Furies of Calderon

Codex Alera, Book 1

De: Jim Butcher

Narrado por: Kate Reading

In the realm of Alera, where people bond with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal - 15-year-old Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. But when his homeland erupts in chaos - when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies - Tavi's simple courage will turn the tides of war.

©2005 Jim Butcher (P)2008 Penguin Audiobooks

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Epic fantasy in the best way, inspired by Tolkien.” (New York Times best-selling author Simon R. Green

“A stay-up-all-night-’til-you-finish-it-book, Furies of Calderon is a marvelous read.” (Number-one New York Times best-selling author Patricia Briggs)

“Absorbing...Butcher does a thorough job of world building, to say nothing of developing his action scenes with an abundance of convincing detail.” (Publishers Weekly)

A diamond in the rough

This novel just proves Jim Butcher's ability as a great writer. I started out with Dresden files, which is another great series, and stumbled upon furies of Calderon. The novel is nothing like Dresden files, but still very well written. No longer are you inside the head of one character, now third person dominates the narrative. If you are expecting Harry Dresden in medieval times you will be disappointed. Instead think of Romanesque legions and law, complete with a king and a senate. The outer dwellings with stead holds and strategically placed citadels. Now imagine Furies or elementals bonding with humans giving them each unique abilities (varying in strength depending on the character) relating directly to the nature of the fury. Imagine a world with deadly and mystical creatures, savage natives, and treachery from every angle. Can you imagine the new depth of fighting? Attacks from the air, the ground, and even from within your own body. Jim Butcher creates a novel with familiar parallels while at the same time breaking the rules (in a clever and intriguing way) Kate Reading is a great narrator. She is perfect for this type of novel. Her voice is elegant and her British accent sets the mood for the novel perfectly(Think Lord of the Rings narrator). Never have I been so pleasantly surprised as I was when listening to this novel. I'm just one person but I say GET IT! I hope you'll enjoy it as much as my wife and me.

Good series! trumpet fanfare removed

Update: Intermittent trumpet fanfare has been removed from entire series. Yay!

Fantasy with some slight romance. Good story. First in the complete series of six books. A little too much internal reflection, a concluding battle scene that went on and on, and a bit predictable, but still a solid hit.

Narrator Kate Reading's performance is excellent.

This series is told in 3rd person POV (yay for that). The long-lost Ninth Roman Legion — stationed near York and possibly disappearing near Hadrian's Wall at the Scottish-English boundary sometime during the 2nd Century AD— isn't really lost. No, it just marched into another world, to this magical place. That's why we couldn't find them. And that's why the Alerans in this fantastical setting are known by Roman names like Octavius (Tavi, the hero), Maximus, Gaius, etc., places are named Gaul, Aquitaine, etc, and Alerans refer to themselves with Latinate terms like academ, cursor, legionare, legion, patriserus, etc.

This series takes place in the dangerous Kingdom of Alera, where the Ninth Roman Legion settled at least a thousand years ago. Alera is surrounded by non-human (but somewhat humanoid) Icemen, Marat, Vord, and Canim.

Villains are three-dimensional. Along with several treacherous Romans (Alerans), the cannibalistic Marat play a major role in this book. The Marat bond with animals, especially raptors (man-sized vicious birds), wolves, horses, and gigantic gargants. They command their animal totems / chalak. The Marat lands (Maratia) border the Calderon Valley in eastern Alera, where an invasion takes place, in this book.

Alerans are only puny humans, so their survival amongst the barbarian Marat, Icemen, Vord, and Canim depends on their ability to control the Six Elemental Furies: earth-stone, wood-plants, fire, water, wind/air, and steel. All Alerans are — innately, genetically — capable of fury-crafting.

However, young Tavi, a shepherd boy living at Bernardholt in the Calderon Valley, has shown no sign of that special fury-crafting gene. Thus, Tavi is treated (by some) like a retard, and at 15 years, his lack of fury-crafting is considered most likely to be permanent.

But he's resourceful anyway; he can think his way around most problems...

Human Characters: Tavi, Aunt Isana, Uncle Bernard, Amara the academ/cursor, Fidelius her teacher, Kord and sons Bittan and Eric, Aldrick the swordsman, Odiana the water witch, Fade the slave, Gaius the Emperor, etc.

Marat Characters: Atsurak (chief of wolf clan), Doroga (chief of gargant clan), Katai (Doroga's whelp), Hashat (chief of horse clan and Doroga's sister-in-law).

Good romp. Fun series.

Enjoyed the series. Pretty predictable story arc & characters, but enjoyable read.

His work with the Dresden files is more developed, but if you like the "youth finds his place in the world" story arc and looking for a fun read, this is worth a shot.

More 'Lord of the Rings'; less 'Dresden-y'

Any additional comments?

I tried this book/series because I adore the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, turns out this is much more 'Lord of the Rings' than anything like the writing he does in the Dresden Files. Which doen't mean it's bad, simply different. I had expected the same syle of writing, the same wit, but this story, for the most part, lacks that. What it doesn't lack is imagination.

Jim Butcher has created a world that is as wild and wonderful as J.R.R. Tolkien's. The vast number of protagonists and antagonists and those that switch sides in the middle made the going a little slow at first as you get to know them and their worlds, but when everything finally came together the result was facinating. I have to say that, as I did with Lord of the Rings, I found the final battle to be too long and drawn out, but apart from that the book was enjoyable. It left some mysteries hanging at the end, which is a typical Jim Butcher style, and now that we know all the characters, I look forward to the next books delving more into their emotions, interactions, and personal struggles.

The reluctant hero, Tavi, shows the potential for allowing Butcher's wit to be displayed in the future and the various couples that the author has drawn together have the potential for heartbreak or joy. I look forward to seeing where he takes these characters in the next book.

Kate Reading did a very good job with the voices of men and women alike; I found her delivery enjoyable.

Some people complained about the 'horns' that sound at what must've been the end of the original tapes/CDs. I never found them to be annoying at all - the sound really goes with the story, to be honest, kind of a medieval call to arms. I was happy that I knew what they were before hearing them, however, otherwise it might've been confusing at first.

Overall, if you liked 'Lord of the Rings', I think you'll enjoy this book. If you're expecting writing in the style of Dresden - don't. It's not.

very nice listen

The story was amazing, took a couple chapters to get into it, but after the story got going I couldn't stop listening. The only bad thing were the random horns.

Excellent

I love this book and can't wait to finish the series. This series has been a family favorite for years. It has been read multiple times by many family members.

Loved it! Can't wait for more!

I agree with every other review! This series is one of the best! Great characters, lots of action and a good narrator. You really can't ask for more. I can't wait to start the next the next book.

I'm a huge Jim butcher fan.

I love most if not all of Jim butcher's works. However, The narrator here left something to be desired. I'm not even sure why I did not like her, I just didn't.

The horns??!?

Excellent reading of a quality story but the random horn blares were off putting. It should be simple to edit out. Still well worth the purchase.

started out slow but glad i kept reading

overall i really liked this series! book 1 & 2 were decent but the rest of the series really picked up and i would really recommend you stick to it!
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