Book Review - Codex Alera

Plot: 7/10

Character sketch: 10/10

World creation: 10/10

Presentation: 10/10

Compelling: 8/10

Overall: 9/10

Opinion: Six books of pure awesomeness and solid characters. Must read.

Jim butcher once again proves himself to be the master of the craft with this series about “Lost roman legion” and “Pokemon” (Yeah, you read it right!). He completed this series as part of a challenge where he was challenged to write a good story out of a lame idea. For which he would say he can write a good story out of two lame ideas of the challenger’s choosing. Even though the individual ideas are not lame (how could they be, they are Roman legion and Pokemon!!), collectively they do appear lame!

Nevertheless, Jim butcher saves the day with his superpower – storytelling.

All six books in the series are filled with great storytelling interspersed with flashes of brilliance. Of course, Codex Alera comes nowhere near the epicness of his ‘Dresden files’ (an urban fantasy series by Jim Butcher) and yet it seems to grow equally good as the story progress. Jim has written the books in his own style with a lot of parallel actions, sarcasm, drama, awesome characters, plot twists, and grandness. Though if in some places the book does slow down with excruciating details, plowing through those sections is worth the effort.

The best part of the books is its characters, where we get to empathize and evolve with them constantly without losing the connect. Starting from the indomitable Tavi to the Vile Vord, each character is significant in their own right and imparts a sense of splendor to the story. Every character is inseparably intertwined with the plot making their quirks even more interesting. Especially, the part where Tavi grows from a small and powerless valley boy to a formidable veteran has been beautifully crafted without losing the essence of the story. There are too many awesome characters in this only single series to even pick one as a favorite.

I had to stop several times in between reading to go ‘WOW! How could one even think like this!’ For a fantasy novel, there seem to be too little quotes and it has worked in the favor of the books. The dialogues instead are a bombshell! Every dialogue has been meticulously crafted to further the plot and awe the readers.

The world is absolutely simple and beautifully crafted (even for an inspired idea), coupled with brilliantly presented plots. The story is nothing out of the ordinary; Good vs evil (epic fantasy), generously sprinkled with political drama. Nonetheless, Jim rests his case, showing ‘writing style’ trumps over ‘story idea’, with this series.

A must-read for every fantasy lover!

Storyline (Spoilers):

Furies of Calderon (Book 1): Young Tavi, of Calderon, is furyless and lives with his aunt Isana and her brother Bernard. Alera (the nation) once again faces the threat of the Marats (barbarian horde) after 10 years, who have allied themselves with one of the power-hungry lords of Alera, who plans to overthrow the princeless throne. Tavi, who is inadvertently caught amidst the power struggle, manage to strike a peace between Marat and Alerans, while Bernard leads the legion in the valley’s defense. Incidentally, in the course of events, an ancient evil is awoken, which if not stopped, will be the end of Alera.

Academ’s Fury (Book 2): Tavi is granted his wish to train as a cursor, thanks to his heroic act which forged a permanent peace between the Marat and Alera. Being the only one without fury in the whole of Alera, he has to manage in the academy with only his wits. In the post-war calm, the Vord are turning the emissaries of the Canim warriors, wolf-like sentient beings, into their puppets to strike at the first lord. At the same time, the First lord, the most powerful furycrafter in Alera, is taken out of the game due to his ill-health. Will Tavi be able to spoil the plans of the Vord and save Alera?

Cursor’s fury (Book 3): Tavi has become the cursor (an open secret) and is sent to the First Aleran legion undercover as a tribune logistica by the First Lord. Alera once again faces an invasion from the canim wolf warriors. But this time they are here to stay! They have come ashore with the largest force Alera has ever seen. In one single fatal blow, they eliminate every higher ranking officer of the First Aleran legion. Tavi ends up becoming the captain of the legion which has never been in a battle before. First Lord and the other experienced legion of Alera are occupied in defending the realm against Kalare, one of the rebellious high lords and will be unable to assist Tavi and the First Aleran legion. Will Tavi succeed in defending the enemy who outnumbers them many to one with no help in the near future?

Captain’s Fury (Book 4): The Canim horde is still in Alera and is making Alerans pay dearly in every battle. Tavi has come into his fury crafting and also comes to know that he’s the long-lost son of the most revered prince of the realm. Meanwhile, the Vord queen who had escaped the Alerans had been to Canea and invading it. Tavi wants to make an alliance with the fierce Canim against the common enemy, Vord. But, Aleran politics and infighting does not bode well for him and is arrested in the process. In the meantime, the Canim will not stop fighting till Tavi delivers on the promise of freeing the Canim warlord from the Aleran prison. Even when arrested and no help to come his way, Tavi cannot back down now when there is hope of peace on the horizon.

Princep’s Fury (Book 5): Kalare has been stopped and peace forged with the Canim. But, the threat of Vord has been as deadly as forewarned by Tavi and his uncle Bernard. Alera is paying dearly for ignoring their warnings. As a part of the peace forged with the Canim, Tavi is escorting the Canim safely across the ocean to Canea. They reach Canea only to find it overrun by the Vord. But, Vord is one enemy who could not be reasoned with. Tavi now has to safeguard his troops in Canea from the Vord and get back to Alera. In the interim, the Vord queen who had fled from Alera, is back and wants to make it her own. So starts the final war to get Alera rid of the cancerous vord.

First Lord’s fury (Book 6): Tavi returns to a war-ravaged Alera along with the Canim since Canea is no more habitable due to Vord. The first lord dead, Aquitaine adopted into house Gaius to lead the people in absence of Tavi, Vord getting stronger every passing moment and Tavi not sure about how to defeat the Vord queen. Alera has never faced such a formidable foe ever in its history and they are totally not prepared for it. Alerans, Canim and Marat have no other option than to stand together against their common enemy. Tavi once again has to rely on his intellect to overcome the impossible. Or has the game been lost already?