Furies Of Calderon (Codex Alera, Book 1)

Rating:
Summary: Another great series!
Review: A much shorter review would be to say, "I loved 'Furies of Calderon' and highly recommend it", but I'm going to try to give you a little more than that because I think this book deserves it. :)

In "Furies of Calderon", the first book of a new series, Jim has created a world of characters that will draw you in and leave you ready and waiting for the continuation of their stories. If you are a Jim Butcher fan already and are expecting Furies to be similar to his Dresden Files novels, you will be in for a surprise. One of my first thoughts was that it's like trying to compare apples to oranges. Suffice it to say that it is a well-written, engaging book that begins a new fantasy epic. Jim shows what a talented author he is by writing in a totally different, but just as effective and entertaining, style. Whether you are a Butcher fan already or a potential new fan, if you are looking for a wonderful, new series to begin, Furies is for you. The book has a smooth flow, and the characters have a very natural "feel", which to me, is another sign of the talent of the author.

I won't repeat the basic storyline since Harriet Klausner's review gives a concise over-view of the novel. While Tavi, a 15-year-old boy, is the central character, Amara plays an equally important role in Furies. The large ensemble cast of characters that is introduced hints at multiple, intriguing possibilities for the future books. In short, just what Book 1 of a series should do.

Furies does an excellent job, in my opinion, of showing us that, as in most conflicts, battles and wars, both sides feel that they are right, just and even justified and rarely is the intent purely evil. Actually, several of my favorite scenes were among the 3 main "bad guys", Fidleias, Odiana and Aldrick. The humor and sarcasm (snark) that we expect from Jim is present in small, appropriate doses; a good example is: "`The pretty boy?' Odiana asked. `I wasn't hurting him. I was killing him. There's a difference.' She sniffed and said, `It wasn't anything personal.'" Also, there are a few romance scenes that show the start of relationships that I think will develop over time; the way they are written is just right -- the heat or hint of heat is there without being overt or 'clinical'. I'd like to add that if you have teenaged children in your family, this is a good book for them also.

To go back to where I began: "I loved "Furies of Calderon" and highly recommend it."







Rating:
Summary: A good first fantasy novel and a new series
Review: All the people of Alera are bonded with elemental furies which come to them in their childhood or early adolescence - except Tavi, who at 15 does not have his fury yet and is considered somewhat of a freak.

However, it is Tavi and the escaped Cursor Amara who will set off a chain of events that will change their world and help foil an invasion attempt of their home instigated by traitors. This is an action-adventure fantasy novel that moves along at a brisk pace with a fairly wide cast of characters.

Jim Butcher has created an interesting world with this novel and it is obvious that most of the secrets of Tavi's family have yet to be explored, but thankfully there will be another book which may flesh out some of the lingering mysteries.

My only slight disappointment is that Butcher succumbed to the fantasy cliché of using an orphaned 15 year old boy as his central character - but that did not stop me actually liking Tavi. On the whole I'm glad I've read this book and will be looking forward to book 2 when it is published.


Rating:
Summary: Great new direction for Jim Butcher :)
Review: I loved the Dresden Files series, and was very pleased to get my hands on "Furies". I found the world to be fully-realized and intriguing, and I'm looking forward to the next book . . . however, unlike some fantasy series, this first book is very satisfying in and of itself, without just being a 'buy-the-next-one-to-find-out-what-happens' cliffhanger. Highly recommended :)

Rating:
Summary: Frustrating
Review: Jim Butcher is the author of the excellent series called the Dresden files, which I highly recommend. Based on this series, I purchased Furies. First let me say that the Dresden series are written from the viewpoint of one person, which is the writing method I prefer. The Furies does not follow this format. Instead, it follows three characters: Amara, a spy for the emperor; Fidelias, her companion and teacher; and Tavi a boy of fifteen who had no furycrafting talents (that we know of). The book continuously jumps from one character, to the next, and then the next, so that one must dredge from memory what a character was doing the last time we read about him/her. Although well written, I find this to be frustrating because most of the time the authors leaves a character in a "bad situation" at the end of each chapter which he/she may not survive. Suddenly we are reading about someone else, and must wait to find out what happened to the character in the "bad situation (or read forward). Also, the Tavi character is especially frustrating, he had no special powers, but seems to bumble and trip his way out of may dangerous situations. Wait for it in paperback, then you won't feel obligated to read the whole thing if you don't want to.

Rating:
Summary: A FABULOUS beginning to a new, fresh series!
Review: Let me start by saying that I have read, greedily I might add, every single "Harry Dresden" book I could get my hands on. This is a REMARKABLE series I would recommend to anyone. I have NEVER read straight fantasy, nor really wanted to, I am more into horror. As Mr. Butcher has become one of my favorite authors I REALLY wanted to try this book, but wasn't sure the subject matter would interest me all that much....boy was I WRONG and am SO glad I followed my instinct, trusted my favorite author's ability and bought this book. I cannot for the life of me understand the complaints I read about this book from other reviewers. What I find SO great about this book and I think showcases Mr. Butcher's amazing writing talent, is that it IS different, story and writing style, from the Dresden books, yet it STILL manages to pull you into this fascinating and intriguing new world. This book, while different from Mr. Butcher's other books, is JUST as great as the Dresden books. I cannot wait for the next installment in this wonderful series!! Mr. Butcher has created another world that is sure to be a GREAT success!!

Rating:
Summary: Jim Lays an Egg
Review: Oh hell, I really wanted to like this book, Jim's first hardcover and all. S*I*G*H, but it does takes two to create a willing suspension of disbelief, and Jim just wasn't into it in this lame attempt

Jim stands as my living, breathing example of the Little Engine Who Could. Proof positive that art is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Jim wanted to be a writer and put the time and effort into learning his craft, churning out reams of copy and working the system until he came up with a winner, 'The Dresden Files'. Now after writing a small pile of novels concerning Harry Dresden P.I., the world's only consulting wizard, Jim is anxious to expand the franchise and come up with another series. Nothing wrong with that; Maybe Jim's getting tired of ol' Harry, though you wouldn't know it by reading the last book 'Blood Rites' (which is chock full of the same well written, good humored mixture of action and adventure that has made the rest of the series so enjoyable).

However, for those considering picking up Jim Butcher for the first time, this ain't the place to start. I'm not sure which book the Editorial Reviewers were reading 'cause The Furies of Calderon is trite, poorly plotted and written, and frankly not all that interesting. Maybe a really good editor could have saved it, but I'm doubtful. It reads as if Jim had intended to write a Young Adult fantasy, plotted it out that way, but then when it came time to fill in the blanks, tried to write it out in the same hard-assed style of The Dresden Files, with truly awful results.

Young Tavi lives in this fantasy world where everyone has a companion elemental spirit (the usual - fire, air, earth and water) or two except him. The reasons for his lacking are perfectly obvious by the end of the book, although Jim has attempted to play it cagey by only sprinkling a couple of references to Tavi's 'mysterious' (mysterious only because Jim doesn't directly talk about it) past throughout the book, presumably to save this pulse-pounding dénouement for the next book. He lives on the Frontier of the Empire, the Emperor is old, the only heir died in battle not far from where Tavi lives etc. etc. We also have the pre-requisite properly heroic, ex-military 'uncle', the plucky and courageous 'auntie', and by god, we even have the idiot retainer (d'ya think he may be More*Than*He*Seems, oh wonder, Wonder!). Gah! This tripe practically writes itself.

Apart from the utterly predictable plot, the other major problem with the novel is that Jim doesn't play fair with his reader. There is practically no explanation of the 'rules' of this fantasy world; characters gain attributes (and lose them) with little rhyme or reason except to move the plot along. For example, Tavi's 'aunt', controls a water elemental which not only makes her formidable in battle, but she can also heal (I guess Jim's reasoning is the body is 90 odd percent water), read emotions, grow claws (once! But never again, although it would have been useful in a couple of later sections) and hey! She's even a great cook. Additionally, Jim indulges in a lot of sexist crap, reminiscent of John Norman's 'Gor' books of evil memory, mind controlling slave collars, rape, lowly females washing feet oh, it goes on and on. This is presumably to 'adult-up' the book. We even have noble savages, who eat their enemies (plot-wise presumably to indicate they're savages), but they don't have elementals, instead they 'bond' with various animals (including a sort of Moa, though apart from them and giant oxen all the other fauna is earth-normal). These are the stand in cannon fodder, oh but just perhaps it will all work out in the end. Jim obviously hasn't put a lot of thought into the 'rules' of this world, with the result that it's not at all believable.

Although there are a few engaging scenes throughout the book, the aftermath of the Final Battle (you knew there was going to be a Final Battle, didn't you?), is so badly plotted and written that I just cringed for Jim. Get this: all the baddies have been suitably killed off (but quickly resurrected for the next book) and then the emperor floats down from the sky (literally!) and the hero's engage in a sort of Star Wars type of medals-all-around-even-for-the-well-meaning-buffoons ceremony played for yuks that is just so flat, so hackneyed, so - oh god, poor Jim! He's going to look back on this one and refuse to believe that he actually wrote it. He's really a much better writer than he shows off here. Give this turkey a pass and pick up the latest Harry Dresden novel.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The plot is predictable, the characters archtypical, the setting is fantasy norm.

But this is a good book.

One thing I liked about this book was Butcher's treatment of the reader. He assumes you already know this world and what rules apply to it. You get no detailed descriptions or synopses of people places, ranks, powers, or anything like that. You gather that knowledge yourself, or let your imagination fill in the blanks.

The Furies themselves have virtually no explaination. And I like that. I found myself filling the gaps of knowledge myself, and be confirmed in my theories of what something is.

The story is typical epic fantasy stuff. Young boy Tavi, a shepherd looking to lead a better life, embarks on an adventure that changes the course of his people. Unlike most fantasies, here everyone has a fury to call. Representing the elements, wind, fire, water, wood, metal and earth. Everyone has one, except Tavi. With no fury, Tavi survives using his keen wits, and does so very well.

During the course of the novel, Butcher breaks off and follows other characters around, it's not confusing and Butcher does a good job bringing characters to life.

All in all, this series is right up there with Dresden. I was skeptical as hell about this series but now I can't wait.

Rating:
Summary: Such a great read
Review: This is a good read if you like fantasy. It is a good fantasy adventure story. The author is a true fantasy book writer and not one of those romance writers attempting to write fantasy. He is one of the few author that I would spend money to buy hard back. Can't wait to read his next book.

Rating:
Summary: Another good book
Review: This took me a little longer to get into, compared to Butcher's Dresden Files Series (which I love, by the way). It's a whole new world, and it took a little getting used to the fury thing. But once I got used to them, it was easy to really get into the book. The characters had a lot of depth and were likeable, even the bad ones.

Rating:
Summary: Loved the first book
Review: What a good start for a new fantasy series. In some way this book remind me Eddings first fantasy book(Pawn of Prophecy).
The book is a fast read, and you get caught up in the action and could not put it down. I like the character Tavi and Amara. I think the most intresting character of the book is the slave Fade, I think he is key to answer who really is Tavi's parents, and why he is so protective toward Tavi.
If you like Eddings and Feist, you should pick up this book.