 | |
 View Larger |
Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, Book 1) By Jim Butcher ( Ace )
Release Date: 2005-06-28
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $7.99
Price: $7.99
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
|  Add to Cart |
|
|
Product Description
In the realm of Alera, where people bond with the furies--elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal--fifteen-year-old Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. But when his homeland erupts in chaos--when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies-- Tavi's simple courage will turn the tides of war.
|
|
 Enjoyable Read ( rjgsphinx )
I will read more in the series but I bought it because I liked the Harry Dresden files. This is VERY different and I personally do not like it as much.
That said, well written and a good overall storyline.
|
Formulaic, But Still Fun ( dlessnau )
"Furies of Calderon" is the first in Butcher's "Codex Alera" series (Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, Book 1), Academ's Fury (Codex Alera, Book 2), Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera, Book 3), Captain's Fury (Codex Alera, Book 4), and Princeps' Fury (Codex Alera, Book 5)). I'm a bit torn, though, on how to rate it. On one hand, I really enjoyed reading it: the characterizations are pretty good, the writing is good, and the world and plot are interesting. On the other hand:
- it's basically your standard "hero fights hordes of enemies and is usually cold" type of book.
- the pacing could use some more work since, after the beginning, there's really not enough of a lull in what's happening to provide a good resting point.
- the sheer number of enemies gets a bit silly later in the book.
- Butcher needs to set down the rules for how this universe works (i.e., how do the furies do what they do and what are the rules that empower/limit them).
- the behavior of the "good" enemy doesn't seem to agree with his barbarism.
Most of those are fairly minor and I don't really mind the formulaic content since it was done fairly well (heck, it's the genre). So, I'm going to err on the side of positiveness and rate it at a Very Good 4 stars out of 5.
|
 Was this book really a dare? ( dionbs )
I read that this book was a dare to the author to take the worst ideas one could come up with dealing with fantasy and make them good. Well I read this book and I agree and disagree. It was said that he was challenged with the ideas of Pokemon and the Roman Civilisation. I thought that the pokemon aspect of the book was gods awful. I hated the whole notion of 'furies'. The Roman Civilisation however I thought was a pretty good idea and played out fairly well. This book didn't work for me though. I didn't care for the overall storie, nor the characters, nor what happens to them. It was almost a struggle for me to finish. I will not be picking up the second installment, and I would not recommend this one, the first. There is plenty of other books based on bad, or overused ideas that come out much better.
|
 Keep your day open...
These books keep you seated--you're going to want to keep your day open when you start reading them, because you're not going to want to do a whole lot else.
I started reading Butcher's other series, and, sadly, really hated them; so, when someone coersed me into reading them, I was completely surprised when I fell in love. It's so rare in the fantasy-genre to find a book with so much plot.
I'd recommend these books to everyone who likes a fast paced-action/adventure, political intrigue, and good character development and anyone who's a fan of the genre, especially: Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time and Weis/Hickman's early Dragon Lance books.
|
An Entertaining Fantasy
Having read the first book in this series, I will definitely seek out the others, but my approval of Jim Butcher's "other" fantasy series is tinged with a note of caution. I love Butcher's Dresden Files series. One of the most enjoyable aspects of that is the way those plots go at breakneck pace, with perils popping up at every turn. This works well in the "real world" setting of Chicago.
Butcher has created a unique and interesting world in his Codex Alera series, peopled it with interesting and engaging characters and spun a tale to delight and wonder the most hard-core fantasy fan. The setting is quasi-Roman and the barbarians are at the gates! Magic is done by controlling elemental "furies" of wood, water, earth, fire and air. Butcher's most compelling hero is Tavi, a young man who is coming of age without having mastered a "fury". Lacking magic, he must rely on his wits and his courage.
There is plenty in this premise but Butcher gives us a generous portion of more: Amara, a young Imperial agent on her first mission, Bernard, Tavi's uncle--still grieving over the death of his wife, Bernard's sister Isana, powerful in magic but unsettled by her spinster status. The villains are equally believable and compelling.
My main complaint is that in sections, the story seems forced, as if the author feels he must push along at the breakneck pace of the Dresden Files. Generally speaking a author should err along the lines of more story rather than less, but a plot should be driven by the characters. At some crucial points, the author lost my suspension of disbelief in his story because I felt that when the barbarians are literally at the gates of the fortress, and there are fires burning within the walls, an aerial attack coming in, etc., etc. etc. -- this is not the time for hanky-panky in a storehouse with the victim playing hide-and-seek with her kidnapper. The two compelling stories somehow undermined one another.
|
|
|
