Tag Archives: 2 Treasure Boxes

2 Treasure Boxes (7 out of 10)

First Lord’s Fury by Jim Butcher

This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series Codex Alera Series

Book Review: 2 treasure boxes
Book Six in the Codex Alera
Publisher: Ace; Reprint edition (November 30, 2010), Paperback: 784 pages, ISBN-10: 0441019625, ISBN-13: 978-0441019625

Everyone is back on Aleran, fighting the Vord. The main characters are spread out, each with their own tale full of adventures.  The story continues immediately following Princeps’ Fury

This is the final book in the Codex Alera Series. Which is a high fantasy and it takes 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.

First Lord’s Fury is the exciting, nail-biting conclusion to the series, although there were a few problems with the story.  There was lots of action with plenty of battle scenes, although some of these were quite gory.  One character redeemed himself, but other than that there wasn’t any character development or transformations. There was the introduction of one new character, who is quite pivotal to the plot, but the new character was not fully developed.

The story was good, although a bit predictable. Also, I thought there was a fairly big plot hole* see below.  But if you overlook that, it was a satisfying ending. And the story did come to a final conclusion.

Overall I enjoyed this series.  I liked how the world was developed and I thought that all the various different peoples and creatures was interesting.  If you enjoy reading high fantasy, then you should definitely give The Codex Alera Series a read.

 

This could be considered a spoiler, so if you haven’t read the book, then do not read any further:
*Why would the Queen vord leave her Horde to fight Tavi alone in the final battle scene

To Purchase: “First Lord’s Fury” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

 

The Night Watch Series by Sergei Lukyanenko

This entry is part 5 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