Most helpful customer reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent introduction to Jim Butcher, Sep 29 2005
This book was the first I've read by Jim Butcher, and I will be looking forward to the rest of the series.I won't summarize the plot here -- another reviewer has already done so, complete with snide comments on what could have done better -- but suffice to say, it kept me turning pages all night long. As an writer, I have to applaud Mr. Butcher for the best use of a prologue that I've ever seen. It is a simple yet fascinating snippet of information, and if you read it again after completing the book, you will find the heart of the entire story. Bravo!
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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It had its moments, Aug 7 2008
The story actually took me awhile to get into. Butcher doesn't stop to explain anything in the world, and so I spent the first 150 pages or so thinking "wait, what?" a lot. I don't like a lot of descriptive passages, and I will be the first to mock conversations of the "as you know, Bob" variety, but in a new fantasy world, there needs to be some sort of explanation as to what's going on. When Tavi and Bernard first come across a Marat scout, they talk about it in dramatic tones like it's some big deal, but as I had no frame of reference for what a Marat was, it had no impact on me. It felt like I had picked up the third or fourth book in a series, where everything has already been established, and it was a pretty awkward way to start out.
One of the really neat things about this book is that Tavi is not the uber-gifted chosen one. He doesn't have raw talent that puts men who have been studying for years to shame. In fact, he's working at a disadvantage; he's the only human in the known world who does not have any furies he can call on. In the world of Alera, this is akin to being blind or deaf. I really liked this twist on the classic sword-and-sorcery coming-of-age tale, a refreshing change from boy wizards and the like.
Once I figured out what was going on with the furies, they were a really neat idea. Tied to the elements, each sort of fury has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, and an element it can't maintain its power against. For example, water heals, but fire cancels it out. Air crafters can fly, unless they're covered in earth. The furies each have their own personality, too, and work very closely with the humans (called crafters) who control them. Some, like Bernard's earth fury, even start working without orders when they feel they know their crafter's interests better than the crafter does.
The flow of the story felt odd to me. As I mentioned before, it took me awhile to get into the book, overwhelmed and confused as I was by being thrown straight into the deep end. After awhile, though, I started to get a feel for the characters, started understanding the world a little bit, and the plot started moving along quickly. There are lots of characters to keep track of, and several significant side plots. The book kept me turning pages pretty quickly until I got to the last 75 or 50 pages, when the ending just seemed to be drawing out forever. I kept thinking things were getting wrapped up, when they'd start up with more fighting.
Have I mentioned that this book also contains the obligatory fantasy appearance of giant spiders? Because it does. Yeah, imagine my delight. (And by delight, I mean ranting. WHY ARE THERE ALWAYS GIANT SPIDERS IN FANTASY NOVELS? Seriously, what is with that?)
I haven't entirely decided yet whether or not I want to delve into the rest of the series. There were a number of memorable characters, and I found myself driven to read for at least half the length of the book, so it's entirely possible I'll wind up reading through book 2.
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6 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Jim Lays an Egg, Dec 15 2004
Oh hell, I really wanted to like this book, Jim's first hardcover and all. S*I*G*H, but it does takes two to create a willing suspension of disbelief, and Jim just wasn't into it in this lame attemptJim stands as my living, breathing example of the Little Engine Who Could. Proof positive that art is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Jim wanted to be a writer and put the time and effort into learning his craft, churning out reams of copy and working the system until he came up with a winner, 'The Dresden Files'. Now after writing a small pile of novels concerning Harry Dresden P.I., the world's only consulting wizard, Jim is anxious to expand the franchise and come up with another series. Nothing wrong with that; Maybe Jim's getting tired of ol' Harry, though you wouldn't know it by reading the last book 'Blood Rites' (which is chock full of the same well written, good humored mixture of action and adventure that has made the rest of the series so enjoyable). However, for those considering picking up Jim Butcher for the first time, this ain't the place to start. I'm not sure which book the Editorial Reviewers were reading 'cause The Furies of Calderon is trite, poorly plotted and written, and frankly not all that interesting. Maybe a really good editor could have saved it, but I'm doubtful. It reads as if Jim had intended to write a Young Adult fantasy, plotted it out that way, but then when it came time to fill in the blanks, tried to write it out in the same hard-assed style of The Dresden Files, with truly awful results. Young Tavi lives in this fantasy world where everyone has a companion elemental spirit (the usual - fire, air, earth and water) or two except him. The reasons for his lacking are perfectly obvious by the end of the book, although Jim has attempted to play it cagey by only sprinkling a couple of references to Tavi's 'mysterious' (mysterious only because Jim doesn't directly talk about it) past throughout the book, presumably to save this pulse-pounding dénouement for the next book. He lives on the Frontier of the Empire, the Emperor is old, the only heir died in battle not far from where Tavi lives etc. etc. We also have the pre-requisite properly heroic, ex-military 'uncle', the plucky and courageous 'auntie', and by god, we even have the idiot retainer (d'ya think he may be More*Than*He*Seems, oh wonder, Wonder!). Gah! This tripe practically writes itself. Apart from the utterly predictable plot, the other major problem with the novel is that Jim doesn't play fair with his reader. There is practically no explanation of the 'rules' of this fantasy world; characters gain attributes (and lose them) with little rhyme or reason except to move the plot along. For example, Tavi's 'aunt', controls a water elemental which not only makes her formidable in battle, but she can also heal (I guess Jim's reasoning is the body is 90 odd percent water), read emotions, grow claws (once! But never again, although it would have been useful in a couple of later sections) and hey! She's even a great cook. Additionally, Jim indulges in a lot of sexist crap, reminiscent of John Norman's 'Gor' books of evil memory, mind controlling slave collars, rape, lowly females washing feet oh, it goes on and on. This is presumably to 'adult-up' the book. We even have noble savages, who eat their enemies (plot-wise presumably to indicate they're savages), but they don't have elementals, instead they 'bond' with various animals (including a sort of Moa, though apart from them and giant oxen all the other fauna is earth-normal). These are the stand in cannon fodder, oh but just perhaps it will all work out in the end. Jim obviously hasn't put a lot of thought into the 'rules' of this world, with the result that it's not at all believable. Although there are a few engaging scenes throughout the book, the aftermath of the Final Battle (you knew there was going to be a Final Battle, didn't you?), is so badly plotted and written that I just cringed for Jim. Get this: all the baddies have been suitably killed off (but quickly resurrected for the next book) and then the emperor floats down from the sky (literally!) and the hero's engage in a sort of Star Wars type of medals-all-around-even-for-the-well-meaning-buffoons ceremony played for yuks that is just so flat, so hackneyed, so - oh god, poor Jim! He's going to look back on this one and refuse to believe that he actually wrote it. He's really a much better writer than he shows off here. Give this turkey a pass and pick up the latest Harry Dresden novel.
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