Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher

 I haven’t posted in awhile. Kids man, no time to write and when I do, I try to work on original fiction to further my dream of being an actual writer. As I'm jotting this down on my iphone, my 17 month old is singlemindedly slapping clothing on a doll and a stuffed animal

So, this is the second book in the Codex Alera. Part of a six book series. I like that he calls it a Codex, not too many of those—though to be frank unlike a lot of fantasy that creates fake literature to illuminate and foreshadow each chapter, this is noticeably absent from Butcher’s work. I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The plot is complex and full of intrigue, Jim Butcher continues to create a realistic fantasy world. If you are fan of Jim Butcher, check out his fansite, paranetonline!

Character: I think the main reason to read the Codex books is because of his main character, Tavi. He’s just a sunny, tough little guy who never feels sorry for himself and makes things work without all the special gifts that literally every other person in this land has. I just like him, and he’s a joy to read. His Aunt, is a bit of a drag, spoiler alert not really a spoiler alert, we begin to understand a bit more about her personal history. While we are on the topic: a person I respect at work told me her feelings on this book. Namely that a lot of the big reveals are pretty obvious, Tavi’s parentage being the most obvious. While I can see what she's saying, I'd say two things in reprisal: one, this does not detract at all from the excitement of the plot, or overall book enjoyment.  Two, what's interesting is just how long these reveals take.  By the end of this book you are some 800 pages in, and only one major reveal has taken place.  That sort of tension is interesting, and I thought planned.  The villains are also quite interesting, all returning from the first book. The sexy Lady Aquitaine, the dangerous and pragmatic spy Fidelious. And of course we get more acquainted with another High Lord, Kalare. Of course my continued sore spot for these novels is the romance and sex between The heroine Amara and the stalwart Bernard—it just doesn’t do anything for me and the intimacy is gratuitous. Both characters and their relationship fall into stereotypes and while I myself am proponent and supporter of cliche, I still find, as per my original review, these displays unpalatable.

Varg, the Canim Ambassador

Cliche: So, new Cliche's in this book that weren't in the first book of the series, Furies of Calderon. Well, Butcher does a good job of steering clear of most of the fantasy cliches. The first I can think of is less obvious. A minor new enemy introduced in the book is a species of half Dog, half Man, called the Canim. They are enormous though, and quite frankly, seem almost like Minotaurs, including the fury and menace that Minotaur mythology is said to encapsulate. These furry foes certainly share little with dogs as we know them. Lady Aquitaine fullfils a nice Femme Fatale role, beautiful, sexy, horny, brainy, and powerful as fuck. She was briefly outlined in the first book, but we get to witness full use of her power as she (SPOILER) takes charge in the final chapters of this tale. It's a good use of the cliche, and her #openmarriage with Lord Aquitaine allows her to be free from some of the sexist baggage of the cliche as it is traditionally written. She might also get herself filed under the Lady Wife cliche, as she and her husband are deeply united on their goal of usurpation, if not of marital fidelity. Of course, we must repeat the Coming of Age cliche, as Tavi, now in his late teens, is still very much finding himself. That said, the use of this cliche is not quite so heavy here. While certain acts of incipient manhood are definitely reached in this volume, Tavi is already such a confident main character, that I do not really find his growth in this regard to be a major plot point. I guess the last cliche, a new one for this post, would be the Giant Spider cliche.  We are terrified of bugs, creepy, annoying, as well as deadly.  So there is a lot packed into a story where giant bugs are the main baddy.  I think some people are probably turned off by this story because of it.  The Giant Bug cliche is a common one for fantasy, think Shelob from LOTR, Lloth from The Forgotten Realms and Aragog from Harry Potter. What's a jauntin the  Enchanted Forest without an encounter with a nest of gigantic arachnids? But this Giant Spider cliche is at the heart of this series, which makes it a bit different. For instance these spider creatures have a queen, and are not in fact ALL spiders!  Anyway, I found it refreshing, and this new installment introduces a terrifying new insect called the Taker.  Which leads us to another new cliche!

Shelob

The Zombie cliche.  Of course, zombies got their start in horror, but have had their own lackluster existence in fantasy.  See my review of the Walking Dead.  Without spoiling too much, think of the two most terrifying things, bugs and zombies, and poof, you have Academ's Fury. The strength of zombie's of course is that they do not feel physical pain, they are utterly relentless, and utterly tireless.  These zombies are a tad different.  Read it, you'll see.


Completeness: This for me is where Codex Alera, while great plot driven fantasy does fall down from its ultimate potential as genre busting fantasy. While the plot is complex, and fully realized, as I mentioned earlier, it still lacks the depth and ancient history of Jordan's Wheel of Time, or even Martin's Game of Thrones.  These books have histories that go back hundreds and thousands of years.  While this is alluded to in the books, as in they are a splinter colony of an ancient Roman legion, the history is really too general to be of interest.  It's a pity too because, there is a real opportunity in this book to do so.  Tavi is in school, he even has a history exam where he discusses one scholar's old work about furies!  Alas, Butcher is many great, great things, but an academic he is not.  His scholarly discussion between Tavi and a cantankerous old buffoon is very disappointing.  Tavi's best defense of his point of view, is that "many scholars agree".  Tavi, this is not how you cite, even in an oral exam! Sigh, but that's my particular bias. Other than that, the realm of enemies and plagues facing Alera are very real, and very complete.  This aspect of this very plot driven series is absolutely intact and fascinating.

To sum it all up, I definitely recommend this book, and if you do decide to buy it, click on the opening link and help a guy out!