Codex Alera question

[Mykander]

I really like the idea behind the Codex Alera series, but the execution is horrendous and the 2nd book is killing me. Does anyone know if there is a spoiler somewhere which details the events in the books? Also does the point of view shifting get any better as time goes on, focusing more on Tavi and/or a fewer number of characters?

[Suzanne]

From what I remember, the point of view shifting is fairly consistent throughout the series. I'm not sure about an available spoiler thing though. Good luck!

[JoJo]

I thought it was very well done, if a little confusing at times.

[Rob, Roberator]

Sorry to hear you're not enjoying it. It's one of my favorite series. Book 2 felt a bit Harry Potter to me in places, but books 3 and 4 are among my all time top books.

Book 5 is also quite good. The final book was mostly so-so to me.

My only real annoyance with the character swapping was it lead to a lot of mini cliff hangers where I wanted to stay with the main story.

There were points when the side stories got a little long, but I generally found myself just as interested in those as I as in Tavi.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure about any sort of detailed summary/spoilers pages. Often times Wikipedia has some, but they look pretty sparse for the books in this series.

[Eric]

This is still one of my favorite series out there. Love the characters and the unique use of magic.

[Tash]

To be honest I found book 2 the hardest to read, but stick with it. I particularly enjoyed book 3. I believe Suzanne is correct, the narrators remain pretty much the same throughout the series.

[Sky]

Yeah, of the series I found Academ's Fury to be the weakest book, but books 3 and 4 are both excellent.

But don't worry, I've got your back on the spoiler front!

(view spoiler)[No, really, this is some serious business spoilerage...

(view spoiler)[
In book 2, the following Setting of the Stage is important:

1. Kalaran assassins (the "bloodcrows") have been killing cursors.
2. They also try to kill Isana.
3. Tavi has been training to be a cursor. He's secretly awesome at it. He also gets bullied for a lack of crafting.
4. One of his classmates is an impostor.
5. Wax forest bugs (the vord) are hunting Tavi.
6. The Canim are werewolves, lead by Varg.

The following Major Events are also important:

1. Tavi saves the First Lord from a vord/Canim assassination attempt.
2. The Aquitaines get credit for it.
3. Varg is (wrongfully) imprisoned because of it.
4. The Canim prime minister, Sarl, escapes with a vord queen.
5. Isana falls in with the Aquitaines.
6. Bernard/Amara (Bermara?) have their best book of all the books. Minimal time spent traveling, maximal time spent fighting for their lives against the vord.
7. Doroga is awesome. Walker is possibly more awesome.
8. The traitor is Gaelle.
9. Fidelias is going undercover somewhere. Gaius Sextus is cool with that.
(hide spoiler)]

(hide spoiler)]

I would strongly suggest at least reading through the book, however. It sets the stage for the coming books and introduces most of the major secondary characters while showcasing their particular skill sets. Plus, Antillar Maximus buys a whole lot of forgiveness.

And yes, one of the things that I appreciated about this series was that the number of PoV characters remained pretty constant throughout. In fact, I believe that book 2 is the most fractured, as the 4 major story arcs all begin apart and don't interact directly too often. In later books, there tend to only be three main arcs, with the events around Tavi's getting the majority of the attention due to the number of PoVs nearby.

[Brandon]

It really shocks me that someone could use the word horrendous in reference to this series. Should anyone ask me what is my favorite series of all time I'd answer the Codes Alera without hesitation.

[Lorie]

The sex scenes are pretty horrendous. I love Jim Butcher but I couldn't get into his Pokemon/Lost Legion books.

[Kevin]

I would use the word horrendous to describe the series.