[End of Disc One]

I've heard the story a million times, surprised so many people haven't!

[Hound]

dktorode, on 13 April 2012 - 06:14 PM, said:

like "crack" ....right?

Exactly!

[dktorode]

End of Disc One, on 13 April 2012 - 09:47 PM, said:

I've heard the story a million times, surprised so many people haven't!

NERD!!!!!

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished book 3 now, some thoughts AND SPOILERS UP TO BOOK 3 IN CASE YOU HADN'T GOT THAT FAR, THANKS:

Isana annoys me, she moans too much.
Must we have all the tedious guilt trips every time one of the "good guys" kills someone or even just hurts them, or makes a decision that means a lot of people will die? It's war, people are going to get hurt, get on with it! (Actually having said that they are not too bad once they have made up their mind, it's just a bit tiresome occasionally).
Amara also annoys me a bit, though I'm not entirely sure why...

Having said that:
Tavi and Max are a great team, I love reading all their chapters.
Bernard is badass.
Araris/Fade is badass.
Lady Auitaine is badass.
The Canim are badass (though I loved Tavi taking Sari down whenever they met...)
Gauis Sextus is pretty cool, the way he always manages to win out at the end of each of these books despite everything going against him and the fact that he is normally pretty chilled out like "meh, so what if Karalus suddenly has 7 legions, we can deal with that..."
Kitai is ace, although despite how many times I see her description, I keep thinking she is black like a Tiste Andii... No reason why, it's somehow stuck.
The showdown between Tavi (presumably as First Lord at a guess...) and Lord Aquitaine is going to be blumming EPIC!

There is a lot more, but I am thoroughly enjoying reading this series, and each book gets better! A few pages into Captains Fury now.

[champ]

I cannot believe that you've got the best in this series to read and then Dresdencrack... Very, very jealous! Enjoy!

[Tiste Simeon]

About halfway through the final book now, and it just keeps getting better! Since my last update both Amara and Isana have got way cooler and Lord Aquittaine is sweet now! Also Tavi just rocks...

[Kanubis]

I'm a few pages in to book 4, and the series really does seem to just get better. Book 3 was simply immense.

Fidelias is becoming a very interesting character.

I already hate the new senate commander dude more than all the 'bad guys' in the series so far, and he hasn't even really done anyway except talk so far. I mean the good sort of hate, not that I hate his inclusion or how he's written.

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished the series last night, I haven't felt so connected to a series since, well Malazan probably. I think Jim Butcher just knows how to keep the story rolling cos I didn't find it dipped once, and just kept on picking up speed. So flipping good! I've decided to read something completely non-fantasy for a while cos I don't want to be constantly comparing it...

[QuickTidal]

So glad another person enjoyed it as much as we did. I said the same thing when I finished, adding it to my very fave fantasy series' ever.

[Hound]

OMG, just finished Princep's Fury (Codex Alera 5). Wow. Just..... wow.
It keeps getting better and better and better. I agree with most of you, CA wìll be added to my very fave fantasy series (alongside the Dresden Files). It's almost ridiculous how much fun reading this is.

And now on to First Lord's Fury!

[Kanubis]

I've just finished Captain's Fury and have to agree that it just keeps getting better - glad to hear that Book 5 keeps it up!

My girlfriend just finished the last one, and is poking me to order the Dresden books. Which I will.

[Abyss]

Kanubis, on 02 May 2012 - 06:24 AM, said:

...My girlfriend just finished the last one, and is poking me to order the Dresden books. Which I will.

Which you MUST.
Your girlfriend is wise. You should keep her.

[Hound]

Done. Absolutely LOVED it! Very enjoyable, reminds why I so love to read fantasy/books.
Oh, and I absolutely loved Kitai's last lines, haha, that was awesome

[Tiste Simeon]

Someone started talking about the Romans the other day and about how they fell despite their power. My first thought was "Well some of them made it to another realm and they are doing rather splendidly, thank you!" before I realised what that would sound like...

[Kanubis]

Just finished it tonight. Really enjoyable stuff. Kitai is the show stealer. I think a couple of characters only really became three dimensional in the later books, but that's about as much criticism as I can muster. I suppose grief junkies might have thought it needed a little more tragedy, but I'm not one of them so... fuck them.

Although, after hearing about him being challenged to combine roman legions and pokemon in to a workable story, I now wonder if he forgot to mention 'starcraft zerg' thrown in there as well

[Abyss]

I've said it before, i'll say it again... Kitai gets ALL the best lines.

[Traveller]

Hmm. I read this thread and went back to it, to see if I could get back into it. I'm reading the second one, and I'm about halfway through now. The story is good, I want to keep on with it but I have a real, major gripe with Butcher's writing style, or more precisely, his repetitive, unnecessary use of certain words and phrases. I'm finding it really distracting.

'What's the matter with it?' Bernard said quietly.

'Well, even though we're outside and in no trouble yet, we're all talking quietly.' said Amara quietly.

Bernard exhaled slowly. 'That is strange. What about when we're indoors, or in a big group planning battles, or just together talking about our relationship?'

'Even then, I'm afraid.' said Amara quietly.

'Crows. What about Tavi?' said Bernard quietly.

'Oh, I do it too, all the time.' He exhaled slowly, and then said quietly ' Maybe I get it from you and Isana?'

'Don't start blaming me,' said Isana quietly, 'He did this all through Dresden too. After about the tenth mention of someone talking quietly for no reason in two pages, I nearly threw the book at the wall. Or, I would have if I hadn't been reading it on my Kindle.'

'Who edits these things anyway? And how come no-one else seems to have noticed? Crows, it's driving me mad, I want to keep reading but then, two lines down, someone else does it. Plus I've just been reading Abercrombie, and he doesn't do anything like this.' said Amara quietly.

Bernard exhaled slowly, then quietly, then blew his next breath out.

'Fuck knows.' he said quietly.

'Crows,' said Tavi. And Amara, and Isana quietly.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 20 May 2012 - 11:53 AM

[cerveza_fiesta]

About 1/2 way through Cursor's fury (3) now and liking it a lot more than either Furies of Calderon or Academ's Fury. That said, Academ's fury was great and a big step over FoC and I enjoyed it immensely. The Vord are one of the better enemies I've read in fantasy fiction.

Furies are total pokemons too. I didn't realize it right off the bat, but after it was pointed out (here), it's all I think about...not that it ruins anything for me.

Despite them being pokemons, I find Butcher does a good job making it all fit without getting lame, which speaks to his skill as an author I think. Taking very standard ideas and making them much more interesting with some creative treatment. The wind, earth, metal and wood furies largely impart qualities that enhance the Aleran using them (flight, strength, stealth, pain tolerance, etc...), and sometimes as a means of modifying their environment (rill flooding the river, Cirrus bending air to form a magnifying lens, healing). Fire furies act more like standard mage DPS spells, which is what you'd expect. It isn't until they start manifesting as physical entities that things get a little lame and overly pokemonish, like when Bernard summons Brutus, but I'm willing to overlook the occasional pokemon popping up here and there.

I also really dig the idea that high lords are not only born into nobility, but they are also ridiculously more powerful crafters than the general populace. Like in Cursor's Fury where Lady Aquitaine is flying herself, maintaining a stealth shield around a carriage, muffling their passage and still has enough concentration to do other stuff at the same time. Meanwhile Amara is saying "I'd be lucky to create a small stealth shield and still manage to walk at the same time". Also in Academ's Fury where Aquitaine wrestles the face off a vord that just got done crushing like 20 Knights, which are themselves pretty goddamn badass.

It gives an impression that the nobility kind of "deserves" their position somehow, in addition to their birthright. It makes sense that the strongest crafter (in a world largely built by manipulation of furies) would be the one in charge. It's very different from the traditional concept of nobility where birthright and fiscal wealth is the only thing separating nobility from the peasants. Not a big or important point I guess, just an observation on something I find refreshing in the series.

The only thing really annoying me about the series right now is:

Spoiler

the Amara Bernard love story. I mean, being married in a cave by a fellow combatant the night before a battle and then banging your new wife in an alcove with the rest of your army an arm's length away? Gimme a fucking break. As soon as it became apparent that was happening I skipped the rest of the chapter, and it's soured me on both of those characters (moreso Bernard for some reason, Amara is still alright) ever since. It's not that it's weird that they were married, just the location and timing were very off from my perspective.

And now whenever they have a little lovey-dovey exchange I roll my eyes. I don't know if it's just the marriage scene that spoiled that whole subplot for me, or if it's actually just dumb. It always just seems forced and kind of shoehorned into the rest of the plot for the sake of having a romance subplot, rather than being a natural progression linked to the major plot arcs and other subplots.

Anyway, I will probably take a break after Cursor's fury. I can only take so much of 1 author's style before getting annoyed with it and needing to switch. The way this book is going, I'm sure the ending won't disappoint.

[Traveller]

Ha, yes, that bit where Cirrus takes form as a horse with 'mist' for a mane and tail just made me think of that fire pokemon. You know the one.

Despite my gripes I am still reading.. I guess mostly for the Tavi storyline, and the more unpredictable elements that make it good. I'm on Cursors Fury now, and trying my best to ignore everyone speaking quietly, and all the other nonsense phrases that distract me from what is otherwise a good story.

Last night I read 'Bernard blinked mildly at her.'

How the f**k does someone 'blink mildly?!'
I mean, try it...

This post has been edited by Traveller: 04 June 2012 - 07:33 PM

[cerveza_fiesta]

By the great furies, I had to get Captain's Fury the second I finished Cursor's. My kindle is a blessing and a curse. Normally I'd have to wait until my next bookstore trip. With the kindle it's in my hands from the "recommended titles" links in less than 30 seconds.

I am definitely noticing some of the irritating bits in the writing style. This sequence especially is getting tired and overused:

• "holy shit, with my extremely sharp wits and cleverness I figured out how to defeat these assholes, but i'm not sure if it will work"
• ---three chapters of unrelated material---
• HOLY SHIT TAVI IS A FURYDAMNED GENIUS.

But the story is keeping me very entertained. I just want to know where it's all going, and I find he's done an absolutely exceptional job of winding up stray characters and hanging plot threads from earlier books into the later books. He does this better than almost anybody I've read. It really gives the impression Butcher had a plan for the series from the start and really gave some thought to creating a quality product that is greater than the sum of its parts. His ability to work these threads through the entire series gives the feeling that every character is important somehow, regardless of their role in a given book, and induces the reader (well me anyway) to really pay attention to what everybody's doing at all times


And I want to bang Lady Aquitaine.