by Jim Butcher, 440 pages
Jim Butcher’s other fantasy series is the Codex Alera. This is more traditional fantasy, or high fantasy. Set in the realm of Alera, the story follows several characters, each section written in a different character’s viewpoint.
The setting is the Calderon Valley, a frontier outpost of the realm of Alera. Tavi, a young shepherd, makes what he perceives as a tiny mistake. However, this minor lapse in judgment has grave consequences for the people of the Valley and the realm itself. A hoard of cannibalistic savages is poised to invade Alera. Treachery within the kingdom itself adds even more danger. The future of Alera is poised upon a knife edge (I had to get in a Tolkien reference somewhere!).
Amara, a young Cursor (Messenger) from the First Lord’s Household, is dispatched to the Valley. She and Tavi join forces to try to stop the savages from invading their land. Tavi’s Aunt Isana and Uncle Bernard also fight against the traitors already in the Valley. Even the mountains and storms themselves seem to conspire against the Alerans.
Why I liked it: Butcher creates an interesting world where the people are bonded with “furies”, more commonly called “elementals” in other fantasy lit. Each person’s fury is different, though the elementals do fall into basic categories like wind, water, earth, fire and metal. So a person with a water elemental is called a WaterCrafter, and so on. Like the daemons in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, the furies add another dimension to the characters' personalities.
The setting is the Calderon Valley, a frontier outpost of the realm of Alera. Tavi, a young shepherd, makes what he perceives as a tiny mistake. However, this minor lapse in judgment has grave consequences for the people of the Valley and the realm itself. A hoard of cannibalistic savages is poised to invade Alera. Treachery within the kingdom itself adds even more danger. The future of Alera is poised upon a knife edge (I had to get in a Tolkien reference somewhere!).
Amara, a young Cursor (Messenger) from the First Lord’s Household, is dispatched to the Valley. She and Tavi join forces to try to stop the savages from invading their land. Tavi’s Aunt Isana and Uncle Bernard also fight against the traitors already in the Valley. Even the mountains and storms themselves seem to conspire against the Alerans.
Why I liked it: Butcher creates an interesting world where the people are bonded with “furies”, more commonly called “elementals” in other fantasy lit. Each person’s fury is different, though the elementals do fall into basic categories like wind, water, earth, fire and metal. So a person with a water elemental is called a WaterCrafter, and so on. Like the daemons in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, the furies add another dimension to the characters' personalities.
Caveat: Since Butcher uses multiple viewpoints and storylines, it can be kind of unnerving when he leaves one character in a cliff-hanger situation and moves on to another character. It can be a bit of a wait to find out what happens next.
Bottom line: I would recommend this series to anyone who reads Epic Fantasy (especially if they are still waiting on George R R Martin. Good luck with that). There are six books out in the series at present. While I enjoyed the book, some characters seemed more vivid, and I am glad that many of them will continue on in the series. Butcher lives in Independence, Missouri, so he is a regional author.
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