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Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1)

by Jim Butcher (Goodreads Author)

4.12 · Rating details · 74,590 Ratings · 3,138 Reviews

For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal. But now, Gaius Sextus, First Lord of Alera, grows old and lacks an heir. Ambitious High Lords plot and maneuver to place their Houses in positions of power, and ...more

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Mass Market Paperback, 503 pages

Published June 28th 2005 by Ace (first published October 5th 2004)

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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30)

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Jul 15, 2014 Katerina rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Katerina by: Phandom Duck

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

Romans and Pokemon.

That was my initial reaction when I heard of Codex Alera's concept and I am sure your face looks like this as well (don't deny it fellow readers,it's a normal reaction).And to answer your next question,NO it was not lame and weird,YES it was a brilliant,brilliant high fantasy book.

You're intrigued,aren't you?

The story
Alera is an empire similar to Rome regarding the social layers,the administration and the army,founded by the descendants and the camp followers of the Lost Rom ...more

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Aug 09, 2017 Anne rated it really liked it

Recommended to Anne by: Romans & Pokemon

Shelves: fantasy, kindle, read-in-2017

I don't really read a lot of high fantasy. In fact, I'm not even sure what makes something high fantasy.
I have my ideas, though...

description

I've been reading Butcher's urban fantasy series, Dresden Files for a long time now, but I've avoided reading his Codex Alera stuff because it sounded too weird for me. Even the name Codex Alera is just...?
Ehhhhh? Seemed like there would be too much funky Lord of the Ringsy world building for a fantasy-lite reader like myself. Some of us don't do well with that sort ...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Evgeny rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Most of the people know the background of this series. For the rest of you I will tell it again. Jim Butcher made a bet he could write a fantasy book(s) based on Roman legions

and Pokemon.
Pikachu

This is the result. You have a society somewhat resembling that of Ancient Rome with its military being almost exact copy of Roman legions. Magic also exists and comes in the form of Furies (glorified Pokemon). Some of them are related to wind, some to wood, some to fire, etc. This is not Harry Dresden series.

A young boy Tavi who also happened to be practically the only one without any magic whatsoever did not take care of his herd on time because a girl asked him to get some special flowers. Finally trying to get the herd back he sees something he is not supposed to see and as the result got mixed up in Big Politics. We all know the life expectancy of little people who happened to be in the way of ambitious politicians. Fear not, this is a fantasy world so unlike in real life Tavi has a slim chance of survival.

At the same time a graduate of local Academy called Amara has to infiltrate an enemy camp and do some reconnaissance as a graduation exam (boy, these guys are serious about testing their pupils). She also sees something she is not supposed to see resulting in the same situation as the poor guy I mentioned above.

This is not Harry Dresden series. I cannot stress it enough. If you need another Dresden fix before the next book of this better-known series is published look elsewhere. The signature humor of the famous Chicago wizard is not present at all. The only similar themes I found were fast-paced plot and last moment escapes.

This book reminded me of a summer blockbuster. I already mentioned non-stop action: at times I felt I did not have a moment to catch my breath. On the other hand this book has a lot of fantasy cliches - I would say the majority of them were present here. So if you look at exciting but mindless fantasy read this book is for you. Just remember that this is not Harry Dresden series. If you want a book which would make you think about the meaning of life this is exactly the wrong one.

In the conclusion I need to explain why I kept saying that this is not Harry Dresden series. I saw people gave this one a low rating for the only reason that they expected something similar to that series; this on is not, so if you start reading this one keep it in mind. ...more

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Dec 12, 2011 Carly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, worldbuilding, epic-fantasy

**Edit: The original review discussed Codex Alera's rather entertaining "origin story," which involved a flamewar, a bet, Pokemon, and the Roman legions.
Because this is "author behavior" that is not discussed in the book, it may not be in line with the impressively subjective new policies of GR.
I don't want to break these shiny new rules, so I am deleting most of ~~the fun parts of~~ this review.
My original review is posted over at booklikes--you can take a look at it there, if you want. Sorry abou
**Edit: The original review discussed Codex Alera's rather entertaining "origin story," which involved a flamewar, a bet, Pokemon, and the Roman legions.
Because this is "author behavior" that is not discussed in the book, it may not be in line with the impressively subjective new policies of GR.
I don't want to break these shiny new rules, so I am deleting most of ~~the fun parts of~~ this review.
My original review is posted over at booklikes--you can take a look at it there, if you want. Sorry about the added trouble!

Here is a highly expurgated version which does not mention the author, as I do so hate breaking rules:

The story takes place in the Calderon Valley of the Kingdom of Alera, where the descendents of the lost Roman legions apparently settled thousands of years ago. Alera is a savage, hierarchical land, with a failing high king who is the last of his line, a set of scheming lords anxious to relieve him of the burden of office, an economy built upon slavery, and a tendency try to massacre the members of the neighboring lands. Not that its neighbors aren't doing their fair share. Alera, the only human civilization, is surrounded by the savage icemen, the barbaric Marat, and the warg-like Canim. Alerans themselves are superhuman: they are all gifted with and dependent on their Furies: elemental magic that can be embodied in beings of wind, fire, and stone. All Alerans have furycrafting skills and use them for everything from mundane household tasks to healing, flying, and superhuman epic battlemagic.

Only Tavi, a shepherd boy in the Calderon Valley, is furyless. Lucky Tavi is treated like a retarded child: he not only looks like a young 12-year-old, but at fifteen years, his lack of furies appears permanent and means he is essentially useless and helpless. In a world dependent on the furies, he cannot turn on or off lights, help with the farming, or even travel fast on the roads (which are specially designed for fast travel via earthcrafting).

The story--and the series--starts with a seemingly mundane incident. Tavi wants to bring flowers to the girl he is sweet on, and is therefore so late bringing in the sheep that they wander away and are lost. In retrieving them, he stumbles upon proof of a traitorous scheme that will endanger the entire Calderon Valley. Aided by his watercrafting aunt Isana, his stolid stonecrafting uncle Bernard, and the mysterious windcrafting servant of the high lord, Amara, Tavi must bring news--and preferably proof--to the garrison to alert the legions (yes, Roman legions) to the danger. Along the way, he and his allies must evade and outwit scheming mercenaries, vicious slavers, and bloodthirsty barbarians.
~4.5 stars ...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Kaila rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2011, fantasy, magic

I admit that I made a huge mistake by reading this novel before any of The Dresden Files. At the time I was shuffling through my Kindle library and I had just finished one or two urban fantasy novels. I was not in the mood for another one, so I thought, Hey! How about The Furies of Calderon!?

Oh poor, unwitting me. You had such good intentions.

My first problem with this book is where the premise came from. Although I could not find any definite evidence, the rumor is that Butcher was bet he could ...more

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Dec 20, 2015 Petros Tr rated it liked it

Read from December 26, 2015 to January 03, 2016

This review is for the whole series (spoiler free). First of all, I would like to say that reading some other reviews, you will get the impression that the story has Pokemons, or at least something similar. That's kinda bullshit. It has nothing to do with either them, or anything resembling them.

Codex Alera is a nice fantasy story, taking place in Alera, a realm strongly resembling the Roman Empire. The magic system is the best i have encounter, sav ...more

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Jul 07, 2017 Michael Britt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Michael by: Derpa

Actual rating: 4 Stars

Back in the late '90s, maybe early 2000s (don't feel like looking the exact date up), Jim Butcher made a bet with some stranger on an online forum that he could make any 2 ideas into a good book. That man chose the Lost Roman Legion and Pokémon. This is the result of that bet.

Now that we have a bit of the backstory on why it was created, let's talk about the result. The story follows 4 POVs; Tavi, Fidelias, Amara, and Isana. Furycrafting is basically the name of the magic Actual rating: 4 Stars

Back in the late '90s, maybe early 2000s (don't feel like looking the exact date up), Jim Butcher made a bet with some stranger on an online forum that he could make any 2 ideas into a good book. That man chose the Lost Roman Legion and Pokémon. This is the result of that bet.

Now that we have a bit of the backstory on why it was created, let's talk about the result. The story follows 4 POVs; Tavi, Fidelias, Amara, and Isana. Furycrafting is basically the name of the magic system. Furycrafters can control the elementals of earth, air, fire, wood, water, and metal. Tavi is pretty much what this story revolves around. And sadly, he has been having trouble coming into his own with furies. In a world where furycrafting can literally mean life and death, and pretty much everyone can do it, this is no bueno. Isana is an immensely powerful watercrafter, and Tavi's aunt. Fidelias and Amara are what is known as Cursors. I'm not even sure what to exactly classify them as. So I'll go with: mailmen, spies and secret agents. While the plot isn't anything special, Butcher does a really good job of making the execution pretty entertaining to read. Since I mainly read for entertainment, this was sufficient enough to keep me hooked. If you're looking for something that'll blow your mind, I'm afraid this first book won't do it. If he follows suit with his Dresden Files series, then I'm not too worried; that series started off kind of blah and ended up being so amazing as the books progressed. So I have quite a bit of faith in him.

The characters were written rather well. Unlike Dresden Files, which is told from a single POV, he switched it up and gave us 4 great POVs. Well, honestly I thought 1 of them were rather boring, but that was due to personal taste. I won't mention which one, as I don't want to possibly cloud anyone's judgement who has yet to read it. I'm not even sure why this person bored me, so I think it was just a personal taste thing. While I really enjoyed most of our main characters, I fell in love with so many of the side characters. This is pretty much how I fell about just about any book I read haha. So suffice it to say that we get great characters all around! There wasn't too much development with the characters, but Tavi probably gets the most development. One thing I loved was that Tavi was such a underpowered character. He has to rely on his whit more than anything else.

The prose reminded me quite a bit of his other series, Dresden Files. It was different enough to feel fresh and new, while still having that Butcher charm to it. I did feel like there was a bit of fluff in there, which was one of the bigger problems I had with the book. Near the end it felt like he hung on to a certain event more than he should have and I ended up getting a tad bored. But, that's once again just a personal preference. Other than that, we had some really great pacing. It was actually full of action pretty much from the beginning and almost never lets up. Which I liked but due to the length of the novel, I felt pretty exhausted by the end.

The only real problem I had with the book I had already mentioned above. I think the thing I loved most was how he was able to pull this book together. I only played the first gen Pokémon games (Red Version and Yellow Version) but I loved how he was able to incorporate something like Pokémon into a Fantasy book. He was able to make a certain scene feel exactly like a battle from the games, but it wasn't something that you would need any kind of experience with the game franchise to get enjoyment from. He was able to keep his magic system, the furies, feeling fresh and original and not like a blatant rip off of the games. He had some great rules for the magic system and stuck to them. The magic did feel a bit too powerful at times, but he also had put restrictions on it so that they couldn't sling it all day long without any kind of repercussions.

I was really scared to pick this book up because of how much I love Dresden Files and I wasn't sure if he would be able to pull something else off unrelated to that series. While this is no masterpiece, this is a solidly entertaining installment into the Fantasy genre. ...more

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Aug 19, 2013 Nimrod Daniel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

$1.99 on Amazon, go grab your copy
https://www.amazon.com/Furies-Caldero...

I became a fan of Jim Butcher after reading book 3 in The Dresden Files series, it was a superb book. Codex Alera is totally different than the Dresden series, and Furies of Calderon proved for once and for all that the author is much more important than THE great idea (if you don't know what I'm talking about, so this book was conceived as a result of a bet. While Butcher was trying to prove his point that the author has ...more

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Aug 03, 2007 Mike Malaspina rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: fantasy

Furies of Calderon is your typical fantasy epic. Swords, sorcery, world turning upheaval, the blackest of evil and noblest of good. Only, the true hero of the story is not only powerless... Because that's been done before. No, the true hero is now only powerless, he's the ONLY powerless character. Even the other lowly farm hands can command boulders to simply pull themselves out of crop fields.

The savage Marat barbarians all have years of fighting experience from birth and great mighty beasts wh ...more

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Sep 16, 2016 Mary ~Ravager of Tomes~ rated it liked it

Shelves: owned, year-2016, 3-star

Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars

I was thoroughly entertained reading Furies of Calderon. Was it groundbreaking? No. But it was fun, and I really enjoyed the characters. The plot is heavily based in the politics of Alera, so it definitely appeals to me on that level. I am interested to continue and see what happens in the rest of the series.

If you're looking for an amazing writing style...maybe look elsewhere. Lots of repetition of phrases and words. LOTS. So much so that it was distracting to me as the ...more

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Dec 24, 2008 April rated it did not like it

First of all... I consider Jim Butcher to be a very talented writer, and I have greatly enjoyed the Dresden Files for a number of years. So when reading my complaints, you must also keep in mind that, having read all of the Dresden Files books more than once, I had a certain level of expectation that needed to be met.

They weren't. With the exception of a few short scenes in the beginning and in the middle, this first book in the Codex Alera was very, very subpar. It's not even all that long and ...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Twyla rated it it was ok

I am shocked at how many people actually really liked this novel. The pacing was awful, the characters were flat and there were too many (often I couldn't tell who was on which side) - and the lame novice-to-hero progression of several characters was painfully uncreative. The only good parts were parts where the men spoke a little like Dresden (Butcher's other major series' protagonist). The one witch was creepy enough, and the monsters were pretty cool, but that seems to be Butcher's general st ...more

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Nov 24, 2010 Kevin Xu rated it did not like it

Shelves: did-not-finish

worst fantasy book ever, too many books like this out in the fantasy genre out there! too many tropes! so formulaic of a story! the first line on the back cover tells the whole plot to the series! please stop writing books like these! if this was written in the late 70s or the early 80s, then it would have worked a lot better and fresher

I only read about 150 pages into the book and stopped

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Aug 29, 2008 Stephen rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, audiobook, ya, good-guys, 2000-2005, unique-magic

4.0 stars. Great, well developed characters, an excellent magic system and wonderful world-building and plot pacing. Appears to be the start of a compelling series. Will defintely read the next books in the series.

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Jul 06, 2012 Rob rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio-book, read-before-goodreads, fantasy, read-2014, own, author-male

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 A Memory of Light 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 (the ...more

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Aug 01, 2017 Ashley *Hufflepuff Kitten* rated it liked it

Shelves: so-much-potential, i-own-it, meh-boring-dragged-blah, fantasy-high, written-review, audiobook-is-meh, 2017machalo-tbr, 2017

2.5 stars

Maybe I read this wrong. Or maybe Kate Reading wasn't the best choice for audio narrator. Or maybe I've just fallen out of love with Jim Butcher's writing (I still need to try the first Cinder Spires book, so I'll hold off on judgment for now). Maybe I need to give my paperback copy another shot, sans audio. Regardless of the overall problem, I wasn't really feeling this one. I loved the concept (hence the so-much-potential shelving) but it just felt like it got bogged down in... I don' ...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Mpauli rated it liked it

Shelves: genre_fantasy, genre_epic-fantasy, orga_read-in-2014

Entering the Codex Alera series you're introduced to some very familiar tropes, but also to some very new ideas.
On the familiar side, there is a coming-of-age plot for one of the main characters, there is a political power struggle and a lot of action and battle scenes.
On the other hand, the society is somewhere between the typical medieval setting and the Roman Empire. This is fresh enough for me. The most prominent idea would be the furies, elemental creatures that are bound to almost every hu Entering the Codex Alera series you're introduced to some very familiar tropes, but also to some very new ideas.
On the familiar side, there is a coming-of-age plot for one of the main characters, there is a political power struggle and a lot of action and battle scenes.
On the other hand, the society is somewhere between the typical medieval setting and the Roman Empire. This is fresh enough for me. The most prominent idea would be the furies, elemental creatures that are bound to almost every human being. The humans live in some kind of symbiosis with these creatures and the furies have a huge impact on everyday life. This symbiosis could have been explored a bit deeper for my taste, but I hope to learn more about it in upcoming books of the series.

Although the book has a very familiar approach regarding tropes, I was surprised to find most of the characters to be more ambivalent then I thought. Especially the villains are portrayed very well and are not evil without evil's sake, maybe with one exception.

Over the course of the book we're following 5 povs. There is Tavi, a young shepherd's apprentice (yes Butcher went there). In contrast to the other humans, he hasn't bonded with a fury so far, which makes him a freak to some of the others.
He lives with his uncle Bernard, a former veteran of the King's Legion and a strong eartcrafter. He is also the leader of the small community, where Tavi lives.
Another member of that community is Tavi's aunt Isanna, a watercrafter who is very strong and commanding on the outside, but a little insecure on the inside.

The fourth pov is Amara. Amara is a cursor of the king. Cursors are somewhere between messangers and agents. She is about to infiltrate a rebel camp to gather intelligence.
Her supervisor is the cursor Fidelias, who accompanies her on her mission.

Amara was my favorite character of those 5. Her journey is very interesting and she is very capable and likeable.
The most obvious character development is going on for Tavi, cause his is the coming-of-age thread. I'm not a fan of those stories, so some of his parts weren't that interesting for me personally.

But thankfully the book is really fast paced. I dreaded 300 pages of village life, but if you get past the first 100-150 pages the pace picks up and there's plenty of action.

Overall I enjoyed the book and I would rate it 3,5 stars. I decided to give it 3 stars here on GR, cause some of the books I rated 4 stars here lately, I enjoyed a tad more, but those are 3 really strong stars. I'm definitely going to continue the series at some point, but not right away. ...more

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Jan 10, 2016 Tilly rated it it was amazing

Well... THAT WAS REALLY REALLY AWESOME!

I started to read this series, knowing that the authors main inspirations for these books were the old Roman empire and Pokémon. That sounds really weird but after hearing this I was very curious about picking up the first volume and I wasnt disappointed.
First of all it was not very difficult to get into the story and this is a problem which I have very often with other High Fantasy series, especially in the first novel. The plot was very exciting from the Well... THAT WAS REALLY REALLY AWESOME!

I started to read this series, knowing that the author´s main inspirations for these books were the old Roman empire and Pokémon. That sounds really weird but after hearing this I was very curious about picking up the first volume and I wasn´t disappointed.
First of all it was not very difficult to get into the story and this is a problem which I have very often with other High Fantasy series, especially in the first novel. The plot was very exciting from the beginning and the switching between different characters not overly complicated because the story was focused on a major point and came to an end which was relatively closed and also made me interested in reading book two in the series.
Furthermore I did not read a fantasy novel for a very long time where the fighting scenes are described so good and interesting. It didn´t only remind me of Pokémon but in some scenes also of X-Men or Avatar: The Last Airbender :D That sounds silly but it isn´t, the whole magic system within this world is absolutely believable and very imaginative for the reader. The world building which was inspired by the roman history was also very good but I hope to see more of the world in the following volumes because I think that the world of Alera has a lot of more potential and that this was only the beginning.
Now I come to the characters. Tavi, the main protagonist, was very likable to me. The way he fought through dangerous situations, without the ability of using elements like nearly every other person in this world, really impressed me and I also liked that he is not a perfect hero but that he has also some self-doubt within the story. I liked nearly all other characters as well Tavi´s friends and family as the antagonists of this novel, they had all very interesting and individual personalities and motivations. But the highlight of this book regarding characters were the Marat. Their way to live by their own laws reminds me a little bit of the Dothraki ("A Song of Ice and Fire" franchise) and I would love to get to know more of their culture in the rest of the series.
Overall this is an absolutely stunning and brilliant intro to the series and I will definitely continue. Well-deserved 5 of 5 stars! ...more

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Jul 05, 2011 Jim rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2fiction, fantasy, sword-sorcery, 3series, 1paper

An interesting series from the creator of the Dresden files. This is more of an epic fantasy with a really interesting magic. The characters were well done & I especially liked all the different creatures. Very interesting world & inhabitants with logical politics & problems.

That said, I had a few problems with the story, especially at the end. (view spoiler) ...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Tom rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite

5+ stars to an awesome start to a series. Not sure how the rest of the series is going to compete with the start of it but I am looking forward to see where it goes. Especially since my friend says they get better.

Epic fantasy adventure story of Tavi. Tavi is a boy born without any furies and is looked upon by many in his realm as a freak. In the realm of Alera people have furies which allow then to control earth, water, air, fire metal in some way or another. Some are very strong and some not s 5+ stars to an awesome start to a series. Not sure how the rest of the series is going to compete with the start of it but I am looking forward to see where it goes. Especially since my friend says they get better.

Epic fantasy adventure story of Tavi. Tavi is a boy born without any furies and is looked upon by many in his realm as a freak. In the realm of Alera people have furies which allow then to control earth, water, air, fire metal in some way or another. Some are very strong and some not so much, but everyone has some kind of fury except for Tavi. He has always been told he just hasn't come into them yet but at age 15 it is becoming harder to believe that he will ever come into a fury. When Tavi and his uncle Bernard run into trouble in the valley, Tavi will have to rely on his brain all the time wishing he had some kind of fury to help him through his ordeals.

My friend told me that it started out slow because of the world building that happens. I didn't find that at all. The world building was done during the telling of several story-lines that were going on. It didn't feel like an info dump where you are trying to figure out what is going on. There are things that are mentioned but aren't spelled out what they are but I like that sometimes. There are stories that give a definition of all the terms and I feel like the world building can drag on when that happens. I prepared myself for the world building and found myself immediately immersed in the story with the world just kind of forming during the story to my delight.

One of my favorite parts of this story is how the face of evil gets blurred. There are flat out heroes and evil villains in this story but then there are those that enter the grey zone. That grey zone gets entered into by the good and evil characters. Once the story gets started it is nonstop action. There are several stories going on and they stay on that story for a long time. You are not bouncing back and forth getting teased and then jumping back and forth constantly. There is the longest battle I ever read about without ever getting bored. I guess because it was actually several battles broken up with strategic maneuvering. There was also several story-lines being told within the same battle. If it was 1% or 2% shorter than it would have been perfect. Now if you want to pick it apart there were times when I was like why don’t they just do __. There was also a couple battles that were a little farfetched but they were short and didn't affect my enjoyment of the story.

There are a couple romances building but this is a fantasy lovers book not a romance lovers book. I loved the pace of the book. The writing was mature but not to the point of ever having to hit my dictionary. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series. This book ends with enough finality that you wouldn't have to move on with the series. Anymore it seems that they end in a cliffhanger to get you to read the next book. The quality of this book will have me moving on with the series and not a cliffhanger and I LOVE that.
...more

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Feb 25, 2015 Heather K (dentist in my spare time) added it · review of another edition

Shelves: did-not-finish, everyone-else-loves-it, fantasy, not-for-me, audiobook

I tried, I really tried. DNF at 18%.

High fantasy just is NOT for me.

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Aug 10, 2012 Penny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, series, young-adult, bookclub, scifi-and-fantasy-club-bookshelf, scifi-fantasy-club-2014challenge, magic, adventure

A friend of mine has been trying to get me to read this for ages and I'm so glad I finally did! I loved it! A lot of people complain that it's very trope heavy, and I suppose it is, but it didn't bother me in the least. There are lots of brilliant ideas that make the tropes feel new and it was just such a fun ride. The main characters were fantastic and I felt deeply invested in all of them. Although I don't care much for Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, I have to say that I really enjoy his Codex A ...more

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Jul 31, 2017 Al rated it really liked it · review of another edition

An easy 4.5 stars. Absolutely LOVED the characters! On to the next!

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Oct 03, 2013 Kathleen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-scifi, series-opener, audio, speculative-or-fantastical-history

Fantasy with some romance. Good story. First in the complete series of six books. A little too much internal reflection, a battle scene that went on and on, and a bit predictable, but still a solid hit.

(I read the entire series. Six books. A coming-of-age tale. Feel-good fantasy with brotherly camaraderie and romantic relationships amidst a military theme. Apocalyptic battles towards the last books.)

Audio, narrated by Kate Reading, includes annoying trumpet fanfare numerous times.

This series i Fantasy with some romance. Good story. First in the complete series of six books. A little too much internal reflection, a battle scene that went on and on, and a bit predictable, but still a solid hit.

(I read the entire series. Six books. A coming-of-age tale. Feel-good fantasy with brotherly camaraderie and romantic relationships amidst a military theme. Apocalyptic battles towards the last books.)

Audio, narrated by Kate Reading, includes annoying trumpet fanfare numerous times.

This series is told in 3rd person POV (yay for that). The long-lost Ninth Roman Legion — stationed near York and possibly disappearing near Hadrian's Wall at the Scottish-English boundary sometime during the 2nd Century AD— isn't really lost. No, it just marched into another world, to this magical place. That's why we couldn't find them. And that's why the Alerans in this fantastical setting are known by Roman names like Octavian (Tavi, the hero), Maximus, Gaius, etc., and they speak in Latinate terms like legionaire, tribune, centurion, juris macto, ex-cursorius, gladius, patriserus, etc.

This series takes place on a planet called Carna, in the Kingdom of Alera. Aging King/ Emperor / First Lord Gaius Sextus has no heir, because his son Princeps Septimus was assassinated 15 years ago. Treacherous high lords and senators vie for the crown. In addition to vicious political infighting, Alera is surrounded by super-strong non-human (but fairly humanoid) enemies: Icemen, Marat, Vord, and Canim. Alerans are only puny weak humans, so their survival depends on their ability to bond with six elemental Furies: air, fire, water, wood/plants, metal/ steel, and earth/stone. Alerans are — innately, genetically — capable of fury-crafting.

But not Tavi, a shepherd boy in the Calderon Valley of Alera. Tavi lives on a group homestead called Bernardholt with his uncle Bernard, a wise and powerful earth- and wood-crafter, and his aunt Isana, a water-crafter and healer.

Apparently, Tavi was born without that special fury-crafting gene. Thus, Tavi is treated like a retard (by some) and at 15 years, his lack of fury-crafting is considered permanent.

But he can think his way around most problems...Tavi prevails though sheer guts, instinct, intelligence, and unyielding determination. It helps that he's read the ancient manuscripts, describing obsolete Roman siege weapons that don't require magical furies. It also helps that he grew up in the mountains, as a shepherd, learning to deal with wild predators.
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Helpful info about the elemental furies (earth, water, fire, etc) and the capacities of fury crafting from Gil Wilson: https://www.sfsite.com/12b/fc286.htm

From BBC: "In fact, the last certain piece of evidence relating to the existence of the Legion from anywhere in the Roman Empire comes from York where an inscription, dating to AD 108, credits the Ninth with rebuilding the fortress in stone. Some time between then and the mid-2nd Century, when a record of all Legions was compiled, the unit had ceased to exist." http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-1275... ...more

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Feb 13, 2009 Justin rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, own

I read this book after I ran out of Dresden Files. Jim's little blurb at the end of his books had convinced me to give it a whirl. Let it be known, this is not to the caliber of The Dresden Files. It is a good book none the less. The story follows several characters in the world of Alera, who find themselves intertwined together in a land on the brink of war. This is a book of themes. Bravery, honor, love, family and sacrifice are all themes predominately displayed through out the story. Alera i ...more

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May 29, 2012 Clouds rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-series, fantasy, reviewed, kindle, pub-2000s, read-in-2016

Yeah - I liked it!
It reminded me a lot of Sanderson's Elantris with a dash of May's Pliocine Exile.

The magical system - Furies - has a huge amount of potential, and it's easy to see how it inspired Butcher to write this series.

Traditionally, magic falls into two camps:
Wizards - they learn spells/potions/summonings, etc and then carefully use them as tools to achieve the end result.
Sorcerers - they are the source of magic and improvise on the fly to twist the world to their desire

Furies don't fal Yeah - I liked it!
It reminded me a lot of Sanderson's Elantris with a dash of May's Pliocine Exile.

The magical system - Furies - has a huge amount of potential, and it's easy to see how it inspired Butcher to write this series.

Traditionally, magic falls into two camps:
Wizards - they learn spells/potions/summonings, etc and then carefully use them as tools to achieve the end result.
Sorcerers - they are the source of magic and improvise on the fly to twist the world to their desire

Furies don't fall easily into either of these camps. Furies are elemental spirits - earth furies, fire furies, air furies, etc. People find and bond with a powerful furies when they are young, and call on them telepathically for aid. Furies are semi-sentient, semi-autonomous beings, which makes fury-crafters a lot closer to sorcerers - they think what they want, and the fury makes it happen - but the fury-crafter themselves are not the source of the magic.

It's a very clever concept because wizards are easier for audiences to relate to, because they start 'normal' and learn their way to power. Sorcerers are imbued with power, are further from 'normal' to start with, and usually harder to relate to - but are arguably more fun to write. Butcher had already written a superb wizard (Harry Dresden) - and a lot of that experience carries over here.

The actual story (government secret agent, rebel forces, chase scenes and sieges, etc) isn't particularly inspired - it's more a generic narrative shape to show-off how furies force these to be reinterpreted. Water-fury healing is awesome! Using earth-furies to raise castle walls is awesome! Using air-furies for flying knights is awesome!

It didn't quite get that 5th star, because I don't think he took any proper risks - the heroes are good and the baddies are bad - there's no shades of grey (there's a little personal-honour over factional-disputes, but that's still kind of classic for fantasy). There's no gritty, make-you-wince moments. There's no startling poetry. There's no back-of-the-neck poetry. There's no shocking twists. It's a grand adventure, and it's a really fun, enjoyable ride - but it delivers that really well - but there's nothing to elevate it into the 5-star 'whoa that blew my mind' category.

Having said that, neither Dresden Files nor Vorkosigan Saga blow my mind, but they regularly get 5-stars because I adore the characters. Neither Amara (the secret agent) nor Tavi (the brave youth) are in that category (yet). ...more

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Nov 11, 2016 Carolin Wahl rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: tolle-charaktere, toller-weltenbau, schoener-schreibstil, spannende-story, stimmungsvoll, fantasy, spritzige-dialoge

Ich liebe die Welt. Den Aufbau. Die Geschichte. Die Figuren, alle unterschiedlich, eigensinnig, stark und einfach besonders.
Butcher zieht mich in seine Geschichte hinein und lässt mich dermaßen zufrieden zurück, dass ich gar nicht viele Worte verlieren möchte.
Wer Fantasy gerne liest, ist hier genau richtig.
Jetzt freue ich mich einfach, dass es noch so viele weitere Bände gibt.

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Aug 17, 2015 Travis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

So this was an excellent start to the Codex Alera series. It was jam packed with everything I need in a book which includes a great plot, great writing, great characters!! That is all I am going to say for this review. I am just going to let the rating and these few words let you know my love for this book while I go and start book 2!!!!!!!!

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Jun 19, 2014 Ivan rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

It wasn't bad read but I expected lot more and I expected high fantasy book not YA.

First the good stuff.Book is set in interesting and unique world where magic affects everyday life and everyone has it.Magic system and combats are also nicely done and I disagree that furies are similar to pokemon/digimon, I think that magic system works similar to Avatar:Last airbender which is always plus for me.I also loved that protagonists is the only one who doesn't have any magic so he has to compensate wi ...more

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Dec 14, 2015 ☆☽Erica☾☆ marked it as eh-maybe-later

Is this guy's name really "Gaius Sextus"?

UM.

OK.

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About Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resi ...more

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Quotes from Furies of Calderon

“The course of history is determined not by battles, by sieges, or usurpation, but by the individuals. The strongest army is, at its most basic level, a collection of individuals. Their decisions, their passions, their foolishness, and their dreams shape the years to come. If there is any lesson to be learned from history, it is that all too often the fate of armies, of cities, of entire realms rests upon the actions of one person's decision, good or bad, right or wrong, big or small, can unwittingly change the world.
But history can be quite the slattern. One never knows who that person is, where he might be, or what decision he might male.
It is almost enough to make me believe in destiny.” — 71 likes

“Because a sound tree doesn't have bad roots, Amara. No enterprise of greatness
begins with treachery, with lying to the people who trust and love you” — 56 likes

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