Furies Of Calderon (Paperback)

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!

Jim 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.