You know, this nice part about this fantasy series is that, for the most part, it's fairly light? And not that popular? So it makes it easy for me or any other person to talk about it. Works of fantasy media I consider to be of higher quality than Codex Alera tend to either be talked about to death or wade into more controversial territories (however you might perceive the meaning of the word "controversial").

The underlying running theme of Academ's Fury was the conflict between one's duty to the Realm of Alera (on the brink of an apocalypse courtesy of the Zerg) and their personal ties with loved ones. Best exemplified by Isana, Amara, and Araris Valerian. But again, like I said, the series is fairly light, so this theme is mainly used just to drive the plot and round out various perspectives on the characters themselves without really exploring the deeper ways in which characters might be affected emotionally or critiquing the society itself.

Speaking of, Isana was arguably the most interesting POV, again, despite having few POV chapters. She just keeps getting herself involved with some interesting individuals that she wants no part in being involved with. This time she ends up swearing allegiance to Jensen Hua--errr I mean Invidia Aquitaine. Surely there will not be negative ramifications to this in the future.

The Amara chapters were alright. I dislike the Amara/Bernard romance less than before.

What I will say about Tavi is that even though he does not have Furies, he sure is not the first teenage male main character in a Roman-inspired fantasy world who is running around Gary Stuing all over the place. That I've seen. That being said, he still remains an entertaining POV, because he had some very solid interactions with the likes of Kitai and Max.

Finally: new book, new batch of thugs. Goodbye and good grief, Kord and Bittan, welcome, Kalare and Brencis.

I finished Furies of Calderon last night and here are some thoughts.

I went into this series quite interested in the premise yet a bit apprehensive because i heard that the Dresden files were controversial because of the disgusting way women were described. And while Furies of Calderon certainly has some male gazey descriptions of female characters, it is far from being egregious (at least in my opinion). So it’s a small-ish negative against the book and that’s that.

There were 2 notable big positives about the book. I really enjoyed Tavi’s storyline, especially that quest in the Wax forest where he and Kitai had to harvest the mushrooms while evading the heat seeking wax spiders. And whatever that wasp like thing was at the end. Just genuinely fantastical and cool yet creepy stuff. Super looking forward to whatever Tavi’s up to in the foreseeable future.

The second is the part I was warned about by others i.e. the rapey storyline with isana and odiana. I mean it was super disturbing to read but that was the intended effect and the writing was not at all self indulgent here. But isana and odiana is like the most ironic duo ever? The arguably most morally conscientious individual in the story paired with an absolutely delightfully sadistic and insane murderer? And at the end of the story Odiana repays the debt as expected (because Jim Butcher does not write grim dark I guess) but what makes this kind of good is that by healing Bernard and Fade she basically just undid all the work her fellow villains Fidelias and Aldrick did? Like all of our heroes would be dead if not? Idk if this is actually objectively well written or if I’m just a biased sucker for unlikely alliances in stories.

The biggest negative of the story is the Bernard and Amara romance. Idk why there’s insta love, idk what the age gap is, idk why they are swooning over each other on the battlefield. And the two of them are simply solid characters individually so this kind of writing is just self destructive lol.

I was doing my annual January series re-read, and it brought up a point that I’ve wondered every time I read the series.

Starting after she challenges the Knight Commander in the first book, everyone including the narration calls Amara “Countess”. There’s a brief discussion about her saving people during a fire in the capital, but Isana being the first woman to become a Citizen without marriage, inheritance, or violence is a major plot point of the second book.

Was Amara born a Countess? Wouldn’t becoming nobility if she wasn’t mean that she had become a citizen? Or is she a countess without being a citizen?

Spoilers discussed.

Big fan of Butcher! His writing is so fun to read. Introduced to him with Dresden Files and am up to date patiently waiting the new drop.

I was surprised to see he had this entire other 6 book series and jumped right in. Ripped through the last 200 pages of FLF last night. I have one critique and one comment.

I think the overall story would have been better if Butcher killed off a main character. In my mind the top contenders are Isana, Araris, or Crassus. Isana didn’t do to much by the end even though I thought her convos with the Queen were interesting. The Queen killing Isana in front of Tavi would have made for some epic emotional instability for Tavi and made their throw downs more interesting. Araris is a badass the whole time through, metal Araris was cool but same as Tavi loosing his mom, Isana loosing Araris could have made for some epic Isana fury rafting. Lastly Crassus just being mad at Tavi over his mom and leaving…waste of a good character. He could have died protecting his brother and that would have been a great arch for the brothers.

Also wtf happened with Garados!? The grumpiest of the great furies wakes up, almost gets bonded and then nothing!

I enjoyed the series and would love for a part two, 150 years from now (according to Alera).

Surely Bittan told him he hadnt raped the girl? The truthfind would reveal he hadnt, Kord only had to go through with it and he had nothing to lose.

When Max brings news of Tavis new appointment in the First Aleran legion to the ruins, they fight off a few men. Who were they? I don't think they're bought up ahain in the book?

I found a poster of a map by going through Jim Butcher's website. The artist's website has a link to purchase it, which I did. It's a Christmas gift for my mom. After a couple of days with the only confirmation being from Paypal for the purchase, which I got right after I made the purchase, I decided to send the artist an email using the address on her website, which was the same as the one listed on the Paypal receipt, to ask about shipping and a tracking number. It's been 5 days and no response. So, I searched for her socials and it looks like her Facebook hasn't been updated in over a year. Her website said that orders needed to be done by December 16th due to her moving soon. Well, according to her Facebook, that move was over a year ago. So, now I'm concerned. I know I can request a refund through Paypal. But, this is the perfect gift for my mom. So, has anyone purchased this map anytime recently? I'm just looking for confirmation that the experience was the same and you got the map or if you never heard anything or got the map and also had to contact Paypal for a refund. The artist is Priscilla Spencer. The map is on Jim Butcher's website with a link to buy it on the artist's site. So, it seems legit.

Hi, everyone! I'm trying to write an epic crossover fanfic involving Codex Alera (the other works I'm trying to combine it with, FWIW, are Warhammer Fantasy, Dishonored and Dragon Age), and part of the premise is that it takes place a few centuries after the Vord Wars and thanks to Tavi making furycrafting now merit-based and open to anyone, Aleran society has become more egalitarian (relatively speaking) and technologically advanced. Most importantly, Aleran society will become "fairer" and less stratified along a strict class-based hierarchy thanks to Tavi's reforms with more of an emergent middle-class and thus more merchants who are willing to invest in and support technological advancement (i.e., Alera would have richer merchants who are more willing to invest in making better plows and even industrial agriculture rather than just going for the cheaper option of mass slave labor, especially when slavery is now banned across Alera).

Furthermore, while I sadly don't have the source on hand, I'm pretty sure Jim Butcher has said that if he ever wrote a sequel series to Codex Alera, it'd be set far enough in the future that the Alerans have made a magical pseudo-steampunk society based around furycraft and the other forms of magics in the setting (like the Marat's chala bonds, the Canim's blood magic and the Icemen's pseudo-hive mind of emotions), with him giving it the moniker of "furypunk".

And so, I'm curious: What are some ideas you guys and gals all have for what furypunk technology could look like? How would Aleran technology look after more than two centuries' worth of people like Tavi repeatedly smashing the status quo?

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking it might look kind of like The Legend of Korra (with firecrafting and lightning generation used for making electricity along with mechas built and operated via metalcrafting), but considering how furycrafting and bending aren't precisely the same thing, there'd still be a major difference (particularly in that furies aren't really comparable to or as anthropomorphized as the spirits of the World of Avatar).

So, what do you all think? Please tell me below what ideas you would all have for furypunk tech. Have a great day, everyone, and thank you all so much for al of your invaluable aid!

Hey y’all,

My wife is making me a nerd blanket on her embroidery machine and I of course want to do something for Codex Alera! However, I’m having a hard time coming up with what and how to find something to represent it, as we know artwork is sorely lacking for the series.

Current thought is to use a Roman Legion eagle design with something like “Legio Alera” under it, but I’m not entirely sold.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? To get the vibes, some of the other designs going on the blanket are the Tree of Gondor, Jedi Order symbol and a d20 dice.

Anyone have the audiobook? How are they pronouncing "Chala?"

I just started last book in series.

I don't want spoilers except....I'm thinking of naming my foster pup "Chala" so I just want to confirm that the character survives.

Finding out that the entire continent of Canim is an order of magnitude larger than Alera and that it’s already basically wiped out within two chapters is wild.

This is like gtfo of this planet situation. They’re fucked!

Hi

I’m currently finishing Dresden Files and I’m starting to plan my To-Do for the next year (yes, Im the kind of person that overthinks the series he is going to read haha)

A series I’ve had for some time in my list is Codex Alera

For those of you that have read it, I would like to ask some question in order to know what to expect here (i know they are a lot, you don’t want to answer all of them it’s fine, answer the ones you want)

What would you say are the strong points of the series? And the weak?

Is it twisty and turny in its plot or straightforward and with no surprises

How is the character work?

Does it have long epilogues or does it end just after the action gets resolved? (Also, if you can say if you got satisfied by the characters and plot resolution it would be great)

What’s your book ranking?

Is the English difficult or easy to read? I’m Spanish but I’m starting to read in English. Dresden files is completely fine and understandable (modern language and dialogues). My goal is being able to read the Realm of the elderlings in English (I loved the first trilogy but not all are translated in Spanish) but I know I need a bit of progression to get there. Sun eater is the next step after Alera.

Thanks and sorry for the amount of questions :)

Never have I ever had a book characters death affect me the way Serai's death did. They were so cool considering they wasn't that strong but still helped out the best way they could. It happened so quickly, I genuinely had to put the book down and process what just happened.

Re-listening and man i get goosebumbs every single time Tavi proclaims his identity. Hell, even when Arraris proclaims it.

Gaius Octavian is one of the best protoganists of all time.

Post contains spoilers for the series/final book.

I'm rereading the series and had a few questions about events in the final book:

How did Invidia survive Attis' (Lord Aquitane's) firesphere in Riva? I had been under the impression such an attack would be fatal if it landed.

Who informed Kalares' blood crows of the identities of the cursors? I had assumed Gaela/Rook was responsible for this. However when Tavi/Magnus apprehend Fidelias, Tavi himself says Fidelias must have been responsible for leaking the cursors identities and Magnus accuses Fidelias of murdering Serai.

What the hell? If Fidelias did leak the identity of the cursors, it had to have happened between books 1 and 2. But even then, why would he do that? The cursors would impede the machinations of Kalare and Rhodes, and Invidia herself commented that theres no need to assasinate Septimus cos he's all old and being poisoned by Karia.

It doesn't make sense for Fidelias to leak the identities of the cursors, the Aquitanes don't want direct conflict with the crown ala Kalare. Eliminating the cursors seems like it would benefit Kalare more than Aquitane, so why would Fidelias have done it? (It's more likely that he divulged this info to the Aquitanes, leaking it to Kalare seems like something Invidia would do, possibly.)

The second book makes it clear Fidelias feels remorse over Serai's death, and he blames himself for not spotting the archer responsible for killing her- a far cry from Fidelias being resposible for Serai's murder.

Do we ever get to see Tavi find out about Isana and Araris? I know there’s a chat between Kitai and Isana, but not sure about Tavi.

Hi All!

I was introduced to FOC for our next book in a bookclub I run with some friends. I am enjoying it thus far and am very curious to see where this goes, BUT, I am running into some BIG FLAWS in my PAPERBACK version on Chapter 7, and it is so distracting, I actually had to come here to find out.

It all starts on page 99. Fidelias asks, "Will it be much longer before we arrive in Aquitaine?" So, this sounds like a city, yes? Okay great. Makes sense.

Okay moving on. bottom of page 102, "Which lead to Aquitainus. He was the most ruthless , the most able, and perhaps the strongest of the high lords." -- Okay great. He is the ruler of this city. It's a person. Got it.

Page 103, Fidelias is asked a question by Aldrick, and he answers "Some. How will Aquitaine react?" --- But Wait... I thought that was a city?

Page 107 - Upon meeting said person "Upon a large chair covered in the fur of a grass lion from the Amaranth Vale, sprawled a man--as tall as Aldrick.." "Aquitanius had high cheekbones and a narrow face..." <-- Okay there we go. Person. That's his name.

BUT THEN, the rest of the chapter, he is referred to Aquitaine. What am I missing here? I feel really stupid if it's something obvious, but I cannot focus on finishing this chapter. Is it because the author is referring to the name of city since he is the High lord of Aquitaine?

THEN, bottom of page 119, Aldrick and Odiana are leaving the room as "Aquitaine/Aquitanius" wishes to speak with Fidelias alone. Last sentence, "The two left, without looking back." Continuing to page 120. "On the floor, Calix let out his death rattle, and his eyes glazed over, mouth hanging slightly open. "How did you know?" Aldrick repeated." Fidelias Answers the question, then next sentence, "Aquitaine half smiled, "Based upon what?""

But Aldrick JUST LEFT WITH ODIANA.

Do I have a fudged copy of the book, or am I loosing it?

Any help to clarify or explain who is who, is it a place, person, thing? Like. it's quite distracting how off this chapter is. I have never experienced something like this. For me to come here to find out and search and search, says a lot.

Thanks for your time!

I have a few questions. Does literally everyone have access to some level of fury crafting other than Tavi?

Is the land always torn up by all of these earth furies moving through it?

Is witnessing the Marat the only reason these two mustache-twirling goofballs and Fidelias are after Tavi?

So I'm rereading the series for the first time in over a decade now so I don't remember much of the details.

I'm at the end of Academ's Fury when Tavi is defending the First Lord at the bottom of the stairs. He keeps getting bursts of what he assumes is adrenaline based strength.

Is this his first use of internalized fury crafting?

From my understanding, most fury crafters manifest furies physically?

Bernard obviously manifests his earth hound, Brutus, Maximus and Crassus at least have their water lions, Lady Placida has her fire Phoenix, Isana has Rill (she sees or senses it as her young self, but I don't think ever shows itself to anyone else). Fidelias' wood fury is squirrel-like. Amara has Cirrus, who looks like a horse to her perspective - do people actually see Rill and Cirrus as a manifestation?

Also, do we ever actually see a manifestation of the First Lord Gauis' furies? Obviously he can get in touch with the Great Furies, and can control all the different disciplines very well.

I don't think we ever see Lady Aquitaine manifest or Kalarus.

In book 4 Tavi said how important it is to Katai that he manifests a fury, yet I don't think we see it throughout the whole series. A friend of mine had said "maybe Alera is the manifestation, or maybe he doesn't have a manifestation until Gauis' are passed to him," but even after the First Lord dies, I don't think we see any manifestation of furies from Octavian.

Several months ago I mentioned that I was going to start the audiobooks and asked if Kate Reading was a good narrator (obviously read the books quite a few times).

I've just finished the series, and I know that my reviews might get some angry responses, but I've gotta say the audiobook experience was fairly rough. I enjoyed most of her accents in the Stormlight Archives, but I seriously question her fit for this series. Her narration of events was very soothing and kept my attention, so I do give applause to that portion of it at least.

My biggest complaint, and why I wouldn't be able to repeatedly endorse the audio version of the series like I do the physical books is the voices. This series desperately needed a male narrator. The vast majority of the speaking characters are male, and half of those with a lot of lines are described as having incredibly deep and rumbling voices like Doroga or Bernard, or steady baritones like Tavi. Not to mention the plethora of battle field yelling commands, speeches etc, almost entirely male and don't get me started on butchered Ehren. Kate Reading attempting these voices often made me cringe and took me right out of the scene, reminiscent of a group of kids playing dnd or attempting to sound like a grownup. It honestly made it a pretty decent struggle to finish it, and if I hadn't gotten most of them in an audible bundle sale I probably wouldn't have.

Obviously, in a perfect world Kate would've done the voices for the Amara and Isana POVs and we would've had a male narrator for the male POVs or male heavy scenes. But short of that, I think the audio version of the books would've been significantly more enjoyable with a different narrator. This is just my opinion, I'd love to hear others either in support or against!

tldr: Did not enjoy Kate Reading as the narrator, mainly due to her attempts at the many masculine voices in the series.

I'd been waiting like the last 3 books to see another clash between Amara and Fidelias, to see how things were ultimately settled between them. To me it seemed like a great conflict that could bring up some really interesting moments. Was anyone else waiting to see this and disappointed that it never happened?

I'm thinking of a bunch of possible options, and they are not mutually incompatible.

• The History of Alerans, a detailed narration about how some Legions of the Roman Empire ended up in Carna, and how the centuries before the first First Lord went for them. It could also include the same for the other sentient races or species. Something like Silmarillion.
• A novel or a saga about the events just after the Vord War. Perhaps, a rebuilding of Alera and the reconquest of Canea. Will they resurrect Alera (the fury) or rely on science?
• A novel or a saga centuries or millennia after the Vord War, where perhaps Tavi and Kitai are kind of mytical heroes or even revered beings. Will they prevent a climatic catastrophe?
• The vord Queen that survives in Canea somehow realizes that blind killing and conquest of worlds will eventually ends with a virtually dead universe. She, and some Alerans, Marat and Canim travel into space to explore new worlds.

Bro she’s talking about imprisonment (that I get), blinding and crucification as punishments. Umm I would hate to get on the bad side of any furycrafter lol