{"id":3880,"date":"2014-09-05T22:43:25","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T17:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/?p=3880"},"modified":"2014-09-05T22:43:25","modified_gmt":"2014-09-05T17:13:25","slug":"book-review-codex-alera-by-jim-butcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2014\/book-reviews\/book-review-codex-alera-by-jim-butcher.html\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Codex Alera by Jim Butcher"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Book
Book Review: Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After reading all the books of the magnificent “Dresden Files” series<\/a>, I decided to read Jim Butcher again with thee\u00a0“Codex Alera” collection. Butcher is well on his way to becoming my favorite fantasy writer of all time. The pace never slows, he doesn’t waste much time in philosophizing, and he comes up with some of the most interesting characters I’ve ever read. True, the Codex doesn’t have the same depth and breadth of personalities that the Dresden Files had. But it’s still a hell of a lot better than many others.\u00a0I thought the first book “Furies of Calderon” was a bit “off”, but Butcher really hits his stride in the follow ups. He’s one of the only guys I’ve ever read whose series don’t become slower and progressively boring.<\/p>\n

There are many unique aspects of the Codex Alera. To start with, the main hero – Tavi – is the only guy in the realm without super powers. Kind of like Batman in the midst of the Justice League. And if you’re wondering whether or not he kicks ass, ask yourself this: Does Batman kick ass?<\/p>\n

Second…Rome! In the Codex Alera series, Rome never fell. The citizens began to pick up forces of nature called “furies” allowing them to survive against many hostile neighbors, but the bedrock of the empire is the legion. Butcher’s descriptions of the famous tactics and discipline of the Roman Legion are nothing less than spectacular. From the way they fight behind the shield wall, to the camp layouts, and their command structures. If the general idea is accurate, it’s hardly surprising that Rome\u00a0dominated their\u00a0opposition. The battle tactics must have been revolutionary during that time.<\/p>\n

And there’s something just so awesomely cool about Roman names like Gaius Sextus. And Octavian. Brrr…<\/p>\n

The enemies of Alera are no less interesting. Especially the Canim – huge, 9 feet tall wolf like creatures in a war like society. One of the hallmarks of Butcher’s writing is his exploration of the antagonists, turning them into more than just the “bad guys”. They have their own motivations and personalities. It brings a lot of depth to his\u00a0writing, giving us an added dimension to the story. I’ve learned to expect that kind of thing from him now.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind however, that\u00a0tone of the books is\u00a0completely<\/em> different from the Dresden Files. There’s a little bit of the humor,and not much\u00a0of the snarkiness and self condescension we got from Harry Dresden. But then…that was\u00a0Harry Dresden<\/em>. What did you expect? :P.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book Review of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\nBook Review: Codex Alera by Jim Butcher<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Book Review of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2014\/book-reviews\/book-review-codex-alera-by-jim-butcher.html\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book Review: Codex Alera by Jim Butcher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Book Review of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2014\/book-reviews\/book-review-codex-alera-by-jim-butcher.html\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Expressions - 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