"First Lord's Fury" Book six of the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher

"First Lord's Fury"
Book six of the Codex Alera
by Jim Butcher
Published November 2009 by ACE


Shakespeare said,"there is no new thing under the sun." and The Bible says the same, (Ecclesiastes 1:9-14 NIV) "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." So I've often wondered if writers will ever run out of material to write about. After some pondering I've somewhat come to agree with Billy S. and the Bible, but I think it's all a matter of how you tell it. The reason I bring this up is that while reading this final book in the "Codex Alera," by Jim Butcher, I found myself comparing the events in this book (and series as a whole) to some of my other favorites in fiction. While the uneducated would call it stealing, I definitely don't see it that way and accepted the fact that Jim Butcher is a master story teller and if he borrows ideas, or just simply comes up with ideas that have been used by others, the bully for him. In fact the real genius in these books is that Butcher takes several different elements in fiction and rolls them up to create a gooey sticky delicious fantasy adventure that should be on everyone's reading list.

Let me first give you my comparisons. First we have the major enemy of the land of Alera, the Vord. The Vord is an unrelenting hive-mind enemy led by a single queen. They assimilate those they conquer (as well as creating bug like creatures) and their goal is total destruction until there is nothing but Vord. I found myself comparing the Vord to a combination of The Borg, from the Star Trek Series' and the bugs from Starship Troopers. They did share qualities but Jim Butcher created the ultimat destructive force when he created the Vord.

The series of books follows the life of Tavi, later Gaius Octavian. A young man that could not control the magic of "furies." The furies are representations of the elements, earth, water, fire, air, steel and those that control them usually specialize in a particular fury element and have powers related to those furies. For example, those that control air furies can fly, steel and earth furies have extreme strength and so on. As the series progress it is learned that Tavi had the power of fury-crafting somewhat hidden by his mother so he would be safe. Also as the series progressed Tavi not only learned fury-crafting but became better at it than any other Aleran. This aspect reminded me of the progression of the powers and secrets behind J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

During the telling of the tale of Tavi, and as he grows stronger, he must travel to other lands and recruit help from many forces and races to bring a war to the evil that is the Vord. He recruits the Murat a fighting race that take on the resemblance of the different animals they "bond" with. He recruits the Canim, a wolf like race that, as it turns out, was run out of their lands by the Vord. this aspect reminds me of the entire "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Once again I have to say, yes they have similarities, but Jim Butcher finds a way to meld these ideas into an entertaining series. So while there may be nothing new, Jim Butcher has found a way to make it seem new in this wonderful tale. Therefore, it's all in the storytelling.

Now to talk about this book. Basically there are three fronts for the final battle between the Alerans ( now including the Canim and the Murat); The hive itself where the Vord Queen has taken Tavi's mother hostage, and directs her swarm of Vord alongside Lady Invidia, a traitor to her kind. The northland and into the city of Reva with Tavi and his forces of Aleran Legions and Canim warriors. This one is constantly moving to what will be the final battle in the third and final front in the war Calderon. This is the safest place in all Alera and the battles from the fortified city are some of the best in the series.

As the three fronts merge into one final battle site the characters all grow stronger and as the reader I became completely immersed in their lives and at times kept wanting to put the book down, only because I did not want it to end. After all this is the final book in the series. Tavi learns Kitai is pregnant, traitors are exposed and dealt with and assassination attempts are thwarted.

So with all the melding of great ideas and the super storytelling ability of Jim Butcher, the Codex Alera comes to an end with one of the greatest battles ever and leaving the reader wanting more.

Thank you Jim Butcher.

Furies of Calderon Book one of the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher
Furies of Calderon Book one of the Codex Alera
Read by Kate Reading
Penguin Audio
Approx. 20 hours
Audiobook published 2008

Jim Butcher has created a wonderful new world of fantasy in the series known as Codex Alera. This first book in the series introduces all the main characters and the creatures and events that make Alera a great world in which any reader could get lost.

The narrator, Kate Reading, delivers the punch when needed in this epic adventure and when needed vocalizes the perfect emotional tone during the various emotions in the tale. Kate Reading's voice easily relays the sense of loss or hope, and when needed, she can drum up the excitement for all the battle scenes. Jim Butcher has written all the words to describe the various scenes and settings that make this an exciting read, but Kaet Reading's delivery makes it so the audiobook listener gets completely immersed in the land of Alera.

The people of Alera have special abilities called fury-crafting. The Alerans have tamed the furies to assist them in their every day jobs. The furies represent the main elements; earth, metal, wood, fire, water and air. The earth furies manipulate earth and stone and allow earth fury-crafters to gain more strength and be great hunters/trackers. The metal crafters make superior swordsmen. The wood crafters manipulate plants and trees great for making camouflage and increasing accuracy of arrows. The fire crafters not only manipulate fire but can also use the fire furies to manipulate human emotion. The water crafters tame the waters to communicate over long distance, heal others, keep a youthful appearance and detect emotions. The air crafters have the ability of flight and increased speed and agility as well as the ability to bend air to listen or see long distances.

All these powers make the Alerans masters of their domains and yes some small skirmishes may erupt but the land is governed by Gaius Sextus, First Lord of alera. Gaius is getting older and after the death of his son, lacks an heir, so a war of who could be First Lord seems imminent.

In the Calderon Valley there lives a "disabled" boy by the name of Tavi. Tavi lives on Bernardholt with his uncle Bernard an earth and wood crafter, and aunt Isana, a water crafter. The reason Tavi is disabled is that he lacks any fury crafting skills, and this does not happen in Alera. Tavi has learned to use his intelligence to get out of a situation instead of relying on furies.

In Furies of Calderon, which is book one of the Codex Alera, which so far there are six books in the series, the Tolkienesque adventures in Alera are unleashed. Tavi has lost his flock of sheep and he and his uncle go out to find them, instead they find that the Murat (a violent and dangerous race of humanoids that have tribal affiliations with certain animals in the realm) are invading the Calderon Valley, after a near fatal encounter Bernard is wounded and may die if not healed soon, Tavi stays to mislead the Murat warriors so that Bernard can be taken to safety. At the same time a strong Fury Storm erupts in the valley and Tavi has to seek shelter or die from the Murat attack or the furies in the storm. As he's running for shelter he finds a runaway slave girl, Amara (who is actually a spy sent from Gaius to find what is happening in the Calderon Valley) and risks his life to help her.

At this same time three mercenaries find their way to Bernardholt seeking shelter from the storm. The three are looking for Amara to keep her from warning the steadholders of the coming war, and are also there to start the war so Gaius looks week and House Aquitaine can take the throne.

Amara takes Tavi into the night to warn the Count ruling calderon, since Tavi is the one who has seen the Murat. During their escape Tavi and the slave with a secret, Fade, are captured by the Murat, Amara and Bernard make it to the garrison to warn the count but meet opposition from a second in command that does not believe them and barely prepares the garrison for the battle, Isana and one of the mercenaries are captured by an evil steadholder who wishes to "break" them and make them his slaves.

As the separate parties go on their own adventures working to stop a war in Alera excitement abounds in this first book of what is proving to be a great fantasy series. Be prepared for a fun read with some all the highs and lows of the emotional gamut.