Contemporary Fantasy, In Library, Goodreads, Fantasy, 3 Treasure Boxes

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

Leave a comment
This entry is part [part not set] of 7 in the series Codex Alera Series

Book Review: 3 treasure boxes
Book one of  Codex Alera
Publisher: Ace (June 28, 2005), Paperback: 672 pages, ISBN-10: 044101268X, ISBN-13: 978-0441012688

An unexpected attack from the Marat, shows the depth of Tavi’s character right from the start. This leads to Tavi and his uncle uncovering a planned invasion which threatens the empire. Before long Tavi becomes integral in the battle as he gets pulled into the political and military intrigue.

This is a new and interesting concept in Fantasy. The series is about a country called Alera on the world of Carna, where there are elemental beings that can control metal, air, water, earth or fire, they are called Furies. Some of these beings are wild and can do harm, but when they are wild they do not seem to have a lot of intelligence. There are also several peoples who live there. They all have different physical looks and abilities.

Furies of Calderon is the first of six books in the Codex Alera Series. This is a High Fantasy taking place in the Aleran Empire in a society similar to that of ancient Rome. This book is told in the third person narrative from the various different characters point of view, but primarily from that of the main protagonist Tavi. Jim Butcher has also written numerous Contemporary Fantasy books, primarily the Dresden Files.

The story starts with plenty of intrigue, showing how the current social & political structure is not working. We are introduced to Tavi, the main protagonist, who is very resourceful especially since he has a disadvantage in that he is unable to utilize any furies, which is the main source of magic.

The first book was very exciting almost from the first page. It does a great job of introducing and developing the characters, all who are well rounded. There was plenty of action and some innovative ways to resolve conflict. The story also subtlety deals with prejudice.

There is a good satisfying conclusion, with a good stepping stone to the next installment. I really enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to Academ’s Fury. I recommend this book, it is original and fun to read.
To purchase from Amazon, click here or on picture above

BarnesandNoble.com Logo - 125x40

Fantasy, 2 Treasure Boxes

The Codex Alera series By Jim Butcher

1 Comment
This entry is part [part not set] of 7 in the series Codex Alera Series

Book Review:  2   Treasure Boxes

This is a new and interesting concept in Fantasy.  The series is about a country called Alera on the world of Carna, where there are elemental beings who can control metal, air, water, earth or fire, they are called Furies.  Some of these beings are wild and can do harm, but when they are wild they do not seem to have a lot of intelligence.  There are also several peoples who live there. They all have different physical looks and abilities.

There are the Calderons who the story centers around, and who resemble us physically, and almost everyone has the ability to bond  with Furies. They can both with anywhere from 1 to 5 Furies from the age of adolescence on with varying degrees of strength.  The nobility tend to have access to the most Furies with the greatest strength, and as this ability tends to be hereditary, that probably explains why.

The Marats, who are similar to us, but different in looks in that they are extremely pale, light skinned and different in that they have an ability to bond mentally and emotionally with other creatures.

The Carin are humanoid but with wolf characteristics both physically and socially.  They have access to a different form of magic that they acquire through the death blood of either their enemies or their own people.

The Iceman are savage, apelike creatures who can communicate with each other without speaking and they seem to have control over the weather.

The final peoples are the Vord, who are enemies to everyone.  They are not humanoid, but rather more insectoid. They operate under the mental command of queens, have the ability to read minds, can burrow into a dead body and re-animate it while adding great strength and no fear. They can also move extremely fast. The queen has the ability to hatch out many different sized and shaped Vord, she also has the ability to create new forms of Vord to better able them to fight their enemies.

The stories center around Tavi a young sheep herding apprentice. From the Calderon valley of Alera and his family. There are 6 books in the series, where Tavi is the protagonist, showing his growth as a person as well as his many adventures fighting the various peoples on his world.  I found the series to be interesting and intriguing.

Book 1: Furies of Calderon, Book 2: Academ’s Fury, Book 3:Cursor’s Fury, Book 4: Captain’s Fury, Book 5: Princep’s Fury, Book 6: First Lord’s Fury


3 Treasure Boxes, Contemporary Fantasy, Goodreads

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

Leave a comment
This entry is part [part not set] of 1 in the series The Hollows

Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes
The Hollows Series, book 1
Publisher: HarperCollins ebook, 658 KB (432 pages,)


This is a fun book to read.  It introduces the three main characters who live and work together.  Rachel is a sassy and independent Witch, she is also a good fighter, Jenks is a hunkie 4″ Pixie who lives in the garden with his wife and large brood of kids.  Ivy is a sexy, dangerous undead vampire who has the hots for Rachel.  The premise of the book is established where Rachel is setting up as an independent runner (like a private investigator,) working with both Jenks and Ivy. Rachel hasn’t yet been hired to do any work, but she is trying to clear her name, so she can remove the death threat against her. (Hence the name of the book.) In the process she is getting in and out of all kinds of trouble.

Dead Witch Walking is the first book in The Rachel Morgan/The Hollows Series. Currently there are nine books in the series, with another three or four expected to be relaesed in the future. This series is a modern day story that centers around inderlanders: witches, weres, vampires and others including the occasional demon, so it falls into the Contemporary Fantasy or Urban Fantasy genre. It is told in the first person narrative from Rachel Morgan’s point of view, she is the main protagonist.

We learn about the world they live in where Inderlanders and humans live side by side.  We also watch the development of the relationship between the three main characters and we meet new characters and experience new situations with the characters.  It is highly entertaining, with lots of action. This is a stand alone book with a good build right up to an exciting conclusion.

I really enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. If you enjoy reading contemporary fantasy novels with a sassy witch as the main protagonist, then you will enjoy this book.

 

3 Treasure Boxes, Contemporary Fantasy

The Hollows Series by Kim Harrison

Leave a comment

3 Treasure Boxes

Good looking sexy characters with spunk.  The protagonist is an earth witch (a witch who draws her power from the earth, rather than a ley line,) named Rachel with a 4” hunkie pixie side kick with attitude named Jenks and a gorgeous sexy and dangerous undead vampire (a person who has the vampire virus, but hasn’t died yet so is still partially human,) named Ivy.

This series is a modern day story that centers around Inderlanders: witches, weres, vampires and others including the occasional demon.  The story line for each book is around these three characters who are runners (kind of like Private Investigators for Inderlanders.) There is a reference to the Ever After, another dimension connecting their world to an underlying world where ley line power runs through both connecting the worlds.  The Ever After is where the Demons reside. The series is interesting, captivating and fun to read.

First Book: Dead Witch Walking, Second Book: The Good, The Bad and the Undead, Third Book: Every Which Way but Dead, Fourth Book: A Fistful of Charms, Fifth Book: For a Few Demons More, Sixth Book: The Outlaw Demon Wails, Seventh Book: White Witch, Black Curse, Eighth Book: Black Magic Sanction

Fantasy, 0 Treasure Box, 0 Trash Can, Goodreads

The Demon Awakens by R.A. Salvatore

Leave a comment
This entry is part [part not set] of 1 in the series The DemonWars Saga

Book Review:  no trash cans and no treasure boxes
First Book of the first trilogy in the Demon Wars Series
Publisher: Del Rey (February 28, 1998), Paperback: 624 pages, ISBN-10: 0345421620, ISBN-13: 978-0345421623


This book takes place on a world that is equivalent to our pre-technological world, but it includes Goblins, Giants, Dwarfs, Elves, Demons and magic.  It starts out with 3 different, seemingly unrelated people and events, the first is the re-awakening of our antagonist the demon dactyl, the second is an introduction of our protagonist Elbryan Wyndon, who is thirteen years old, the third is a young monk named Avelyn.

I really enjoyed the first third of the book where the characters were introduced, I found them to be intriguing.  However, by the half way point I found the book to be a bit slow and draggy.  The story is your typical good versus evil, however there is not much dimension in the characters, they are either good or evil, with next to no variety in their personalities or characters. I found the story to be predictable and more of a chore to read than a pleasure.  The ending was true to form and not very satisfying.

To purchase: “The Demon Awakens” from Amazon, click here or on picture

2 Treasure Boxes, Contemporary Fantasy

The Night Watch Series by Sergei Lukyanenko

Leave a comment
This entry is part [part not set] of 5 in the series The Night Watch
2 Treasure Boxes
This is a highly entertaining modern fantasy novel that is written in an unique manner. This series was originally written in Russian and then translated to English.
It takes place in Russia and the story revolves around “Others”. “Others” are people who have the ability to access the “Twilight”, which allows them to use Magic, but at a cost.  These “Others” include Witches, Magicians, Enchantress/Sorceress, Vampires, Werewolves, and others.  With each individual having different levels of power.
There are basically 3 power structures within the “Others”, there are those who are on the side of the light, those on the side of the dark and inquisitors, who are on neither the light or dark side, but rather are above both and monitor both.  The circumstances surrounding a human being when he/she becomes an “Other” will determine whether they are a light other or a dark other.
All 3 power structures main purpose is to maintain an equal balance between the light and the dark. The books all revolve around the protagonist Anton Gorodetsky. Each book has 3 separate, complete stories which are all related to  create a larger story.  Each book is complete unto itself, which is very nice. It takes a little while to get used to the writing, since it was originally written in Russia.

Book 1: The Night Watch,      
Book 2: The Day Watch           

Book 3: The Twilight Watch,

Book 4: The Last Watch

 

Book Reviews for Book Lovers