Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #240942 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Customer Reviews

Great Fantasy
I bought this book having enjoyed Butcher's Harry Dresden Series on a whim and really enjoyed it. Unlike the Harry Dresden series which are based in the modern day world this more traditional fantasy. The Aleran people are supported by elemental 'furies' - earth, air, fire, water etc. that aid them to perform magic. The main protaganist, fifteen year old Tavi has no fury, highly unusual for one his age. However his intelligence and ingenuity compensate for his lack of magic. He is drawn into an adventure involving high treason and war with their savage neightbours - the Marat. A highly enjoyable tale that is captivating and engaging from the start. Other characters are well drawn and it is a complex and well written novel. This is the first in a series and although this is a complete story it leaves the reader hungry for the next installment - roll on July!

fast-paced popcorn fantasy
This was an enjoyable enough read: fast-paced almost from the beginning, moving quickly from one action set-piece to the next, with frequent cliff-hangers nudging you into reading 'just a little bit more.'
The world, although not laid out on an epic scale, is solidly thought through, with many references to greek and roman myth and culture, and the magic system described is interesting and original, (although the author's 'furies' are vaguely reminiscent of Pulman's 'daemons').
The writing style is solid, although without any real flare - dialogue is not particularly humorous or gripping.
The characters are an interesting bunch, although, again, no one really stands out, and i did not at any point feel any kind of tension or great concern for any of them.
I've given this book 3 stars, but if amazon did half marks i probably would have upped it to 3 and a half.
Overall an entertaining, but somewhat forgetable read, a bit like one of those 'time-filler' movies you rent on a saturday night when the movie you really wanted is gone. I will most likely get part two, but i will not rush.

A masterpiece of modern Fantasy Fiction.
This review is for books one, two and three of The Codex Alera.

We start the story with Tavi and his uncle looking for a lost herd of sheep, while looking they attacked by a Marat warrior.
Tavi is forced to flee while his uncle lies injured, his uncle finally manages to escape. This leaves only Tavi to hunt.
After several days of running Tavi manages to escape. While returning home he finds an injured woman, her name is Amara and she is a Cursor(warrior, spy, assassin) for the First High Lord.

And so Tavi's adventure begins through the invasion of the Marat and the treason of some of Alera's high lords. Through to his education at the Academy and to him joining the Cursors and stopping an assassination attempt by the dreaded Vord.
And then his adventure continues through civil war and to the invasion of the Cane, during this time he has command of his own Legion and eventually to the defeat of the Cane.

These are the first Jim Butcher novels I have read and they were brilliant, they were very well written, the magical elements of the story were great(they were almost as good as the magic in Erikson's books) and the battle scense's were AMAZING definatly in the top three of any fantasy I have ever read.

P.S, The forth book in this series is out now on hardback.

I hope this review was of some help to you.