Furies of Calderon

Cooper Dalton

 

Furies of Calderon, a novel by Jim Butcher, is the fast paced, fantasy adventure that keeps readers on the edge of their seat. From the beginning to the end of the book, it is packed with action. The book opens with; “Amara rode atop the swaying back of the towering bull, going over the plan in her head.” As she is about to infiltrate an enemy camp. This book is the first novel of three in Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series. In addition, the story takes place in the Aleran Empire, which contains “crafters”, people who control the elements: water, air, earth, fire, wood, and metal, through a person’s bond with an element’s fury. Everyone in Alera can use these furies to control elements, except for one person, Tavi. Tavi is the main protagonist who is orphaned and raised by his Uncle Bernard and Aunt Isana. Gaius Sextus, the first lord of Alera, is getting old and weary, and the throne is threatened by his enemies. When the Marat and other enemy races attack him, will they defeat Gaius and take the throne? Or will Tavi and his friends prevail in this ultimate battle for Alera.
The writing style of Jim Butcher is exceedingly suspenseful with a multitude of cliffhangers. Butcher also sets up a theme of trust with several characters having to support each other. I generally like to have trust as a theme, because it brings the characters closer together, and you can group them together more easily. In addition, the characters are well-built, which I enjoy, and you get to know all of them personally as you read the book. Furthermore, the setting of Furies of Calderon is in a fictional place called Alera, that is a grassy, large area with many forests, small villages, and huge cities. This book has plenty of conflict, definitely enough to keep action-readers satisfied, but has enough story building that you can actually care about the characters. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy fantasy, and action adventure novels, because Jim Butcher usually excels at writing fantasy adventure books, and this was no exception. The book Furies of Calderon, held my interest from beginning to end, and I am looking forward to continue reading this series, with the next book, Academs Fury.