The fantasy world of Alera is very interesting and the magic of the various types of furies hooks you in quickly and makes for a diverse set of circumstances. The Furies of Calderon kicks off the Codex Alera series which follows the life of Tavi, a young boy with no furycrafting skills, in a world where everyone has access to furies and their abilities. Who knew that Lost Roman Legions and Pokemon could knock it out of the park? Home run, Jim. And I'm not disappointed with the decision. You're taken on a great romp of a story, and in the end, isn't that what we all want in a good listen? I know I do, and I so enjoyed this first audiobook in the series, that I bought the entire series. There's great characters that plot, backstab, challenge, fight for their beliefs, devour their enemies, and celebrate their victories. So, what about the writing? Again, if you follow my reviews, you know that I love ENGAGING fantasy or scifi writing. It's deep, well-thought magic-based partnership of man and magical creature is a pleasure to experience. The whole concept of fighting alongside elemental familiars used here is wonderfully executed. Add unique races, backstabbing, politics, military battles, duels and an interwoven story line that pulls it all together, and you get a fantastic story that's simply put, a VERY VERY good listen.
I've finished this first novel, and I'm enjoying this unique story line of humans with Roman similarities binding with elemental furies. The “lame” ideas given were “Lost Roman Legion", and “Pokémon”. The challenger bet that Jim could not write a good story based on a lame idea, and Jim countered that he could do it using two lame ideas of the challenger’s choosing. To quote the Codex Alera Wiki site, "the inspiration for the series came from a bet Jim was challenged to by a member of the Delray Online Writer’s Workshop.
Here's one for the books: Jim Butcher is well-known for his "Dresden Files" series, created a fantastic fantasy series on a BET.
This time, it's a definite win, but if you go by how the series was created, you'd probably run in the opposite direction. If you follow my reviews, you know that I like to roll the dice, to randomly buy a series on a whim, on the luck of the draw.
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