Since the first book of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files was reviewed this issue, I thought we'd also take a look at Butcher's other series as it, too, fits this month's category. (Coincidence? I think not.) Furies of Calderon is the first of six in the Codex Alera series, a much more traditional Fantasy series (as opposed to the Urban Fantasy of the Dresden Files) -- I must admit that I'm always impressed by the fact that Butcher was able to have two series running simultaneously, with new books in each series released on a regular schedule.

The inhabitants of Alera can all tap into the elemental powers of the land, called Furies. Each and every person has access to anywhere from one to six of the elements (yep, six... the standard air, water, fire, earth, and the not-as-standard wood and metal), some stronger than others in the various elements. Well, it's each and every person... save one. Enter Tavi, our main protagonist. He's the nephew of the Steadholder in charge of the frontier area of Alera known as the Calderon. Tavi has no furies, much to the mockery of, well, pretty much everyone, since a fury-less person is essentially unheard of. Thus, Tavi has to rely on his wits and intelligence to make do.

Our secondary protagonist is Amara, a cursor (combo spy/courier) for Gaius Sextus, the First Lord of Alera. Upon being betrayed by her mentor, Fidelias, she struggles to discover the depth of the betrayal, and the plans of Fidelias and the High Lord(s) he's working with. They have a plan to allow the barbarian-esque Marat to invade the Calderon, weakening Gaius' standing within the realm (and, as a by product, really ruining the day of Tavi and his aunt and uncle [not to mention everyone else in the Calderon]).

So Amara must attempt to inform Gaius of the plans while helping Tavi's uncle Bernard prepare for the invasion, while Tavi finds himself at odds with a different tribe of Marat while out looking for help. Can Amara uncover enough information to help keep people alive, and can Tavi find the resources within himself to be the key for the areas survival, despite his lack of furies?! Find the answers, and much more, within the pages of the book!

My first reaction when reading this book was: meh. I was disappointed. I am a huge fan of the The Dresden Files, and so had high hopes for this other series. I wasn't impressed. Furies of Calderon certainly isn't bad, but it seemed very... well... non-impressive.

There are two main factors at work behind the scenes, I think, which help explain my reaction. For one, I think Butcher was trying too hard to differentiate this book from the Dresden books. There isn't much in the way of wit, or snark, or humor, or any of the key factors that make the Dresden books so fun to read. The other main factor is that I think Butcher put a lot of pressure on himself. At the end of many of the recent Dresden books, he gives the story behind the Codex Alera books, that being he was introduced to Fantasy books (The Lord of the Rings, as it turns out) by his sisters when he was young and recovering from illness. Since then, he always wanted to write his own Fantasy series, and Codex Alera is that series. Thus, he had extremely high expectations for himself, and as such, he was probably a little too conservative with his ideas in this book.

Hence my initial reaction: meh. But I finished the book, and when the second book in the series (Academ's Fury) came out, I reread this book before giving book two a try. And you know what?

I'm very glad I did.

My thoughts on the book improved remarkably upon a second reading, and by the end of the second book, I was a full-on fan -- awaiting the next book(s) with almost as much anticipation as I do the Dresden books.

So what changed my mind? Well, partly it was me being able to read the book without assuming it would be similar in style or tone to the Dresden books, which helped me appreciate it for what it was, rather than be disappointed in what it was not. And by reading Academ’s Fury, I could see that this book (and the series) had some of the same aspects that I did like from the Dresden books, namely the hints and subtle clues to more overarching plot-lines. The series as a whole, as it turns out, goes in some interesting directions, with some good twists -- I ended up thoroughly enjoying it.

Furies of Calderon is not a perfect book, by any means, and is still possibly the weakest of the series. But it's certainly not bad. It's actually pretty decent, perhaps even quite good. The series in general is quite good, and just because of that, I recommend reading this book. If, for some reason, you could only limit yourself to reading one Jim Butcher series (maybe your crazy grand-uncle has a stipulation in his will that you will inherit his millions only if a) you spend a night in his creepy haunted mansion, and b) you read only one Jim Butcher series... who knows?)(As an aside, I am planning on having such a stipulation in my will. Err... the haunted mansion part, not the having-to-pick-only-one-Butcher-series part. You should read all of them), then you should go with Dresden, but the Codex Alera ends up being well worth it on its own.

   -- K. Burtt