One thing was for certain, [a:Jim Butcher 10746 Jim Butcher https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1205261964p2/10746.jpg] wrote the kind of books I liked to read. For 3 glorious years I had 2 new Butcher books/year to look forward to.Fast forward 7 years or so and I recently did a re-read of Dresden Files in audio, but haven't read this one since it ended back in 2009. I'd consider myself much better read in Fantasy than when I first discovered this. I was a bit apprehensive about a reread. Would the series live up to my memory of it? Or would I find all the tropes tired and boring? The answer is a little of both it seems.It took me a bit to get back into this book. I was starting to get nervous that I was ruining my memory of this series. However once things really got going, I remembered why I enjoyed it so much.This is a “chosen one” story through and through. However most chosen one stories tend to have a protagonist who is suddenly great at everything. This one does not. In a world where everyone posses at least a little magic, Tavi has none. He is considered a “freak”. That notion of being an outsider is something I've always identified with. I liked that Tavi had to use his wits to make it in a world where he was always at a disadvantage. That said, a 15 year old shepherd boy who saves the realm has been done. A lot.The book also has some “mustache-twirling” bad guys. Mr. Butcher does a good job at making me hate those characters, but at the same time they feel a bit cartoonish. That said, there are other antagonists in the series who are much more complex. They aren't evil necessarily, but are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals. Those goals happen to be set against our young protagonist and his family, so they come out looking evil. But are they really? That's an ongoing question that won't be answered here.I didn't know it until many years later, but Mr. Butcher was challenged to write a story based on a “lame idea”. He countered that he could it using 2 Lame ideas, that of “Lost Roman Legion” and Pokemon. It sounds really stupid, but it somehow works for me.I know almost nothing of Pokemon apart from the whole capturing magical creatures thing. There may be more to it. I don't know. The strongest furycrafters in the book have the ability to summon powerful elementals ala Pokemon, but they aren't the only part of it. His magic system is really fun and creative, though you really don't get the full experience in just this book. To this day though, it's one of the magic systems I've most enjoyed reading.So if you can get past the heavy trope use and magic system based on Pokemon, the only other thing that may turn people away is battles. This series is battle heavy. I'd guess most of the last 25% of this book or so is one long battle. I loved it. People that aren't into that kind of thing, may find it tedious.I think the story is pretty well self-contained. There are a lot of bigger questions looming, but all issues of the book are wrapped up pretty nicely in my opinion.I had originally planned on alternating the books in this series with books from another, but by the time I got to that battle, there was just no way I could stop. I jumped right into the next book, and may continue on all the way to the end without a break.

Overall I liked this; found it hard-going whilst it was split between several viewpoints simply because I wasn't interested in some of the ‘voices'. Don't think I'll be carrying on with the series; the ‘mystery' is not enough for me to come back because it's fairly obvious what it is. I'd probably read more of it if there weren't so many books on my to-read list, maybe one day...

I liked this book. If I weren't reading so many others right now I'd start the next one.

Full review at SFF Book Review

I really enjoyed this book despite a number of concerns. It is mostly generic epic fantasy, set in a medieval world called Alera where people bond with the furies - elementals - and an impending war threatens their peace. Cursor Amara and farmboy Tavi set out on an adventure to prevent the worst.

It is mostly due to Jim Butcher's great writing that I didn't get bored with this. I rooted for the characters and was fascinated by the people of the Marat and their customs - if I had had a say in it, the entire book would have been about them. But the magic system was also up my alley and made me want to learn more about furycrafting.

Some of the characters and subplots were unnecessary, in my opinion, or unnecessarily drawn out. And some of the action scenes felt like they were just there to keep the readers from getting bored. Thrilling as they were to read, I like books where every scene serves a purpose and I can feel all the little puzzle pieces fall together at the end. This was not one of those books.

This is a farmboy rises to save his kingdom book. Nonetheless, it is worth the read and it definitely gave me a hunger for more adventures in Alera.

Jim Butcher is now among my top authors to recommend to anybody. His crisp writing works whether his hero is a overpowered magician or a non powered child. Furies sets up the world beautifully and reminds me a little of my other favorite authors book, Mistborn. The magic systems are not to dissimilar though the plots are nowhere close to comparable. Furies also differs from Dresden significantly with multiple POV's to follow. All in all a very satisfying start and hope he can keep the pace.

It's probably just me, my interpretation of how the secret agent would act, but there are two scenes near the end of the book where she sat idly on the sidelines while an important fight took place and I just could not believe that she would do that. It felt wrong, and kind of ruined the little enjoyment I was having.

My other main issue is possibly due to listening to the story, rather than reading it. Basically I don't understand the ground rules of the world. Tavi is unique because he has no furies. But that means that the Knights, the Legionaries, and Cursors all have furies. So... what's the difference? The Knights Aeris (spelling guess?) can fly around but the others cannot? Maybe? The Legionaries act like none of them are able to call the furies. But that would make Tavi no longer unique. I just don't understand the rules here. And that confusion was annoying, which made me simply annoyed with the story.

I'm disappointed because I quite enjoy the Dresden Files, and this is no Dresden Files.

I loved the Dresden files and was hesitant to give this a try at first. after I got a couple of chapters in I was hooked though. It's an interesting concept to have the majority of a civilization weild powers and the protaganist be the only one without.

Jim Butcher is the first author I've encountered whose writing style reminded me of David Gemmell. And from my point of view, that's a very good thing. I didn't like how little time we spent with the main character, though - very non-Gemmell-ish in that respect, but the fast-paced action, grey-ness in good and bad, magic system is all very nice and gripping. Quite a page-turner.

Started this series of five books on a recommendation from my boss (who reads bucket loads of fantasy). This one is very exciting and does a lot with a cool premise. In this world there is a nation of Alerans who, somewhere around puberty, acquire the ability to command one of the six types of furies (or elementals). The six types are of wood, earth, air, fire, water, and metal. The different types of furies come with varied abilities and weaknesses. Someone commanding an air fury could command a wind strong enough and focused enough to enable them to fly for instance. There are a number of excellent characters both good and bad to follow in the Calderon valley of Alera. There's 15-year-old Tavi, who bristles at the fact that he has yet to command a fury of his own but his cleverness makes up for it. And Amara, an agent of the First Lord, Gaius Sextus. Amara commands a wind fury and gets embroiled in the intrigue surrounding Lord Gaius and a group of mercenaries and another Lord plotting to overthrow his rule. And then there are the savage Marat people: strong, proud, fury-less people who are split into various clans that don't all get along. There's a lot going on in this story and the action scenes are exciting and inventive. I'm looking forward to picking up the second book in the series (but first, I'll be making some detours).