Furies of Calderon

Codex Alera, Book 1

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

In the realm of Alera, where people bond with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal - 15-year-old Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. But when his homeland erupts in chaos - when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies - Tavi's simple courage will turn the tides of war.

©2005 Jim Butcher (P)2008 Penguin Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“Epic fantasy in the best way, inspired by Tolkien.” (New York Times best-selling author Simon R. Green

“A stay-up-all-night-’til-you-finish-it-book, Furies of Calderon is a marvelous read.” (Number-one New York Times best-selling author Patricia Briggs)

“Absorbing...Butcher does a thorough job of world building, to say nothing of developing his action scenes with an abundance of convincing detail.” (Publishers Weekly)

trumpets are shocking and unexpected

it is a good performance but there is random trumpets throught the book that a kinda loud if you are not ready for them but Kate's performance was very good if you can ignore the trumpets

great book but WTF is the horns for?

for some odd reason horns play every now and again and I find them annoying

Weary at first, but enchanted at the end.

Where does Furies of Calderon rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Not as witty as the Dresden Series, but has a defenite charm. A bit slow to begin though.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Furies of Calderon?

When Fade smiles at Tavi, revealing something to Tavi he did not intended to.

What aspect of Kate Reading’s performance would you have changed?

At first, it takes a bit to get used to, but she grows on you as the book progresses.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Tavi sacrafices his life for another stranger.

Any additional comments?

Great book, looking forward to completing the series.

weird choices for a good reading and good book.

great book, great reading, weird choices for editing.
often obvious cuts remove punctuation from sentences, turning them into unnatural run ons. and every now and then they include a bunch of brass horns during the reading tearing the reader away from all sense of immersion.

so great story, good reading, but very weird editing choices.

Try it, you'll like it!

Tried this book to fill the time until the new Dresden comes out, but I am now on book 4 of this series! The only problem is, my husband keeps interrupting me with trivial things like conversation and I am losing sleep because I want to know what happens next.
The narration is excellent and I sure hope the powers that be don't change narrators on down the line like they did with the last Dresden book-disappointing!
The characters are well developed and interesting and each book has left me wanting more.

Must Read

I have not listened to or read a book this exciting in a long time.

Beautifully intricate story and realistic

The story line is excellent and the world well crafted. Those who enjoy in depth fantasy and adventure worlds will very much enjoy this book.
BE WARNED: it is VERY realistic, which is a credit to the author, but also a double edged sword. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish it with all the sex, rape, gore and a bit too realistic for me, which is why I took off a star. It doesn't go into graphic detail of sex and rape, but will very much describe feelings, nude bodies, etc...

Great story, wish Butcher would branch out more often

Butcher is well known for his modern fantasy, but in his own words has stated that he initially wanted to be a high fantasy author. His first, private attempts convinced him he should do something else. After the success of his Dresden series he took another wack at it and wrote Codex Aleria.

This is a great story. There is a good balance between explanation, context and hints to flesh out the world while leaving room for the story, character development and action. This is a balancing act that is more often than not lopsided in modern fantasy and the rare result of masterful execution of this balance is constantly being engaged in the story wanting to see where it will go next whether in a moment of drama, personal strife or a battle field.

It is also has very creative and original twist. Boiled down: what if instead of medieval Europe plus magic it was Romans plus magic. The books don’t take place on Earth. Instead they are about a nation carved out by a lost legion who somehow stumbled into another world ages ago. There are strong echos of Rome and its’ culture, but is also molded by Butcher’s imagination of hundreds of years of being in a world of magic. If you know even a bit of your history there is plenty of Easter eggs to find.

The characters are also very engaging and believable. They don’t always win, they aren’t perfect or all powerful. They succeed on their own merits and a bit of luck, but the same holds true for the bad guys as well as the heroes. Even the (few)bad guys who know they are bad guys are doing what they do for understandable or believable reasons. You would never root for them, which is fine, but you do recognize them which sometimes makes it worse.

This is a series worth getting into and finishing. I genuinely hope Butcher returns to the word of Aleria someday, but this is a story well told from start to finish.

Astounding.

Jim Butcher has a unique talent in creating an immersive fantasy without standing on Tolkien's shoulders. His stories are vivid and engaging, brought even closer to one's heart by the depth he gives each of his characters, even the "villains".

As for Kate Reading's performance, I'm almost at a loss for words. Her ability to voice a character range from young female to an incredibly convincing heavy-set older male keeps the listener completely immersed in the story. So completely does her tone and tempo match the story that I almost believe she must have memorized the book!

An amazing performance all around.

A good start to a great series!

A Great Series worth the read! The first book was a tad to long, but was good overall.