Tag Archives: Rome

Academ’s Fury by Jim Butcher

29 Wednesday Jul 2009

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After finishing Furies of Calderon, I made sure to find the second book in the series while at a bookstore in Kalispell, MT. Who knew they’d have a nice Borders there?

The second book picks up two years after the first book ended. Tavi is growing strong, but still without his Fury. He is training to become a Cursor, which is like a messenger and spy rolled into one. Thanks to his heroics a couple of years back, the High Lord is his patron, and Tavi finds himself in the middle of political intrigue and an ancient menace that threatens to destroy their world.

It is like a blend of the political intrigue from Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin blended with some alien menace that you would expect from the mind of Stephan King.

I liked the introduction of Tavi’s friends at the Academy. They were solid characters that will certainly play a role in the next book. I also thought his love interest was a solid addition to the book.

I did not like the Vord, which turns out to be the main menace. It was alright. I guess it is as good as any hive-brained, shape-shifting, mind-controlling alien menace can be. I get that it was referenced in the first book, so that it was good to wrap up what was a potential question. It just seemed out of place to me. It did setup a few really enjoyable fights, though.

All in all, it was an entertaining and acceptable second book. I liked it enough that I will definitely be reading the third one soon. Butcher keeps on rolling in my book.

Rating 3 out of 5. (ratings)

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

27 Monday Jul 2009

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A two week long sojourn in Glacier National Park has left me woefully behind on my blogs. When you hike for most of the day but are back at camp by three in the afternoon, it leaves a lot of time for reading. So, without further adieu, I will begin firing off four reviews in quick order.

First, let’s talk about Jim Butcher and his Codex Alera series. If you have been paying attention, you may already realize that I have read a lot of Jim Butcher’s books. Actually, I think I have read five of his books just this year alone. When I find a good author, I tend to devour all of their work. Just ask Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Stephan Pressfield, or Stephan Lawhead. Well, don’t do that actually. They probably don’t know that I have read their books.

Furies of Caleron is a fairly standard fantasy series. The way I see it, there are two types. One features really powerful heroes matched up against extremely difficult situations (See Savlatore, R.A.). The other type of fantasy story whisks a seemingly normal yet sort of weak person into events way beyond their control, yet somehow they end up saving the world. Both types can be great entertainment, and every once in a while it becomes great literature. At least if you are Tolkien it does.

Furies of Calderon picks the latter situation. A young boy, picked on for his deficiencies, saves the realm. It is a pretty standard plotline throughout. What makes this book great is the setting, the magic, and the characters.

It is set in a Roman-era world. There are legions, horses, stone buildings, no guns and no technology. I love reading historical fiction in this setting, so I was pretty interested to see what would happen with a fantasy book set in this timeframe. I don’t believe I have read any fantasy with Roman leanings.

The magic is one of a kind as well. And when you are reading fantasy, isn’t that what you are looking for? You want to be awed and inspired by the fantastical things that can happen. In Furies for Calderon, every person in the country has tamed an elemental power, called a Fury. These furies come in water, earth, wind, fire, and a handful of other flavors. They can do the person’s bidding for healing, water, for flying, wind, or for damage, fire. It sounds a bit odd at first, but Butcher really pulls it off.

The lead character is a boy named Tavi. He is the only one that doesn’t have a fury, and yet he is smack in the center of the action, having to use his wits and resourcefulness to get everyone out of a tight jam. There are a handful of other great characters in the book, some interesting twists, and the beginning of a great fantasy realm.

Rating 3.5 out of 5 – really entertaining, just not sure I would reread it any time soon.  (see ratings)

Next Read – The Ruin of the Roman Empire by James J. O’Donnell

17 Saturday Jan 2009

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Just getting into this book and it’s taking longer than I would have liked.  Typically I can burn through a book in a week, much less if I get time to read other than just before bed.  When it’s a non-fiction book of substance, it may a month. It looks like we’re heading towards the month with this one, if we make it that far at all.

Typically, I give a book a hundred pages to catch my attention. If you can’t get me to stay interested after that, I don’t waste my time. Right now, I’m on page fifty, and Mr. O’Donnell has some work to do to keep me interested.

I like Roman history; I mentioned that previously in the Soldier of Rome blog.  Typically, though, I enjoy military history.  Books like An Army at Dawn by Rich Atkinson, or my favorite, Band of Brothers by Stephan Ambrose.  I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get that in this book.  From what I’ve read about it though, it is a good book.  So, since I just crossed into Part One and out of the introduction, I’m looking forward to it picking up.  I may even try to give it a read when I’m not completely sleep addled before bed.  That should help its chances.

I’m still trying to pick up the thread of O’Donnell’s narrative.  He’s discussed life in the ancient world – short, difficult, and ugly for all but the very few elite – the movement of ideas across the Mediterranean  and east to China, and a little about the city of Alexandria. It compared it to Paris, and Rome to Berlin or Washington D.C.  Alexandria was the cultural and intellectual capital of the world in the middle of the first millennia.

What I found most interesting in the first portion of this book was that Rome, while being the founding capital of the Empire, had become a backwater town.  There were still a dozen or so families vying for power in the Senate, but the Emperor was rarely in town.  Most of the Emperors were in moving capitals along the borders as the Armies strove to hold off encroaching enemies or other generals vying for the ultimate authority.  

Because of that, it is hard to nail down the final date of the Roman Empire.  O’Donnell notes that historians have placed the downfall of Rome from 202 BCE with their victory in the second Punic War all the way to 1806 CE when Napoleon finally put an end to the old imperial traditions to start his own empire.

Looks like the rest of the book with concentrate three sections to describe what happened to the Roman Empire. Hopefully, it will be good.