First Lord's Fury

This is the final book in Butcher's Codex Alera series. There is a lot that happens in this book from a detail point of view; overall it is an excellent conclusion to the series.

Tavi, now First Lord Octavian Gaius, is steering the ships full of both the First Aleran and the Canim to land. From

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there they are hoping to march across Alera and meet up with the Aleran Legions making their final stand at Riva. Of course things don't go quite as planned and Riva falls, forcing the final battle between the vord and the allied Alerans, Marat, Icemen and Canim back to where it all started...Calderon Valley.

This book is about war. If you thought book 5 was about war, well you were right, but this book is even more about war. So, in general, I am more of an epic quest lover than an epic battle lover...the topic of this book wasn't my favorite. That aside it was very well written. Butcher continues to do an excellent job balancing epic battle scenes with personal scenes; these personal scenes lend more depth to the characters we have already grown to love over the last five books. The action scenes are very well done, as always. The conclusion of the book is also well done and wraps up most of the loose ends.

Additionally it is nice that Butcher is able to do an epic fantasy with epic battles that still lends time to relationships. Kitai demands a proper courting from Tavi and this theme weaves in and out of the story, at times providing with a lot of humor. The dialogue is snappy (if not realistic at times) and added enough humor that you will find yourself chuckling despite the thousands of people dying.

There were a few things I didn't like though. The book is awfully drawn out. At first all the engineering details behind Tavi's schemes are fascinating, but as the book goes on it gets to be too much. The scenes get drawn out by the massive detail that is put into explaining both war strategy and engineering; if you really dig this stuff you will love it. I loved it for a while and then just wanted to get the story moving.

This book also has the same flaws I have complained about in previous books. Tavi, it seems, can do know wrong. Every hair-brained scheme he comes up with is a wonderful success; which is heroic but unbelievable given the craziness of most of his schemes. A number of times characters are left for dead, but then miraculously make it. Basically the book ends in an unrealistically cheery way, at least for the main and side characters. Common soldiers and civilians are sacrificed by the tens of thousands; which got to be a bit depressing but was probably the most realistic part of the book.

I thought it was fascinating how drastically Tavi has changed in this book. I know he changed some in book five, but in this book he is 100% First Lord with very few of the uncertainties that used to plague him. Kitai is also seemingly immortal, as she escapes most danger and succeeds at all missions; again a bit unrealistic.

Overall I enjoyed this book and thought it was a good wrap-up to the series. There is one major loose-end that makes me wonder if Butcher is planning another series set in Alera, but a century or so into the future. The only things that bothered me about the novel were the drawn-out strategy scenes and some unbelievable successes. Still, I am always impressed with how enjoyable it is to read Butcher's writing, it is just so readable and engaging.

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First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera, #6)
Set in a fantasy world of Jim Butcher's making, the Codex Alera encompasses a tumultuous period in the nation's history. The people of Alera have unique bonds with the elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood and metal and are able to manipulate the elementals

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in objects and in their environment to perform acts of immense power. The feats are limited only by the individual's strength and imagination.

Aleran society is characterized by a strict caste system with slaves, freemen, citizenry, high lords, and the ruling First Lord. For the most part, the strength of each person's furies is related to their position in the system. The First Lord has unimaginable power while the slaves appear to have just enough to perform tasks that aid daily living. Since Alerans rely upon their furies to supplement their physical strength and to perform even ordinary tasks, the Alerans don't rely upon the technological innovations and do not have the same advances that exist in our world. According to the early accounts of Aleran history, their ancestors first arrived in Alera without these powers. In those early days, the Alerans performed all the tasks themselves and developed innovations that have since fallen by the wayside.

The main hero of the series is Tavi of Calderon. When we first meet him in Furies of Calderon, Tavi is a young shepherd, orphaned and living with his relatives in Calderon Valley, a remote area of Alera. He is an unprepossessing teenager - small for his age and the only person in Alera without the ability to furycraft. Furyless, Tavi would be considered a freak by those who did not know him. But those who get to know Tavi realize that his creativity, intelligence and personality make up for his lack of furies. Tavi stands out as the one person without furies in Alera, and yet this weakness has helped forge his character. It's his character and integrity that enables him to win the respect of the traditional enemies of the Aleran people, and to forge alliances that surpass the feats of many of the highest nobility.

By the sixth book in the series, First Lord's Fury, we have come to learn many of the secrets behind Tavi's identity. If you haven't read any of the Codex Alera series, I don't want to spoil your enjoyment or surprise and will try not go into the adventures in the earlier novels. When First Lord's Fury opens, Tavi goes by the name Octavian and commands the respect and loyalty of the army's First Aleran. Octavian follows the First Lord in the line of succession but his claim still has to be recognized by the Senate. Octavian forged strong alliances with the Marat Nation and the Canim, and their combined warriors must fight Alera's worst enemy yet: the vord.

An unusual species, the vord are insectlike creatures with exoskeletons. They are ruled by a Vord Queen that lays eggs and has absolute control over the millions of worker and warrior vord. The Queen can manipulate the form that each vord takes, and with the conquest of large portions of Alera, the vord now have the ability to furycraft. The invading vord have overrun Alera and it seems like a matter of time until the vord have complete control. The High Lords, citizenry and the military are fighting a losing battle against this rapidly growing enemy. By the time that Octavian, the First Aleran, their Canim and Marat allies return from a sea voyage, there are a few northern cities standing. Octavian must cross the country to join the fight against an enemy that outnumbers them almost 100 to 1. Octavian's only chance at winning will be if he slays the Vord Queen to break the mind hold that she has over her troops. To save his world, Octavian must face this challenge, even if it costs him his life and everyone he loves.

Jim Butcher is a master of world-building and the Codex Alera is one of the most engrossing and satisfying fantasy series that I've encountered. Butcher combines an admirable and inspiring hero with humor, romance, action, and adventure. And he does it brilliantly. Octavian's loyalty, sense of duty, and integrity keep the series fresh and I was completely invested in Octavian's victory. The dialogue is engaging - and the respect and affection among the main characters come across so well. I savored each chapter and thoroughly enjoyed the interaction between Octavian and his love Kitai, and the friendship and respect that Octavian shares with his schoolmates, with the officers and men of the First Aleran, and with Varg, Nausug and other former enemies.

This is one of my favorite books of the year. I wholeheartedly recommend the entire Codex Alera series to anyone who enjoys fantasy and adventure stories.

Publisher: Ace Hardcover; 1 edition (November 24, 2009), 480 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.

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This series is good, and I definitely enjoyed it, but I felt like it ended up being very repetitive. I liked the characters, the world, and the writing, but it just felt like the same story told multiple times. This could be because I read the whole series in about 2 weeks, but still, definitely

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worth your time.

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A gripping end to the series. After all the windup of the previous 5 books, while the end confrontation was obvious, this was still a fun book. I thought this series was entertaining, even if a bit derivative. Still, I was glad to read this one and I enjoyed it.

The Codex Alera has come to a merciful conclusion. After all, a body has to sleep.

If you've gotten this far in the series, it really doesn't matter what anybody says in a review, does it? It takes a special kind of talent to disappoint or wear down readers once they are in past three volumes--a

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talent like that of Robert Jordan, who did it to me with his ridiculously windy Wheel of Time. Jim Butcher can maintain a story and, more importantly, end a story with grace. Thus, First Lord's Fury is more of the same, in both the good and the bad. Like before, the good outweighs the bad in total.

The action in this volume is much more compressed, following a series of engagements up to the final confrontation with the Vord Queen. We finally are privy to much of the enemy's movements and difficulties, through a plot device that I'll leave for the reader to discover. Secondary characters suffer in the crush, as Ehren, Max, Berend, and others fall into near-bit parts. As one expects, Fidelias receives his redemption, Tavi prevails, and the realm is preserved. The action sequences are up-to-par for Butcher.

If you have read my other reviews, you know what my chief complaint about Butcher's plot decisions. Still, be warned that spoilers abound in this paragraph. I truly thought Butcher would sacrifice major characters in the final volume, after repeatedly demonstrating how overwhelming the Vord is. Ehren gets impaled at the first wall during Third Calderon, only to reappear later and say "just kidding!" Amara? Same thing--she gets mowed down during an assassination attempt on the Vord Queen, only to be back on her feet after another convenient miracle a few chapters later. Fidelias, the character most obviously marked for death in the entire series, survives a short crucifixion sentence. Butcher decides, at the third wall of Third Calderon, to sacrifice a character. "Who?" you ask. High Lord Ceres. Good luck picking him out of a lineup. Also on the block was Foss, on the receiving end of a fireball. No help here if you don't remember who he was. Required bad guys pay their dues--Invidia, Vord Queen, Acquitane, etc, but it wasn't satisfying to me.

I was also surprised by the loose ends Butcher left, which may have been a product of the editing. More spoilers to come, of course. Did Amara kill Acquitane out of mercy? It's unclear. How did Octavian settle his conflict with Varg, which required a duel? What happened at the front where the Canim makers and children were left? Once the Vord Queen went down, how did Octavian and Kitai deal with two giant Furies set loose during the final fight?

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I can only think of one thing wrong with this book; that it ended! Tavi continues battling for his life and all of Alera against the seemingly unstoppable Vord. Full of action and heart-rending moments First Lord’s Fury is a brilliant conclusion to Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series. This is a

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series that builds upon itself, so there is not a lot I can say plot-wise about this book without spoiling the other five, but I will just say that if you haven’t read Furies of Calderon (the first book in the series) yet, you should! The story pacing is excellent; with an equal blend of heroic battles, natural romance, fantastical elements, clever wit, and mystery. Needless to say I was sad to see the story end, but was happy with the conclusion. *crossingfingersformorebookstocome*

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I enjoyed the whole series. I couldn't read them fast enough.

I've actually read the entire series, of which this is the final. It's Jim Butcher, author of the Harry Dresden urban wizard series, here doing a more traditional swords and sorcery style. It's not bad. The world-building is good, with some interesting twists. We have several different intelligent

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races, human and non-human. There's a kind of nature magic based on "furies" - spirits of earth, air, fire, water, wood. Nearly everyone can furycraft, to some level (firestarting, cure light wounds etc) except one of our heroes, Tavi, who starts as a sheepherder. The human realm is a vaguely Roman empire ruled by Gaius Sextus, an extremely powerful mage. Another of out heroes, Amara, is a "cursor" - an imperial messenger/spy/assassin. She can use her fury power to fly.

There's some pretty good characters, including several kickarse women, and some nice world building. The main trouble I have is that he overdoes things. As the series goes along, the Big Bad just gets Bigger and Bigger and Badder and Badder, and by the end my suspension of disbelief was seriously fraying. I liked the earlier books better. (Also there were too many A-names, Amara, Asana, Athinga, AwotsitA. It got confusing early, until I got them better sorted out.)

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This is the sixth in the Codex Alera series, so this review necessarily has ***spoilers*** for the preceding five titles.

Gaius Sextus is dead, killed in a final act of defiance against the vord Queen at the battle for Alera Imperia. The Citizens and refugees of Alera are banding together to make a

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final stand. Octavian is on his way home. The final battle for all of Alera is about to begin.

You have to begin with the first book in the series to have any hope of following the action, as Butcher wastes no time summarizing previous events. This book is the climax of the entire series, building tension until the last sixty pages are a perfectly placed hold-your-breath conclusion to the series. You almost don't realize in the midst of it that such themes as sacrifice and love and the fact that some things are worth killing -- and dying -- for are finely struck. A fitting conclusion to a wonderful addition to the epic fantasy genre.

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I really enjoyed the final book in this series. The series has been a fun read from the start but the conclusion seemed even more so. The banter between characters seemed more prevalent this book and reminded me a lot of the Dresden books. In a book with a lot of intensity and action I found myself

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laughing out loud.

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"First Lord's Fury", is the concluding volume to Jim Butcher's The Codex Alera series.

Overall, the series has been one of pure pleasure to read for something that originally started out as a bet to the author to write a book based on two themes ('lost roman legion' and 'pokemon'). From this bet,

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came a series that is original and yet accessible, with interesting characters and engaging plots.

With Volume 6, "First Lord's Fury" completes the potential of the protagonist, Gaius 'Tavi' Octavian, that has been hinted since the first book "The Furies of Calderon". And as such, it is basically cover to cover action as the story continues from the end of the previous volume, "Princep's Fury". This is a series I highly recommend for all to read, especially since a new reader would not have to deal with the frustrating wait for each new book to be released.

Highly recommended to all.

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This is a GREAT series with a new 'power' twist.

End of the road for this series. In many ways that's sad because like all the others it's a good read and although quite a bit longer than the first book in the series it's still gripping and fast to read.

Tavi must work out how to kill the Vord, reclaim his throne and as becomes apparent throughout

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the book do so in a way that won't destroy the Alerans nor any of their alliances.

It's pulled off with some lovely touches and more of the lateral thinking that made this story so entertaining from book one.

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Concludes the series much as it began - badly contrived and unexplained in all the pertinant details.

Tavi's back on the main continent of Alera with all his followers meekly tagging along. Meanwhile the continually unbelivable Vord are besieging as many cities as their millions strong army can

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reach, with the luckless Lady Invidia advising the Queen as best she can. There's a fight. In fact several fights - pretty much contiuously thoruoghout the book. Nobody important dies, at all, ever anywhere. Which is just stupid. And it all ends. Finally.

If you've enjoyed all the others then this is about as good as it gets, almost en par with the first one. But still basically lame. Given what Butcher can do, as shown by the Dresden Series, I really wonder why this series has been so poor. There's no consistentcy at all, no explanations, no details, no world building and paper thin characters, without motivation or ideal of their own.

The highlights are that Kitai finally manages to re-emerge with a bit part of her own, as does Anna, and Isana. Just. These were the interesting characters with torn loyalties and strong personallities who fates I almost cared a little about. JB does nothing with them though, and doesn't manage to explain even slightyl how they've become so powerful. The ambiguous bad guys are ignored.

There's lots of action - almost non-stop fight scenes. If this is what you like in a fantasy, then the series is for you. For everyone else who cares about a plot and the characters, find something better. It isn't hard to do.

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I like the way this book answers some mysteries in the previous books. Like the way it explained the Alerans are actually not native to Alera but migrants from somewhere else. And adopted to Alera's environment, including the use of "furies".

This book also revealed the identity of the mystery man

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in Book 1 who witnessed the Marat pre-war orgy before the Second Calderon. I had to stop for a minute there to recall that mystery man and that I did wonder who it was but promptly forgot all about it after.

Now, why does the wild, feral wind furies attack and kill Alerans and animals on Alera while leave the Marat alone? I've always wondered about that...

It seems that the name "Marok" is a favourite alpha canine word for authors. Jim used it in this book to name the head of the Canim spiritualist. Patricia Briggs used the name Marok as the title for her head of werewolf in the Mercy Thompson series. Or am I just reading too many fantasy books?

By the way, can anyone tell me what is the difference between an earthcrafter and a Knight's Terra? Because they awfully sound the same to me but for some reason each word is applied as if there is a difference. The difference of these terms seems to be similar to the difference between an earthcrafter and a watercrafter...

I also like the way this book bring the stories of all six books in the Codex Alera series together to a close. In the book, is mentioned bits and pieces from all six books and nicely blended them together. It also answered a question I had when I reviewed The Furies of Calderon (Book 1 of the Codex Alera) which is: Why is this series called Codex Alera? As I understand it, it is because the six books is suppose to be a chronicling of Gaius Octavian's rise to power. The Codex Alera. What do you think?

The only major complaint I have about this book is that this is the final book of the Codex Alera series. That means there won't be anymore! But, I want more! *sigh*

Cherry's Rating: 5 out of 5

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The series comes to a satisfying conclusion, appropriately epic but shot through with elements of sadness and foreboding. On the one hand, the series' optimism feels a bit forced; on the other, touches of realism around the edges of the main plot keep a few ends loose, but not frustratingly so (as

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with Crassus' relationship with Octavian).

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This was the last book in the Codex Alera series. What a wild ride it was, full of impossible situations and hairbreadth escapes. It was an excellent end to an excellent series full of seemingly impossible situations. The characters are well-developed, including those of the nonhuman races.

As I

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read Butcher's Dresden series I was not sure he could do another as well. But he has come through magnificently and with class. I am looking forward to his next series with great interest. I recommend this series to anyone who love fantasy.

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A good end to a good series. I really enjoyed the book and some of the twists and turns it made.

As fascinating and filled with twists and turns as expected. Tavi, aka Gaius Octavian, has recently been revealed as the grandson and heir of the First Lord, Sextus. Just before dying in the last book, Sextus adopted another High Lord as his second son. The second son is the "younger" son in terms

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of inheritance, though 30 years old in age. He is also the villain from book 1. So we have two Princeps, each fighting to save the realm of Alera from the insect-like Vord, and knowing that if they prevail, and both survive, that there will be another battle for the title of First Lord. There is lots of action, as expected, and some character pieces.

An excellent conclusion to the series.

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Book 6 in the Codex Alera series. In this one Tavi returns to Alera with unlikely allies to battle and defeat the Vord Queen before she and her horde completely destroy Alera. The book is filled with battles. It is also a love story as Tavi must convince Kitai to marry him. All of our favorite

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characters from previous volumes are here -- Bernard and Amara, Isana and Araris, Max, Ehren, Fidelias. The series has created a lot of memorable characters. I hope this isn't the end of the series although it has that feel and the characters deserve a lot of boring time. I'll miss them.

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This is the last of six books that, according to the author, were started on a bet. Someone bet him he couldn't make a decent story based on the Lost Roman Legion and Pokemon. Turns out he could. You might take the fact that I read all six of these books under two months as an indication that I

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enjoyed them immensely. Very fun fantasy. Good characters, good dialog, great fantasy ideas (and, if you want to know how to tell a story with a trad rpg-like escalating power curve, this is it).

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Quite the cinematic book, once again, and a very fine ending to the series. Enjoyed it a lot, would generally recommend the series to fans of fantasy.

Also, I want either Blizzard or the people behind the Final Fantasy movies to make this into a movie. I'd totally watch that.

This book – and the series as a whole – rates five stars for being not merely engaging but almost compelling. Jim Butcher tells a fantasy story with imagination, pace, heart, humour, courage and imbues it all with deep excitement. Tavi’s final steps in the journey from shepherd’s apprentice

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to First Lord, and his quest to end the invasion of the Vord on Alera, forging alliances and outthinking foes at every step, was as close to the definition of ‘unputdownable’ as I’ve encountered in a book. Not that it’s perfect; it doesn’t get the five stars for being flawless, but for being so enjoyable.

Gaius ‘Tavi’ Octavian brings the remaining Canim warriors, the Free Aleran forces and the First Aleran legions back to Alera - a country under siege, almost engulfed by the forces of the Vord queen - and, with most of the remains of the Citizenry making a last stand in his home valley, Calderon, brings his every resource – leadership combined with field experience, fury-crafting combined with the intelligence borne of not having the talent at his disposal for most of his life – to the task of getting within striking distance of the Vord queen, a creature without compunction, mercy, or weakness.

This book stands apart from the others in cohesion… where, in the other books, various characters worked to different ends, dividing the focus and blunting some of the energy, for the most part here each point of view works together; Count Bernard with the Aleran surviving forces, freemen and Citizenry, at the forefront of the Vord’s attack, Tavi racing to their aid from the rear, with the captured Isana and Araris in the Vord queen’s lair between the two, but still focused on the one event; the battle for Alera. With the three viewpoints interlocked, Butcher’s storytelling becomes devastatingly powerful.

For a young adult read, Butcher doesn’t pull punches when it comes to notching up the terrifying situations; the defending forces don’t get through things lightly, some minor ‘good’ characters die, and the author has more than enough character-writing ability to make the reader care about this, and deeply. You can tell it’s a young-adult read, though, because most of the major players survive and the truly morally degenerate (who haven’t become allies over the course of the series, or have heart-rending back-stories to explain their actions) meet their ends. That said, while you’re reading, you don’t notice this ethical restraint, because Butcher is so busy piling on the frenetic peril.

One irritating leftover; [spoiler warning] I am wondering what happened to the two ‘great furies’ that Tavi awakened to help destroy the Vord queen; did they, after all the build-up, just quiet down? Did Tavi claim them? Did Alera help? Did I miss a paragraph in which all this happened? I think using the time between the ending and the epilogue to sweep away something [previously described as] having catastrophic consequence would be a bit lazy, but scanning those passages again, I simply cannot see where unleashing two such powerful entities suddenly became anything less than another huge problem. The oversight, if that’s what it was, is not a massive flaw, but it is indicative of Butcher’s sometimes casual approach to plotting over the course of the series. [spoiler warning ending]

Otherwise, in my opinion, Butcher takes his place next to David Gemmell for battle-craftsmanship. I really hope he revisits this world again, perhaps to expand on the speculative-fiction aspects of having included Rome as part of the history of Alera.

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Jim Butcher books are always a compelling read, and I'm glad I was able to race through it before vacation--it would have been horrible to leave it halfway done for a week!

This was much more militaristic than the previous books in the Codex Alera series, and a bit more difficult to keep track of

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the character jumps. This is not a book that can stand on it's own; it's a good culmination of events, but I'm going to need to read it again after I've reread the previous books in the series to be sure I was keeping proper track of the characters and the backstories.

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